Coke had New Coke. Tylenol had poisoned pills. General Motors has bankruptcy. What do these big brands have in common, and what can you take away from their experience?

Resilience, the ability to bounce back from a significant stressor, is definitely an attribute of successful brands, personal and otherwise. We all experience loss, failure, betrayal, or a crisis that can set us so far back, we wonder if we've got the strength to go forward. It could be a job loss, promotion denied, a great business concept malingering at the fingertips of venture capitalists, or facing the same angry, insecure boss who tracked changes over your best work today and will do it again when you turn in the revised draft tomorrow.

Before signing on with us, my creative director worked for a mean-spirited man who made bets against the success of co-workers. "You'll never make the deadline, betcha a buck." Then, when the blood sport was over and he'd won, a dollar bill was tacked to the guy's corkboard with the loser's name on it.

How to bounce back from losses big and small, accidental and intentional?

It is easier to make your way out of a war zone, when you're proud of your uniform and the flag you salute. It really helps to know who you are, what you represent and see yourself as an agent of your brand no matter where you are or who's yelling at you.

Big brands endlessly hone tag lines so consumers know what these brands mean, and what promise they are purchasing along with the contents of the can. With mission statements, CEO podcasts and new initiative kickoff rallies, big brands frame the ideal mindsets for employees. Global 2000 company representatives, especially distributed employees away from HQ, constantly get messages that bolster a solid corporate backbone and crystal clear image of the firm.

What do these principles look like in real life? Coke became the "pause that refreshes." It's the "real thing." It's "always." Tylenol is "the brand most hospitals prefer." GM appears to be the car company that will "return your money if you're not satisfied." (Yuck. GM has some work to do on its comeback strategy).

Of course, strength without flexibility can be your undoing. Coke's unshakable brand promise was part of the New Coke crisis. A small fraction of the market was polled in a taste test of the new formula, and this sample group liked it. However, the majority of consumers felt they owned the brand, exactly as it existed. Mayhem broke out when New Coke hit the shelves. Phone lines lit up with consumers threatening to never drink another drop. Emptying the shelves, and restocking them with what became "Classic Coke" righted what could have been a sinking ship. Eventually the need subsided for signaling a return to the past and we're back to Coke. Whew.

In the same way, Tylenol overcame its tainted pill debacle to come back as the number one most prescribed analgesic. Tylenol became wildly successful in another market in order to return to the original one even stronger. The foundation of its comeback strategy was heavily discounted pricing to hospitals. The bargain brand overtook its competition in the institutional market, and could then tout itself to consumers as, "the brand hospitals prefer most."

We'll see if the new GM president hawking a 60-day return policy will raise the allure of Buick and Cadillac. I'd prefer seeing him dance in GM's design department to Bruce Springsteen's Glory Days, but that's just me.

We know that bad happens. If you are going to succeed in your business or career, you are going to fail. You are going to try new concepts, sign on to employers, get yourself into partnerships, hire staff and kill yourself to please clients who will leave you and might seem bent on destroying you. To succeed, you need resilience in business more than you need any other single quality or skill.

You need to greet defeat as a sign that you're on your way to success. Have a cookie, a good cry, enjoy a revenge fantasy and then get on with being your brand.

The comeback principles that work for big brands apply to your personal one.

Here are some tips for building resilience before you need it

1. Have a rainy day fund. Get some cash into a war chest that allows you get by in an emergency. If that's impossible, make a deal with a friend that you'll put each other up and buy the pizza for a while, should it come to that.

2. Keep an eye on the prize of your future while you negotiate the stressors you face today. It is much easier to stand on a pitching ship, if you can keep your eyes on the horizon.

3. Be the brand you want people to rely on. Every day do one thing that reflects and projects your brand promise. That might be settling on keywords and getting them into your blog, tweets, or updates. And, remember to offer a ride, hug, helpful feedback or a book to someone who could use what you're capable of giving.

Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! & Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 28, 2009 at 9:47 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Do you get nervous when you're not over-worked? I have a tendency to go that way and I don't think it's healthy.

I do, however, think it's a common problem.

Maybe I'm projecting, but these days it seems that if you're not over-booked, you don't rate. Our mantra today is, to paraphrase Descartes, "I multi-task, therefore I am."

Even though being so busy you scarcely have time to breathe, let alone smell the roses, is hardly a sustainable lifestyle, we still seem to admire it.

Watch what happens the next time you try to schedule a meeting. While coordinating calendars with a group of people is never easy, sometimes you can observe something else going on - people jockeying for power by showing how busy they are. The person who has the most jam-packed schedule wins.

I'm not sure what they win exactly. High blood pressure? A heart attack?

What, really, would you like to put on your tombstone? "He stayed busy?"

That's no way to cap off an incarnation, or even a job. Rather than expending all your energy on looking busy, concentrate on getting results instead.

This will require you to do two things:

1.) Decide what's important for you to accomplish.

2.) Learn how to say "No" to anything which doesn't help you further those goals.

It's hard to say which is harder to do.

It will take some deep thinking and soul-searching to figure out what your goals are. It might even take some politicking when at work, for example, there's a disconnect between what you're routinely expected to do and what you should really be doing to further the organization's mission.

You might also feel like a bit of a wuss when you say "No" to that task force, or chairing that committee, but keep your eyes on the prize you've set for yourself.

But no matter how challenging you find it to focus on results, in the long run it's easier than being habitually over-extended.

That's because when you're a frequent flyer on the Too Much To Do Express, it's really hard to get off. Regardless of how much or little you accomplish, you'll still find yourself filling in every opening in your calendar.

And that's no way to live. Keep in mind that a spine is easier to injure when it's over-extended, and that holds true for the rest of you, too. Keep pursuing busy-ness above all else and, sooner or later, something's going to break, whether it's your mental or physical health or your private life.

Concentrate on your goals instead, and you should find yourself doing less, but achieving more.

Article by Danielle D. and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 28, 2009 at 8:11 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I'm still on my Inc. 5000 kick, and today we're looking at a company whose name immediately caught my eye. They're called College Hunks Hauling Junk, and that's exactly what they are. Omar Soliman wanted to make some money during the summer, so he borrowed his mom's cargo van to start hauling away people's junk. He then entered his business plan in the Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition and won the $10,000 first prize. He realized that he had a business that he could grow, and now College Hunks Hauling Junk is doing $2.9 million in revenue. Guess that's why Omar and his co-founder Nick were named (also by Inc.) as Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30. College Hunks Hauling Junk is headquartered in Tampa, FL, but through expansion and franchising they now operate in Anne Arundel, MD; Baltimore/Howard County, MD; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Indianapolis, IN; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Orange County, CA; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Richmond, VA; San Francisco/San Jose, CA; Tampa Bay, FL; and Washington, DC Metro.

Read the full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 28, 2009 at 7:39 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Although most people would probably think you were nuts if you told them that you live your life according to research studies, it's not that far off from what most of us actually do do. We are constantly bombarded with nuggets of information that tell us what's good for us and what's bad for us. It's hard for us not to take to heart these simplified conclusions from actual scientific research. Some of the most publicized research occurs in the areas surrounding child rearing. Child Trends is a non-profit, non-partisan "research center that studies children at all stages of development." They're based in Washington, DC and they're constantly focused on using science to improve the way children are raised. They've been around since 1979, so I wouldn't be surprise if some of their research actually affected the way in which you were raised.

Read the full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 28, 2009 at 7:37 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

We all need someone to call us out when we step over the line. Maybe it's a parent, sibling, significant other, teacher, friend, or random guy on the street. For corporations it's Corporate Accountability International, although I'm not sure there's a lot of love going between the two parties. I don't know when corporations became such a bad thing, and to be honest I still think that corporations do a lot more good than bad, but a great part of living in such a free society is that there's always someone out there looking to hold you accountable. Boston based Corporate Accountability International demands "direct corporate accountability to public interests." That means that when a corporation puts the food that we eat, the water that we drink, or the air that we breathe at risk, Corporate Accountability International will be causing a stir about it.

Read the full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 28, 2009 at 7:34 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Okay, so you graduated in May and still don't have a job. Just your luck to graduate in the worst economy since the Great Depression. But, believe it or not, there are jobs out there and one of them has your name on it. "Ha" you say? I kid you not. You just need to focus your approach in the right place, redouble your efforts and you will be on your way. The job search process has changed dramatically over the last 5 years and technology drives the process. No one is better equiped to leverage the Web in the most efficient way then today's college grads. Key word search is today's focus.

SimplyHired Entry Level Jobs - If you are looking for a job and you've not used SimplyHired.com then you've missed one of the best search sites on the Web. Using a simple search for Entry Level jobs (this is the search that is attached to the link at the start of this paragraph) returned over 880 jobs when I checked the site. Similarly, if you change the search to College Graduate, over 425 job opportunities were returned. The page also has a number of options to allow you to quickly narrow the results (unless you really do want to work in Chestnut Hill, MA). First, on the top left hand side, a list of job titles will be displayed (directly above this is a "Save this Search" link). You can click on any of these to narrow the search. Below this you can further narrow the search by Company, Job Type, Source and so many more. Create your specific search, save it and check it every day.

Monster Jobs Entry Level - While I can't show every search engine in this post, I thought (just to be fair) I would include Monster.com which is one of the early pioneers of online job search engines. Monster has had to play catch-up as newer entrants to this niche have added innovative functionality. To Monster's credit, they have done a good job at keeping pace. Running the same Entry Level search (the link at the start of this paragraph) returned over 5,000 jobs nationwide. Similar to SimplyHired, you can save this search and narrow the search by using the filters on the right hand side of the page. Using College Graduate as the criteria returned over 2,100 job opportunities. Another important point is that you can narrow the posting date (today, yesterday, last 3 days, etc.) so that you won't be looking at the same jobs if you check everyday. Using the "last 3 days" posted criteria removed about 80% of the posted jobs.

So where else can (should) you be looking for a job? Company career sites are a great source for entry level / new graduate jobs. While I can't list all of them here, I've selected a few below using the Fortune 500 list. Your job (if you don't already have one), is to look at companies that interest you and see if they have recent graduates pages (or entry level jobs) using the same process used below.

Wal-mart College & Recent Grads - Everyone knows Wal-mart and they do have a section of their Careers site for College and Recent Grads. The center of this page explains their approach to recent grads. On the left hand side of the page is a list (by category) of the entire Careers site. Towards the bottom is a section for College & Recent Grads including Recent Grads, MBA & Graduate Students and more. Click on Recent Grads to see the dedicated page. The center of this page has the links that will interest you in your search, although you do need to decide Wal-mart Corporate, Wal-mart Stores and Sam's Club (or apply to all).

Chevron Students and Recent Graduates - Chevron is Oil and Gas production and they also have a section of their Careers site dedicated to recent grads. The center of the page has links to information on company including career growth opportunites. Below this are sections for Students (recruiting events and internships) followed by a section on Recent Graduates. Click on the "Visit your Country" and then click on your country. The next page has a wealth of information and links to help you in your search.

Johnson & Johnson Students - Johnson & Johnson has a very diversified product portfolio ranging from products such as baby shampoo to drugs and medical devices. They have a brief overview followed by a drop down box for "select candidate type". Select your type and region and you are on your way. Once you are in, click "go" and you are on your way.

Good luck in your search.

Article by Career Alley

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Sweet Careers.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 3:44 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

If you're job hunting and want to meet more people who can hire you, here are three ways to do it ...

1) Follow growth

If you're looking for a job, go where the action is -- growing companies are more likely to hire than failing ones.

And a great tool for finding signs of growth is LinkedIn, according to personal branding coach Otis Collier.

"I research companies on LinkedIn to find out who has been recently promoted, which shows which departments may be hiring and what jobs they may need to fill."

This can help you find places within a company to make connections that lead to interviews.

Example: Choose the Search Companies option on LinkedIn, type in Apple, and you'll find two lists of interest: New Hires, and Recent Promotions and Changes. Both of these show departments at Apple that may be growing.

You'll also see which names, if any, are in your 1st level and extended networks, so you know whom to contact for information about the hiring climate.

2) Make new connections at old employers

Write down the name of every employer you've ever had. Now, ask yourself the following four questions:

• Could you work there again?

Don't snicker -- we all know someone who's been re-hired by a former employer. It happens every day. Why not for you?

• Could you work for past clients?

Think of every company your employers have ever sold products or services to. Could you work for any of them? Of course. Why not make a list of 5-10 to contact?

Example: Years ago, I was recruited by my employer's biggest client, but didn't want to relocate. It would take some doing, but I know I could reconnect with my old client using LinkedIn or Google, and ask about his company's current needs.

• Could you work for past competitors?

Think of every company your past employers competed against. Could you work for any of them? Again, make a list of at least 5-10 names, then find a contact person at a former competitor you could work for.

Tip: Don't call to offer trade secrets on your old employer - nobody wants to hire a Benedict Arnold. But do call and ask to meet for coffee, to share your insights in the industry. This should interest them, given that you used to compete against them.

• Could you work for past vendors?

Like questions 3 and 4 above, make a list of companies your past employers purchased products and services from, such as IT consulting, office supplies, furniture, advertising, etc. Could you work for any of them? It may take some imagination, but the answer is surely yes.

3) Network at conferences

Here's another tip from Otis Collier: Make connections at conferences put on by organizations and groups you belong to.

"Networking is still the #1 way people find jobs, and attending a conference is a prime chance to network," says Collier.

Problem: It's impossible to meet the hundreds of attendees at a typical conference.

Solution: Do your homework and create a targeted list of people to make connections with.

Collier suggests the following method:

Before attending a conference, search LinkedIn for the organization's name. You will find all the people who listed membership in their profile. Then, do an advanced search to cull the list down by job titles or areas of expertise. Print the best names and bring them to the conference.

You now have a "shopping list" of people to meet. When you register, ask for a printout of all attendees. Use this to determine which people on your list you can connect with.

What if you or the people on your list don't attend the conference? Contact them anyway, by email or phone. Mention your membership in the same organization and you'll have an instant affinity, which makes them more likely to speak with you.

No matter how you meet people, remember this: When having a networking conversation, be coy.

Don't ask, "I'm looking for a job - do you know anyone who's hiring?" You may look desperate and put people off.

Instead, say, "Hi, I was hoping you could help me. I'm looking for information about XYZ company. Because you work(ed) there, would you have 3 minutes for a brief conversation?"

There are three key principles in those sentences, so pay attention:

1. Most people will help, if you ask politely.
2. Saying one word - because - when asking a favor, often gets compliance, as detailed in the book, "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion," by Robert Cialdini. Try it.
3. Always give a time limit. At the end, say, "Well, it's been 3 minutes. I'll let you go, unless you have a couple more minutes." Respect others' time and they will respect you.

Now, go out and make your own luck!

Kevin Donlin is co-author of Guerrilla Resumes. Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. Author of 3 books, Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CBS Radio and others.

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Talent Egg.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 2:04 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Careers associated with the Artistic Holland personality type are some of the hardest to pursue - and the most rewarding.

You won't find any purely Artistic careers on any fast growing occupations lists. Competition is high and money-making opportunities slim.

But if you are open-minded and creative, look for ways to combine your two highest personality types - Artistic and [your second top personality type] in a promising career field.

Examples of putting together Artistic interests with high demand career options:

• Scientific Photographer
• Teaching, [your artistic interest here - dancing, sculpture...]
• Commercial and Industrial Designer
• Art Director

I know compromise is a tough sell, especially to someone with a dream of artistic freedom. I've blogged before about my grandfather's struggle with commercialism and making a living while fulfilling his artistic potential as a sculptor. (see his legacy at wehranimations.com) I'm not saying give up on the dream - there are plenty of examples that persistence pays off - but to keep your options open.

To get started, get your scientifically valid Career Key scores for the 6 personality types. Then look at your Career Key job matches and check the job outlook for each career that interests you.

From the Career Key test and website, you'll find direct links to the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) from each career you choose to explore. Each OOH description of a career includes a job outlook section, that in turn links to state specific labor market information. Career Key Canada provides the similar links to Job Futures with employment prospect information.

If what you see in the OOH or Job Futures is not promising or you want to consider other options, read on...

Top Artistic Career Key work group* picks for promising job prospects:

3.02 Visual Arts
3.05 Communications

* The Career Key organizes matching careers in unique, easy to use work groups by interests, skills, and abilities.

These Artistic careers are listed as "InDemand" by the U.S. Department of Labor's O*Net. See the Career Key work group in ( ):

Commercial and Industrial Designer (3.02)
Graphic Designer (3.02)
Interior Designer (3.02)
Multi-Media Artist or Animator (3.02)
Technical Writer (3.05)

Use the Career Guide to Industries to learn more about Artistic occupations in:

Advertising and Public Relations Services
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
Broadcasting
Motion Picture & Video Industry
Publishing (except software)
and other industries that interest you.

In Canada, please see this list of the best Canadian job prospects in 2009:

For Artistic occupations, see

Managers in Art, Culture, Recreation & Sport
Managers in Architecture...
Web Designers & Developers

Article by, Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D. and courtesy of Career Key, striving to help all people make the best career choices, worldwide.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 11:22 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

When I left my job as a recruitment consultant in 2003 I had some vague ideas about what I wanted to do next - but I wasn't totally clear. I knew it was going to be some kind of consulting / coaching / training 'thing', but looking back, I wasn't really that clear. But if I had waited around until I knew precisely what I wanted and had all my 'ducks in a row' I would have stayed stuck in the same place for years.

But if I shared exactly what I'd got planned (or NOT planned!) with others, I'm sure they would have thought I was mad and attempted to hold me back. So I came up with a 'cover story' - a vague (yet plausible) answer to that awkward question: "so what are you doing these days?" or the "what are you planning to do next?" question.

I believe everyone that makes a career change or starts up in business needs a cover story at some stage. A cover story is a 'line' you use to answer the "so what are you doing these days? or "what do you plan to do next?" question when your making a change but are not totally clear about what you're going to change into. You could say it's a little white lie or half truth you tell others (and yourself!) because it speeds up your career transition.

Here are 5 reasons why career changers need a cover story:

1. The cover story stops you from 'hiding'

Many career changers (and indeed job searchers) avoid social functions or networking opportunities simply because they can't answer the "so what do you do?" question. But avoiding such situations slows down your career change. You need to be meeting more people, not less in order to make new contacts and gain new ideas.

But once you have a plausible cover story and can answer the 'so what do you do?' question, you'll have the confidence to get out there meeting people and identify different opportunities. All of which (in time) will help you make a faster career transition.

2. The cover story stops you worrying about what people think

Partners, family, friends and colleagues may mean well - but they sometimes become the biggest barrier to a successful career change.Their own fears and concerns about change and uncertainty translate into holding you back. You're so worried about 'what people will think' that you get paralysed and just do nothing. Or you simply drag your feet out of fear.

But a good cover story helps keep those around you calm whilst also helping them answer the "so what's sital doing these days?" question.

3. The cover story buys you some time and space to explore/experiment

Anyone making a major career change needs both the time and space to investigate, research, experiment and figure out what it is they want to do.

Having a cover story buys you this time and space. It stops people constantly asking "so have you decided what to do yet?" (so annoying) and stops you telling yourself "...right, I have to make my career change by xyz date" (career transitions rarely work to a timetable).

4. The cover story enables you to change your mind

I don't know a single career changer that hasn't got 'flaky' at some stage and changed their mind about what they planned to do. That's just part of the process. Which is why having a broad cover story gives you some breathing space to change your mind as you know the cover story is just that - a cover story.

5. The cover story helps you create opportunities

When I left my job 2003, I spent time catching up with friends and contacts over coffee/lunch (one of my favourite pass times!). Whilst I wasn't totally sure about what I was going to do next, I did have a cover story - and it was that cover story that helped me secure my first consulting project through an ex-colleague who I'd lunched with.

Although I wasn't totally clear on what I planned to transition into, she a) knew me well and b) she had a vague idea of what I was planning to do next because I had a cover story.

From personal experience I know that making a career change can be a scary, lonley and frustrating journey to go through - especially when you don't really know what it is you want to do. But here's the thing, you don't need to know!

You don't need to have it all worked out. You just need a cover story that enables you to get out there taking some next steps, meeting people, investigating ideas, test driving different career options and jobs. And when you keep taking those next steps the ideas, the clarity and opportunities will start coming to you.

So what's your cover story?

Article by, Sital Ruparelia and courtesy of CareerHub.com. The Career Hub blog connects job seekers with experts in career counseling, resume writing, personal branding and recruiting.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 11:02 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

One of the things that we Human Resources managers often find ourselves doing is advising employees and managers on a myriad of work transitions; from transitioning into or out of a new management role, transitioning into the company as a new hire, or even transitioning out of the company as a recently laid-off employee. But one of the more challenging transitions to make concerns the employee returning to work after an extended absence. Sometimes the absence is a short-length one, like a maternity leave of two to three months, and sometimes the absence is a longer-term one, as with someone returning from a 6 or 12-month sabbatical. No matter how long the length of the absence from work, the returning employee will be faced with a long list of challenges. In light of this fact, what are some of the most critical things to remember in order to achieve a smooth transition back to work?

When I returned to my property and facilities management role after my first maternity leave some years ago, it was a rainy day. The rain fell heavier as the day wore on, and 36 hours later, we had experienced what many would later declare a 500-year rain storm. On that first day back at work, just as I had been working to keep myself from over-worrying about my 4-month old at home with the nanny, the property I was responsible for managing was leaking just about everywhere. The sump pumps were becoming overwhelmed, the French drains in the basement were threatening to overflow, and electrical conduit in underground systems were in danger of becoming so waterlogged that a whole-facility shutdown was not out of the realm of possibility. The corporate data center, nearly 1000 employees, and critical operations of a global corporate headquarters were calling out to me - what are you going to do about this!?! My answer that day, and my advice for anyone I counsel about returning to work, is breathe. Breathe not just for zen-inducing, mindfulness-creating peace, but B.R.E.A.T.H.E.

When you return from work after a leave of absence, remember to B.R.E.A.T.H.E.

B is for... Believing in you, and in all the skills and abilities that drew you to the job in the first place. Your passions and capabilities and strengths will be the very things that help you to remember why you're good at what you do, and why it was even worth it to come back to the job at all.

R is for... Remembering everything you used to love (or, not hate so much) about the job before you left for parental leave or a sabbatical or that juicy executive-on-loan volunteer stint. Coming back to work, refreshed from the distraction that long absences often provide can often help you see with clarity the essence of what you liked or loved about the job in the first place.

E is for... Exhaling and inhaling and exhaling again. It's true that day 1 or even day 21 back on the job may very well be anxiety-producing and create all sorts of challenges related to renewing work relationships, getting reintroduced to key projects, and getting caught up on everything that went on while you were out. But, if you give yourself some time to get reacquainted with the job and your boss and co-workers, each day may bring a little bit more ease with which you can get your job done.

A is for... Adding some challenge. One of the great things about returning to work after an absence is the opportunity for invention and reinvention. After being away for some period of time longer than a vacation, returning to work can be an excellent entrée to making changes in your work style, communication approach with people, and other work habits. A new challenge could come in the form of giving yourself some new parameters on working hours or how much travel you're willing to do. Or, a new challenge upon returning to work could also include a goal to expand your job skills into a new area. Not only can switching things around a bit simply make the job more fun, but it can also make the job feel more worthwhile if you know you're challenging yourself to work differently.

T is for... Temperance, and not the Ladies Temperance Society kind, either. Returning to work after a long absence can promote opportunities for temperance (read, self-restraint) against any of those things you used to do at work that you knew you shouldn't have, were either unproductive, or just a bad habit. Coming back to work can be a chance to start anew, by avoiding those things you used to do and want to stop. Whether it's surfing the internet at work, getting too involved in water-cooler banter, or secretly desiring a married co-worker, coming back to work can be a good time to declare you'll lay those kinds of distractions by the wayside.

H is for... Having fun. Just because your time away from the job provided what was probably a well-needed break from your routine, that doesn't mean that when you return to work, you should travail without the same kinds of breaks and time off that everyone else has. Why? Because chances are when you were out of the office, you weren't spending all day reading Keats, taking long naps and walking through fields of daisies. You were probably working in some kind of capacity, at least as hard as or maybe even harder than you were when you were coming to the office everyday. So, when you return to work, take an occasional break and seek to create a healthy balance of work and play. For example, take a 5-minute walk outside after lunch, or catch up with office friends over coffee. Even consider taking a vacation day if you have some accrued time. Just because you were out of the office for a few or several months, doesn't mean you should feel compelled to overwork yourself to an unhealthy place once you're back in the office.

E is for... Economy. Not in the sense of the depressing, unprecedented economy we're living in these days. Rather, economy in the adjective kind of sense. When you return to work after an absence, utilize your time and resources economically and efficiently. Don't try too hard to insert yourself back into your old work relationships, but instead let that process evolve over time by giving yourself and your co-workers time to adjust to your being back in the office. Don't push yourself to make things as they were so that the job feels like it did before you left. Maybe your absence has created opportunities for the job to be even better than it was before. And lastly, don't B.R.E.A.T.H.E. or breathe too hastily. A refreshing deep breath is always better than hyperventilating in the face of all the inevitable return-to-work challenges.

Article by Melanie Haniph and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 10:15 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The Secret to Moving On

You'd think we'd be good at it. Our pop songs are full of it and it's inspired some of the best movie scenes of all time.

I'm talking about moving on, of course. Singers in any genre are always going on about moving, or easing, on down the road, and cowboys riding off into the sunset or moody private eyes sauntering down the rain slick city streets are virtually enshrined in our collective memory.

Maybe the reason we as a society are so concerned with moving on is because it's really hard to do.

So we better study up. About 1.07 million people in the U.S. lost their jobs between January and August of this year alone, according to the consulting firm, Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

They'll have to move on, and so will the thousands of people laid off in 2008 and those whose positions are on the chopping block right now.

In addition, there are no doubt thousands more who want to move on, or should.

As I wrote in an earlier post, before you can really move on you need to genuinely let go - of the past, your friends, your foes and, most importantly, any kind of blame you may want to assign for this change in circumstances.

This is particularly important if the person you want to blame most is yourself, which reveals the black humor-tinged silver lining to the current economic downturn - so many people are getting laid off these days that you don't need to feel quite as bad if it happens to you. You certainly don't have to beat yourself up for it.

You do, however, need to understand why it happened, so you can apply what you've learned as you go onward.

And onward you shall go, whether you're really trying or not, because that's the direction in which real life runs. However, if you want to go forward you'll have to figure out which way that is.

It's all well and good to imagine the rosy sunset of your future, but that's a rather vague goal to steer yourself towards. Just as sailors need longitude and latitude to plot their courses, you need to give yourself some vocational and personal direction to find your own path.

And that's really the secret to moving on. You need to figure out what you're moving toward. Perhaps you want to go into business for yourself, assume more managerial responsibility or work in a field that gives you time for a robust private life - let these goals be your coordinates. Then you'll genuinely be able to let go and move on.

Article by Danielle D. and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 10:12 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Discovering your personal brand is the first step in the personal branding process for a reason. If you don't know what you're brand is then how are you going to convey it to the world? Your brand is what you will be known for. When your name or image is seen or heard, what will people say? Will that description or single word be what you want them to think? These are all questions you need to ask yourself now, not in five years! The reason is simple: brand yourself before someone else brands you.

First impressions have changed

The internet has promoted perception over reality, which is both a threat and an opportunity. A first impression is obviously the most important and if it's not perfect or authentic, then you will lose that opportunity, whether it's a possible job, speaking engagement, friend, etc. There are no second chances, especially now since there are an infinite amount of people and websites that are easily accessible and free to the world.

You will be judged based on what appears online in many different situations, such as:

• Google: Your name is google'd and the first result is clicked on. You will be accessed based on that single website they click. If you were prepared and had created content, joined social networks and had your own domain name, then you could, for the most part, know what that first point of contact would be. That is a huge window of opportunity to make an impact.
• Facebook: I always say that Facebook does more harm than good. Recruiters, for instance, use Facebook to conduct background checks more than any social networks. It's very challenging to build a "professional" brand on Facebook, as you can easily do with LinkedIn. When people search on Facebook, depending on your setting, your name and picture may show up. If the picture is you doing something suspicious, then you lose out. Your Facebook profile might rank first in Google, which means that becomes your first impression in the above example.
• Domains: Some people will type in your name as a domain name without using a search engine. Did you purchase your domain name? If you didn't, it will show them that you aren't thinking about personal branding and that you don't have a great web presence. Go to GoDaddy.com and use the promo code "oyh7″ to purchase a $7.15 domain name. Try and get yourname.com or yourname.net.
• Shared content: The latest and most interesting first impression machine is content shared through social networks. For instance, let's say you never heard of me before. Someone shares a link to a poorly written blog post that I wrote two years ago and another person clicks it. That would be a bad first impression through shared content. This means that everything you do has to be high quality, consistent and portray a positive image of your brand.
• Other social networks: I mentioned Facebook above, but people are searching for you on industry networks, LinkedIn and maybe using tools like Twitter search. Based on what your the search results are for your name in Google (this could be Yahoo! or Bing now too), it will create an impression.

You need to have SOME control

It's hard to have control when people are sharing your contributions just about everywhere these days, at a pace that is like lightening. That being said, you still can take control of your online image, such that you know what impression you'll make making so you can capitalize on it. For the most part, everything I mention below is something you can create, control and/or influence.

5 ways to own your Google search results:

1. Domain name: As said above, claim your domain name right now. You should then put up at least one web page that people can access from this domain and so it becomes "crawlable" in various search engines. I recommend taking your resume, splicing it into different sections, such as "education" and "major projects," and then having one page that talks about each.


2. Social profiles: Social networks have very high Google PageRanks (Facebook=9, LinkedIn=8, Twitter=9), which means that once you create a profile, give it a unique URL and establish it, it will more than likely rank high for your name in search engines.


3. Content: The best content you can create is in the form of a blog because it's refreshed a lot (if you put work into it) and therefore ranks high and is shared more. You can also upload videos to sharing sites like YouTube or Vimeo and write for other blogs and/or news sites.


4. Press: When a publication or blog writes something positive about you, especially if your name is in the title of the story, it can rank high as well, as well as give you traffic and credibility with that audience.


5. Search engine optimization (SEO): Before, during and after you perform the above four strategies, you'll want to think about how you can influence search engines. For example, if you want to own two keywords in the minds of your audience and dominate your niche, then you want to use them in the title and description field of your website or blog. There are many other SEO strategies out there, but since content is king, those with the best content will get the most links and therefore conquer search engines anyways.

What happens when someone brands you before you brand yourself?

Well, it depends on your mark of highest visibility. What I mean is that if you're really a success doing something you hate and you don't invest the time to think about your branding, then you will always be known as something you despise. On the other hand, if you understand your brand and everything you touch has that branding, consistently, over a long period of time, then it will start to resonate with your audience. People brand other people very fast. It might have to do with what you're wearing, if you're beautiful or not, how you respond to a question or what your profession is.

The end result is that your audience is confused about what you do, what value you can provide to them, what your values are and your mission in life. There is no going back either. You can't run down the hall and explain to them that you are someone different than you may have appeared. All bets are off. You probably don't want to be known as the lazy intern or the drunk executive!

Pick a brand and sick with it!

You need to brand yourself even before someone even meets you in the first place. That way, the conversation is less of an introduction and people draw a line between who you are and what you do. I'm not saying that you won't evolve your brand over time, but I'm trying to make the point that consistency is encouraged and preparation and execution are everything. When you're not in a position doing what you love, then it's hard to brand yourself based on who you are. When that happens, you'll be branded based on a life you don't want to have and nobody wants that. So take the time and think about what type of impression you want to make and what you want to be known for.

How do you think the people around you brand YOU?

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 9:38 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today, I spoke to Paul Dunay, who is an ex-Personal Branding Blogger, author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies and is the Global Managing Director of Services and Social Marketing for Avaya. In this interview, Paul tells us why the web is the best place for marketing, how he got his book deal by blogging, tips for marketing on Facebook, mistakes people make and more.

Do you consider the web the best place for people, products and companies to build their brand? Why or why not?

Absolutely the web is the best place to build your brand for several reasons:

• It is so much easier to build a brand these days by using the web - the web makes your brand and your message so much more portable - people can share stories of your brand, tag it and reference it later, recommend your brand to other. When you think of the offline world that type of portability for your brand message was just so much harder.
• Because of the extra visibility that the web provides for your brand you need to be sure your brand is differentiated and the best way to do that is just be interesting.
• By being interesting you can actually attract the type of audience you want to have - they will become attracted to you!
• From an advertising perspective - the web is just so much more efficient - you really don't see many companies these days building their brand using TV since the web provides a trackable, measurable source of media that TV cant compete with at a fraction of the price.

How did you get your book deal? Did the publisher come to you? Was it because of Facebook marketing?

I got my book deal from my blog http://buzzmarketingfortech.blogspot.com - I wrote an article reviewing 5 custom applications on Facebook and the business benefit of them and Wiley reached out to me about doing a book on Facebook Marketing. So it wasn't because of Facebook Marketing but more about Facebook Marketing that intrigued them. While we are close to this topic I would like to share with you and your audience that my blog has done wonders for my professional career. It is the single best thing I have ever done. So many things have happened for me because of my blog. I got new positions at work as a result of it, I get tons of job offers in fact I got my new job because of it, and of course I got my book deal. But most of all it forced me to crystallize my thinking and to always keep looking to push the envelope in my role and report the results in real time to my blog's audience.

What are your top three tips for marketing on Facebook?

1. Have a Strong Presence - A Facebook presence, like a website, is a fundamental tactic and should be on everyone's list of must haves for social network marketing. Once you have your presence you will need a strategy for posting updates as frequently as you can with interesting content. Be sure to get your employees involved. Encourage them to become fans and drive the conversations to create a thriving community. The reason being, you will want Facebook users to be able to discover your Facebook Page through their friends' profiles and with Facebook searches. This is the key to growing your fan base "virally". Also keep in mind Facebook Pages are indexable so be sure to write your content with good SEO in mind.
2. Do some Advertising - You will find that advertising on Facebook is unlike any other advertising experience you have ever had. Mainly do to the unique ways in which you can precisely target a specific ad down to the person's profile. For example if you want to target MBA graduates that are 3-5 years out of school and working in Southern Connecticut that like Classic Rock music whose favorite food is Sushi - you can do that! There are 2 basic types of ads: Display ads and Social ads. And they can be purchased like banner ads with Cost per Click (CPC) and Cost per Thousand (CPM). And they work similar to online banner ads but try not to use them in the same way. Most Facebook users feel more comfortable staying within the Facebook environment. So try to direct them to someplace on your Facebook Fan page. With the new Facebook Fan page design, you can send them directly to a tab of your Fan page since each tab has a unique URL.
3. Throw an Event - There are 2.5 Million events on Facebook every month! Facebook Events are a great way of getting people together virtually or in person in support of your local business, brand or product. They are also a very economical way of getting the word out beyond your normal in-house marketing list by inviting the Fans of your Page. Fans can also help you promote your Facebook Event to their friends by sharing the event if it seems of value to a group of their friends. Also don't forget to follow-up after your event, it's just good protocol to do so. If you had a very healthy debate with lots of questions - why not send a transcript out to everyone who attended or even those that didn't attend. If some questions didn't get answered because of time constraints - why not write up the answers and send them to the all attendees too. The key point is try not to take a "set it and forget it" mentality to any social presence you have. While the costs of social marketing are low don't let that fool you. The true cost is found in the creation of content. And your key to success will be the consistent participation and willingness to engage your customers you can create by using great content.

What common mistakes do you see marketers make on Facebook? Any funny stories?
The most common mistake made by marketers is actually not that funny - it is simply that fact that they set up their Facebook fan page and don't feed it full of content. So another tactic to consider if you already have a steady stream of rich content is using Facebook as an outpost for your content. If you already have a blog, podcast series or video series you can effectively use Facebook to attract another audience to interact with those assets. There are a variety of ways to syndicate content on your Fan page. You can use the Notes page to import blog posts to your Fan page, you can use the My Del.icio.us application to import any bookmarks you may have made in your Del.icio.us account, you can use the Simply RSS application to bring in all the RSS feed you may have on your company website, you can edit your links section of have a variety of blogs or websites you may want to highlight perhaps by employees or partners of your company, and don't forget to edit your Feed settings to include the complete versions of all your blog posts so they appear not only on your Fan page but on the Feeds of all your fans.

The funny stories that I found mostly had to do with individuals speaking out against their employer and getting fired because of it - I collected the best of them and put them in an eBook called - 5 Ways Facebook can get you Fired!, which never made it to the book for obvious reasons!

Facebook has a new search engine. Why is this important for brands?
Because search is so ripe for innovation. In 2001 when Google introduced AdWords and gave themselves a business model that was a rocket ship to high performance surpassing AOL, Yahoo and MSN - marketers flocked there. I know used to buy keywords on the "Top 4 search engines" in 2002-2003. But soon after that - I single sourced keywords and optimized my pages just for Google. Now there are so many new player since we all realize that their is more to search then keywords. What makes Facebook so different is that it runs on real behavioral data rather than keywords. This means that Facebook can connect search to my social profile thereby making a truly intelligent search engine that will know where I work, and who my friends are.

Then I will be able to narrow down a search in seconds based on the company I work for, members of my marketing team, friends I have in my network and get a completely different view of the internet that I can't get now. I call this Social Search and it should be common place soon - we should see social tools like Facebook Connect or OpenID which are already out there, used for search. Right now Google has 87% of the US marketing and 90% of the European market so perhaps Yahoo or AOL can revive their search business by going Social! For more ideas like this please check out my latest eBook called 7 Ways Facebook will Change your Life!

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 25, 2009 at 9:31 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

In this article we talk about the importance of not using a generic resume. It is not best-practice to use the same resumé for every job that you apply for.

The reason for this is simple - different jobs require different knowledge, skills and abilities.

Your resume needs to show that you possess the most important requirements needed to perform well in a particular job.

Too many job-seekers use the same resume for all their job applications and then wonder why they did not get an interview call. A generic resume will quickly reach the reject pile, since it fails to communicate effectively to the hiring manager, that you have what it takes to perform well in the job.

So in an ideal world, you would customise your resume for every job that you apply for, showcasing only those requirements which are relevant for the target job. However, this is not always practically possible. Having said that, you should have at least a few different resumes, which are tailored for similar types of jobs. You can then use your cover letter to further customise to the job/company level.

So remember - you need to be very clear on the most important knowledge, skills and abilities required for the job you are applying to. All information you include in your resume must show that you possess one or more of these requirements. Any information which does not show that is irrelevant and does not need to be included.

Constantly ask yourself, "Is this relevant and will it get me the interview call?"

Amit Puri is the Managing Consultant at Sandbox Advisors. He has over 10 years of business, career services and HR related experience, with companies such as Bain & Co, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. Sandbox Advisors is based in Singapore and provides career management/advice, job search, interview, resume and HR consulting services in Asia.

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Talent Egg.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

This is the second post in the Job Search Marketing Toolkit series and today's post will focus on Cover Letters. While not as important as your resume, your cover letter is typically the first thing a recruiter or company HR representative sees. If it is missing or poorly put together it is unlikely they will even look at your resume so it is important to get this right. Cover letters generally date back to the days of "snail mail" (for more on Snail Mail, please see my post - Job Hunting with "Snail mail") but have made the transition to the Internet as the content of your email sent when forwarding your resume.

The primary purpose of the cover letter is to introduce yourself and to let the reader know why and how you are qualified for a specific position or why your skill set would be of interest. You will (and should) have several versions of your cover letter. Typically, cover letters fall into several categories (examples follow later in the post):

Specific - This type of cover letter is generally used to respond to an advertisement, an individual or a company that interests you.

General - This type of cover letter is typically used to introduce yourself to recruiters, 3rd party contacts (introduced through others) or individuals at companies where you are not applying for a specific job but have interest in the company.

But you also won't stop at two cover letters. Depending on your background and interests, you may have several versions of the Specific and General cover letters to address a specific functional role. But enough from me, let's see what resources and examples are out there on the Web.

Two Types of Cover Letters Specific and General Examples - This link provides examples of the two basic types of cover letters. This is worth a quick look, but take a look at some of the remaining links below before running off and writing your cover letters.

Cover Letter Examples - This article is provided by Resume-Resource.com and gives another view of what a cover letter is and how to use it. There are examples following the article and they are very specific based on industry or functional role. The article does mention that cover letters are "situation specific" and, while you will have several versions, once you have your final cover letters you should only have to tweak them prior to sending with your resume.

Sample Cover Letters - Another good resource for cover letters, this site provides a brief overview followed by a fairly long list of cover letter examples based on functional jobs. Once you click on a specific job function, the linked page includes several cover letter examples. At the bottom of the main page there are additional links for Tips and How to.

How to Write a Cover Letter - This article, provided by wikiHow.com, provides guidance related to the specific sections of the cover letter and how to write them (formatting, the body, etc.). The article gives additional links through out and reviews cover letters specifics.

Cover Letter Samples for Resumes - No "how to" link would be complete if there was not at least one reference to advice from About.com. This is an in-depth article and additional links are provided at the top of the article. There are also a wealth of links at the bottom of the page.

Good luck in your search.

Article by Career Alley

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Sweet Careers.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 3:20 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

What separates successful job seekers from those who struggle to get hired?

Two things: clarity and motivation.

You must be clear about the job you seek, the results you've produced before, and the employers you want to work for.

And you need motivation to persist through long hours of research, networking, false hopes, and follow-up that may lie between you and your next job.

Want to know an easy, effective way to get clearer and more motivated in your job search?

It's as easy as taking pen to paper.

In fact, that's what it is: taking pen to paper.

Why does this help?

Writing forces you to clarify your thinking -- it's impossible to be muddle-headed on paper (members of Congress notwithstanding).

Also, writing demystifies worries that may have nagged you for weeks. A problem defined is a problem half-solved, which frees up psychic energy and motivates you to act.

But why write with pen and paper?

After doing it every day for more than 30 years, I've found that physically moving a writing instrument -- as opposed to typing -- has three benefits, which can help you find a job faster:

1) Clarify your goals

Writing about any concept will crystallize it. But, because writing by hand is often slower than typing, it can force you to be more deliberate in your choice of words, which can improve clarity.

Tip: Write your job search goal by hand at least once a day, and read it out loud (to further clarify and reinforce it).

Example goal: It's October 31. I'm an IT manager earning $75,000 salary, at a high-tech business with 50-100 employees, within 20 miles of my home.

2) Produce insights

As a child, you probably played connect-the-dots, drawing lines from dot to dot until a picture appeared on the page, almost as if by magic.

The following exercise can produce "magical" insights in your job search.

a) Write down the names of your favorite 5 supervisors, on a sheet of paper. Now, find at least one trait they share that lets you connect two or more names by lines.

Examples: Where did they go to school? Do they golf? Do they live within 50 miles of you? Are they over 40?

b) Once you find one or more commonalities between past supervisors, use that data to find more people like them. In fact, names may pop into your head as you write.

Here are people you can play "connect the traits" with, to find more like them:

* 5 favorite clients/customers
* 5 people with the best jobs
* 5 good companies that are hiring

3) Reveal connections

For this final exercise, divide a sheet of paper into two columns. In the right column, draw 10 circles. In each, write the name of a company you want to work for. These are your Top 10 Employers.

In the left column, draw 10 circles. In each, write the names of 10 friends or acquaintances who know the most other people in your town or industry. These are your Top 10 Contacts.

Now, make connections between your Contacts and Employers.

Do this by drawing lines from Contacts to Employers. You can make more than one connection from each Contact -- in fact, some may have lines to 2, 3, 5 or more Employers.

Call your 10 Contacts and ask for names of people at Employers where they have connections. You will call those new people later to demonstrate your knowledge of their company, needs, and opportunities, and ask for information that can lead to a business meeting. (Never ask for an "informational interview," which is just a plea for a job.)

Also, drawing this on paper will reveal companies where you have no contact. So ask your Top 10 Contacts, "Hey, I don't know if you know anyone at Company X, Y, or Z, but who would you call if you were in my shoes?"

Finally, you may come up with names of more potential employers as you write. That's because you've probably never seen all these company names on one sheet of paper, where they can prompt your mind for ideas.

There's something powerful about your hand moving a pen on paper. It's a motor skill that fuels creativity more than typing alone.

Try these exercises today, to put more clarity and motivation into your job search tomorrow.

Kevin Donlin is co-author of Guerrilla Resumes. Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. Author of 3 books, Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CBS Radio and others.

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Career Advisor Online.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 1:46 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

In a way, letting go and moving on are the soup and sandwich of life's lessons, but even more so.

After all, you really, really can't do one without the other.

What's interesting is how often we try to do just that in our careers and personal lives.

Have you ever heard someone say, after he or she has spilled his or her guts to you about a bad romance, "It's O.K. I've moved on."

"Sure you have," you might have thought to yourself.

Trying to move on without letting go first won't help you in your career, either. You might as well chain your rusted, unfulfilled dreams to your legs and clank around the office that way. It's not pretty to watch and all that baggage you're carrying around won't help you climb the ladder, either.

We all know we're supposed to let go sometimes. In fact, "letting go," which was once a hippie-dippie, pseudo-therapeutic turn of phrase, is even used in steak sauce commercials these days. You see, a bunch of guys are tailgating at a big sports event and when the grillmeister spills some sauce on the rack, there's a big dramatic pause.

"Let it go," his friends say, but he can't and well... I don't want to spoil the commercial.

The important thing is that even meat-eating, sports-loving regular guys know they need to let things go now and again.

But it's so hard. There are no easy ways to detach yourself from something that once mattered to you, whether it's a plum assignment, a promotion, a neat job, or steak sauce. It does help if you acknowledge whatever it was, first.

Say you always wanted to be a professional jockey, but since you were 6 feet tall in 7th grade at the start of your growth spurt, you knew this was never a realistic goal. Still, it's important to give voice to this dream so you can kiss it goodbye properly.

Bad feelings can be just as tough to shake as aspirations. The boss who always and unfairly gave you bad performance evaluations, the colleague who took credit for your work... what can you do about them?

Try to understand what was going on in those situations - maybe the boss was threatened, or you weren't well known enough in the organization to get the credit you deserved.

Once you understand what happened before, you can make plans to address similar issues in the future. And you'll be getting ready to really move on.

Article by Danielle D. and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 10:10 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

In the sometimes-complex world of job hunting and interviewing, there are a whole host of obstacles that can lodge themselves in your job search path. These obstacles can include everything from getting close to a job offer that suddenly never comes to fruition, having a job interview that ends in disaster, or even, in this economy, having a job offer rescinded. No matter the challenge, it's hard to remain hopeful and optimistic in a tough situation. But when those challenges do come your way, what is the best way to overcome them?

One of the toughest challenges in a job search can be handling tough or obscure interview questions. Sometimes the question is too vague and the interviewer herself is unknowingly making it harder for you to respond. But sometimes, there's no problem with the question and you're simply stumped. What do you do?

An example of an innocuous interview question that can really challenge you to think on your feet might be something like, "Describe the first three things you would do on the job if you were hired for this position." Seems easy enough, but your answer could mean the difference between getting the job or not. What the interviewer may be looking for here is your approach to how you'd do a few things: (1) add immediate value, (2) make someone else's job easier, and (3) save or make the company money. So therefore, any response to this sort of question should hit on those three concepts.

1 - Add Immediate Value

Job interviewers want to know what unique value you would bring to the table if hired. Unfortunately it's just not enough to be qualified for a job. Rather, job candidates need to be able to articulately explain why they're qualified. So, in response to the question described earlier, one might say, "The first thing I would do in my first month is jumpstart that xyz project. I worked on a similar project in my last job, and this is how I got it completed..." This sort of response is better than simply responding with a vague explanation of how you'd get started in the early days of a job. It gets at the heart of explaining to the interviewer how you'd bring value to the company, but also provides an example that will help the interviewer see that there's a good match between your skills and experience and the needs of the job they're trying to fill.

2 - Make Someone Else's Job Easier

Some interviewers are not just looking for someone who will add value to the broader organization, but who will also help to lighten their workload. In this instance, it's important to convey to the interviewer how you can make their job easier and not harder. This might be done by explaining how your work background would allow you to come on board with minimal or no training required, by explaining how you could help with other tasks or projects beyond the core focus of the position, or how you're an expert multi-tasker who is able to work long hours. The key is to convince the interviewer how relieved they'll be when you finally come on board - because you will be helping them as well as the Company.

3 - Save or Make Money for the Company

As has always been the case, companies are interested in anything or anyone that can help them preserve cash or make more of it. So when responding to a question about what things you'd do in your first month on the job, one of those things should include a specific action you would take to help the company reduce expenses or increase revenue. For example, for a project management function, it might make sense to explain how you'd review projected expenses for a key initiative and reduce costs in a particular area by replacing or changing the scope of work for a certain supplier. Or, for example, if you're interviewing for a sales position, it might be helpful to explain how you could generate revenue from an unexplored market area or customer base.

The most important thing in describing the actions you'd take upon getting the job, is to clearly convey to the company all that they would gain by hiring you, and what they would potentially lose by not hiring you.

Article by Melanie Haniph and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 10:05 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

The internet has provided a platform that allows anyone to call themselves an "expert." Because of this, every blog post is teaching you how to be more productive, how to build a better company, or how to make more money. There is now so much content on the internet that I can't quickly differentiate quality content from mediocre content that is just a regurgitation of what's already been written online.

I feel there is a saturation of content online and that it is very hard for me to break through the noise. I don't even use Technorati or Blog Pulse to search for blogs anymore because I just can't rely on them to give me the quality content that I need.

So how can you stand above the noise? How can you make a name for yourself in a crowded room full of bloggers? Lets explore:

Prime Case Example: Adam Baker from ManvsDebt

I first met Adam during a LIVE ustream session with Jonathan Mead from the Illuminated Mind. Adam was three months into blogging and had already accumulated over 300 blog subscribers and had a legit looking site. I think this was the only time that I had more traffic than him on my personal blog. Shortly after our LIVE meetup, Adam hit the front page of Digg and began to blog on sites such as Get Rich Slowly and Wise Bread. I am personally very impressed with Adam's rapid growth in the blogosphere and feel that he is the perfect case example of how to stand out in a topic that is very saturated.

Here is how you can do it too:

1. Readers care about the author

Adam doesn't just teach; he has opened his life up to the world and is completely transparent. He has shown us all of the material possessions that he owns, shown us exactly what it takes to get a job abroad, and introduced us to his little daughter.

Because he has opened up to us, we really care about Adam and his family. I have eaten lunch with him when he stopped by SoCal and consider him one of my best friends in the blogosphere.

To do: Introduce your readers to your home, family, or friends. Don't just teach; demonstrate who you are as a person and people will love the author more than the content.

2. Learn how to build relationships with bloggers

This is probably Adam's greatest quality. He is great at building relationships with people online! It sounds like such a simple task, right? All you have to do is comment on blogs, reply to all of your comments, and write guest posts when you have time. Isn't that enough?

Nope, nothing could be further from the truth.

This is an area that I too need to progress in. Most of the time I let people come to me instead of going out and initiating interactions with top bloggers. I'm great at maintaining the current relationships that I have, but I have slacked a bit in terms of creating new relationships. I remember something Jonathan Mead once told me, "I make a goal to meet 1 amazing blogger every month." It's such a simple goal but it's so hard in practice.

To do: Write down the name of a person you would like to meet this month. Make every effort to initiate a conversion with him or her and build that solid relationships.

3. Write AMAZING content

I know what you're thinking, "Wow Jun, thanks for the generic advice!" But give me a chance, and I'll show you the difference between good content and amazing content.

This is good content... hmmmm, I thought about it, and I don't want to insult anyone by saying it's just "good." I know, I'll just use an example of one of my old blog posts! Jun's good post: The All I care about is Money Disease. Yup, this is a really good post if I do say so myself

Now lets compare my post to an amazing post: Tyler Durden's Guide to Personal Finance. Come on! Now that's too good! This is an amazing post. Just read it over and you'll know why.

To do: Write an amazing blog post. Of course the next questions is, "How do I write amazing content?" Try this: Write a post that is 1,500+ words in length that has taken you 4 hours to gather the research for. See if that puts you in the right direction.

So there are three actionable steps that you can take to stand out above the crowd. Make sure to reach out to Adam; he's an awesome guy and will definitely respond to you.

Jun Loyaza is the President of SocialMediaMarketing.com and the Co-Founder of Viralogy.com. He blogs at Become a Young Successful Entrepreneur and enjoys meeting other young entrepreneurs that are willing to hustle their way to success.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 9:23 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today, I spoke to Mike Sacks, who is an editor at Vanity Fair and is the author of And Here's the Kicker. Mike talks to us about how important it is to build a website on your domain name if you're a writer, how to start a writing career and advice for getting to write for major publications.

You own mikesacks.com. Should ever journalist (or person) have their own site?

I think it's smart, yes, especially for writers. Editors, readers and friends can quickly find what you've written, which is important. But I think it's also vital that you keep the site simple, and to always have your contact info readily available. Too many sites are too confusing, and contact info is too difficult to find.

What did you learn while writing your book "And Here's the Kicker..."?

It's important to do as much research for each interview as possible. The interview will turn out better for it. It's long, tedious work, but it has to be done. At the very least, the interview subject will respect you for it and open up more than he would have otherwise.

How did you start your writing career?

I sold my first magazine piece a few years after college when I was working in a record store in suburban Maryland called Kemp Mill Records. But I didn't make a career out of it until years later, after I worked as an editor at the Washington Post.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to write for a major publication these days?

I think it's practically impossible to make a career as a freelance writer. I'd recommend getting a job in the industry, such as an editorial position, and freelance write on the side. By doing this, you can also network, which is incredibly important.

Where do you think the media industry is heading in the future?

I think the media titans of the future will be found working out of their basements in their boxers and T-shirts. The industry will be run by many more people with a lot less power (and money).

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 8:38 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

As people continue struggling to find jobs, they are utilizing resources that they might have otherwise never considered. In her article Rah, Rah, Resume!, Jan Hoffman talks about the increased number of alumni who are using their alma maters' career services offices to help them find entry level jobs or better. Career services offices are no longer considered to be strictly the domain of students and recent graduates.

Career services counselors are providing older alumni, some of who graduated as much as 20 or 30 years ago, the same services they do for their current students and recent graduates. They help alumni job seekers to improve their resumes, their interviewing skills and whatever else they may need, in addition to giving them solid job leads.

"Typically, undergraduate institutions offer standard-fare golf tournaments and wine-tasting reunions - hoping to tap nostalgia and shake loose donations," says Hoffman. "Now they are providing an expanding array of career services. ..."

With so many alumni students coming to their alma maters for help finding jobs, savvy institutions realize that today's needy alumni could be tomorrow's alumni donors, especially if the institutions are in any way instrumental in their former students becoming gainfully employed once again.

Besides face-to-face interaction, alumni job seekers also make use of Webinars because they provide both anonymity and flexibility. They are learning how to use social media sites to make themselves more marketable. They're also learning how to use such sites to network more effectively.

Getting back into the workforce after a layoff isn't easy, so many alumni job seekers are reaching out to their alma maters' career services offices for help. Far-sighted colleges and universities realize that their career services offices aren't only for helping college students to find internships and recent graduates to find entry level jobs, they're for helping all students - past and present - at all stages of their careers.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 8:16 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Buyer-Driven selling is a customer-focused approach to selling. You talk to a client or a potential client. You uncover a need. You fill that need. They buy your product. You service the client. They're happy. You get paid. The first two steps in a Buyer Driven Sales approach are (1) building trust and (2) building belief. Trust is something you build with your prospect or client. Belief is something you build in yourself.

Cultivating Client Trust

So, how do you develop trust? In order to get a client to trust you, you have to be trustworthy. You have to do what you say you're going to do. If you tell the decision maker that you'll call on Tuesday then call on Tuesday. Otherwise, you lose credibility. Those little things that you do initially will make or break you.

Further, you have to want success for your clients. You have to want to help them. You have to keep your survival instincts - "What's in it for me?" in check. Of course, we all go to work every day to make a living. If they stopped giving us money, we'd stop showing up. But that doesn't mean you can't really care about your clients.

If you've got to go somewhere every day, why not go somewhere where you really believe you can make a difference? You have to look for what's in it for them - your clients, not for you. Here's the hard part - if you don't, you probably won't. Either you care or you don't. Can you succeed without really caring? Yes, but not to your fullest potential. Someone who cares more will always out-sell you.

Building Belief in Yourself

It is also imperative that you believe in your product and in yourself. If you don't have that basic belief, then you need to figure out why and fix it. If you get to the end of a presentation and you're scared to ask for the money, then you don't believe in something. You either don't have confidence in your ability to recognize a problem and solve it or you don't think you'll be able to deliver what you promised, or maybe you think your product is inferior.

So, how do you fix this? If you don't believe in yourself, go to a seminar, read a book, take a class. All of these things build your knowledge and your confidence. If you know more, you feel more qualified to do the job. If you don't know your product, learn it. Know the strengths and weakness of each product you represent. Know that if your client has a problem, you can find a solution. You'll never be scared to take the call, make the appointment or ask for the order if you know your business.

If you don't believe in your product, go back to "you don't know your product". You could still be the problem. If you are a decent sales person and your product just stinks - why would you continue to convince people to buy it? You can sell an inferior product but you shouldn't have to.

Preparing to Succeed in Consultative Selling

If you believe in who you are and what you represent and know your product then your clients will trust you and you will get the order. Using a buyer-driven approach to selling is always the best way. It's simply the best solution for you and best for your clients.

Michelle C. Ritter is the owner of http://www.e-worc.com, a web design and sales consulting company where she works with many types of product and service based industries in developing effective online programs and sales and marketing plans. She specializes in cross-industry communication and teaches a series of seminars for MTI Business Solutions (http://www.mobiletechwebsite.com) that focus on teaching others to enjoy success in sales by learning how to speak in the language of the buyer.

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Sandbox Advisors.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 2:47 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Landing the right entry level job requires having the right connections and a stand-out resume. The best and most efficient way to keep track of accomplishments, accolades and training is by having a resume online. Online resumes seem to be gaining in popularity, thanks to sites like CareerScribe and VisualCV.

FacesForce is the latest digital resume site that, like CareerScribe, also allows candidates to record a video of themselves explaining why they are the best candidates for the jobs they're seeking.

Since having a tailored resume for each employer is also essential these days, FacesForce co-founder, Ely Fall, believes that building and storing them online could make life much easier.

"FacesForce allows users to create a different profile for each position they apply for," said Fall in a recent interview.

Online resume sites also allow people to share with each other via email or by providing links to their resumes, presentations or videos.

Is it likely that sites like this will one day replace traditional resumes? Right now it's hard to say. There are probably some who believe they will, just as there are some who believe that job boards will be rendered obsolete by job seekers and recruiters increasingly choose to use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to find and post jobs.

It might be easier for employers and recruiters to organize and store resumes if all they have to keep track of are the candidates' email messages, which could serve as cover letters with the required links included.

Fall believes that being able to personalize resumes, sales pitches and other types of professional correspondence could make a big difference in the success or failure of some job seekers or employees. As career tools, online resume sites - which are also effective career management tools - could prove indispensable.

"There is a reason why SprintPCS ads feature the company CEO and not a paid actor," Fall said.

Finding the right entry level job is still difficult in the current economy, but using a site like CareerScribe, VisualCV or, now, FacesForce could make job seeking - and career management - much simpler.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 1:44 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today's job market is unlike any we've ever seen before. It is, by any standard, horribly out-of-whack. Historically, there have been about 1.3 candidates for every opening in the workplace. Today, there are more than 5 candidates for each vacancy.

In the past, this whacky situation would have disappeared with an economic recovery. That won't happen this time. The downsizings we're seeing aren't a temporary reduction in force; they're a permanent reduction in structure. The jobs that have been eliminated are gone forever. Out-of-whack is now the new norm.

How will this radically different job market affect you?

• If you're in transition, qualified isn't good enough. If you want to get an offer of employment, you have to be the best qualified candidate for an opening.
• If you're currently employed, average isn't good enough. If you want to stay employed, you have to deliver a superior contribution on-the-job.

Qualified Isn't Good Enough

This new job market reality leaves us with no choice but to change the way we look for a new job.

• The conventional wisdom has always favored the shotgun method. The idea was to spray your resume out to as many employers as possible as that would increase your odds of finding one that would make you an offer.
• In this new job market, exactly the opposite is true. Your odds increase by finding and focusing on those select few jobs where you are an exact match for the opening. In effect, you should now use a rifle approach and aim only for where you have the best chance of being selected.

Average Isn't Good Enough

The new job market also changes the way we must approach the job we already have.

• Job security is no longer a function of longevity or loyalty (if it ever was). It is based on the importance of your contribution. And a consistently superior performance is the only way to achieve a contribution with high perceived value.
• In addition to your full time job, you now also have a second full time responsibility: the management of your own career. You must ensure that you have the knowledge, skills, network of contacts and other resources you need to do your best work all of the time.

The days when you could succeed by being good or good enough are gone forever. If you want to capture the opportunities for work and advancement in the 21st Century--and there are plenty of them--you must be a perfect fit for the openings you seek and a perfect performer in the job you have.

Peter Weddle is the author of over two dozen employment-related books, including his latest, Work Strong, Your Personal Career Fitness System.Copyright 2009 WEDDLE's LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Gradversity.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 1:41 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

After reading a few resume articles online and feeling completely frustrated by their bad advice I decided to clarify a few important points. Given the multitude of misinformation out there regarding resume tips, strategies, and techniques I want to help set the record straight.

Here are the five best ways to get your resume thrown in the trash by a potential hiring manager.

1. Forget to include a cover letter

Not attaching a cover letter to a resume is like shooting in the dark. Hiring managers are receiving hundreds of resumés for vacancies every week and if they don't know where to place you from the start you're likely to be discarded altogether. Clearly indicate on your cover letter which position you are applying to and why. Don't assume they'll just get it from reading your resumé.

2. Use an objective

Point blank objectives are bad form. No one uses an objective anymore because they express what you - the employee wants versus how you can supply what the employer needs. Instead utilize a career summary that will 'show' not just 'tell' the employer how you can meet their needs.

3. Use headings like profile and career summary versus a powerful sales pitch

Do not waste space is what I tell my professional resume writers. Think of a Career Profile as a FREE billboard that you can use to advertise your best attributes. Instead of titling your career summary - Career Summary, create an eye-catching sales pitch like: Award-winning and market-driven sales strategist. See how instead we're selling them on who you are from the start?

4. Leave out keywords

Not just keywords but industry specific keywords - your resume may not even make it into the hiring manager's hand never mind landing in the trash. I read an online article on a wildly popular job board site that stated only 25% of recruiters use scanners to find resumés so keywords were overrated. They couldn't be more wrong!

Did they forget about how over 90% of major employers use job boards to find qualified candidates?! What does a job board do? It scans its database of resumes based on the industry specific keywords a recruiter enters and pulls up all applicable resumes by relevance. Guess who is the most relevant? You guessed it the person with the most matching keywords.

Here are examples of industry specific keywords: account manager, accounts payable, account executive, sales manager, human resources manager, executive trainer. Here are some examples of what a keyword is not: great communicator, excellent presentation skills, team builder, or written and verbal skills.

5. Small mistakes or grammatical errors

It always pays to have someone else review your resume. They will find little goofs that your eyes will overlook. Even one small error like leaving out a punctuation mark, misspelling a word, or leaving a sentence unfinished. These are resume killers and ALWAYS land your resumé promptly in the trash can. Choose one or two people to review your resumé and if you don't know anyone with great editing skills there are companies out there or writers out there you can hire just to review and edit your resumé.

Jessica Holbrook is a former Executive Hiring Manager for Fortune 500 companies and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. She creates powerful, customized, and targeted resumes that are guaranteed to get her clients interviews.

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Talent Egg.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 1:32 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

So, what exactly is an Elevator speech? Imagine you are a media sales assistant working for a small marketing company. Your dream job would be working for Big Media Company Inc in the sales department. You are meeting a friend for lunch, step into the elevator in his building and push your floor. You look up and who steps into the elevator but the Head of Sales (Mr. Big) for Big Media Company Inc. You have 30 seconds to strike up a conversation and convince Mr. Big why he should consider interviewing and hiring you. What do you say? Are you prepared? You would be if you had your elevator speech.

I'm sure that for some of you your first thought is "Elevator speech?". But your elevator speech could be one of the most important and powerful tools in your Job Search Marketing Toolkit. In addition to the links below, you will also want to check my post 'Do you have your 30 second Elevator Speech?'

How to Craft an Effective Elevator Speech - This article, by Creativekeys.net, explains what it is, how to prepare it, when to use it and also provides a short example. The article covers just the basics, but it's a great way to get an overview and get started on yours.

Elevator Speech Do's and Don'ts - As with everything, there's a wrong way and a right way. This article, by Quintcareers, has a nice touch by showing both sides of the equation. The advice to write and re-write your elevator speech is great advice. You will not get it right the first few times. But in addition to telling you the Do's of writing, the article also tells you what to do during the actual speech (should you get the chance). As with most of Quintcareers' articles, there are additional helpful links in the article for related topics. Last, but not least, the last recommendation to join a Toastmasters course is a great idea.

The 30-Second Elevator Pitch - For those of you who have been reading this post for the last few months, you will know that the Riley Guide is one of the best job search resources on the Web. This link to a list of links reminds us the the Elevator Speech is not only a proactive process (as in my intro), but a reactive response to "what do you do?". The article has about 10 links to some excellent sites. There is even a link to a site that describes the different types of elevator speeches (yes, even elevator speeches have different uses).

Video Interviewing for Employment - So what do video interviews have to do with Elevator Speeches? Well for one, they are a form of a verbal presentation so there is definitely some linkage. Video interviews also force you to know what you are going to say about what you do. I've included this article, by About.com, as an introduction to the concept (which is becoming more popular) as well as the similarities to the main topic.

Job Fairs: How To Make Them Work For You - So, you may ask, why did I include this link? One of the places you will certainly need your elevator speech is at a job fair (not just in an elevator). Job fairs tend to be jam packed and there is very little time to express yourself. This article is from the University of Buffalo's Career Site and provides a section on elevator speeches. There is also a brief example of an elevator speech. Of course the remainder of the article provides very good advice on job fairs as well and is certainly worth a read.

Good luck in your search.

Article by Career Alley

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on JobsinStockholm.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 1:24 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Do you ever find it hard to tell if you're pushing yourself too much at your career or not enough?

I do, and I'm not certain if that makes me compulsive or lazy or just plain confused.

Let's leave aside for the moment the question of whether or not I, or anyone else who struggles with the same issues, am doing the right things to advance my professional career.

It's clear that charging off in the wrong direction won't get you where you want to go, no matter how hard you try.

The question I'd like to deal with here is "How hard should you try?"

These days, with the Internet, smart phones, texting and more, our career sensors could easily be locked into the "Always On" position.

And it's tempting to think that's the way to go. After all, there's so much competition, and times are tough... Sometimes it feels like you should be researching companies, writing e-mails and networking a literal 24/7.

But that's probably not a good way to go. No one looks their best without sleep, and that could hurt you in an interview. Furthermore, we really do benefit from rest, relaxation and recharging our batteries.

The trick is being able to tell whether you're stopping because it's a good idea or because you're wussing out.

I've decided to look to the practice of stretching for guidance. When you make stretching part of your physical fitness activities, you need to go beyond what's comfortable, or easy. But you don't want to push too hard, because you could make your muscles tighten in response or hurt yourself.

When you're stretching properly, you find your edge and stay there. A good stretch lets you know you're working, but it's not excruciating, either. It's a position you can hold, and hold consciously, paying attention to how much effort you're expending and the feedback you're getting as a result. You can breathe through it and use your breath to keep relaxed, engaged and focused with gentle, sustained pressure.

Doesn't that sound like good advice to follow in your working days, or with your job hunt?

Find your edge and work there, with gentle, sustained pressure. That's the goal I'm shooting for in my work/life practice. What about you?

Article by Danielle D. and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 11:16 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

When someone seems stuck in their career and unsure of their next step, a question they're often asked to answer is, "What are you passionate about?" That seems like a logical starting point. After all, when you're working on your passion, whatever it is, the belief is that you'll enjoy yourself more and be more willing to do what needs to be done.

But is passion really enough? I thought it was until I saw a movie this weekend called Herb and Dorothy which chronicles the true story of a Manhattan couple, who over a 40-year period amassed one of the most impressive collections of Minimalist and Conceptual art--nearly 5,000 pieces--all on a postal worker's salary, and all from a one-bedroom apartment.

They lived day-to-day on Dorothy's salary as a librarian and spent every penny Herb made on art. They bought pieces that they liked, were affordable and could fit into their tiny living space.

You could say they had a passion for art, but I also saw a very deep commitment to it as well. They spent every single dollar and every single free moment they had immersed in art, learning about it, talking about it, visiting galleries, meeting artists.

I really didn't get Herb and Dorothy at first. Early in the film, I was disturbed by what seemed like an extreme art addiction. No matter how much they collected, they kept wanting more. What was the point of collecting so many pieces? When you had to start stacking works under the bed shouldn't that have been a signal that enough was enough? It seemed like a constant thirst that couldn't be quenched, and that bothered me.

But then I thought about the other extreme, that group of people who work and live without either passion or commitment. Going through the motions, caring very little and giving up at the first obstacle. That actually bothered me more. And it should bother you too because those people could be working for you, interacting with your customers, influencing your staff, or involved in something much more critical to your life.

Just getting by

You can't really control the actions or motivations (or lack thereof) of others. You can't manifest a desire within someone to do well; only they can do that. But what you can do is be a role model and develop excellence in yourself by re-committing to commitment.

If you've already identified what you're passionate about from a work standpoint, ask yourself next how you can also remain committed to it for the long term, because that's the true turning point towards excellence.

How can I be committed to being the best at what I do? How can I:

• Put in the time that's required?
• Invest the money that's needed?
• Build the relationships I need to build?
• Learn everything I need to know?

Being passionate about your work is for your benefit. Being committed to your work is for the benefit of others. Only when both elements of the equation are addressed can you be truly excellent in your field.

Liz Lynch is founder of the Center for Networking Excellence and author of Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online (McGraw-Hill, 2008). Connect with Liz on Twitter at @liz_lynch and get your free Smart Networking Toolkit at http://www.SmartNetworking.com.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 8:34 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today, I spoke to Mark Goulston, M.D., who is a business advisor, consultant, trainer and coach trained as a clinical psychiatrist and author of the new book, Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone. In this interview, Mark compares listening and speaking, goes over the elements of persuasion, shares some tips for getting attention at work and more.

Mark, can you compare listening and speaking. Which is more important during a networking situation and why?

Your partner, spouse or kids are not the only ones who don't want an unsolicited opinion or advice or to be convinced of something. The people you meet in a networking situation actually feel the same even though paradoxically they want something from you. Is that difficult to believe? How would you feel if someone overtly (vs. covertly) said to you without being asked: "I'm here to sell you on hiring me or purchasing my service or product."

Your goal in a networking situation is to say the least possible that will spontaneously trigger a response such as, "How do you do that?" or "Tell me more," or "I need to follow up with you; what's the best way to get in touch with you?" or "Can I call you tomorrow?" or "Are you accepting new clients or customers?"

Speaking more than you listen, jumping to conclusions, and interrupting people are highly unlikely to generate the responses above. What will generate those responses is asking questions and then listening intently to the answers in a way that shows genuine interest in the other person. In doing so, this will trigger reciprocal interest in you - except in the case of "dyed in the wool" takers - with whom you should be careful about revealing too much.

Sample questions that trigger spontaneous responses from others include:

• Show your interest in the service or product: "What do you (or your service or product or company) do, and who do you do it for, and when?"
• Go deeper and show an interest in another individual as a person: "How did you get into that?" "What's the best part of what you do?"
• One of my favourite questions (I can get away with this as a psychiatrist, but when you have time you can also ask it) is: "Where and from who did you learn the best lessons on how to succeed in life, and what were those lessons?"

This last question is terrific, because it causes the other person to remember someone they feel grateful to and what they feel grateful about...and at some level they will be grateful to you for giving them the chance to feel it.

What is the relationship between listening and persuading someone to do something?

Everybody functions as if they were in a silo. And every silo looks at the world differently. When you try to persuade someone without knowing or caring where that person is coming from (because you too are blinded by your siloed view of the world), it's like entering that person's room or office without knocking.

Listening deeply earns you the right to persuade people to do something. I usually make the transition between listening and persuading transparently (vs. sneakily) by saying to someone after I have heard them out, "Might I make an observation from what you've said?" At that point I can summarize what I've heard and then come to a conclusion that begs for a solution. For instance, I may say: "I've heard that you want to accomplish such and such a goal by year-end, but I've also heard that your people may not be skilled enough to pull it off and so I wonder what training you have in place for them to get up to speed?"

How do you break through emotional barricades by listening and what results will you receive?

It's what I call, "listening with my eyes," and commenting on a barricade or roadblock I am noticing. So if someone seems resistant to something we have spoken about that makes patent and obvious sense, I might say: "I see you nodding that what we are talking about makes sense, and yet I perceive something is holding you back. What question haven't I asked or situation haven't we addressed that if we addressed, would address and ease some of the reluctance you are having right now about our moving forward with this?"

The key is that when the other person begins to tell you about their internal reservations, you acknowledge those reservations instead of bulldozing through them. Invite the other person into collaboration to solve their reservations. You can do so by saying something like: "I understand exactly where you're coming from and your hesitation. Since you have agreed that what we're talking about makes sense, how might we resolve or work around that issue that is causing you to hesitate?"

What are your top three tips for making your manager or co-workers pay attention and care about your work?

1. A lob into the future. Ask your manager or co-workers to imagine it is a year down the road and they are evaluating the past year. Say, "It was much better than any of us could have expected and we dodged a few bullets that we normally would not have paid attention to." After they agree to do that, ask them to answer: "What happens this year to make that so?" Finally, articulate with them how and where what you do will play a critical role in that success.
2. Anticipatory Performance Review Training. Say to your boss or co-worker, "At my next performance review I am looking to have everyone who weighs in on it to say, 'Give him a promotion and more money.' What results will I need to get for that to occur?" Whatever they say, repeat it exactly back to them and wait for a confirmatory, "Yes." A confirmatory "Yes" deepens their commitment to giving you the promotion or raise when you achieve those results. To make those results more achievable for you say to them: "In the event going forward I see that I need additional training or that I have to let go of some other projects I'm working on, and you may need to run interference for me, what's the best way to elicit support from you on either issue?"
3. Earning respect gets you noticed. Say to your manager or co-worker that you have made a commitment to improve your performance, increase your results and the respect that people have for you and would like their help. Therefore you would like them to point out three things you should always do and three negative things you should never do that would cause them to increase their respect for you and also probably impact on your performance and results.

How have you built your own personal brand?

I am still a medical doctor at heart, because what still drives me in my relationships with other people is to listen deeply to them. My goal is to be of service to the other person without keeping score of what I am getting in return. Because of my natural inclination to be of service to others, it is important for me to select people to be involved with who are reciprocal by nature. I have developed relationships with some of the top CEO's in the country by practicing exactly that. I never sell them on anything; I always try to make their lives better. With time - and after they realize that I have no hidden agenda - they spontaneously reciprocate and want to help make my life better.

And as MasterCard might say, "Generosity from a Fortune 500 CEO...priceless."

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 23, 2009 at 8:29 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

It's somewhat ironic to refer to the process of reincorporating one's self to a job after time off spent parenting and raising a family, since in reality this is a job in and of itself. Any parent knows that raising children is a full-time job, whether you have a formal job or not. The only thing is, being a parent doesn't pay (and in fact, it's quite costly), and so after a time away from the workplace for parenting purposes most mothers and fathers will be inclined to get back into the labor force. This process of returning to work is sometimes a very simple ordeal, entirely prearranged and predictable; for other parents, it is anything but easy and implies practically starting a whole new job search with all the concomitant efforts and chores.

Some parents will have only taken a few weeks or months off of work, in which case their leave of absence will not have had much affect on their ability to function on the job, whereas parents that have taken a more significant reprieve will find themselves in need of reorientation and instruction - often in the shape of career counselling. Hence, sprucing up one's professional image is always a crucial aspect of this process for any parent looking to return to work, whether it be within the same position and company as before or within a completely new setting.

1. Finding childcare services that match your needs. The biggest concern of any parent about to return to work is how they are going to ensure their kids are being properly looked after. This matter will be framed differently depending on where you live, as certain cities/counties offer childcare programs (and some states have programs as well), whereas in other areas there is practically no official support in this regard whatsoever. Consult with the Social Services office (in some jurisdictions known as the Human Services office) of your local government as well as with your state government and inquire about any programs they may be running on the matter. One federal program, aimed specifically at fathers, can be consulted by visiting the following website with the US Department of Health and Human Services' domain.

Though finding such official programs for childcare help is a major home run for any parent trying to return to work, in reality only very few of the total applicants will qualify for these programs. Most of the time, the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the individual, and being creative, flexible, and having good time-management skills will be of the essence as a result. There will inevitably be a cost involved--unless you are lucky enough to find a relative happy to take on the responsibility, free of charge--and you will need to negotiate and bargain in order to get the best deal: if you are going to hire a nanny to be in your home for the hours when no other adult supervisor is present, try to find ways to reduce their price by adding tangible benefits. For example, in exchange for the nanny lowering their rate, offer them free meals while they are keeping an eye on the kids, or offer a room and bed (when applicable). Also, see if your employer is willing to help with childcare costs (which, if forthcoming, might hinge upon a salary cut...a necessary sacrifice).

2. Renew your knowledge base. Many parents that want to return to the labor force will be doing so after a long spell of not having had any work. These persons, therefore, are urged to spruce up their professional image as much as possible before presenting themselves to any job interviews or even dropping off copies of their CV. There's nothing worse on a CV than many years without a new entry, a new qualification/certification, etc. Even for those parents that are returning to the exact same job that they had before their leave of absence the need for renewing knowledge and know-how is pressing. Technology is, undoubtedly, the most salient case in point: whether it's been only a few months or whether it's been a few years, updating one's IT skills is going to be imperative. Strongly consider going to a course intended for working adults that will renew your IT skills; at the same time, courses and seminars aimed at other--more theoretical--aspects of professional competency will be a good idea. If you have a trade license that expired over your leave of absence, get it renewed; if a newer form of certification emerged during your absence, try becoming certified. Whatever you do, do not emerge from your parenting spell without injecting new vigor into your résumé.

3. Don't play it solo; use the available resources. One of the biggest mistakes committed by parents returning to the labor force is trying to go it alone--frequently, a way of protecting their ego by reaffirming that they can accomplish things, professionally speaking, on their own. This is a suicide strategy, and will certainly not benefit any parent looking to return to work. Really anybody poking around the job market--parent or not--is encouraged to call upon the services of the different career coaches and counselors in their community. For people that went to college, going directly to the institution's Career Office and signing up for some career coaching is the best way to proceed. Not only will such counselors be able to indicate which avenues you should be pursuing, but these people have been trained to help individuals identify their abilities and fortes and narrow down a career path or two that best take advantage of them. One problem many parents encounter in their efforts to reassimilate to the work force is that they don't know exactly what they can bring to the table; these professionals help folks surmount that obstacle and move beyond it.

4. Be bold. Parenting is really a job of its own, and when you reincorporate yourself into the "real" working world you will want to harness the skills you honed as a parent. Furthermore, some parents simply are not willing to renounce many of the things that they grew accustomed to while being at home taking care of their family, such as the proximity with their children and the ability to help them with their school work, etc. Subsequently, many parents make the bold decision to branch out into a new career path that will give them more space for the family, or directly choose to begin working from home--which is a dream come true for many working parents. The opportunities for working from home are growing by the day, and parents looking for an income would be wise to give a look in this direction (as well as others...remember to keep all your bases covered).

Whatever choice you make in the end, remember that it is important for parents to get back to work at one point or another. For inspiration and explanations on why this is the case, take a look at the following website which clearly demonstrates the importance of returning to work.

Peter Appleby is a professional career consultant, helping those at a career crossroads.

Article courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 22, 2009 at 11:12 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Running in place doesn't get a lot of respect. Many athletes think of it as what you do when you're waiting for a light to change, or when you have absolutely no alternative. It's virtually the fitness equivalent of spinning your wheels, and nobody wants to do that.

Especially when it comes to their careers.

But just as there's more going on with jogging in place than meets the eye, working through those career plateaus can yield valuable insights.

Running in place will get your muscles moving, elevate your heart rate and let you break a sweat. Competitive boxers sometimes use it in their training, and other athletes practice running in place with high knees to improve their over-all performance. According to FitDay.com, a 5'5" 35 year-old woman weighing 135 pounds running in place for 30 minutes would even burn 202 calories.

Of course, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it, but isn't that the case with anything?

Take your career. If you're feeling a stalled out these days try some self-examination, laced with imagination. Picture yourself as a jogger, running in place. Are you hopping around, waiting for the light to change? Are you doing this because it's your only option, or because you don't have the drive to pursue some other kind of exercise?

Your response offers clues to the way out of your work rut. If you're waiting for a green light at work so you can kick your career into high gear, better make sure that the light is still working. Are there clear pathways for advancement with your company? What do you have to do to start running along them? What does the economic future look like for your company and your industry? If conditions don't look promising, it could be time to start thinking about a major shift.

But if you see yourself as a runner with no alternatives to running in place, then it's time for you to start planning a career shift. Examine your key competencies and see how you can re-package them for other fields, or see a career counselor - just make certain you do something, because you don't want to get yourself stuck on this plateau.

And if you find yourself running in place because you just don't feel like doing anything more strenuous, then you have to ask yourself why. Is it a temporary slump or are you seriously burnt out? Are problems with management or co-workers keeping you from feeling fully engaged at work?

Whatever your situation, figuring out why you feel stuck will help you get moving again.

And you can still pick up your knees when you set off.

Article by Danielle D. and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 22, 2009 at 11:09 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

When you read about social media and human resources, inevitably you will come across the phrase "the reputation economy." This isn't a new concept, exactly: in small towns of decades ago, the reputation economy could make or break the local insurance salesman or grocer. But as commerce went global, we stopped personally knowing the people who sell us things. Social media is valuable, in part, because it can give us an idea of who we're dealing with when we don't know them at all.

If we're going to talk about work habits and style, who better to describe you than your current and former coworkers?

In the past, when I've searched for websites that claim to have a business model involving "coworker feedback," I have mostly discovered schemes to anonymously inform cubicle-mates that they have bad breath or other irksome personal habit. (I won't bother to link; you know the type of site I mean.)

And if I were forced to guess at who was the current leader in serious peer reviews and recommendations, I would have definitely named LinkedIn. It's the most widely-used professional networking service around, and has a very well respected recommendation system. One important factor, for me, is that the peer reviews are not anonymous. Everyone is accountable for what they say, and their own employment history is transparent. As the LinkedIn blog says:

Most people who have applied to higher level educational institutions are familiar with the traditional methods of gathering recommendations. Finding an advisor, mentor, or teacher willing to fill out a series of questions and write a sealed letter of recommendation. LinkedIn Recommendations bring liquidity and transparency to the reputation economy. As a result, the way people evaluate and respond to recommendations is changing as well.

All true, valuable, and well-said. But I just read an interesting tidbit from the San Francisco Chronicle that got me thinking about peer feedback. The topic was coworker reviews, communication, and evaluation, which had obviously been on my mind. But they brought the discussion back around to confidentiality. Transparency is great... for recommendations, which are meant to seen by strangers, and need to be trustworthy and verifiable. But for improving your current work habits, without switching jobs or involving a recruiter, isn't confidential feedback more valuable and timely?

That is where Coworkers.com comes in. They launched about a year and a half ago, and the purpose of the site is to let you accumulate frank and private evaluations from past and current colleagues. You are evaluated in terms of your core values, your interpersonal skills, your general competence, and your productivity, and given analytical tools to help you interpret and improve your skills.

One huge benefit: "You no longer have to wait for your boss to tell you how you're doing, or what you need to do to address any issues. With Coworkers.com you can find out quickly and painlessly, straight from the people who know you best - the colleagues that you interact with every day," says Coworkers founder Jonathan Clay. Improving before the boss asks you to is always a big plus in our book.

In the past few weeks, Coworkers.com has launched a complete career management site to complement their feedback system:

[It] gives professionals at any level, those in transition, consultants, and small businesses, the tools to instantly create a personal dashboard to manage their work, analyze their performance, gain feedback on overall performance and get reaction to specific deliverables, events, and job milestones. Companies can use the site to monitor and analyze employee performance, and recruiters can gain access to detailed candidate profiles. Businesses with virtual teams or multiple offices will find a complete suite of tools to communicate, share feedback, and monitor workgroup performance without costly enterprise software.

With this broader focus, the site is mixing private and public feedback. The site also has a paid section that is targeted at Human Resources, and aims to assist in researching candidates and managing employees.

Just to round things out, I looked around for competitors to Coworkers.com. I came across a site called RateMyCoworkers.com, but it's clearly much smaller, has fewer features, and is more of a comment board than a private system. The Chronicle also cites Rypple.com and WorkScore.com as websites where one's personal reputation comes into play. But I just haven't seen anything with the scope and ambition of Coworkers, particularly with this recent drive to be used by entire teams and supplant enterprise software with a website. Very interesting, indeed.

Article by, Sarah and courtesy of RiseSmart.com - RiseSmart: Search Smarter. Rise Faster.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 21, 2009 at 4:14 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

The number of jobs in Arizona are expected to continue to decline during 2010.

A recent report from the Arizona Department of Commerce found that Arizona jobs will most likely take another hit next year. A forecast of average annual growth rates shows a .9 percent decrease during 2010, which is on top of an expected 5.6 percent decrease this year, resulting in a total loss of 167,000 jobs during the two-year period.

When it comes to Arizona's largest metro areas, jobs in Phoenix are expected to decline by 5.9 percent this year and 1 percent next year, while jobs in Tucson are expected to decline by 4 percent this year and .5 percent during 2010.

Every industry is expected to decline this year, aside from education and health services, which is expected to increase by 1.6 percent this year and 1.5 percent next year. While the other services industry is expected to decline by 4.5 percent this year, it is expected to grow by 1.1 percent during 2010.

Other industries the report states are expected to decline include:

• manufacturing by 5.5 percent this year and 1.9 percent next year


• natural resources and mining by 14.6 percent this year and 2.8 percent next year


• construction by 21.4 percent this year and 2 percent next year


• trade, transportation and utilities by 7.5 percent this year and 1.9 percent next year


• information by 5.3 percent and 2.2 percent next year


• financial activities by 3.3 percent this year and 1.1 percent next year


• professional and business services by 8 percent this year and 1.8 percent next year


• leisure and hospitality by 4.2 percent this year and .7 percent next year


• government by 1.4 percent this year and .2 percent next year

Those figures point to the trade, transportation and utilities industry remaining Arizona's largest employment industry during 2010, accounting for 19 percent of all jobs. The government industry is the second-largest employment industry, accounting for 17.4 percent of all jobs.

Posted by Joel Cheesman on September 21, 2009 at 12:28 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

It's my opinion that today's "best" practices of leaders not only fail to resolve the problems they're meant to resolve or achieve the results they're meant to achieve, they actually escalate problems. I'd like to recommend alternative practices to take their place. After all, reality has shifted and those who cling to old practices that no longer serve them and perhaps never did, will fail to thrive. Seriously. Fail to thrive.

Today, I touch on the third "best" practice and hope to provoke your thinking, in subsequent entries, regarding all six.

Worst "Best" Practice #3 - Holding People Accountable

Next to human connectivity, accountability is the single most powerful, most desired, yet least understood characteristic of a successful environment. The long-term benefits of accountability have enormous implications for the quality of our lives and there is a direct correlation between a company's health and the degree of accountability displayed by its employees.

But holding people accountable doesn't work. Why? Because accountability is an attitude; a personal, private, non-negotiable choice about how to live one's life. It's a desire to take responsibility for results; a bias towards solution, action. And in case you haven't noticed, you cannot mandate a desire, a bias, a choice, or an attitude.

I remember working with a team of high potentials at a global shoe manufacturer. At one point, the founder of the company, a tall, imposing figure, walked into the room and sat in the back. I had just begun to explore the notion of accountability when he stood and thundered, "What I want to know is - if we take a successful store manager and move him into a territory that's struggling and nothing improves, who's accountable - the manager or the person who moved him?"

In other words, who will receive my wrath? At which point, forty intelligent people - the future leaders of his company - did their best to shrink their subatomic particles and vanish from his radar.

Why? Because most of us associate accountability with blame, culpability, being wrong, maybe even being fired. In fact, we'd likely define accountability as "clarity about whose head will roll when things go wrong." No wonder we don't eagerly raise our hands when we hear the question, "Who is accountable?" Instead, we insist that he, she, it, they did it to us! If he, she, it, they or the situation were different, we'd be happy, successful, have the results we want. And we roll out our victim list to justify our helplessness - all the reasons and excuses why things aren't going well. We even try to convince others that we are more of a victim than they are.

I have it worse than you do

No, they're really out to get me!

And when we win, we celebrate! My life is worse than yours! Hooray!

The victim mode has wonderful benefits! It's not me, it's you, it's them. I've assessed the problem and you're it. If you and everybody else would accommodate me, I'd be happier. I'm innocent, blameless, the quality of my life has nothing to do with me, so I don't have to do anything. I can't. It's out of my hands. If it were in my hands, I'd take action.

When we shine a light on this, it starts to sound flawed.

I'm not saying our lists aren't true. Every item on our lists may be 100% true. But it doesn't matter. It's not what's happened to us, its what are we going to do about it?

So it's understandable that in order to get people to focus on making things happen, fixing the problems, we announce that we are holding them accountable. And here's what we get:

• People play not to lose instead of playing to win. Holding people accountable doesn't instill enthusiasm. It usually creates an internal resistance, at best resentful compliance.
• Lack of clarity, lots of confusion. When people are scared of being blamed for poor results, no one wants to own anything or define their role in the outcome.
• Tunnel vision. People are so fearful of being blamed, their focus is on tracking evidence to justify mediocre results, rather than on overcoming the obstacles in their way.
• Passive/resistant work force. When command and control leaders say, "We need to be tougher on accountability", what they get is a negative result quicker.
• Bitterness towards co-workers. You end up with an adversarial, divisive, tattle-tale environment in which people are keeping score on who is doing what and are quick to point out each other's faults and mis-steps.
• Difficulty leading. People will stop coming to you because they are afraid to tell you if something is not working. And, if you don't follow through on your threats, you lose credibility.

And much more, none of it good.

The accountable stance is:

Given my goals, how will I achieve them? Given the barriers to my progress and the current results on my plate, some of which are troubling, what am I going to do? Simply put - If it's to be, it's up to me.

What would be the implications if most of the people in an organization chose accountability as their way of life? How would you help them make that shift? What can you do to raise the bar on accountability in your organization?

You can find the answers in Chapter 3 of my upcoming book Fierce Leadership due out this September.

Article by Susan Scott and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 21, 2009 at 11:04 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

These days more and more people are willing to pick up and move house for the sake of their careers. Particularly in this economy, sometimes an employee's only option in keeping their job is to consider relocating within their company to a new location where jobs are in greater supply. When preparing for potential job relocation, what are the key considerations a person should have before making the big move?

Negotiate

Even if relocation within your current company is one that has been proposed by you, and even if the company is having financial trouble, it's still a good idea to negotiate relocation benefits as much as possible. Especially when moving overseas, understanding and negotiating a cost of living adjustment to your salary is a must. Otherwise you could make the move and discover that your purchasing power has been reduced, and that you can't afford to live in that chic expatriate condominium you'd been eyeing.

Another relocation benefit to negotiate is temporary living expenses. Moving can be an expensive ordeal, and you need your company's support while you get your bearings in your new location, wait for your shipped belongings to arrive, and get oriented in your new job. What better way to do this than to have a temporary executive residence or hotel apartment you can call home for a month or so. These sorts of lodgings are not as expensive as many people might think, and they go a long way in helping relocated employees transition smoothly in their new work location.

Prepare the Family

Getting yourself prepared for a move includes preparing your family. This is the case whether you're married with kids, or single. If you're married or have children, then there are all sorts of issues to straighten out before moving, such as schools, finding a new job for the husband or wife that follows, and seeking out family-friendly housing and neighborhoods in the new location. But if you're single, it's your mother, father, sisters and brothers, etc., that need consideration. It's important to speak to them well in advance of your move, and provide them with lots of information about the new job and the new location, so that they can be supportive rather than critical of the move, especially if it will take you farther away from them. Preparing the family should also include a discussion about when you plan to come home for visits, and whether family members would have a place to stay with you if they wanted to come for a visit.

Learn about Language and Culture

One of the biggest mistakes that relocating employees often make is assuming they'll fit right in at their new location, and be able to navigate the many cultural differences with relative ease. Particularly with international moves, but also with moves within the same country, reading a book or two about your new location makes a lot of sense. Learn about the history and people of the area, about the different neighborhoods, best places to eat, important attractions, etc. Even if you're moving to a city you think you know pretty well, read up on it anyway. You'll find there was a lot you didn't know about your future home city.

In addition, when moving to a location where new language skills may be required, even if only outside the office, look into taking some language classes. Ideally it's a good idea to get reimbursed by the company for language training, as it will lessen your expense load, but may also encourage you to stick with the language lessons when the company is supporting and paying for them. If possible, start language training before you get to your new work location. It will give you a unique perspective on the culture of the country, and help to lessen the feeling of culture shock when you arrive.

Ensure an Efficient Hand-off

One of the most challenging aspects of relocating to a new job within the company is related to ensuring an effective hand-off of old job responsibilities. This is key when preparing for relocation, because even though you'll be moving jobs, you'll still be in the same company. Your reputation will follow you, so before you leave for the new role, make sure you've completed critical projects and work assignments, or found a designated co-worker to take them over when you leave.

Part of the excitement of getting ready for a new home and a new job is the anticipation of what lies ahead. Just remember what and whom you leave behind as you prepare for the exciting challenges that lie ahead.

Article by Melanie Haniph and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 21, 2009 at 11:00 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Yes, There Is Such a Thing as Visual TMI

Back in the day (OK, waay back), I worked out at a real gym - one where you would often see professional bodybuilders. We were serious about our lifting, those big boys, ripped girls and I. So when a woman came in one day in full make up, wearing matching workout togs, we all just stared. She was an anachronism. I bet she didn't even own a ripped, sweat-stained Rolling Rock T-shirt. Obviously, she didn't know our culture.

I've never had the privilege of working for a company that provided an on-site workout facility. Personally, I admire those folks who take the time during the work day to squeeze in a session on the treadmill. But do corporate gyms have their own etiquette? To find out, I asked my friend and former colleague, Rhonda Burnaugh, RN, a wellness director who ran the gym program at her last job. Here are some tips from Burnaugh: Continue reading ...

Guest post by Nancy LaFever. You can read more from her at the Centre for Emotional Wellbeing blog.

Article courtesy of Andrew G.R. and jobacle.com - your cure for carbon copy career advice!

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 21, 2009 at 10:51 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Want a job at Burberry? Reading this post is a good start, but then what? Get a job faster with Found Your Career, our 21-day entry level job search prep course.

It's funny how well respected brands that have been around forever will get swept up in a fad. Some, like Abercrombie & Fitch, will make it part of a new identity, while others like Burberry will enjoy the popularity but maintain their core image. Burberry is a British company that has been making quality garments since 1856, but they became especially trendy in the early 2000s, if I remember correctly. While most brands are recognized for their logo or a specific product, Burberry is known for their plaid. In fact, unless you're a tartan freak, "Burberry Check" is probably the only plaid that you recognize by name. Over their 150 years Burberry has moved more towards luxury goods than outdoor garments, which is best evidenced by their new ad campaigns with Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.

Read full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 4:44 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Hands-down, the most fascinating post I read about HR this month wasn't from an HR blog at all -- it was from a blog for Java developers. It serves up some extremely valuable information about the relationship between programmers and tech recruiters.

The title of this must-read is "How to Make HR Dump a Programmer's Resume," and it was written by Esther Schindler of JavaWorld. The post made a huge splash on the Net... it's been reposted in countless forums because it's just so on-the-nose. Schindler followed up a few days later with the other side of the coin: "What HR Professionals Look For in a Programmer's Resume." The two pieces together create a whole, and are not-to-be-missed.

In the first article, "How to Make HR Dump a Programmer's Resume," Schindler discusses the difference in audience between an HR professional and a technical manager. Most people are capable of slanting the document to cater to one or the other, but oftentimes, applicants don't know who is reading the resume first. It's a real problem for techies, whose resumes are often markedly different from those of other types of applicants. Some other topics covered to make sure programmers don't get their resumes dumped are:

• Having the right buzzwords, optimized for "literal" screening software
• Using business language instead of technical jargon
• Knowing when to leave out irrelevant or obsolete skills
• Using the "in vogue" term for a particular job
• Showing discipline in editing the resume for length (IT people are notorious for having loooooong resumes)

After the popularity of the first post, Schindler was determined to show her programming colleagues the DOs as well as the DO NOT DOs, so she penned "What HR Professionals Look For in a Programmer's Resume." The HR people she talked to said that the three things most often overlooked by programmers in their self-marketing are

1) specific achievements,
2) metrics, and
3) an introductory summary.

This introductory summary idea is important: a lot of software people jump straight into a list of technologies or achievements without giving the reader a context of what kind of person they're dealing with. Also covered:

• Don't describe the organization; describe what you did there
• Include a self-rating of Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert for each technology
• Making the world a better place: covering work on open-source endeavors
• The worth of technology certifications to HR

I recommend you read these articles yourself if you are at all involved in recruiting tech personnel.

All of this reminds me of a brilliant cartoon (pictured, in part, at the top of this post) by Steve Hanov, a software developer who also creates tech-related cartoons. It's a little harsh on HR -- so you've been warned going in -- but it's quite funny in its description of how an HR professional and a programmer will read the same resume completely differently. Instead of taking the digs in the cartoon badly, I choose to take them as a sincere comment from a techie as to what is really important to them -- which is truly worth knowing. I remain confident that organizations with open communication and a commitment to great technical recruiting can value the input of both programmers and HR when it comes to building the software team.

What is key for you in noticing a programmer resume?

Article by, Sarah and courtesy of RiseSmart.com - RiseSmart: Search Smarter. Rise Faster.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 4:42 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I'm not a total gearhead, but I can get pretty excited about gadgets (like the ones that we just gave away in our Back to School, Back to Work contest). Luckily, there are plenty of gadget sites on the web to keep us all up to date on the newest and greatest tech toys. We have Gizmodo and Engadget and hundreds of others to bring us breaking news on what's hot. So, why would the guy who started both Gizmodo and Engadget (both of which he sold off) start another gadget site? The New York Times says that Peter Rojas thinks he can do it again--this time with gdgt, a user-generated content site for owners of gadgets that aren't necessarily the best new things.

Read the full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 4:39 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

In a general sense, it appears that the environmental feed is a veritable hotbed for job seekers at the moment. There are a number of firms starting up throughout the country that are innovative and right in line with the current thoughts on environmentally-friendly technologies and development. The result is that environmental job boards have cropped up to a greater extent, some of them delving further into the "vertical" space than merely focusing on environmental positions as a whole and going into sub-specialties.

Geothermal jobs are especially popular at the moment, with the advances in heating and air conditioning especially capturing the attention of the public at large and with traditional well-drilling and HVAC companies moving into "green" mode by working with both open-loop and closed-loop geothermal systems.

There are of course a wide variety of other positions that qualify as being environmental or green jobs, with popular choices including natural resources, engineering positions, government jobs with the EPA, and a host of others.

Article by, Matt and courtesy of Insourced blog

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 4:38 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Having graduated from Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, I spent a lot of time learning about work, employment, and labor issues during my undergraduate days. While most people think that Labor Day is all about the end of summer (sorry!) and not being able to wear white anymore, my school ensured that I was made more aware of the history of Labor Day. Oddly enough, ILR didn't give us the day off from classes, but they did excuse us from classes if we went to a big Labor Day celebration with speakers from major unions. If that sounds like something that would interest you, then maybe you'll want to check out jobs with the U.S. Department of Labor. There isn't a more suitable employer to feature on Labor Day than our Federal Government's Cabinet department responsible for promoting "the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States."

Read the full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 4:31 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

When I first read Now, Discover Your Strengths (The Free Press 2001) co-authored by Marcus Buckingham I realized it was revolutionary. Instead of promoting the notion of trying to fix weaknesses as a means to career success, it simply said find out your strengths and run with them. As a career counselor, that concept aligned with my strategies for helping clients explore career options that actually match with their skills, strengths, interests, passions, personality type, values, and personal brand.

Marcus Buckingham's new book Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently (to be released on Sept. 29) promises to be another salvo in advancing self-esteem and career success. By saying "yes" to your strengths, Mr. Buckingham asserts "women can tap into their best selves and find their strongest lives".

A key component of the book is The Strong Life Test for Women. Only 23 questions long, this online quiz immediately reveals your Lead Role and your Supporting Role. I struggled with some of the questions, where 2 out of the 4 possible answers seemed like reasonable responses I would make. So I decided to take the quiz twice, once answering with my top-level responses and another time with responses that were almost a tie with my first choices. This is the resulting order of roles revealed for me:

• Advisor - Asks "What is the best thing to do?" Valued for your insight and judgment and helping others to find answers.
• CareTaker - Asks "Is everyone OK?" Instinctively inclusive, looking for ways to draw others into the circle and make them feel wanted, heard, and appreciated.
• Teacher - Asks "What can be learned from this?" You have faith in others' potential and enable others' learning about themselves, their performance, and their skills.
• Pioneer - Asks "What's new?" Willing to take risks and explore; intrigued by the unfamiliar, whether people or experiences.

Interestingly, these roles coincide with my personal branding attributes and strengths from my 360Reach personal branding assessment, a confidential online feedback tool. The 360Reach allowed me to ask those who knew me well what they honestly thought about me (respondents are guaranteed anonymity so they can be absolutely truthful). The attributes from my 360Reach results included strategic, caring, connecting, genuine, creative, insightful, and forward-thinking.

My recommendation: take The Strong Life Test for Women (a self-assessment) and the 360Reach (feedback from others) to uncover your key strengths, skills, and attributes. With that knowledge as a base, you can learn to recognize and say "yes" to life's opportunities that draw you like a magnet, because they are natural gateways for growth, fulfillment, and happiness.

Article by, Susan Guarneri and courtesy of CareerHub.com. The Career Hub blog connects job seekers with experts in career counseling, resume writing, personal branding and recruiting.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 4:13 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Following tips are from Duncan Mathison, executive career consultant, former vice president of Drake Beam Morin and co-author of Unlock the Hidden Job Market: 6 Steps to a Successful Job Search When Times are Tough with Martha I. Finney, careers expert and employee engagement consultant. ca

Duncan Mathison's mantra for discouraged job seekers is "Never Give Up - Never Give In."

Mathison's tips follow below:

1. Prepare for an extended search. When the job market shrinks, it takes longer to land a job. Adjust your finances and your expectations now to extend your staying power. Stopping the search until the economy improves is like the farmer who will go hungry at harvest because they didn't plant seeds in the spring. Do not give up. Keep planting those seeds.
2. Don't waste your time on long-shots. If you are only applying to posted jobs and those seem far and few between, your tendency is to cast a wider net by applying outside your geographic area or outside of your expertise ("I could do that job!"). This is a dead-end strategy and you will only face more painful rejection and depressing stories of 500 applicants to 1 job. When it comes to job postings: focus, focus, focus.

3. The right job for you is out there - it just won't be advertised. Employers cut recruiting budgets when times are tight. Instead hiring managers use less expensive and informal word of mouth strategies. As a result a higher percentage of available positions are in the "hidden job market". Job seekers must significantly expand the quality and quantity of their networking efforts to find unpublished jobs.
4. Leave the resume at home. The secret to good networking is to help your network help you. Instead of a resume, give people in your network (everyone you know) a list of 50-75 employers who you think would hire people with your type of skills. Do not ask if the companies are hiring. Instead ask if anyone knows people who work there - particularly managers who might hire and manage people with your skills.
5. Contact managers directly. Get their name, get an introduction and introduce yourself to them. Your introduction can be a simple, "I understand you have people with my kind of background and skills working for you. I don't assume to know if you have job openings but I would like to meet you and learn more about the type of people you like to have on your team and share with you a bit about my background." They may say "sure", they may say "send a resume" or they may say "no", but now they know about you. Remember the ONLY thing managers can do to assure their success is to meet and hire great people. And that's you!

Article courtesy of FT Press Click here to purchase a copy of Unlock the Hidden Job Market: 6 Steps to a Successful Job Search When Times are Tough on Amazon.com

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 11:27 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Self-help books speak about going through the stages of coping with disaster or trauma, and describe the process of denial, anger, sadness, and then ultimate acceptance. Just like the grieving process, there is some type of order that can typically be followed when dealing with bullies at work. And for the sake of clarity - a bully is defined as anyone at work who offensively uses their own authority, intellect or power over another employee, to make that person feel threatened, scared, or endangered. Bullies are everywhere, and most of us have dealt with them at some point in life. How do you deal with bullies without letting them distract you from your work?

1. Disarm with Humor and Friendliness

Though not appropriate for all scenarios, sometimes bullies can be distracted from their bullying ways by some fairly small, not-so-blatant peace offerings. In fact, most of the people I've known who've behaved as bullies at work are often the most insecure or immature people in the whole office, and sadly, the only way they know how to assert themselves or handle conflict is by reverting to the only behavior they've learned works for them - pushing others to a place of fear, so that they themselves can capture some feeling of security. This characteristic also makes them easy to spot, and fool, from a mile away, with some fairly benign disarming tactics. An example of how to disarm a bully is by using humor. Tell a joke - make them feel like they're in on it, like they can relax and let down their wall of insecurity, because they know the joke's not on them. Often if bullies can feel like an 'insider' rather than the person who has to fight their way in, they become more reasonable and easier to deal with.

Another way to disarm a bully is to use overt friendliness, almost to the point of kissing up to them, but not by going too far. Bullies are usually so insecure that they never see this for what it is - a tactic to get them to refrain from bullying you. They'll start to see you as the 'nice guy' who is not threatening to them or competing with them, and they'll spare you for the moment. This is important for anyone whose career success is dependent upon their relationship with the bully, and where the time is simply not right for a no-holds-barred confrontation, which may come later... But for now, disarm and befriend the bully!

2. Call Their Bluff

There really is no place in the workplace for bullies, despite what many of us have experienced time and again over the course of our careers. Bullies are divisive and distracting, and through their negative behavior prevent others from being their best selves at work. The problem is that sometimes you will need to call a bully a bully. However, not in the 'OK-corral' confrontational sort of way, with all sorts of tears and high drama, but rather in a matter-of-fact kind of way, that simply states what you will and will not put up with, and how their behavior affects you. A way to do this is over lunch or in a separate meeting. Schedule a lunch with the bully through his or her assistant, or request one directly, with the objective of 'touching base on a few work-related items', and when the time comes, lay it all out there. Explain that you feel badly about some interactions you've had with each other lately, and that on most occasions you've walked away feeling bullied, and want to clear the air, 'cause those kinds of interactions just ain't working for you. Even the most hard-nosed workplace bully will feel badly about being seen in that light, and will either try to apologize or explain themselves. Either way, they'll give you an entrée to explain your side of things, get it all off your chest, and may even provide you with a chance to tell them exactly what you need them to do to make you feel less like you're being bullied.

3. Make a Formal Complaint

Sometimes bullying behavior is just plain harassment, and needs to be dealt with as such. This is when you need to first complain to your manager, and then to your HR manager. The thing to understand about complaining is that it is not 'whining' or being a tattletale or a snitch, but rather doing what almost all companies encourage their employees to do to resolve conflicts. Most employees would be surprised to know that when they complain about a bully, they're usually not the only one, and their complaint only makes it easier for HR and the person's manager to address the issue without even mentioning their name. And, even if your name does need to be mentioned and the bully must be confronted very directly, most companies also have a non-retaliation policy in place that protects you from any harm when you do lodge a formal complaint.

4. Move On

Finally, there are those times when disarming the bully, calling the bully's bluff or even making a formal complaint with your manager or HR, just can't help you feel at ease in the presence of the one or ones you feel are bullying you. In those cases, you need to simply make a call about what you will and will not put up with. If your company is not supportive of making the changes that will help you feel less bullied, then maybe your best bet is to move on and find a job elsewhere. After all, if the company is one that won't support you on something like protecting you from counter-productive bullying, do you really want to work there anyway? Maybe you do, for reasons like the compensation and the other people you work with. But if not, then move on. Just remember though, bullies can be found everywhere; in every industry and almost every company. So be prepared.

Article by Melanie Haniph and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 10:58 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

It's my opinion that today's "best" practices of leaders not only fail to resolve the problems they're meant to resolve or achieve the results they're meant to achieve, they actually escalate problems. I'd like to recommend alternative practices to take their place. After all, reality has shifted and those who cling to old practices that no longer serve them and perhaps never did, will fail to thrive. Seriously. Fail to thrive.

Today, I touch on the second "best" practice and hope to provoke your thinking, in subsequent entries, regarding all six.

Human connectivity, as opposed to strategy and tactics, is the next frontier for exponential growth and the only sustainable competitive edge. Competitive edges such as technology, design, cool tools and products are quickly lost as competition catches up.

Might the competition eventually match your ability to connect with people? Yes, I suppose and hope so for the sake of us all, but the vast majority of companies and their leaders don't recognize human connectivity as the pot of gold that it is. In fact, the words "hiring smart" produce over 23,000 hits on Google. Business leaders have failed to grasp the implications of Daniel Kahneman's Nobel Prize winning discovery that people make decisions first for emotional reasons, second for rational, that the tie breaker, the place to increase revenue and profits resides in the area of human connectivity.

The time is fast approaching when the word will be out. You've no time to waste. So here we go.

"Worst" Best Practice #2: Hiring For Smarts

I am a fan of Deadwood, HBO's Shakespeare-goes-to-South Dakota-during-the-Gold-Rush hit series. During Keith Carradine's interview of David Milch, the creator of Deadwood, Milch said, "Reason is about seventeenth on the list of attributes that define us as a species and as far as I'm concerned, they can lower it, no problem."

I'm with David and with Albert Einstein, who said, "We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. It cannot lead; it can only serve."

Don't get me wrong. We need smarts, but Descartes' statement: Cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) implies that thinking is the be all, end all. It isn't. We need smarts and something more.

Perhaps you've already noticed that a focus on hiring smart people is a practice that is causing more problems in your organization than it's solving. For example:

• Excessive certitude. In meetings, people stubbornly cling to their ideas (sometimes, at length!), in an attempt to impress others with the brilliance of their thinking. Their goal is to influence. It does not occur to them that an equally valid goal would be to be influenced, to have their own learning provoked. Nothing new emerges because individuals are focused on being right, rather than on making the best possible decisions for the organization.
• Excessive use of jargon. Three-letter acronyms (TLA's!) have their use, but when did we determine that no endeavour is respectable these days without a TLA? And consider words like "componentize", nigh unpronounceable, which apparently means 'to turn into a component. For what purpose will remain a mystery. I digress. The point is that internally and with customers, jargon lands like a stone.
• The competition is surpassing you. You pull several all-nighters, spend significant bucks preparing your pitch to a prospective customer. You have a brilliant solution or product and know it will work. You go to the meeting higher than a kite, leave the meeting with a not-so-good feeling in your stomach, and learn that the customer went with the other guys. You lose sleep for days wondering WHY? Hint: they liked the other guys better. Yes, "liked" them better.
• "Loyal" customers are leaving. Customers want more than a good product or service; they want to enjoy the experience of using a product or service, which begins with their first interaction with your company. In spite of all your customer-service training and "customer-facing" procedures, policies and scripts, customers aren't feeling the love. Your automated system doesn't include the option they need at the moment and makes it nigh impossible to talk to a human being.
• Your margins are shrinking. Your product or service has become a commodity and you've been competing primarily on price. Your customers believe they can find what you offer elsewhere, for a better price. And they can, so they're leaving. Meanwhile, you keep lowering your price and customers continue to leave. Perhaps your top line is still impressive. Your bottom line is troubling.
• Implementation agony. There is a lack of alignment, cooperation and collaboration throughout the organization. A matrixed organization filled with smart people who fail to connect with each other, have no desire to connect, and in fact, do not know how to connect with their peers in other parts of the organization produces a silo mentality. The thinking is: "This decision solves my problem, too bad it causes new problems for others." Initiatives stall and you incur financial and cultural penalties as a result.
• Competitors can poach your talent. Countless surveys show that human beings desire on-going, deep connection to their co-workers and to the companies for which they work. If an organization's relationship with associates is based primarily on an exchange of time, talent and smarts for a paycheck, you're a source for head hunters who will have no trouble luring your "high potentials" to companies with something more appealing going on, where there is more to the human dynamic than "I'm smarter than you are."

Your most valuable currency is now, always has been, and always will be relationship, emotional capital, which you may be losing one decision, one initiative, one failed conversation with your colleagues and customers at a time.

If you doubt that your organization is involved in an emotional enterprise, just ask that client who is considering spending money with you. Ask your team members, the people who decide every day how much discretionary effort they will make available to the tasks at hand.

Yet, despite all the evidence pointing to the fact that it is the deeply feeling, emotionally intelligence people who are best equipped to deliver profits, we continue to focus on hiring and promoting people with pedigrees, graduates of the best business colleges, who talented though they are, do not view human connectivity as relevant to their success.

Meanwhile, the organization's strategy keeps stalling. Cross-boundary collaboration isn't happening. Leaders play whack-a-mole, micro-managing versus leading. Original thinking is happening elsewhere. Employees have little or no emotional connection to the organization and its customers. Loyal customers are hard to come by. Relationships steadily disintegrate.

At such a crossroads, leaders tend to review measurable goals, economic indicators, cash flow projections, process and procedures. Staggering amounts of money are dedicated to reviewing basic business processes while employees long for one galvanizing conversation.

High on the list of priorities on the order of 'can't really live without', are deeply rewarding relationships with the people who are central to our success and happiness, at work and at home. Our failure to connect with one another and with our customers is literally costing companies millions in employee turnover.

Today I plan to change banks. The bank I've been with for two decades - one of the largest in the country and through which my company has run millions of dollars - continues to take steps that alienate their customers. The latest transgression has been to increase interest rates on their credit cards at a time when that is absolutely the wrong thing, the astoundingly insensitive and irresponsible thing, to do to their customers. They justify this by explaining that they need to make a profit so they can quickly repay the government for the billions of bail out money they received. Of course they do. But their latest move, suggested no doubt by incredibly "smart" leaders, will cause them to lose customers, which won't be good for profits. This bank, like many businesses, is in a crisis that smarts can't solve. The solution to their problem lies in connecting with their customers, yet their actions make it clear that this notion is not on their radar.

If you are still resisting the idea that human connectivity is essential to your success and happiness, I came across your fortune cookie. "The world is your oyster, but you are allergic to shellfish."

The practice of hiring for "smarts" must be amended to: Hire for smart + heart. Chapter 2 of Fierce Leadership outlines how to do this.

Article by Susan Scott and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 10:53 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

As a career coach and adjunct professor at Franklin University and Hondros College, both in Ohio, Sharon DeLay is in a unique position to help entry level job seekers of all ages learn how to conduct more effective searches. Since a large portion of her clients and students are Gen Y, Sharon's advice is targeted specifically at them, though anyone can benefit from what she has to say.

"There are several things that job seekers can do to give a boost to their career searches - some of which they might not like to hear," says DeLay.

"Let's talk about the more uncomfortable, even painful, things you need to address first and get that out of the way:

• Drop the sense of entitlement. You may be young and educated, and you may even be tech savvy, but one thing employers are seeing in your generation is that you aren't patient and you don't want to earn your stripes. No employer in his right mind will give you responsibility for a multi-million dollar account after just 6 months.
• Get out from behind the cell phone and computer. Work happens in the face-to-face world, not only the cyber world. You need to learn how to communicate with customers, listen more than talk, pick up the telephone, check your voicemails, and respond to e-mails. Most companies haven't graduated to texting as a key channel of communication.
• Be open to continuous learning. Just because you've earned your degree does not mean that learning is over. Once you're in the workplace, the theory gets chucked out the window and reality hits. Ask questions of everyone, even your "elders," and listen and learn. Engage and collaborate, share skills your generation has mastered, and bring your fresh new ideas to the table, but understand that your ideas may actually not be the best. You'll understand this when you learn about the business and the people behind the business.
• Recognize that other people's perceptions are their realities. Your generation has actually influenced the workplace already. Because of you, we may actually begin to shun the 60-hour workweek sooner rather than later. We may actually embrace true workplace flexibility. However, you will still be judged on how you appear, not only in terms of how you dress, but also in terms of how you communicate. Flip-flops are [not] work wear. Tattoos and piercings are still not comfortable for most of your employer's customers. Remember, the baby boomers will likely be a significant part of any employer's customer base and their perceptions are probably going to be the reigning perception. Dress professionally (this does not have to be suits) and ensure that you can write and speak well. Text-speak just won't fly."

DeLay, anticipating resistance, reiterates that "other people's perceptions are their reality and the four bullet points above represent several perceptions about Gen Y." She goes on to list "what they can do to change those perceptions and position themselves for the opportunities that come their way:

• Do your homework. Yes, even though you've graduated from college, you still have to do your homework. If all things are equal - or nearly equal - between you and another candidate in the interview process, the person who demonstrates knowledge about the company and the industry will likely get more notice. Also, think of the interview as a date. When you show interest in the person sitting across the table from you, in this case the potential employer, then a second date is more likely.


• Have your resume reviewed. Notice I did not say to review your own resume. You can and should, but that is simply the first and last step. You should have several people review your resume in between your reviews. First, have someone who knows your work style and ethic review it. He/she can tell you if you're selling yourself as you should be. Next, have someone who is doing the job you're targeting review it. That person will be able to tell you if you are using the right words and presenting the right skills for the job you desire. Next, have someone from the industry review your resume to make sure you have presented your knowledge of the industry accurately. Step out on a limb and ask someone who is highly opinionated to review your resume. You may not like to hear what that person has to say, but put your ego aside and be open-minded. What he/she has to say may be the difference between a typo and perfection. If you have any friends who are writers or in the arts, have them take a look, too. They can provide invaluable grammar and mechanics corrections or give you great ideas on how you can change the format of your resume to attract more attention.


• Check the casual wear at the door. Even if you're interviewing at a tech start-up, where the work wear is notoriously casual, think like a date again. Be on your best-dressed behavior to catch the employer's attention and then relax once the relationship is decidedly long term. If you're just not certain, remember that the HR contact or recruiter will guide you through the "what not to wear" dilemma because their credibility depends on it. All you need to do is ask. Dial down the jewelry, piercings, and smelly stuff, too.


• Make eye contact. Somewhere, somehow, we started to forget to look people in the eyes when we were talking to them. Maybe it goes hand-in-hand with checking our e-mail while we're talking on the telephone (another no-no), or maybe because we walk around with cell phones attached to our hands or blue tooths stuck in our ears, that we're constantly checking text messages, e-mails or who is calling us; we forget that the rest of the world isn't inside that palm-sized telephone. Eye contact demonstrates that you're engaged. It means you're listening and focusing on only one thing. Both of these are indicators of your interpersonal skills and how you will be with that employer's customers.


• Help the employer help you. When you arrive at an interview, career fair, or even at a networking event with a clear focus of what you want (a particular job title, a particular company, a solid salary range, etc.) and a concise summary of what you offer, you are actually helping the employer help you. If you can quickly and concisely state this, then the employer can quickly and concisely determine where you might fit in the company. When you make the employer work too hard, he can't.


• Don't just talk the talk, show how you can also walk the walk. Telling ain't selling, but doing is. When you talk to prospective employers and networking connections, provide very specific examples of how you accomplished things in your past jobs, no matter how mundane or entry level, or even in your extracurricular activities. Sometimes, particularly with entry level opportunities, it's less about what you've actually accomplished in terms of quantifiable terms, and more about whether you demonstrated initiative and creative and critical thinking.


• Be kind. Many hiring managers today are not hiring for skill; they're hiring for your ability to work well with others. How to do the job can be taught; how to get along with others is much more difficult to teach. And when you look at the cost of turnover in a company being anywhere from 30% of the position's salary all the way up to 200%, chucking you to the curb because you can't play well with others becomes an expensive proposition."

Finding an entry level job is probably more challenging now than it was 20 years ago. "It's a challenging environment regardless of your age, skill set, or education," DeLay cautions. "There are ways to set yourself apart from the competition."

Sharon DeLay, SPHR, CPCC, CPRW, is a career and human resources specialist, combining her experience as a hiring manager, HR professional and career transition expertise into BoldlyGO Career and Human Resource Management, a company dedicated to bringing together people and opportunities to create a forward-thinking workforce. She recently released Career Boot Camp: A self-directed guide through career transition, to help individuals and small businesses with career transition and outplacement needs. Sharon is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Human Resource Association of Central Ohio (HRACO), the International Coach Federation (ICF) and Central Ohio Coaches, the National Association of Women Business Owners Columbus (NAWBO), and sits on the Ohio Women's Business Advisory Roundtable Technology Committee. She has been regularly published in Job News and on CollegeRecruiter.com, as well as interviewed on WDEM-TV, Social Media TV, and by QFM-96 regarding career and social media advice. In addition to her career and human resources credentials noted above, Sharon holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science degrees in Human Resource Management, Education and Communications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 18, 2009 at 10:43 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Homelessness is pretty terrible, but the problems that it leads to can be even worse. One of those problems is often AIDS. Housing Works is a New York City based non-profit that "provides homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS and their families with housing, meals, medical care, drug treatment, social support, employment opportunities and other lifesaving services." The cool thing is the scale that they're doing this on--they are "the largest community-based AIDS service organization in the United States." That means that since 1990 they've served more than 20,000 New Yorkers.

Read the full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 4:27 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

On the weekends, One Day One Job features jobs at non-profits, a sector with unique challenges that you need to be aware of when applying for jobs. This "third sector" has a different culture, different networks, and different tricks to getting and keeping a job from the for-profit sector. When applying for non-profit jobs, you need to strike a balance between displaying your skills and experience and passion for the work. I have experience with both types of organizations, and here are 5 tips for getting a job in this sector that will help you figure out what to put on your resume.

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This is a guest post from Roxy Allen.

Article courtesy of Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 4:24 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

For job seekers in particular, chatting up a roomful of strangers can be intimidating: Whom should I speak to first? How do I strike up a conversation? Though workplace experts stress the importance of networking while job hunting, many times it's the tool used least by candidates.

At one time, I was put off by the concept of networking (and sometimes still am). To me, networking conjured up images of stuffy business people milling around Conference Room A at the local hotel, watered-down cocktail in one hand and a stale hors d'oeuvre in the other.

But then I realized my own power in the situation: I can decide how and where to network. My kind of networking is low-pressure and low-key, just people talking with other people. So I chose a professional/industry organization whose goal and vibe resembled my own (in this case, the women's entrepreneurial group Ladies Who Launch) and started attending its events. And something terrific happened, I got to know the other attendees as people as well as businesswomen.

A Certified Professional Resume Writer, Michele Dagle helps people market themselves to land better jobs and clients. Michele develops resumes and bios for a wide range of job seekers and leads resume-writing workshops. Additionally, Michele writes and edits websites, magazines, and marketing materials.

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Sandbox Advisors.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 3:57 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

A dominant dimension of your personal brand is your personal history. Not your baby book and photos of you at prom. Your personal awareness and actions involving the events of the day: political, cultural, social, environmental, economic and otherwise. I call this dimension "personal brand engagement," where you develop and communicate your take on what's at stake in the world.

Part of my personal brand engagement is in public policy. During the years I hosted International Business on public radio it was my job to talk to the world's most important people in business, politics, labor and government. That decade forced me to get smart and communicate about controversial topics.

These days, I have less time and a bit less access because my focus is largely on business. The upside is I am a civilian; I get to feel as much as think about the events of the day. For example, I worry about Iraq and Afghanistan like they are as close by as Canada and Mexico - our neighbors. I worry about the families there like I worry about the Hurricane Katrina families. I hope the schools and roads we have built matter to them, even if it is no exchange for their personal losses - we could be talking about anywhere there's been damage and an attempt to repair.

I am an equal opportunity worrier. I hope the women in Afghanistan aren't left in the dark world they can't escape without help. I hope the newly homeless schoolchildren in America aren't left without hope, since they can't escape the destabilizing world of profound poverty without help.

Sending good thoughts and money

Because hope isn't a strategy or tactic, I give money to people who seem to be making a difference. Occasionally, I advocate when I think an audience is powerful enough to change the world (I do speak to some very smart people). I don't bring my soapbox everywhere.

This week on Facebook, one of my clients posted his take on the US healthcare reform bill. Greg's personal brand engages often on financial issues, especially when they crisscross with social programs. His most recent post was about the tax impact of insuring all of us. On that topic, I engaged on what had astonishingly arisen from the ire: the safety of the President of the United States is at stake. The marchers on Washington last week carried a sign that read, "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy." The tenor of the demonstration reminded me of reports about Dallas when President Kennedy made his fatal visit to Texas. The town hall meeting goers with machine guns strapped on and broadcasters' violence laden talking points this week, sounded like the days before the Kennedy assassination. I may be wrong but I am worried about what is being fomented.

Double dare you

How dangerous is it to let your personal brand engage on such controversy, and with a point of view that may not be the most popular? You may not have a choice as your clients have increasing access to you - and as people look to you for thought leadership on global events.

How can you interact on these topics without alienating people with opposing points of view? Demonstrate the depth of emotional intelligence and maturity that thought leaders bring to controversy. Ignore personal attacks and don't make them. President Obama is a perfect example of what to do when you are the target of venom. As we witnessed in real time Congressman Joe Wilson slide down the slippery slope of incivility with his outburst, "you lie," the President didn't react.

There's an old adage about not talking politics and religion in polite company, but that saying is old and it hasn't aged well. To not have a take on global climate change, carbon footprints, the economic crisis, homelessness, health care and war is to be perceived as vacuous and perhaps irresponsible.

You, only higher up

As you becoming increasingly important, other people will want to know you better. One of my dear friends played bass for Christina Aguilera on tour. I laughed when Michael remarked, "Think about spending 2 hours onstage but 22 hours offstage with the same people for months. You get to know each other better than you know your family." As your star rises, people will know you really well.

Great brands have loyal customers and great reputations. The advantage you have over soda and soap is this: you have a heart and a brain. Consider how you use them to connect yourself to the world, and how you can open up dialogues that showcase your thoughtful perspective and facilitate others to engage with you likewise.

Always allow that you, like me, may be wrong - but we have a responsibility to be engaged in events that shape our world.

How do you kick start your personal brand engagement?

1. Get smart. Read a news article a day from a website not in your home country. In the US? Try Asia Week or the London Telegraph.
2. Feel it. Read the article again as if you were a citizen of that locale.
3. Engage with it. Jot down an elevator pitch concerning the story. What would you say to a stranger, to inform them about the news - and your take on it?

By the way, the Facebook dialogue with my client concluded with each of us urging the other to take the lead and get other people engaged - in all dimensions of the health care controversy. Because he's the client, I may have to step up.

Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! & Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 1:47 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I just got back from New York City and today is my 26th birthday. I was going to blog about my time spent in New York, but I think I'll save that for another day. I would have also blogged about my accomplishments to date and some future projects that you'll be hearing about soon. Instead of these two posts, I would like to tackle some celebrity incidents that have appeared in the news recently and share some branding lessons. The three I would like to discuss are Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA's), Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, and then Joe Wilson during Obama's health care speech. I don't watch TV, so I missed out on each of these three events, but was filled in by stories shared on social networks and friends who spoke about it.

In each case, a celebrity has stepped out of line and has brought negative attention to their brand. Some say that all press is good press, but I guarantee that a lot of people have lost respect for these stars and are not fans anymore. In fact, I bet many people will cheer against them. When it comes to your personal brand, you want to try and get as much positive exposure as possible. When you become more and more well known, the stakes are higher and everything you do will be exposed to a greater audience. In this case, the entire world heard about these three stories and they spread through many different forms of media very rapidly.

1. Kanye West

If you haven't seen the VMA's from last night yet, then you still probably heard about this whole Kanye incident. During Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for "Best Female Video," Kanye grabbed the microphone and gave a shout out to Beyonce, who was one of the other nominees for the award. He said that Beyonce had the best video of the year and the crowd was not happy. In fact, I heard that his publicist is no longer working with him and that he might be banned from future events of this nature. From the social media side, there were over 5,000 tweets when the incident first occurred, and then suddenly over 50,000! Taylor Swift fans on Twitter started the hash tag and trending topic "#teamtaylor" to support her.

If you examine this more closely, you'll notice that Kanye is one of the producers for Jay-Z's new album, Blueprint 3, which is coming out soon. This media "spark" might be a huge promotion for it. Of course Kanye, Beyonce and Jay-Z are all friends and work with each other, so there may be something sketchy going on here. The results are clear: a People Magazine poll stated that 77% of people would pay money to see Kanye shut his mouth till New Years and another poll from TV Guide stated that 84% of people felt that it wasn't staged. It was obvious that Kanye was either drunk, on drugs or all the above.

2. Serena Williams

Serena, who was defending her U.S. Open title in a match against Kim Clijsters, got into a verbal fight with the line judge. Serena disputed a foot fault and supposedly she said that she would killer her. This resulted in a penalization of one point, which ended up costing her the match. Previously, she was given a violation for smashing her racquet. Obviously Serena needs anger management classes or a shrink. The results were that she was fined $10,000, which probably isn't a lot to her. The video [of the incident] has been viewed almost one million times since it was uploaded!

3. Joe Wilson

Joe Wilson is the South Carolina Republican congressman, who is now famous for screaming "You lie!" to President Obama during his healthcare speech to Congress last Wednesday. Now the liberals and conservatives are up in arms wanting apologies. This incident might have been a planned attack because the results were that Wilson and his Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, raised over $1.5 million dollars. Punishments for this type of interruption can range from censure through a resolution or expulsion.

Brand analysis

All three of these celebrities have had their Google search results sprayed with poor headlines. What you'll notice when you do a search for their name is that stories from major news outlets will appear towards the top, which is the first impression a viewer will get of their brands. Another trend for celebrities is that their Wikipedia page, which ranks high in search engines, will get blasted with their bad press as well, which creates a more powerful and consistent effect.

What you can learn from these mistakes

1. Don't do things just to get attention.
2. Focus on building your brand in a positive light because you'll have more rewards later and less stress.
3. Think about the people who are already associated with your brand. When you mess up, they look bad. This can be the company you work for, your parents, friends, teachers, etc.
4. Even if you mess up, try your best to remedy it as soon as you possibly can, otherwise social media will take over and word will spread faster than you can imagine.

Branding is a long term process, so even if you attract a lot of attention with a stunt, your brand will get hurt in the future, based on what you do today.

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 1:36 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Unemployment is high and companies are contracting rather than expanding. However, there are still some people out there being hired, changing jobs, and being added to staff rather than downsized. In this economy, and in fact during any time, how do you know when you've gotten off on the right foot in a new job? And what are some of the things you should do to make sure that you make the biggest impact in the short and long-term?

I. Meet Everyone

One of the most significant contributors to new job success is relationships. Every business is fundamentally a people business, and developing the right relationships early on will fuel a person's success in their new role more than almost anything else, including work product or quality, which is always left to the eye of the beholder to judge.

Meeting everyone and developing relationships is not necessarily about hand shaking on day one of your new job, but about immediately figuring out how to get to know those with the most influence in the office, and beginning to develop strong rapport with people like the office gossip, the boss's secretary, and even the office bully. Getting to know these people early on will bode you well in the future when you or they may need a favor.

II. Find a Buddy

Another way to get off on the right foot in a new job is to find a 'buddy', or better yet a mentor who can also play the role of buddy every now and then. An office 'buddy' is that person at work you can confide in, talk discretely to about work problems or co-workers you don't like, and bounce ideas off of without having what you say get around the office in an inappropriate way. Sometimes a mentor can play both roles, and sometimes it makes more sense to have both a buddy and a mentor.

It will take some time to develop relationships and identify that person or persons who can be your work buddy, and who you can be a buddy to as well. But the important thing is to find one, for those inevitable days in the future, when you're struggling with something at work and really need to talk it out with someone who can relate because they're working in the same environment.

It's also a good idea to get a mentor. Mentors don't always need to be working in the same company or office as you, and might be from a previous job. However, in any new role, as you navigate a new office culture, work expectations and rules, it's good to have someone you respect who can help to guide you through some of the uncertainties and give you advice on how to stay focused on building long-term success in your job.

III. Focus on Learning Rather than Doing

A lot of people, when they start a new job, immediately jump in and start focusing on how to 'do' as much as possible, to get a new project started, or impress their co-workers, or to come off as really productive and high-energy. However, starting a new job in this way has its drawbacks, especially if you don't give yourself a good amount of time to absorb, learn and reflect.

Many managers have walked into a new job, and without observing and reflecting on the existing people and process, come in with an ax or a red pen on day one, and immediately begin making changes. They do this sometimes because they think it's expected of them, and other times because they think it's the right thing to do, or both. And maybe they are expected to make changes, and they are the right changes to make, but maybe not right now. Anyone coming into a new job needs to take time - time to learn their co-workers' strengths and weaknesses, time to have a dialogue about what works and doesn't work before they propose any changes, and time to simply get a lay of the new job landscape. Doing this may mean that you won't make a big splash in your first week or even month on the job, but it will most likely bode well for your longer-term success on the job.

Finally, how you proceed in your new job is all about adapting to a new environment and learning how to apply your previous success without duplicating it "because that's the way we did it at my last company." Expect almost everything in the new job to be different from your last job, and give yourself time to move from feeling sometimes uncomfortable to feeling like you've found your groove. In no time at all, the new job won't be so new anymore.

Article by Melanie Haniph and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 10:51 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

It's hard to get excited about your career sometimes. Especially when bad news surrounds you.

Maybe what you need is a new game to play. Something that gets you excited again. Whether it's a new job or a new way of doing something in your present position, a new game (or goal) gives you something to look forward to. Plus, you will no longer be "waiting" for something to happen in your career; instead, you will be making something happen.

So How You Can You Create A New Game? Follow These Steps:

1. Decide To Play A Game

The game cannot begin unless you commit to it. The ball cannot be thrown to you unless you are on the field to catch it. Maybe you want to know that you will win first before you play. Or, that every moment will be worthwhile. Guess what? You will not get this guarantee up front. The miracles in our career happen when we say "yes" and jump in. (Mistakes and all.)

There are a million reasons not to play now. (Fear, money, uncertainly, etc.) But there are a million and one reasons why you should not wait anymore.

2. Start Playing

Are you in one of these two places? You either have no idea what's next for you in your career, or you do know and haven't done anything about it yet. Either way it doesn't matter. It's time to get started. Many people fail because they never begin.

Start small. Small steps increase your confidence and lead to completing other small steps. Small steps on a regular basis are more effective than larger steps taken inconsistently. Slow and steady always wins the race.

3. Create An Official Game Plan

Once you begin, the momentum begins too. But without a plan you are just playing for fun. Your career is important and it means a lot. A plan adds organization to the game because it details specific actions and steps to help you win.

A plan can be formal and long, or uncomplicated and short. Here's how to create one. Take your career goal and break it into smaller pieces. Get out your calendar and write down the specific small pieces you will do and when you will do them. Look at your calendar everyday. Look at your game plan everyday. Tweak and make changes as you go along. Use your game plan to motivate you. After all, your game's underlying goal is for you to live into your greatness.

4. Keep Playing

There may be days when you do not feel like playing. Maybe you got hurt or are giving yourself a hard time over your last performance. Keep playing anyway. The championship goes to those who keep playing even when they do not feel like it. It's ok to take a break. It's not ok to take yourself out of the game completely.

5. Play To Win

You got to be in it to win it. "Someday I'll play." Let that someday be now.

Article by Deborah Brown-Volkman, a top professional Certified Coach (PCC), sought-out career coach & expert, best-selling author, and the President of , Surpass Your Dreams, a successful career coaching, life coaching, and mentor coaching company that has been delivering a message of motivation, success, and personal fulfillment since 1998.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 10:48 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I've seen this debated quite a lot recently in online forums. The simple answer, in my opinion, is simply YES.

First of all, a cover letter is a much more personal document than a resume. It not only shows off your writing style, but it is a chance for you to mention details or anecdotes that simply don't fit within a formal resume structure. Don't lose this opportunity to further sell yourself to an employer by leaving the cover letter off.

The cover letter is also your chance to demonstrate what you know about your potential employer, and how you will fit into their organization. You are using your resume to show your professional experiences and how you contributed to the success of past employers. In your cover letter you take this further, and say "look at what I have already accomplished - I can do all this and more for you."

Critics argue that letters are long and dull, and quote top recruiters who say they don't read them at all, to make their point that a cover letter is a waste of your time. In truth, your cover letter may not be read. There's nothing you can do about it. But do you really want to be the one applicant in twenty who didn't write one?

When screening candidates I often skip right to the resume on first glance, taking time to read the cover letter only when I have seen that the candidate meets minimum qualifications. But I do look for it. I've received resumes without cover letters before, and my assumption has always been (right or wrong) that the person couldn't bother take the time to learn enough about the job and organization and write one. No one wants to hire that person.

What are your thoughts? Do you include a cover letter? Hiring managers: do you read them?

Article by Natalie Joan

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Daily Career Connection.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 10:01 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I once had a boss who, behind her desk, had posted a cartoon of a woman sitting at an impossibly messy desk reading a catalog.

The caption read, "Faced with yet another pesky deadline, Enid was compelled to read the Acme Seed catalog from cover to cover."

Do you know the feeling? It seems that whenever I've got something particularly difficult to do I find myself more than usually distracted.

This can be a real challenge when the task at hand is something that could conceivably be put off. Like say, for example, if you've already got a job and even if it's going nowhere it's not exactly going away so...

So that means to move your career forward you need to work harder than ever on focusing and getting grounded.

It won't be easy because it seems that we as a society have confused improvements in communication with enhanced distraction. If you've ever lost a morning to Twitter or had your train of thought interrupted by the ping of an incoming e-mail you feel compelled to check, you know what I'm talking about.

But if we're honest with ourselves we have to admit that all the Tweets, pings and other sound effects in the world can't lead us off-task unless we let them.

Like Enid, we're just using the e-mails and seed catalogs that cross our desk as an excuse to not do something we really should be doing.

I have two suggestions to help deal with this problem; one is conceptual, the other is practical.

Start by acknowledging the problem. That sounds very touchy-feely, I know, but there's a reason the "Name it, claim" approach is used to address so many issues.

That's because it works. You have to admit something's wrong before you can take steps to correct it. But that "taking steps" part is essential. Once you've fessed up to yourself about what you're trying to avoid, you have to buckle down and get after it.

Here's the practical part - get rid of what distracts you. Turn off your e-mail alerts if that's what gets you, clean off your desk and hide those enticing catalogs.

I used to think this sort of office-based neatening and straightening was what people meant when they talked about "Getting your ducks in a row."

But I just realized that when ducks are going some place, they always travel in a line. That means when people "get their ducks in a row," they're getting ready to move.

Try these techniques yourself and see if they help you make progress in your career.

Article by Danielle D. and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 5:23 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I once had a boss who, behind her desk, had posted a cartoon of a woman sitting at an impossibly messy desk reading a catalog.

The caption read, "Faced with yet another pesky deadline, Enid was compelled to read the Acme Seed catalog from cover to cover."

Do you know the feeling? It seems that whenever I've got something particularly difficult to do I find myself more than usually distracted.

This can be a real challenge when the task at hand is something that could conceivably be put off. Like say, for example, if you've already got a job and even if it's going nowhere it's not exactly going away so...

So that means to move your career forward you need to work harder than ever on focusing and getting grounded.

It won't be easy because it seems that we as a society have confused improvements in communication with enhanced distraction. If you've ever lost a morning to Twitter or had your train of thought interrupted by the ping of an incoming e-mail you feel compelled to check, you know what I'm talking about.

But if we're honest with ourselves we have to admit that all the Tweets, pings and other sound effects in the world can't lead us off-task unless we let them.

Like Enid, we're just using the e-mails and seed catalogs that cross our desk as an excuse to not do something we really should be doing.

I have two suggestions to help deal with this problem; one is conceptual, the other is practical.

Start by acknowledging the problem. That sounds very touchy-feely, I know, but there's a reason the "Name it, claim" approach is used to address so many issues.

That's because it works. You have to admit something's wrong before you can take steps to correct it. But that "taking steps" part is essential. Once you've fessed up to yourself about what you're trying to avoid, you have to buckle down and get after it.

Here's the practical part - get rid of what distracts you. Turn off your e-mail alerts if that's what gets you, clean off your desk and hide those enticing catalogs.

I used to think this sort of office-based neatening and straightening was what people meant when they talked about "Getting your ducks in a row."

But I just realized that when ducks are going some place, they always travel in a line. That means when people "get their ducks in a row," they're getting ready to move.

Try these techniques yourself and see if they help you make progress in your career.

Article by Danielle D. and courtesy of WorkBloom, an employment blog incorporating a comprehensive career resources section, including the largest database of professionally written resume and cover letter samples on the Web.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 17, 2009 at 5:23 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Since I'm spending the weekend in San Francisco, I thought it would only be fitting to feature a San Francisco based startup today (as if we haven't already featured enough). I decided to cover one in my industry (job search and online recruiting), because I really like what they're doing (and they're probably the best source for San Francisco based startup jobs too). Their name is Job Alchemist, and they're the creators of one of the few job boards that I actually think is worth using--Startuply. They've also developed a number of other niche job boards like HomeBy3 (flexible jobs for moms) and Reddit's job board. Beyond that, they're working on a project called JobSyndicate, which is an affiliate network for jobs. I've seen a lot of entrants to this industry in the past couple years, and Job Alchemist is one of only a handful that have impressed me. When a company creates a job board that I actually use, that's saying something.

Read the full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 4:19 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

[Recently] I told you about TechnoServe and all of the good that they're doing by spreading entrepreneurism. Mercado Global is taking a similar approach to fighting poverty, but they're doing it with a very specific focus. They are a New Haven, CT based non-profit organization "that links the world's most rural and economically-disadvantaged cooperatives to the U.S. market through a model that provides both fair wages and investments in community's long-term development." Even more specifically, they focus on working with women who produce handmade products. So, not only is Mercado Global creating positive change in the developing world, but they're also providing you with shopping opportunities.

Read the full article

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 4:17 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

A lot of people confuse personal branding with shameless self-promotion and for good reason. Personal branding involves letting your audience know that you exist, including your achievements, what you stand for and what you can provide to them. Branding would be ineffective if you just did it for a single day, which is why our marketing plans last for our entire lives. Companies don't just hire PR firms for a day or even a week. It's usually over four to six months or more. It's like a rock band that only comes out with one album or single; it's harder for them to become more successful because there is no new content to get people engaged again.

To be a very successful brand, you have to be an aggressive self-promoter. All major successful brands are constantly promoting themselves for awareness, for repetition and for pushing people to buy their products and/or services. This happens in companies like Ford or IBM, as well as with personal brands, where self-promotion is looked down upon by some. Research has shown that a person will likely remember a product or brand after seeing a branded advertisement 3 times. If the three times are in close proximity, there is a very good chance people will remember it. If you appear everywhere, from the New York Times, to Lifehacker to CNN, within a given period of time, it will have more of an impact then if they appeared in intervals of ten days, for instance.

Today, as self-promoting online becomes habitual and routine, everyone in some form or another is participating in this "negative" activity, almost every day and sometimes without even knowing. That is why I would like to examine a word that is the antonym of self-promotion: "humble." I, for one, could never consider myself humble, although I don't promote myself in a malicious way. I think if I were "humble," I wouldn't have been even close to as successful as I am today. In this web 2.0 world, we're constantly publishing content, from a Facebook status update, to a tweet, to a YouTube video and more. It was much easier to stay humble in a web 1.0 world, where most of our interactions were through email, on the phone and in person. When conversations are put online, it becomes harder to remain humble because people are less careful, they want to be known (ego's) and most of the content produced online is text, so it lacks the ability to analyze if the person is humble or not.

What does it mean to be humble?

Humble: Not proud or arrogant; modest: to be humble although successful. Having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.: In the presence of so many world-famous writers I felt very humble. - Dictionary.com

So the case I want to make is two-fold:

1. When you're sharing and publishing content everyday, which is mostly in text form, how can you remain humble?
2. When you want to differentiate yourself from other people and appease hiring mangers, how can you remain humble?

A lot of decisions are made by information that is found online, both in the hiring sense and when it comes to purchasing products. If you are very humble and don't brag about what you've done or intend to do, then you miss major career opportunities. I don't believe there's anyway to come off as humble online if you're building a strong personal brand.

I don't think the word "humble" is empowering either. If you look at the second part of the definition above, you'll see that it breeds inferiority and insignificance. To me, that's quite negative, especially when I try teach people how to live a fulfilling life and become the #1 person in their niche!

To be completely humble in this web 2.0 environment means to be hidden, and walked over by your competitors, who aren't humble and will steal the opportunities that you deserve. I'm not saying to be mean or out-of-character, but I am saying to self-promote, in a way that strategically positions you as the best person to do business with.

Self-promotion is here to stay, but it will only get you so far

I always that you have to strike balance between promoting yourself and promoting others. It's easy easy and free to promote other people's work, whether it's a simple retweet, a link in a blog post, an interview, etc. If all you do is self-promote, you will be blocked, unfriended and ignored. You only make money when you can serve (provide value) to others and you can't network if all you do is talk about yourself. Keep this all in mind because we can't ignore this simple fact.

Is this a Gen-Y thing?

Now you're thinking "it must be a Gen-Y thing." You may be right. A recent study out of SDSU confirms that 57% of young people believe their generation uses social networking sites for self-promotion, narcissism and attention seeking. As much as this may prove your current hypothesis, a survey of other generations wasn't taken. As more and more Gen-X'ers (Twitter's main user base) and baby boomers use social media to connect, I think you'll see this is more of a widespread "epidemic" rather than just a concentration of a specific demographic. It's pretty obvious that entire families are on Facebook now and that will be more commonplace after the next few years.

What do you think?

Do you consider yourself humble? Has online branding impacted how you come across?

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 3:54 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

So you've been applying for jobs---perhaps hundreds of them---with no response. Not even the courtesy of an automated email to let you know your resume has been received, right? What do you do? Chalk it up to yet another dead-end? Or act like a squeaky wheel and get noticed?

You've probably heard the saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease", right? Do you believe that squeaky wheels get the grease? If so, are you being squeaky...or (passively) waiting for the phone to ring??

What do you have to lose by assertively following up on your applications? Nothing. In fact, it's not what you have to lose, but what you can potentially gain...such as an interview and a job!

The Fun Times Guide has an interesting take on job searching:

Don't just send a blind resume. As recently mentioned on The Today Show, you should use a technique called sandwiching. This means to call and inform the recipient that you are sending your resume. Then send the resume. And a day or two later, follow up with another phone call. While this tactic works best if you have some sort of previous relationship with the employer, keep in mind that the squeaky wheel gets the grease (...as long as you don't get too annoying).

Are you applying for sales positions, or perhaps jobs in HR? If so, call the sales manager or HR manager and let him or her know you've submitted a resume...but only if you have your elevator pitch ready! Use the opportunity to make this person aware of your interest--and how you are qualified and ready to be interviewed!!

Also, consider this comment from a reader at the Womenforhire.com blog:

"... the right people -- those who would appreciate my employment history -- weren't seeing my resume. I did some research and found the email address of the CEO of a mid-size company in Austin. I emailed him on a Sunday morning with my resume and a quick, to the point email and he responded within two hours. I like to believe it's vision like that that got him into the C-suite. I was a new employee with the firm within the month."

WOW! Now that's a squeaky wheel!!

Readers, how will YOU be a squeaky wheel today??

Guest post by Lorraine Russo of Underground Job Network

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Practical Tips for Young Urban Professionals.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 3:46 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Change, ambiguity and shifting relationships are recurrent themes in contemporary career development. In turn, personal success in the knowledge economy calls for self awareness, adaptability and the ability to work with others. A challenge for today's employees is to better develop these skills and and contribute to the contemporary knowledge driven organisation.

Organisations in the knowledge economy need to broadly practice 'intelligent enterprise' through the application of distinct knowledge-based competencies. These organisational competencies could be grouped into three broad areas: culture--reflecting the organisation's overall sense of mission and purpose; know-how--reflecting what the organisation has the ability to do; and networks--reflecting the organisation's overall links with suppliers, customers and other business connections.

The Intelligent Career Model

The three areas of organisational competencies are interdependent. Organisational culture may drive or inhibit the application of effective know-how, for example through the collective efforts of a project team. The development of new know-how may contribute to the development of new customers, and thereby the organisation's networks. Those networks may also influence the overall culture of the organisation through the kind of work they expect it to perform.

The concept of the intelligent career responds to the three broad areas of organisational competency outlined above. Accordingly, intelligent career theory posits three 'ways of knowing', called knowing-why, knowing-how and knowing-whom. Specifically, knowing-why connects with company culture, knowing-how connects with company level know-how and knowing-whom corresponds to the company's networks, as described below.

• Knowing-why involves themes of individual motivation, the construction of personal meaning and identification. As such, it incorporates traditional career development concerns about individual uniqueness, reflected in constructs such as personality, aptitudes, values and interests. Knowing-why further incorporates attitudes to family, lifestyle, and other non-work factors that affect career choice, adaptability and commitment.
• Knowing-how reflects an individual's repertoire of job-related skills and expertise. These may include formal qualifications and training, as well as informal and tacit knowledge that emerges from work experience. People may have, or may wish to develop, a broader set of knowing-how skills than their present job demands, and, therefore, may seek to expand or change their work arrangements to enhance career opportunities and employability.
• Knowing-whom involves a person's work relationships and includes supplier, customer, industry, occupational and internal company connections that can support his or her unfolding career. Knowing-whom also incorporates broader contacts with family, friends, fellow-alumni, and professional and social acquaintances. Any of these contacts can enhance a career by providing support, transmitting reputation or affording access to information.

The three ways of knowing not only correspond to unfolding organisational competencies, but also are interdependent with one another, as the following section illustrates.

Intelligent Career Development

Although intelligent career theory is grounded in the three ways of knowing, most career development occurs through the interaction among them. Specifically, there are six uni-directional combinations that may be considered.

• Knowing-why to knowing-how: A link in this direction occurs when a person comes to understand how his or her values and interests (knowing-why) can lead to the application of specific skills and job-related expertise (knowing-how). Much like traditional vocational guidance theory, intelligent career theory suggests a range of exploratory knowing-why topics, including values, interests, identity and the balance of work and family, that may influence a person's choice of education, occupation or work experience.
• Knowing-how to knowing-whom: A link in this direction reflects how the application of individual skills (knowing-how) may result in new contacts and relationships (knowing-whom). In the work environment, successfully drawing on specific job-related knowledge and expertise may also promote reputation among colleagues or customers. In situations involving teamwork, an individual contribution may add to the effectiveness of the team, as well as to individual or shared reputations.
• Knowing-whom to knowing-why: The relationships that comprise an individual's network (knowing-whom) may be influential in affirming or challenging a person's identity and self-image (knowing-why). Links in this direction may reflect the impact of specific connections such as mentors and friends. Other links in the same direction can involve colleagues either reinforcing or dampening a person's motivation to engage in shared activities.
• Knowing-why to knowing-whom: The directions between the three ways of knowing may also move in an anti-clockwise direction. Someone motivated to interact with certain colleagues (knowing-why) would be likely to seek new career opportunities to work with them (knowing-whom). This can include seeking out new opportunities to learn from other people, for example by volunteering to work in a particular team, or under a particular mentor.
• Knowing-whom to knowing-how: An example of a link in this direction is when collaborations with colleagues (knowing-whom) lead to opportunities to apply job related skills and expertise (knowing-how). Reputation within a social group may bring referrals for work in other areas in which the individual is unknown. Another way to benefit from a group is to seek feedback that may contribute to enhanced competence, as is reflected in models of '360° feedback.
• Knowing-how to knowing-why: A link in this direction occurs when the results of formal or informal performance feedback (knowing-how) have an impact on an individual's motivation to work (knowing-why). Simply, the perception of one's performance (perhaps stemming from a lack of feedback), or the direct experience of a work assignment, can have an impact on self-esteem and in turn impact on subsequent attitudes towards further work assignments.

In sum, the complexity of career development can be organised into a series of six links between any two ways of knowing. If you want to think about and plan your career as a whole, it is important to consider all the elements outlined above.

Article by Amit Puri of Sandbox Advisors

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Gradversity.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 3:31 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

No doubt about it, most of us at one time or another can identify with Comedian Rodney Dangerfield's trademark lament, "I don't get no respect." That's not surprising because our need to be appreciated along our career path is not always satisfied.

But stop and think the next time you are tempted to moan and groan about not getting respect and appreciation on your job.

Are you sure your boss and your peers are short on respect for what you do? They may not show it in tangible ways, but are you missing the positive signals?

Often, subordinates are reluctant to express their appreciation and respect because they don't want to be seen as sucking up. Or they could be blinded by envy. In any case, at the end of the day, it's their willingness to rely on your leadership and expertise that counts in totaling up the respect account.

Your boss may fail to verbalize his respect and appreciation for you because he knows you will carry out your assignments without pats-on-the-back. He needs all the time he can get to push other less motivated people and to clean up their mistakes.

The boss may believe that you are a professional, paid to do a job, so stroking is not necessary.

It could be that he doesn't really understand how vital your contribution is to his success and that of the organization. For example, the boss who came up the route of manufacturing may be slow to pay respect to the job the public relations staff is doing because he doesn't understand the function.

You may feel that this is not the way it should be; but we are dealing with the real world here.

Respect That Really Counts

What kind of respect really counts toward your career success? Sure, it's nice to get compliments about your job performance. A "thank you" for a job well done is always appreciated. A bronze plaque is a special "feel good." But these expressions of respect and recognition are short term.

But what really counts at the end of the day is respect measured by the assignment of more responsibility that leads to a promotion with more authority and a bigger paycheck.

Steps You Can Take

What's to be done if you feel that you are not getting the respect you feel you deserve?

First of all, take inventory of what really counts in the career rewards you receive for your efforts. The respect and recognition account is short on the balance sheet of your career, take steps to be sure your peers, your boss, and your subordinates understand your contribution.

This is a delicate task. You don't want to come off as a braggart who's hogging the spotlight. But you do want the organization to recognize your true worth. Get the help of a third party--a respected mentor, a career coach--who can advise you and speak up for you.

If you believe your increasing responsibility and paycheck don't reflect respect and appreciation for your contribution and your employer is unwilling to correct the shortfall, you may want to look elsewhere for a job that will result in these true measures of respect.

Article by, Ramon Greenwood, a career counselor with common sense advice on how to achieve your career goals. To subscribe to Ramon Greenwood's free semi-monthly newsletter and blog, go to Common Sense at Work Ramon's take-it-to-the bank advice comes from a world of experience, including serving as Senior Vice President of American Express, an entrepreneur, professional director, career coach and author.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 10:16 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today, I spoke to Kit Yarrow, who is the co-author of Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail. In this interview, Kit sizes up the typical Gen-Y'er, explains how this group is different than other generations, illustrates how they've influenced the workplace and buying, shares some highlights from her research, what motivates them and more.

Can you size up what a typical Gen-Y'er behavior is? How are they different from other generations?

First and foremost they're more confident than previous generations were at their age. They're the product of a more child-centric society, the self-esteem movement and a culture that values youth. They've been appreciated and understood in a way that's really unique. Add to that teamwork, and the ability to use technology to connect with others and circumvent traditional hierarchies and you've got an empowered and confident generation.

How has Gen-Y influenced how businesses run, from a workplace and buying perspective?

Obviously technology is a key factor. What I hear most often - that Gen Y'ers "embrace" technology - is actually only a small part of why this is so important. More essential is the mentality that has resulted from having grown up with all that technology has to offer. Certainly Gen Y'ers get bored more easily than older generations and process surface information more quickly. They also have a fundamental appreciation for innovation and new ideas. And as mentioned earlier - they're better at moving around obstacles and can call upon a pack of real or virtual friends for back up when they need it. Anywhere, anytime is part of it too.

Marketers and retailers are not only using technology more effectively as a result, but also relying more on visual cues, rotating merchandise more quickly, tying in with causes and events and giving consumers more control over their messaging.

During your research for this book, what were the top 3 most fascinating statistics you found?

Some of the findings I found most interesting were actually contradictions that arose when comparing surveys - and the unique and inventive ways that Gen Y'ers responded to internal conflicts.

For example, compared with other generations Gen Y'ers are more passionate supporters of sustainability. But they're also relatively heavy purchasers of clothing. One of the ways that many of the Gen Yers I interviewed were dealing with this conflict was by shopping at second hand stores.

Another source of conflict I saw in twenty-something Gen Y'ers was between the high standards they had for themselves and struggles feeling satisfied with life choices. They'd been told they could "do anything" and "not to settle" and so despite relatively high self-esteem many felt a lot of anxiety and doubt about their career (and even mate) selections. The solution for many was a dedication to continuously learning and trying new things.

As for straight up numbers, according to our Gen BuY survey of 2,000 American consumers, Gen Y is enthusiastic about shopping. Of those under 30, 44% say they "love shopping" compared to 31% of those over 30. Add in "like shopping" and the numbers are 71% of Gen Y and 48% of those over 30.

Another interesting statistic, according to Nielsen Online, time spent online by kids 2-11 has increased 63% in the past five years compared a 36% increase across all ages.

What motivates a Gen-Y'er?

Generally speaking, Gen Y is motivated by innovation. They like new and different things, and stimulation. They also appreciate and expect feedback more than other generations. And whether online or in-person, Gen Y is motivated by belonging and performs better when they feel part of a team.

Can you spotlight a Gen-Y'er you interviewed for your book and go over how they feel like they are different from other generations?

One of the things I found most charming about the Gen Y'ers I interviewed - whether they were 10 to 29 - was their awareness and appreciation of their parents. One 29 year-old woman I interviewed was in awe of the sacrifices her parents had made for her. For example, she commented that while she liked to dine out several times a week, her parents considered it a special occasion. And while neither had been able to afford college themselves, they insisted that she go and scrimped to pay for her education.

There's much discussion about Gen Y feeling "entitled." While evidence of high expectations may surface in surveys, when you sit down and talk to Gen Y'ers, most seem to be very aware of the price attached to their expectations. They feel fortunate and grateful. That's not the same as being entitled - entitlement includes ignorance.

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 10:01 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

After moving eight times in the last nine years, I have come to the conclusion that I really hate moving.

Aside from having to put everything I own into boxes, moving is the only way to truly appreciate all of the garbage that I own. Dumping the contents of my junk drawer on the floor revealed, among other things, Weezer tickets from a concert I attended in 2003, a broken Tamogotchi and my old pager.

I guess a part of me is hoping that the items I've outgrown will serve a future purpose, when in reality, I know that they won't. It's important to know when to clear the clutter out of our lives because if we don't, we get bogged down with useless junk and have no room left for new and exciting things.

This doesn't just apply to our personal lives. We need to know when to let go in our professional lives as well.

Ever seen the film Office Space? Remember Milton Waddams? After working at Initech for years he was banished to Storage Room B. And then, to make matters worse, the bastards took away his red stapler. Unfortunately Milton's fate is a common one in the professional world and it happens to even the best of us. One minute you're the hot shot burning through promotion after promotion and the next minute you've been given an arbitrary managerial position and stripped of all your meaningful duties. It happens so quickly sometimes, doesn't it? Continue reading ...

Article by Cheryl Santa Maria and courtesy of Andrew G.R. and jobacle.com - your cure for carbon copy career advice!

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 16, 2009 at 7:16 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today, I spoke to Perez Hilton, who is the founder of the extremely popular gossip blog, perezhilton.com. He's also a television personality, radio show host, a clothing line, books and has his own record label. I recently featured Perez in my BusinessWeek column, which talks about how he's expanded his brand into new areas, while staying true to his passions. In this interview, Perez tells us how he's built his own brand, what he thinks he's known for, how being associated with celebrities have helped him and much more. Perez is very controversial, so there have already been negative comments on Twitter about this interview. He's actually a really nice guy, but has a persona that better matches the celebrity gossip market than his own. It's an interesting case and something to pay attention to.

How have you leveraged your famous blog to extend into other areas, such as your VH1 series, clothing line, 2 books, record label, etc?

It happened very organically and slowly. Though I may announce things on my blog, everything took a long time to happen. Recently I announced my own record label, but it took well over a year and a half of meetings and negotiating and behinds the scenes work to get it to the point now that I announced Perezcious Music and my first artist, Sliimy, whose going to be taking part in my first ever music tour, which beings September 10th in Atlanta (perezhiltonpresents.com). Like the record label, the tour is also something I've been wanting to do for a very long time.

It all happened organically. The music label began because I'm passionate about music, which is the most constant things in my life. I'm more passionate about music than celebrity gossip. I've been posting music on my site and a lot of the times the people that I would post would go on and do really great things and I noticed that and other people noticed that and I want to be more hands on and involved and help in a bigger way. The tour started out as a series of events all over the world, called my 1-night series. This is kinda like that but taking it on the road and I can't wait for people to get to see some really great acts that they might never have had access to.

What do you feel you're known for? Is it the drawings on your blog? Is it your personality?

I say more so my personality. I'm a very colorful character. There are a lot of gossip blogs out there but I would venture to say that if you ask 100 people out there to mention three gossip blogs, 90%+ would mention mine.

What process did you go through to jump from your blog into other "brand extensions"?

Everything has happened organically. I actually went to college at NYU to study acting. I always considered myself an entertainer. The main way I entertain people is online but now-in-days I'm entertaining them in much different capacity from the website, my new fashion blog, the radio show, the book that came out this year, my TV appearances, the VH1 special came because all of the things have happened are brand extensions that have happened because I made them happen.

Very rarely does it happen that an opportunity presents itself. These are all things that I wanted to do and I made happen. It took a while but eventually I go there. With regards to the VH1 show that aired in November 2008, I met with a production company and chose one that I loved and then I went around to a bunch of networks and ended up with VH1. It was a great learning experience. Actually, TV is most definitely one area of my hopefully budding empire that I want to work at. I'm still taking meeting with people, network and productions company because I'm good at it and enjoy doing it.

Do you have to be successful in one area to expand to others? Is it easier?

No it's not easier. It's like an actor trying to become a musician. People have preconceived notions of who you are so I say it's a level playing field.

Do you still enjoy blogging over anything else? Why or why not?

Yes, because though I love the world of music, I'm also spoiled at being my own boss and having my website and working online and the internet is so fast paced it kinda jarring of working I other fields and realize that not everyone is as quick as I am.

Do you think you could have been as successful without the blog?

Hopefully, I think that the blog was a perfect marriage of talent, luck and opportunity. Not that I'm that talented, but my talent comes from my sheer hard work. I may have a little bit of talent, maybe. There are so many blogs out there that do the same thing and my doesn't. I get as much if not more traffic that have staffs of 40+ people. I've recently been hiring help, thankfully. One of the reasons I did that is because I recently launched a new website.

I've been saying for years that I needed up but now in the past 6th months I've been staffing. And my new website I'm very excited about is called cocoperez.com and that happened very organically because fashion is something I already talk about on my website and it came from knowing my audience. My readers are predominantly females in their 20th. What do they like just as much as gossip? Fashion. I'm not going to judge it by traffic or advertising. I'm going to judge it by the response I get from my readers and whether I have fun working on it or not. Thus far I'm having a great time because it's opened up a whole new world of possibility.

Why did you brand yourself as Perez Hilton instead of your real name?

When I first started my website, I used my real name until I started receiving death threats and I realized that it's not a good idea to use my name when I'm talking about things that could really upset people. Then a didn't use my name for a while and calling it page666.com. After a while not having a name on the site as the author, the character or persona of Perez Hilton popped into my head.

How has being associated with celebrities help build your personal brand?

When people think of Hollywood and celebrities, they think of me. I'm definitely an expert in the field and I love being known as a knowledgeable person in the world entertainment. A lot of people are interested in celebrities so there's a lot of opportunities for me in the world.

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 3:44 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today, I spoke to Alan Deutschman, who writes for Fortune Magazine, GQ, Vanity Fair and New York Magazine, while being the author of the new book, Walk the Walk. In this interview, Alan tells us why most aspiring leaders don't actually become leaders, gives us an example of a leader that walks the walk, authenticity, what seperates leaders and followers and more.

What do most aspiring leaders not have that keeps them from becoming leaders?

Most aspiring leaders fail for several reasons. The most common problem is that they don't have the focus that they need. The leaders' actions must always highlight the one or two things that are most important to the cause. I call this "The Rule of One or Two." Aspiring leaders also fail because they lack empathy. Leaders need to understand and be sensitive to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the people they're trying to lead. Too often, though, they're elitists who become awfully disconnected from the rest of us.

Real leaders also need constancy because everyone is always watching to see how they walk the walk. They've got to be relentless, and many wannabee leaders aren't up for it.

And finally, aspiring leaders are often doomed because they don't have the sincere belief that their people can overcome obstacles and change dramatically. They often have a high opinion of themselves, of course, but they don't trust their people to achieve great things.

Can you give an example of a leader that walks the walk (and talks the talk)?

Jeff Bezos has always said that Amazon.com puts the customer first--from early on, his vision was "to create the world's most customer-centric company." That's how he talked the talk. Now a lot of CEOs say that they put the customer first, but Bezos was the rare one who actually did it again and again through decisions that hurt short-term profits. He allowed customers to post negative reviews of products that Amazon was trying to sell, which was a very controversial move at the time. He came out with offers for free or cheap shipping when he could have charged a lot more. By treating customers so well, he incited the ire of Wall Street stock analysts, who called for Amazon's board of directors to remove Bezos from power. But Amazon attracted very loyal customers, and it has thrived even during the economic downturn because of how Bezos has walked the walk.

What happens when a leader doesn't walk the walk? Do they lose authenticity?

If you're talking about creating real change, very few people will believe what you say, at least in the beginning, whether you're entirely authentic or completely phony. We've been lied to so many times by our supposed "leaders" in business and politics that we've become very cynical about what they say. But we watch what they do very closely. So walking the walk can help you gain trust. Don't assume that you have it to begin with.

Do you believe anyone can be a leader? What separates leaders from followers?

Leaders strive to change the ways that other people think, feel, and act. Leadership is all about creating change. Anyone can be a leader if they embody new ways of thinking and acting and serve as a model for those around them. You don't have to be a CEO to be a leader. If you rip out your front lawn and plant an organic vegetable garden as a small move towards reversing global warming and changing our food supply system, and you offer your fresh produce to curious neighbors when they wander by, then you're a leader.

What separates leaders from followers? Leaders have to go first and show what's possible, and they have to do things that the rest of us can do, too. If I spend a fortune "greening" my house with the latest state-of-the-art technology, that's no good if my neighbors can't afford a similar retrofit. But they too can plant organic home gardens.

How did the Fast Company article you wrote "Change or Die" change your life and build your personal brand?

Before I wrote "Change or Die" I had spent most of two decades as a business journalist, but that article, and the book I wrote with the same title, helped turn me from a detached observer into an impassioned advocate. But I'm still a journalist, and I believe that the best way to interest people in provocative ideas is to report and tell a terrific, real story.

Article by, Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 3:38 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

When leaving an employer it is best to make a graceful exit, no matter how much you dislike your supervisor, peers or the company. Doing so is best for your reputation in the long term and you never know who you might cross paths with in the future.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when quitting your job:

- Before you submit a formal resignation letter, have a talk with your supervisor(s). Explain your reasons for leaving the job and re-assure them, that you will make the transition as smooth as possible. Also agree on how much notice you should provide. In most cases, the proper response from your supervisor should be to wish you luck and to offer you any help you might need

- In some instances, your supervisor or others in your company might react badly to your resignation. They might behave rudely and display other behaviour which is not appropriate. Sometimes they might try to make you feel guilty about leaving. Remember, that you are not doing anything wrong by leaving the company and there is no reason to feel guilty. Also keep in mind that such a reaction is not good practice. Try to maintain your composure and be graceful in your exit, even if your employer is not

- Check your employment contract and company policy, to have a clear idea of what formalities need to be taken care of. You should be clear on your expected entitlements - such as expense claims, unused vacation/sick leave and other benefits you should receive. For many of these you will typically receive monetary compensation on a pro-rata basis

- Get in touch with HR and provide them a formal resignation letter. Make sure to mention you last day of work and to request them to confirm all formalities you need to go through and to also confirm your entitlements/dues

- Try to spend your last days in the company as though you were not leaving. In other words, keep your work standard at the same level and complete all outstanding assignments (as far as possible)

- Avoid burning any bridges and maintain good relations with people at work. Get the contact details for people who you want to stay in touch with and maintain as part of your network

- Your employer might say that they do not want to lose you and are willing to provide sweeteners (such as better salary or change of role/job scope). In this case, it is recommended to only take the offer if you think it is very lucrative/attractive. Studies/research has shown that people who do so, typically leave within a year (or might be asked to leave as well). This is because, although you might stay back, you have made it clear to your employer that you are not committed to the organisation.

Amit Puri is the Managing Consultant at Sandbox Advisors. He has over 10 years of business, career services and HR related experience, with companies such as Bain & Co, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. Sandbox Advisors is based in Singapore and provides career management/advice, job search, interview, resume and HR consulting services in Asia.

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Sweet Careers.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 3:08 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I've been on most sides of the job hunt - recruiting manager, sought after by recruiters and unemployed due to mergers, divestitures and bankruptcies. In both my job search and my search for hires I've leveraged recruiters. While recruiters may not be able to solve all of your job search needs (there need to be jobs that match your background and you need to get through the interview rounds), they are a key resource in your job search and should not be overlooked. Today's post provides additional recruiter resources for your job hunt.

Advantage Talent - This recruiting firm specializes in financial services and accounting. Their main page gives an overview of the firm with some links to their principal recruiters. Down the left hand side of the page is a list of links (too long to list here) that provides a wealth of resources. Two of the links, Candidates and Job Openings are worth a look. Candidates provides access to an online application while Job Openings allows registration and a view to all job openings. The Management Tab provides bios of key staff as well as contact information.

Global Hire - Global Hire recruits a broad spectrum of job functions. The main page provides an overview of the firm with a tab at the top for "For Job Seekers". Click Contact Us for contact information and the ability to upload your resume in Word format.

Niagara Partners - This firm is also a general recruiting firm in that they recruit a broad range of job functions. Their main page provides an overview of the company with three main sections at the bottom - Potential Employers (not for you), Potential Candidates and Jobs. Click "Contact Us" under the Potential Candidates section to get to contact information. Click Jobs to see a wide range of current job openings (there were in excess of 45 jobs when I checked. There is an "Apply" link at the very bottom of the page to apply for any openings that match your experience.

Recruiting Services Group - RSG provides a full range of services for the job seeker. Their main page has a section on the right hand side for Candidate Services, which includes Career Tools (with links), Career Opportunities, Submit your Resume and "Ask a Recruiter". Click on Career Opportunities to go to their page with career opportunities by discipline. Click on your discipline to see a list of jobs. Each job listing has who to contact to apply for the job at the end of the job description. There is also a submit your resume link from this section of the site.

The Wimberly Group - This firm specializes in Forest Products and Manufacturing. Their main page provides a comprehensive overview of their services. There is a Contact Us tab on the left hand side of the page, use this to forward your resume.

Good luck in your search.

Article by Career Alley

Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, and posted on Michigan IT.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 3:03 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I can hear the advice coming from everyone. It sounds like a nagging mother telling her kids to look both ways before crossing the street. Yeah, mom, I know. I know.

The nag I hear most about social networks, especially to the college set, is: "Beware. Don't. Watch out."

Google the subject and you'll get links like this one at the top of the list leading with the risks and warnings about participating on social networks and blogging, as they relate to your career prospects. It is a good post, everyone should be aware of the risks. It is a super post in that it also sheds light on opportunities blogging provides ... yet, the take away impression is still "WATCH OUT!"

Trend spotting: Facebook is the friend of Job Search!

Two days ago, I clicked on something of interest in my Tweetstream which brought me to a wonderfully insightful blog post which suggested looking at Facebook profiles and updates as a tool that can attract, not detract. Brilliant! It had me at hello.

Today, I saw this theme again in a piece that Jessica Shambora (@jessshambora) of FORTUNE wrote. Title? "Watch Out LinkedIn, Facebook is gaining on you." Jessica was kind enough to include me in her article so I can vouch for the fact that she was onto this theme at least dating back to last Tuesday, September 1st, when she interviewed me.

Let the sunshine in! Yes!, everyone's doom and gloom can also mean a big opportunity! Blue Ocean, Red Ocean, and all that.

This, I think, is a job tip and a trend spot of the moment. I did a Twitter Search to find that blog post I read with the breakthrough thought. Should have known. It was from Guy Kawaski. Way to go, Guy.

To be fair, the first opportunistic write up I saw on Facebook for job search came from this great experiment and resulting post on job seekers placing ads in Facebook by Willy Franzen on his blog, One Day One Job. Oddly, Willy wrote that one year ago to the week.

It is early days with this, though an indication of things to come. Good stuff. Take that naggers.

Article by, Polly Pearson, an employment branding leader passionate about Web 2.0 engagement tools with nearly twenty years of FORTUNE 500-level experience spanning human resources, marketing, branding, investor relations, public relations, advertising, and professional speaking. Her employment branding work has recently been featured in media outlets such as CBS News, National Public Radio, Financial Times, Boston Herald, Dice.com and in the new Penguin Press business book, "Closing the Engagement Gap: How Great Companies Unlock Employee Potential For Superior Results." Polly writes a popular blog dedicated to careers, culture and cool at, http://www.pollypearson.com.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Resume fraud is often explained away by the offending jobseeker as a little white lie, but the reality is that such fraud can cost companies millions of dollars; in fact, falsifying employment materials is illegal in some states. And in today's economy, resume fraud is a growing problem for HR professionals.

According to CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace:

Three out of ten people lie on their resumes -- according to experts. In a tight economy, with unemployment close to ten percent, more job seekers may be feeling desperate enough to stretch the truth. "We have seen a substantial increase in resume fraud over the last 12 to 24 months," said Greg Slamowitz, [whose] firm [Ambrose Employment Group] counsels businesses on the importance of screening resumes.

Resume fraud is certainly not a new problem. United Press International offers up this worrying anecdote from 20 years ago:

Caught in the act: In the late 1980s, the Port Authority of New York took out want ads soliciting resumes from electricians with experience using Sontag conductors. Nearly a third of the respondents said they had experience using Sontags. The problem: There was no such thing as a Sontag conductor.

A couple of the more well-publicized resume fraud cases of recent years include:

• Newly hired Notre Dame football coach George O'Leary lost his job in 2001 -- mere days after taking the post -- when it was revealed that there were serious inaccuracies on his resume, including a master's degree from a non-existent institution.
• Marilee Jones was dean of admissions at MIT for 28 years, until it was discovered that she had falsified educational information. Jones was forced to resign.

Statistics and estimates from security and background-checking forms, as well as human resources studies, seem to indicate that anywhere between 15 percent and 40 percent of all resumes received contain an intentional misrepresentation. The very prevalence of the practice can cause some jobseekers to think, "Well, if everyone else is doing it..."

This is an especially tempting mentality in today's economy. "In an economic downturn, the temptation to pad CVs is strong," writes Prachi Patel in "Experts Expect Resume Fraud to Rise" for the IEEE. Her expert sources in the article indicate that they believe resume fraud stats will go up quite sharply when they tabulate 2009 as compared to 2008.

However, there is another school of thought, which is that the base statistics for resume falsification remain pretty consistent. Some assert that new technology and the threat of background checks keep people cautious and have kept fraud rates relatively consistent.

According to the IEEE article:

High-profile cases--such as former RadioShack Corp. CEO David Edmondson, who resigned after the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported he made up two degrees he never earned--may make it seem that resume fraud is already on the rise. Yet rates of academic fraud on resumes--people misstating their educational background--have hovered between 20 and 30 percent over the past five decades, says Peter LeVine, a background checker in Delray Beach, Fla.

One reason fraud rates haven't risen might be the very real fear of getting caught. More employers are now doing stricter background checks on their potential employees, particularly for candidates who received their education or work experience abroad and for those applying for IT positions with access to confidential data. Executive and managerial level resumes also face tougher scrutiny.

Some sources say that the most common misrepresentation is falsifying educational credentials, but other studies claim that inflating a past title or job accomplishments are the most likely areas for candidates to embellish.

There are lots of different techniques to prevent and detect resume fraud, but all require an investment in some way: either the increased labor and attention of HR staff, or outsourcing to some kind of background check company. HR pros acting on their own can start by raising their own internal levels of skepticism, looking for inconsistencies, and demanding large amounts of verification from the candidate.

Other worthy suggestions from the Wall Street Journal article "How to Spot Resume Fraud" are:

• Confirm the circumstances of every change in employment -- whether voluntary or involuntary -- with a candidate's previous employers.
• Don't call only the references provided by a candidate. Seek additional references, such as former colleagues, supervisors or direct reports.
• Don't assume candidates provided by an executive search firm are well-vetted.

The consequences of resume fraud differ from state to state. Of course, most employees can expect to be terminated if a case of fraud comes to light. A few states even have criminal codes on the books to punish falsifying resume information, but most do not.

In any event, most HR professionals are less concerned with punishments than with preventing dishonest individuals from ever entering their organization and exposing it to risk.

Article by, Sarah and courtesy of RiseSmart.com - RiseSmart: Search Smarter. Rise Faster.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 1:52 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Why do we work?

Paycheck? Personal fulfillment? Provision of the proverbial roof over our heads? The kids need new shoes? We want to make the world a better place? We want a convertible in the garage to drive to the beach on weekends? We like to eat?

The answer, for most of us, is all of the above, to varying degrees. We have needs -- both financial and emotional -- and we work to take care of those needs.

But you might be surprised how many people believe their work is actually a spiritual calling.

A Labor Day survey by Catholic Reader, reported in U.S. Catholic, shows 81 percent of those surveyed look at their job as a calling from God. A full 95 percent said they believe their job makes a positive contribution to society.

Many people of faith don't check that faith at the door when they punch the time clock. And employers are recognizing that employees increasingly want not only to do a good job -- but to do good, period.

In his book, Business for the Glory of God, Wayne Grudem talks about the impact business has when it displays "moral goodness," especially through the goodness of the employer/employee relationship.

"There is dignity in labor; there is dignity in being an employee or an employer," points out Tim Challies in his blog Challies.com, which frequently focuses on satisfaction in the workplace. He sees the workplace as the perfect place for employers and employees alike to show honesty, trustworthiness, kindness, wisdom, skill and keeping our word.

According to Alan S. Sklover of Sklover Working Wisdom, doing well in the workplace also develops your inner confidence, which results in a deep sense of fulfillment. Says Sklover:

It is an inner confidence, deep inside you, that you will continue to have many more accomplishments in the future. And it's a knowledge, too, that those inevitable future accomplishments will also be recognized by others, time and time again. Strive to be good at what you do at work - it will add to your happiness every waking moment of your life.

So according to Sklover, work should not keep you awake at night; it should add to the quality of your waking hours.

Yes, a new convertible in the garage is nice. But for many of us, being in the right job and doing things we believe are right are ultimately their own reward.

Article by, Thom and courtesy of RiseSmart.com - RiseSmart: Search Smarter. Rise Faster.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 1:45 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Let's face it. In most of life we really are interdependent. We need each other. Staunch independence is an illusion, but heavy dependence isn't healthy, either. The only position of long-term strength is interdependence: win/win.

- Greg Anderson, the American Wellness Project

Let's face it. Along with the interview, the polished resume, the firm handshake and the kudos from all your Facebook friends and Twitter followers, what the HR person really wishes she knew is . . . what did Mrs. Baker write on your third-grade report card?

Was it the prophetic "Works well with others" -- or the problematic "Needs his own space"?

Yes, the pressure is on for HR to step up, embrace technology and integrate social networks into their recruiting processes. But ultimately, the greatest pressure is to use all the tools at hand to put the right person in the right spot -- and avoid forcing co-workers to welcome a square peg to fill the vacant round hole.

The hope for a win/win falls on the HR professional. We want a happy employee, a happy boss, and we definitely want a happy workplace. Kumbaya is always on the success checklist.

Thomas Otter at Vendorprisey indicates it's a tightrope on which HR professionals tiptoe. Drowning in ever-updated databases, they still must remember that they work with people.

Writes Otter:

To be a top HR professional, you do need to have empathy for people. It is probably what attracted you to the job in the first place. But if you are going to succeed you need to be analytical, too. HR professionals that can see patterns beyond the incident, abstract the problems from the personal, and make the best move given the constraints they have been dealt with, will have a real impact on shaping the business and their careers.
Is a potential employee too dependent on others, always waiting for an assignment and needing overly specific directions? Too independent, liable to shirk the team? Co-dependent, only able to move at a pace equal to those around him?

Or is she interdependent, comfortable with give-and-take and credit-sharing?

In the absence of crystal balls and Mrs. Baker's report card, the HR professional becomes part intuitive seer and part just-the-facts detective. With the Internet creating personal archives of the good, the bad and the ugly for all to see, this process takes more sorting than ever. The resume is just a starting point.

According to Mary Ellen Slater on Smartblog on Workforce, many HR professionals still place pretty high value in their intuition and training -- but perhaps not enough on the candidate's often-revealing online footprint.

She notes:

Employers' feelings about using social media for recruiting are mixed. Nearly half of you report that you're simply not even interested in trying it, which I find surprising. Used effectively, social media tools can be an effective way to source candidates and build your brand as an attractive employer.
Clearly this is a period of transition, with some HR professionals mainly trusting their old-school record and others tweeting to a new tune. As Susan Strayer notes, the list of companies that recruit via Twitter is growing.

Who knows, maybe Mrs. Baker is still around . . . and tweets.

Article by, Thom and courtesy of RiseSmart.com - RiseSmart: Search Smarter. Rise Faster.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 12:44 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Article provided by Brand-Yourself.com

I realize that you are a great human being and have accomplished more than most people at the ripe old age of 22, but please cool it on the status updates, tweets, and photo albums. There is a point where it is simply too much and you will be looked at more of a "tool" than someone who is well accomplished. We discuss our personal brand and online presence all of the time and this is just one more piece of that total brand you should be shooting for.

Just as in the real world, you need to be completely cognizant of what you are posting or uploading on to websites. You may think that something as innocent as updating your status 10 times a day as something that will not impact your career, but lets just say four years down the road, you just so happen to be interviewing with someone who was your "friend" on Facebook and all they can remember about you is your constant status updates and your obsession with commenting on photos. Do you think they want an employee who is constantly going to be on a social-networking site while they are at work or an employee who is going to tweet about his struggles with the organization? These are certainly extreme examples, but not being "That Guy" is pretty easy, so here is a list of questions to ask yourself before you let the world know what is going on in your life.

Does this relate to work? Unless it is your job to speak about your organization on the web please use your discretion before you go tweeting about XYZ Company. Some people are paid to do this type of marketing and most likely you are no that person.

How personal is this? Honestly, no one wants to hear about your struggles. It's simple. Life is hard for everybody. You are not the only one that had a rough week, so please don't bring everyone else down with you.

Am I bragging? Yes, the thought of owning a brand-new BMW is pleasant, but guess what, no one else cares about your new ride. In the eyes of your followers or your friends you basically just said, "I am either very spoiled or make a lot of money". Both of which, no one cares about.

You can have too strong of an online presence and it is a very fine line, but do me a favor and play it on the safe side, because you will never know who is taking inventory of the content you release into the web. By eliminating the little mistakes that your peers are consistently making, you will be able to separate yourself from the pack and continue to make strides toward becoming remarkable

Brendan Wales is a co-founder of StarvingFreelancers,com, a site dedicated to bringing together talent and opportunity. He studied Finance at the University of Georgia and enjoys working with small-businesses. Two of his favorite authors are Jack Kerouac and Ayn Rand. Wales' goal in life is to wake up in the morning and be excited about going to work.

Article courtesy of Brand-Yourself.com for actionable tips to put you in a position of power in the job market

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 12:32 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Given the current state of the economy, it's no surprise that jobs are getting harder to come by, and unemployment rates continue to skyrocket. Although many career experts are saying that attending career fairs and actively posting on job boards is the way to go, there are ways for candidates to streamline their efforts in order to be more strategic and proactive in their job searches.

Below are five tips to help them:

1. Make a plan. The more organized you are, the more effective you'll be. Plus, the competition is organized, so you'd better be too. Think about which companies you want to work for, what other areas/industries your skills might apply to, and how you're going to track and follow up with all the contacts you make in the course of your job search (hint: use a spreadsheet). If you plan well and execute your job search diligently, there's a much better chance you'll get what you want.

2. Search effectively. Don't bounce from site to site to site trying to paint a complete picture of the job market by hand. Job search engines like Juju.com do the heavy lifting for you by making virtually all job listings on the web searchable from one place. Job search engines link you back to the original source of each job they list, so you can run a single search that covers jobs from thousands of employer, recruiter, and job board websites at once, then submit your resume directly to the specific employers or recruiters you're interested in.

3. Think carefully about your search terms. What types of jobs do you want to see? Which ones will just clutter up your search results and waste your time? Which related terms should you be searching (ex. nurse vs. nursing)? Once you've got a good idea of exactly what you're looking for, use the tools available on the "advanced search" page of most job sites to get the most relevant search results possible. Advanced search typically allows you to search by things like company name, job title, job freshness, and exact phrase. You can even specify which words should not appear in your results. When used correctly, these tools can save you hours of tedious screening time every week.

4. Don't repeat your work! If you've spent the time to carefully construct a job search that works well, don't throw that work away only to redo it the next day. Bookmark your search, save it to your RSS reader, or sign up to have new matches delivered to your email address... just do something. Forgetting that great search term you came up with could cost you the opportunity you've been waiting for.

5. Don't lose heart. It's tough out there, but 90% of winning is showing up for the race. In this environment, you may need to beat the bushes until all of the leaves fall off, but when they do you'll be rewarded. Stick to your plan, while staying creative about how you execute it, and hustle, hustle, hustle until the job you want is yours.

Article courtesy of JuJu.com, we strive to create tools that make web-based job listings more accessible and our search results more relevant

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 8:02 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Here's an interesting thought: the very fact that you are reading this blog indicates that you are likely to be in the top tier of tech-savvy HR professionals. At least that's what Steve Boese seems to be saying, and he should know.

Boese teaches an HR Technology class in a HRD Master's program at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He's a prolific blogger with a fascinating take on the profession. We read his recent guest post on Fistful of Talent, titled "What the Future of HR is not Learning... But Should Be..." with tremendous interest.

What We're Not Learning, But Should Be

Professor Boese has students who run the gamut from young, recent grads to HR veterans with decades on the job. Boese says he thought this variance in age and experience would make it difficult to level-set a technology class -- but level-setting was actually EASY. Why? Because almost everyone is equally ignorant about the topic. Says Boese:

One characteristic I have consistently noted is a shocking lack of technology awareness and knowledge, really from students of all experience levels and backgrounds. And it is not just that students don't understand what ERP is, or how SaaS is changing the nature of enterprise software ownership and deployment. Heck, barely anyone understands that, and that is why we have the Tech class in the first place. But more basic, fundamental technologies that are really necessary to at least understand, if not effectively utilize, as a Human Resources professional today. Students in my classes almost never read HR blogs (I can't even get them to read mine), understand RSS, or utilize social networking sites like Facebook for anything other than purely social interactions with their friends.

There are two factors at work here, says Boese. First, HR people often classify themselves as being in the people business -- not IT. (But HR is increasingly aided by technology, and it's becoming less and less acceptable to just shrug that off as not part of your job.) Second, Boese cites "a consistent ignorance, apathy and a serious underestimation of the impact of new technology on the businesses that HR supports" among HR pros. Faced with rapid technological changes, many HR workers stay in a comfort zone involving people, policies and paperwork.

Seize Opportunities to Become Tech-Savvy

There are solutions, of course. Boese has ideas for what curricula schools should be offering, and he offers a wealth of great HR technology links and resources so that professional who aren't in school can educate themselves. His best advice to people already working in the field involves a certain amount of bravery, but has a big payoff:

Don't be content to cede the technology decisions to IT. IT, by necessity, has very different motivations and criteria for technology selection (data security, interoperability with existing systems, in-house tech skills). Partner with your IT colleagues to make sure that HR goals and requirements are considered up front and not as an afterthought.

An interesting coda to this was that just five days after Boese blogged about the need for new classes to keep up with social media and new technology, he learned that the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is creating a major in social networking. The future is unfolding quickly, indeed.

With that, we remind all our readers that the HR Technology Conference & Expo is taking place in Chicago at the end of this month -- and RiseSmart will be there in full force. Why don't you join us? This could be the year when you go from tech-uncertain to tech-savvy!

Article by, Sarah and courtesy of RiseSmart.com - RiseSmart: Search Smarter. Rise Faster.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 14, 2009 at 5:08 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I had a hearty chuckle when I saw this tweet last week from @employmentguru (aka Jay Hofmeister of the Resume Bay):

"What is proper business attire for job fairs? Dispatch had a picture of people at a job fair, I thought it was Woodstock"

But this weekend, when flipping through the New York Post, an op-ed piece entitled "Schlub Nation" caught my eye. The writer Faran Krentcil lamented about the prevalence of mourners at Ted Kennedy's wake dressed in flip-flops, undershirts and dirty tees.

Dress to impress or dress to include?

Krentcil argues that putting the effort into dressing well for important events--like weddings, wakes, job interviews--shows as much respect for the other person as it does for yourself. "Aren't you better than a ripped t-shirt with a mustard stain on the collar?" he asks.

We've all heard the saying, "You shouldn't judge a book by its cover," but should we?

I admit that since moving to Florida from New York City, my everyday dress is much more casual. I have driven to Whole Foods wearing flip-flops, for example, where I'd never worn flip-flops before except for maybe the locker room at the gym. But I still dress up for speaking engagements, business meetings, television appearances. When I'm in the spotlight, wearing good quality, nice fitting clothes makes me feel more authoritative. I'm happy to have all eyes looking at me, and looking pulled together reinforces my personal brand.

My husband and I had a discussion recently about what advice he should give to a friend who is interviewing for a job with my husband's employer, a Fortune 500 bank with a very casual dress code. He thought his friend might stick out in a bad way if he came in a suit. He would look "too New York" for this non-New York crowd.

I said that while I understood his point, if I were interviewing someone, no matter how I personally was dressed, I'd expect the candidate to be wearing a suit and tie. What you dress like when you have the job is one thing, but I don't think it ever hurts to dress up to get the job.

But that's just me. How do YOU feel?

Reader feedback wanted

Since readers of the Personal Branding Blog are pretty diverse, I thought it might be enlightening to get your opinion and I'll summarize the findings in a future post. Here are some questions to get you started:

What style of dress is most consistent with your personal brand?

Thinking about the one or two standard deviations away from the middle of the bell curve rather the extremes...Do you feel better in business situations when you're dressed a bit better than average? Or is it more important for you to blend in, maybe dress down slightly so as not to make a big deal about appearance?

Do you have a higher opinion of someone who is dressed a bit better than average?

If you weren't sure of the implicit dress code, would you tend to dress up, dress down or dress consistently with your personal brand whatever that happens to be?

I'd love to know your thoughts.

Liz Lynch is founder of the Center for Networking Excellence and author of Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online (McGraw-Hill, 2008). She writes, speaks and consults to experienced professionals on how to seamlessly integrate social media and traditional networking to save time and accelerate results.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 14, 2009 at 3:31 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Much has been written about book proposals. But, less has been written about book marketing plans.

This is wrong! What happens after your book is published has a great deal to do with whether you become published and profitable...or just published.

Proposal versus marketing plan

A book proposal is a direct-marketing document intended to persuade publishers to edit, print, and distribute, your book. It's a sales piece intended to communicate the inevitability of your book's success.

Your book's marketing plan, however, is intended for an audience of one-YOU! It's not intended for your publisher. Rather, it's intended to help you identify the revenue streams that you will develop after your book is published.

The necessity for planning your book's back-end profits

Your marketing plan should describe profits you will earn above and beyond royalties from sales of your book. It should describe in detail your market, the products and services you will offer it, and the steps you will take to earn this income.

The reason to prepare your marketing plan now, before you sign a publishing contract or write your book, is that the success of your marketing plan depends on the way your book publishing contract is negotiated.

Consulting and coaching

Let's assume, for example, that you plan to use your book as a way of enhancing your visibility and credibility among your target market.

At the simplest level, you will want to include your web site address at several points in the book. Knowing this goal, you can insist that the publisher agrees in writing to include your web site address in specific locations in your book.

Remember: in publishing, promises don't make it!

Let's take a worst case scenario. You and your acquisition editor agree that you can include five mentions of your web site address in the book. However, as often occurs, the acquisition editor, after signing the contract-fades out of the picture.

The new development editor then informs you that author's URL's can only appear in one place, in the author biography hidden toward the rear of the book. When this happens, what happens to your coaching and consulting plans?

Likewise, you may have planned to buy books in case lot quantities for resale and/or distribution to your prospects and clients. Understanding this before you sign the contract, you can specify the right to purchase books for resale at normal trade discounts in your contract, ensuring your "profit pipeline" won't get turned off.

If you know that you want to offer telephone coaching for $75.00 a call, for example, you can negotiate written permission to promote this service within the body of your book.

In publishing as in so many other areas, it never hurts to get it in writing, and the time to do it is at the contract stage.

Planning your other back-end profit and promotion opportunities
Other back-end profit opportunities based on your book's title might include:

1. Articles, columns, newsletters
2. Yearly updates
3. Special Reports
4. Teleclasses and seminars
5. Speeches, training, & workshops
6. Audio/video recordings
7. Choosing a web site address based on your book's title
8. Free downloads of sample chapters from your web site
9. Fee-based web site services
10. Templates and worksheets based on your book's title

The possibilities are endless, but nothing can happen if-after signing a contract that doesn't fully protect your interests-the publisher limits your ability to promote your business and your web site in your book!

I was heartbroken when I found out I couldn't present Looking Good in Print-branded seminars and workshops, but had to choose a more generic title.

It's not that the publisher was evil, it's more that I didn't understand then what I now understand (which is why I created Published & Profitable to keep others from making the assumptions and mistakes that cost me so heavily at a time when I should have been on top of the world).

Lessons from my experience

• It's imperative that you prepare a marketing plan that analyzes post-publication profit opportunities and describes the steps needed to make them happen.
• You need a savvy literary agent to represent you and negotiate for the rights you need to make your book publishing project profitable for you in the ways you want it to be profitable.
• You need a bulletproof book proposal and sample chapters that are so compelling that publishers couldn't afford to let you get away and go to one of their competitors.

When publishers make a book offer, their initial "boilerplate" contract may be totally inappropriate for your needs.

The stronger your book proposal package-and the more experienced your agent-the more likely you'll get what you want (need) in the final contract.

Jay Conrad Levinson's example of the importance of back-end book profits

Jay Conrad Levinson often recounts that the first volume of his Guerrilla Marketing series earned him thirty million dollars.

But, he goes on, only about $35,000.00 of that thirty million dollars came from the book itself.

All of the rest came from back-end profits!

Get a head start on your journey to becoming both published and profitable by filling out my free online Book Proposal Planner. Remember: it's relatively easy to get published, but it's much harder to become both published and profitable!

Roger C. Parker, as a "writer who understands design," and a "designer who understands copy," can help you create a marketing program based on these skills. Roger has a 20 year record of helping others successfully master and apply the latest technology to marketing challenges.

Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a "personal branding force of nature" by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 14, 2009 at 2:34 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Choosing to be self-employed for the past 13 years, I don't get to partake in much corporate-world fun anymore. But I'm fascinated by it - in an anthropologic sort of way.

Recently, I became interested in conference call protocol when my husband began working from home one day a week. (a whole other post topic...) He often participates in calls with up to 50 people. Firsthand I learned that building a fort for the cat and yelling from my office to tell him about it while he's on a call is verboten. Additional do's and don'ts he shared with me are below.

DO use your mute button. If you are having a side conversation with a co-worker, it's not sufficient to hold your headset mic. away from you. People on the call can hear you! And do we really need to remind grown-up telecommuters that call participants can also hear you FLUSHING THE TOILET? (OK, that one really happened.) Continue reading ...

Article by Nancy LaFever. You can read more from her at the Centre for Emotional Wellbeing blog. Article courtesy of Andrew G.R. and jobacle.com - your cure for carbon copy career advice!

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 14, 2009 at 2:00 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I've been thinking a lot lately about the future of Human Resources. HR, as you all know, is an organizational function with one foot in the past (administration, paperwork, systems, and rules) and the other stepping into the future (strategy, technology, and talent). And while we know it has value -- and have in fact staked our entire careers on that value --it can be difficult to communicate that value to individuals in charge of cost-cutting. Where is the profession going, and how do we get there?

My thoughts came into focus as I read "Beyond administrivia: in savvy companies, HR sets the agenda for growth" by Joe McKendrick. He writes:

The side of human resources departments most managers and employees see is the administrative side -- the folks who manage the payroll and benefits paperwork, keep salaries aligned, prepare new employee orientation packages, prepare severance packages, and make sure the enterprise is meeting the letter of all labor laws and regulations. But administrivia is just one small segment of HR's mission. As a strategic partner, HR can help make or break business growth. Technology and supply chains help a business survive, but it is leadership and an innovative corporate culture that make a business thrive.

McKendrick goes on to recount some interesting case studies of CEOs who have involved HR in a forward-looking way. This all resonated with another blog post I read this week that fascinated me: Lance Haun's "Is Human Resources fatally flawed?" Haun has been debating the question in his mind since April, he says. There are three main things that he has identified as possibly turning the tide on the profession:

1. Most of HR's (traditional) value could be (and often already is) outsourced: Talent recruitment and selection, employee relations, and benefit administration are already subject to outsourcing.
2. Unclear goals and ROI: Smaller companies cannot afford large departments that are not revenue-producing, and HR may become a luxury department of large companies.
3. No input on business direction: You don't get a seat at the table without having business savvy, Haun says, and adds that many HR practitioners have "a true lack of business courage outside of the talent world."

But just as Haun has identified three major HR problems, he has also dreamt up three new specialty roles for HR professionals to move into in the future -- roles that take all of the above into account. You'll have to visit