How To Figure Out What’s Next In Your Career

How To Figure Out What’s Next In Your Career

Figuring out what to do next in your life is a problem everyone faces at one point or another. If you’re just out of school, or you’ve gone as far as possible with your current form of employment, it’s only logical to take a look at what will do next. There are a few steps you may want to consider before you decide what to do next, especially if you aren’t quite sure of what you want to happen next.

Once you have searched through these sources, you can begin to understand what is next on your path through life. Find out how to figure out what’s next in your career:

Consider what you want, not what you think you SHOULD want.

A lot of people sit miserably in jobs they hate for most of their lives because they followed the career path they thought they ought to have, rather than one they wanted to take. For some people, money is all they need, but if there are some extra things you need for job satisfaction, these need to be taken into account.

What are the hours you’re looking for? Do you have any special conditions? Does your prospective employment allow you to fit to what you need to be happy in your work? If not, is there a way to find one that will? When considering your career path, you need to figure out what you want to be doing, not just what job you want to have.

Play to your skills.

Sit down and figure out what you’re good at, every talent and skill you have, and all the ways you can apply them. Take the time to write them all out and focus on exactly what you can do. Get some help from friends if you can in order to figure out what you want to be doing for a living. There are ways to apply even the strangest skills. Only when you know all the things you can do can you figure out where you need to go next.

Consider all sources.

It’s important to consider every piece of guidance when deciding what you want to do next. You need to figure out where you want to go and what you want to do. You need to take every possible career path. Consult friends, family, guidance counselors, really give yourself time to think. If those don’t quite work out, then be sure to consider every source. If the normal cannot give you what you need, then perhaps you need to look to the stars. Some believe that astrology can help you track your future life and figure out what you should be doing. The secrets to the future are as simple as a visit to http://www.itsinthestarsonline.com.

The future is a hard thing to deal with. There are many critical junctures in a persons life and every new job choice gives the opportunity to find what you want to do for the rest of your life. Even if the next choice of job isn’t the big one, something enjoyable with a decent pay check is far better than the alternatives.

4 Signs You May Be Facing Employment Discrimination

4 Signs You May Be Facing Employment Discrimination

No one wants to work in an unpleasant work environment. However, if you believe your negative workplace experience crosses the line into employment discrimination, you may have a legal cause of action. People who exhibit and perpetuate discriminatory or abusive behavior typically do not make their intentions clear. Therefore, identifying workplace discrimination may be difficult.

However, the following five signs may be strong indicators of illegal behavior. Are you facing employment discrimination?

1. High Turnover Rate

If your company seems to continually recruit heavily for workers all year due to a high resignation rate among employees, this is a sign employees are not happy with their workplace. While a high turnover rate is not alone indicative of a discrimination issue, most people have a degree of tolerance for an imperfect work environment. Therefore, if a large number of employees leave the company shortly after being hired, the phenomenon may be caused by a serious issue within the company, and employees should be mindful that there may be a problem.

2. Suspicious Interview Questions

Workplace discrimination may be apparent as early as the interview process. An interviewer who asks questions that reference a stereotype or are otherwise inappropriate may be more likely to continue the inappropriate behavior after hiring you. Many companies must comply with diversity policies; however, not all managers readily agree with diversifying the workplace. For this reason, members of a protected class may be hired. However, abusive, discriminatory behavior may persist once the employee begins work at the company.

3. Strategic Assignment Of Work Duties

Workers who are the target of discrimination are often given lesser tasks or tasks that are impossible to successfully complete. Discriminating managers often employ this tactic to re-enforce the stereotype that people who belong to certain groups are incompetent in the workplace. According to Gittens & Associates, this work tactic may also be used specifically to build a case for having the employee terminated.

4. Demeaning Conversation Style

Part of what makes a workplace unpleasant for workers who are subjected to discrimination is the manner in which discriminating coworkers or supervisors speak to them. If you are consistently spoken to in a harsh or belittling tone for no apparent reason, or if discriminatory jokes are told and offensive comments are made in your presence, it is likely that you are experiencing the effects of employment discrimination. This is especially true if the comments consistently and specifically reference race, gender, religion, age, or sexual orientation.

If you think you are being discriminated against, it is important that you contact a lawyer to discuss your case. Don’t try to fight this problem alone.

Preparing For A Career Discussion With Your Manager

Preparing For A Career Discussion With Your Manager

In order to have a productive career discussion with your manager, it is important for you to prepare and think through some key items ahead of time. You want to be in full control of your career path and the best way to do that is to approach your manager with confidence and conviction around your career goals.

To prepare for the discussion, start by answering some basic questions about yourself and your career:

What is your personal mission statement with regard to your career?

This response should focus on what you hope to achieve through your career.

What are your values?

This response should include your top five values in your life. The importance of answering this question is to be sure your career goals match your current values. For example, if you value innovation, that influences your career choice and objectives.

What are your motivators?

This response includes examples of what motivates you. Is it fast-paced work with short deadlines? Is it structured work or flexible work? As with your values, you want to be sure your career objectives align with your motivators.

What is your short-term career objective?

This response should be about where you see yourself in the next 12 months. If you want to be in a new assignment, then you should state that, as well as what that assignment could be. If you want to remain in your current role but perhaps take on additional duties, then include that information in this question response.

What is your long-term career objective?

This response highlights your ultimate career objective. Some people do not know what this is, but if you do, it is important to share it with your manager. This helps your career plan to be tailored towards reaching your ultimate career objective.

What are your strengths?

This response focuses on your current strengths that you can leverage as you grow in your career.

What are your developmental areas?

This is about the areas where you need to grow so you can reach your career objective.

What are you willing to do in the next 12 months to reach your career objective(s)?

This response should focus on some specific, tactical items that you can work on over the next 12 months. Consider this your action plan to reach your objective.

After Preparing For A Career Discussion With Your Manager…

After you have these questions answered and feel comfortable with your responses, it is time to share this information with your manager. Ask your manager for input on your career objectives and whether they feel these are reasonable and achievable. Ask them for input on your strengths and development areas and also request their support of our action plan.

This will aid in your ability to be successful in reaching your objectives. By taking the time to answer these questions and prepare for your career discussion, it will be much more productive and, hopefully, a more engaging discussion for both you and your manager.

How To Stand Out: Define Your Strengths

How To Stand Out: Define Your Strengths

In the last article of our How To Stand Out series, life coach Bibi Caspari talked about how considering your passions can help separate any job seeker from the competition. Though passions are powerful, Caspari also finds that defining your strengths in order to articulate them to your potential employer is another way to help a job seeker stand out.

“Everybody has strengths,” said Caspari.

Caspari works with a lot of at-risk individuals, both youth and adult.  She’s found they typically feel they don’t have a whole lot to offer a company because they’ve been in jail or prison. They don’t think they can get hired, which sets them up for failure.

“A lot of people don’t see their own strengths,” said Caspari. “Whether you’ve done time or not, getting a fresh perspective from a life or career coach can help you notice things about yourself you never thought could be strengths in the workplace.”

But how does one even begin to define strengths or how to stand out? One of Caspari’s courses, “Looking at Strengths,” helps answer this question by asking five questions that help individuals pinpoint what they are good at.

The questions include:

• What kind of activities do I like to do?
• What makes me happy?
• What are my talents and skills?
• What are my accomplishments?
• What are my best qualities?

In Caspari’s experience with this activity, the hardest question to answer for most people is, “What are your accomplishments?” She recalls a time when she was working with an at-risk kid who was having a hard time finding any accomplishments in his life. His aspiration was to be a professional soccer player, and he participated in soccer teams, but felt that wasn’t considered an accomplishment because it was something that was easy for him to do.

“It really broke my heart because here’s a kid who, very obviously, was beaten up by life,” said Caspari. “We don’t allow ourselves to see our wins or successes.”

She went on to say that a good way to get to know our strengths is by having an accomplishment story ready for an interview. “In our accomplishment stories we might think of one of our accomplishments that brings a number of our skills together and share it in a way that is a short story that brings those strengths to life,” said Caspari.

Saying things like, “I’m an organizer,” “I’m a team player,” “I’m adaptable,” and so on doesn’t tell employers what your strengths are. If you bring up a specific instance where your strengths really shined, telling that story will definitely help you stand out from the other people who tell employers the same old list with generic words that don’t really tell employers who you are.

“Depending on who you are, you want to highlight yourself in different ways,” said Caspari.

How To Reach Recruiters On LinkedIn

How To Reach Recruiters On LinkedIn

Planning to reach out to recruiters during your job search, but don’t know how to approach them?

You’re in luck. It’s easier than ever to find recruiters who specialize in your field by using LinkedIn—and even better, they’re often receptive to your queries from the site.

Here are some tips for finding potential recruiters on LinkedIn, as well as the results of an informal recruiter survey conducted on LinkedIn that sheds some light on best practices for approaching these new contacts.

Locating Recruiters In Your Field

The Advanced People Search function, accessible from the Search bar at the top right of most LinkedIn pages, is one of the best tools for job seekers trying to find key contacts. To use the search capability, select “People” from the drop-down next to the search box, then click on “Advanced.”

From the Advanced People Search menu, here’s where you’ll want to perform a simple query on keywords. For example, a search on “recruiter technology” turned up thousands of names for IT recruiters.

Of course, you can expect to refine your keywords, perhaps adding in an area of specialty to help hone in on the recruiters who seek candidates at your career level.

Sending An Introductory Message

After identifying a pool of key recruiter contacts, you’ll need to craft an introduction that is succinct, professional, and related to your area of specialty – keeping in mind that this note should be tuned specifically to each of your new contacts.

As one person noted in a survey from LinkedIn on recruiter queries, many recruiters are “very receptive” to receiving a note from a candidate, especially one whose experience and career level aligns with their particular area of specialty. Beware, however, that this note must explain the purpose of your query.

Another recruiting manager noted that a “good approach” includes an explanation of your reasons for the contact and what you’re seeking. It’s not enough to ask if the recruiter is seeking candidates with your background!

Here’s a script for reaching out to a recruiter:

“As an IT auditor engaged in a search for new positions within the Chicago area, I am interested in finding out more about the positions you source. I’ve recently completed an assignment with Ernst & Young, and my intent is to build relationships within the banking community. I welcome any suggestions you might have for me, and as I maintain contact with colleagues in the auditing field, I can also help refer candidates to you. Thank you for your time.”

In this situation, you’ll want to be specific about your skills and fitness for your career goal, allowing the recruiter to see how your qualifications apply to this job type. To put it another way, your message needs to resemble a cover letter.

Often, this first note stimulates dialogue that allows the recruiter to point out job listings from corporate websites, or to add the job seeker to an internal recruiting database. In addition, some recruiters will help you follow their current sourcing requirements by directing you to their primary method of streaming new job postings (such as a Twitter or RSS feed).

Maintaining Contact

If you find that a recruiter responds to you with a note stating that they’ll “keep your resume on file,” don’t despair. This is common practice, and can indicate that they expect to receive a future request for candidates with your skills.

Staying on the recruiter’s radar is important, but it does require additional effort on your part. As one recruiter suggested, sending a short note via LinkedIn or through email approximately once per month is a great idea, as it will help keep your skills top-of-mind when new sourcing requirements cross the recruiter’s desk.

Bottom Line

LinkedIn can be, as one recruiter noted, a “massively useful tool for job seekers.” However, you’ll want to demonstrate professionalism and purpose when using it to contact recruiters to support your search.

3 BIG Mistakes To Avoid When Looking For A Recruiter

3 BIG Mistakes To Avoid When Looking For A Recruiter

Job hunting is easy, right? All you do is find a recruiter, comb through their ads and apply to the jobs that suit you. How’s that for simple?

Well, if you’ve ever had to spend a while canvassing the job market, you’ll know that it’s anything but. There may be a trillion job sites out there, each with upwards of 10,000 listings, so finding the right one to suit your job search can be an absolute pain in the proverbial. If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves wasting time on unsuitable or badly-run websites, or simply overwhelmed with the rush of information.

However, help is at hand. We’ve put our heads together and come up with a perfect plan to help you find the right recruiter and save yourself a major job hunter’s headache:

What NOT To Do

Locating the right recruiter is almost as much about what you don’t do as what you do, so we’ve compiled some easy mistakes to watch out for. Here are three big mistakes to avoid when looking for a recruiter…

1. Don’t Assume Bigger Is Better

We tend to assume that the ‘big name’ recruiters are the ones who will serve our needs best, but this isn’t always the case. Although the largest job sites carry hundreds of thousands of ads per day, you may be better off utilizing a smaller, boutique site, depending on your field. These have the advantage of catering for a specialist area and thus often root out fantastic opportunities the bigger sites are missing.

2. Don’t Spread Yourself Thin

While you don’t want to search only one job site, you equally don’t want to spend days trawling through the first 50 searches to pop up on Google. Find 3-5 sites that work for you and check them regularly, using the extra time you save to really refine your search.

3. Don’t Neglect The Real World

Know what can impress a potential employer? You having the gumption to show up on their doorstep smartly dressed, CV in hand. We tend to assume that all hiring takes place online these days, but a good employer will be open to talented people with the initiative to simply drop in uninvited. Try abandoning your keyboard for a day and see what happens!

What To Do

Here are a few things you SHOULD do when looking for a recruiter…

1. Set Up Alerts

Job alerts are vital tools for securing the position you want, whether in the form of nightly emails from your recruitment sites, or a simple Google alert. Set them up with multiple recruiters to start with then slowly kill off the ones that are offering you nothing. This should leave you with a small handful of ‘ideal’ recruiters whose alerts will stand you in good stead.

2. Know What You Want

This is a tricky one, as often we feel we don’t want something specific from our next employment, but rather a set of nebulous criteria nowhere could possibly fulfill. This means we waste time looking at recruitment sites that are hiring way above our level or in areas where we only have a tiny bit of experience. Don’t let this be you. Make a list of the specific sort of jobs you’re looking for and select recruiters who specialize in these areas. Don’t spend your time fretting about what you might be missing on other sites: know what works for you and trust something will come along.

3. See What They Can Do For You

Most recruiters offer excellent advantages with their sites, from CV surgeries to face to face chats to improve your interview technique. Don’t be afraid to take full advantage of these, especially if they’re free. Remember, it’s not just you looking for a recruiter; recruiters are looking for fantastic clients too. Make yourself into that client and they’ll do everything they can to find you a placement.

5 Tips To Uncover Company Culture

5 Tips To Uncover Company Culture

The culture of an organization is incredibly important when you are making a job switch. It becomes imperative if you have lived through the challenges of working for a company or two that were not fits.

Have you ever taken a job thinking the company culture was “A” but it was really “X”?

To clarify, an organization’s culture encompasses several elements.

• How do they treat their employees?
• What is management’s motivators?
• Is it only the bottom line or is there more?
• What is the work ethic?
• What are the expectations for your time?
• Is it standard that many employees work weekends or do people enjoy life outside of work?

I’ve had a few clients live this reality. They accepted a job offer thinking the company culture was inline with their goals, only to discover after being in the new job 6 months to a year, that they mis-read the culture.

Many times we will ride these situations out to see if it will get better.

Sometimes it does. More often than not, nothing changes and the decision to part ways becomes obvious.

How do we avoid not making this same mistake again and again?

Here are five strategies to help you be prepared and open your eyes to see the culture of an organization.

1. Research

Research is an integral part of your interview preparation. But when it comes to company culture, look at the press releases and the website with new eyes.

Some questions to think through; how does the company represent itself? It is formal, casual, or in-between.

Check sites such as Glassdoor.com. This is a good resources to find out what former employees are saying about their former employers.

2. Network

Ask about this organization to individuals in your network that have either worked there or had business interactions with the company.

Vendors and partners of a company can tell you their take, an outsiders perspective, on the company. That is invaluable.

3. Ask

Ask questions in the interviews. I do suggest asking culture questions but only after the first interview. The first interview can be too soon.

Here are some questions you can ask but be sure to do so in a conversational manner. Remember an interview is a conversation with a colleague.

Be relaxed but get to what you are there to do – sell them on you and uncover the fit. Uncovering the culture is absolutely necessary for your success and for the success of this new working relationship you will have with this company.

Possible questions to ask (I would suggest asking them in your own words):

• How would you best describe the culture of this organization? Of our department?
• What do you see as the pros and cons of this culture?
• What makes this a great place to work?
• What could be improved?
• What makes the department I would be working for so successful?

4. Observe

While you are at the offices interviewing, watch how people act, respond, and interact. Try to meet as many of your future co-workers as possible.

Be in the offices and get a sense of the pace, how the office is organized and decorated. This will give you a sense of what the company finds important.

5. Decide

After you have gathered all that you can discover and observe, decide if this is a fit for you. The only way you can decide is to know what is important to you.

What are you “must-have’s” in any position? What do you need in a work environment? There are external and intrinsic must have’s.

Here are some areas to get you thinking: commute, colleagues, professional development, honesty/integrity, appreciation, hard work, salary, quality content, time off, respect by colleagues, and so on.

So there you have it: research, network, ask, observe, and decide. Uncover the culture so you know if this is a fit for you.

Top 10 Professional Certifications For A Bright Future

Top 10 Professional Certifications For A Bright Future

The world is changing so fast. With the emergence of new technologies and ideas in work, people must think differently. People need to be more creative than ever. To keep pace with this change, people should expand their skills by taking different professional certification courses.

Professional certification is a process in which a person proves that he or she has the knowledge, experience, and skills to perform a specific job. A wide variety of industries and careers offer professional certification. Selftest training provides professionals with a benchmark of their ability to pass any certification exam. The certificate assures employers, customers, students, and the public that the certificate holder is competent in their line of work. In some professions, certification is a requirement for employment and practice.

Certification can prove a person is important, committed,and well-trained professionally. Professionals with certifications generally can expect:

• Better employment and opportunities
• Good remuneration packages
• Social/professional recognition
• To be more competitive than others

Here are a few certifications to consider:

1. MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional)

These certifications prove that someone has the comprehensive set of skills to perform a particular IT job role, such as enterprise messaging administrator database administrator.

2. MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist)

This certification proves a professional’s skills on a particular Microsoft technology, such as the Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows operating system, Microsoft SQL Server, or Microsoft Visual Studio.

3. MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer)

This certification is for web application developers who develop computer applications using Microsoft technologies and frameworks such as Visual Studio, HTM5L/CSS/Javascript and C#.

4. MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainers)

An MCT is a professional trainer who has been certified by Microsoft to deliver Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) instructor-led courses to Information Technology (IT) professionals and developers.

5. MCITP (Microsoft Certified Information Technology Professional)

The Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) certification is one of Microsoft’s new generation of credentials is designed to validate your skills on the features and functionality of key technologies.

6. VCP (VMware Certified Professional)

VMware certifications offer opportunity to validate their products technical knowledge. Candidates will be proficient with the installation, management, deployment and support of their products.

7. CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)

This covers skills necessary to administer devices on small or medium-sized networks.

8. PMP (Project Management Professional)

Project Management Professional demonstrates that a person is experienced and educated to successfully lead and direct projects.

9. CPA (Certified Public Accountant)

A CPA is a certified public accountant and is licensed by the state.

10. ACSP (Apple Certified Support Professional)

This certifies your ability to understand the operating system and is earned based on the OS version.

Earning a certification does not guarantee that you will walk into a higher paying job.  Certification helps, but employers count on several factors when hiring people, including experience. There was a time when certification holders were reasonably assured of landing a job. Today it is more of a qualifier – not having a certification means you may not even get an interview.

6 Reasons Why Your Resume Isn’t Getting A Response

6 Reasons Why Your Resume Isn’t Getting A Response

It can be hard to ascertain if it’s your resume, the job market, or who knows what else when you’re job searching and your phone just isn’t ringing. I’m sure your mind begins to wander as you anxiously await an employer’s call or e-mail. Many job seekers have called us and said “I think it’s my resume, but I’m not sure ….” After reviewing their documents, I find myself telling them “Yes, it’s your resume” 99% of the time.

So, how do you know if it’s really your resume or if it’s something else? Here are a few reasons your why your resume isn’t getting a response:

1. It Still Has An Objective Statement

An objective is a statement that expresses your goal of securing a future position. What this statement fails to do, though, is substantiate your fit for the opening—or articulate the value you offer the employer should they choose you over another candidate. Ditch the objective statement and utilize a job target/job title and personal branding statement instead.

2. It Lacks Any Form Of Personal Branding

As an employer, when I read a resume, I need to see what attributes you bring to the position. It helps me to differentiate between you and other viable candidates. Are you deadline-driven and customer-focused? These are important to me and how I operate my business. What is it that’s important to the employer from whom you’re seeking to obtain employment? And how do your expertise and experience correlate to their greatest need?

Branding is about how you market yourself to the potential employer. They have a need to fill, and you have to figure out how who you are and what you offer meet that need—then effectively communicate that to the employer. If you can’t meet a need, then they won’t see the value in choosing you over another candidate who does.

3. It’s Fluffy

Your career summary is full of fluff and filler words that could apply to every job seeker on the market. Here’s an example of what I mean:

Dynamic, results-focused IT specialist with broad-based expertise in project oversight, systems implementation, process improvements, and integrating cutting-edge technology that exceeds expectations. Proven ability to quickly analyze key business drivers and work directly with internal/external staff, leveraging a team-centered effort that increases profitability.

Sure, it might sound good, but it hasn’t told me anything specific about who this candidate is, his experience/expertise, and what he offers me, the employer.

It would be better to address how many projects the candidate has overseen, which processes he improved, the outcome of the improvement, and how the cutting-edge technology he integrated exceeded expectations. But just saying he exceed expectations is vague; tell me which expectations were exceeded and by how much.

4. Accomplishments Are Not Highlighted

The top 1/3 of the resume is the most important section when the hiring manager is giving it his or her initial scan. This is your prime opportunity to market your achievements. Use a highlighted accomplishments section to point out career successes that you’re proud of and that correlate to the position opening.

5. Duties And Responsibilities Have Taken Over

Bullet points that only share basic duties and responsibilities fall very short. Maximize the space on your resume by using a challenge-action-result format. Talk about challenges you faced, how you addressed them, and what the outcomes were. This makes the information contained within your resume much more impactful.

6. Metrics, Facts, And Figures Are Nowhere To Be Found

Give the employer something to remember you by. Don’t just tell them you reduced costs; state a percentage or dollar amount. Manage projects or clients? Put a number to it. Ask yourself questions like how much, how many, for how long? Asking yourself questions like these leads to answers that help you to define your successes, develop your personal brand, and market yourself more effectively to potential employers.

5 Resolutions That Will Keep You Motivated All Year

5 Resolutions That Will Keep You Motivated All Year

The New Year has finally arrived, and with it comes a promise of a better future, both at work and at home. If you were feeling like a laggard at the office, the New Year should present you a reason strong enough to change things that are not perfect and need improvements. Here are the five resolutions that will keep you motivated all year:

It’s a sensible assumption, backed by solid research findings that happy employees make a happy company. Workplaces that are served by motivated employees are invariably more productive, give birth to innovative ideas and products, and tend to remain more profitable. However, as much responsibility as it is of the employer to keep its employees motivated, the workforce itself should take initiatives to keep up their motivation level.

If you manage to keep yourself charged up at least for the entire duration of your stay inside the office, you will find yourself more driven and better performing than your peers. Moreover, a motivated employee spills his energy and enthusiasm among the team members, leaving the whole experience of working inside the office greatly enhanced.

Even if your professional life is ridden by a lot of obstacles and struggle, you need to shrug off the challenges and failures aside, step over them and rise higher. New Year resolutions are a good way of setting short term goals and giving new direction to your otherwise directionless life. Take these 5 resolutions; stick to them and every working day of 2014 will be a carnival for you.

1. No matter what happens, keep a positive attitude.

It’s easier said than done, but there are few good things in this world that come for free. No matter how bad is your rapport with the reporting manager, or how badly you missed the deadlines, or how bad you were criticized by your boss, try and maintain a positive attitude. To quote Norman Vincent Peale, the famous author of the bestseller, The Power of Positive Thinking, “The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”

Learn to take the criticism in your stride, and instead of getting bogged down by failures, rise above them. Positive thinking isn’t just any miracle mantra, but it is the way of life. With a positive attitude one can visualize the results he or she wants to achieve. The power of positive thinking is such that, you will find yourself walking tall, speaking with more impact and influencing a far greater audience than your peers.

2. Learn to maintain a healthy work/life balance.

There must have been plenty of occasions in the past year when you missed important life events in favor of more work. Also, there must be times when instead of enjoying an hour of television with your family you were spending hours in front of your laptop, frantically trying not to miss the deadline.

However, the truth is that maintaining a healthy work/life balance is essential both for your general motivation level as well as overall well being. Looking forward to doing something after work will also see you through the moments of drudgery when your motivation levels are not that high.

3. Enjoy your success.

As important it is to introspect and learn from the failures, similarly it is essential that you enjoy the success that you have achieved after toiling hard, harder than the tough competition. A small celebration befitting the occasion would not cause any harm. The celebration, the accolades and praise should serve as a reminder of how you have to work harder and smarter the next time to achieve an even tougher goal. The strategy of rewarding yourself will give you something to look forward to, and infuse an extra drive to get there.

4. Change your sleeping habits.

Do you know sleeping habits have a great role to play in deciding the productivity and abilities of any individual? If you are a party animal or a person who habitually misses his regular sleeping hours chances are that you feel dizzy and worn out in the office, stressing your body as well as the employer. In 2014, make it a point to improve your sleeping habits.

5. Enhance your skill set.

The hiring trends of the first quarter of 2014 paint a positive picture of recruitment activities globally. However, competition would also be tougher than previous year and your chances of getting selected will rest heavily on the skills that you have in addition to the educational qualifications. Therefore, this year is perfect to enhance your skill set by either joining some training or short term course. Besides, a more skilled person is automatically more confident, and hence more motivated than his peers.

7 Practical Tips For Conducting Great Video Interviews

7 Practical Tips For Conducting Great Video Interviews

Recently, many recruiters have turned to video interviews to augment communications during interviews and throughout the hiring process. While video conferencing can be a very effective solution, there are a number of variables and factors to consider when deploying the interview. Here are some tips:

1. Prepare Yourself &The Room

The Room: Optimize your space to work for you. Don’t assume that every room is aptly suited for your conference. For example, windows can create glare and unnecessary noises, therefore, avoid windows altogether.

Presentation is really important, therefore be sure that your environment looks great. This means that the lighting is good—if the room is too dark, the other party won’t be able to see you. Additionally, make sure the setting is professional—i.e. don’t interview in your bedroom, kitchen, and so on.

Preparing Yourself: Be sure that you look the part. Dress professionally—wear what you would during an in-office meeting. Also, coordinate colors. Solid muted (or pastel) colors are highly recommended (i.e. blue and/or grey). Inversely, colors like red, green, and orange, as well as busy patterns are best left out.

Aside from your actual clothing, carrying yourself professionally is also very important. As such, it’ll be wise for users to submit themselves to a code of video conferencing etiquette. Ways to do this include:

• Maintain eye contact
• Avoid Nervous gestures
• Use natural language, volume, and gestures when you speak

2. Prepare Your Equipment

Don’t wait until the last minute to set up everything for your conference. You want to make sure you’ll have optimum quality during your conference; therefore, take into account:

• Video image— our room’s lighting and how it appears on camera.
• Positioning the camera itself—does it allot for best video and audio quality?
• Your computer’s functionality—do you have all the necessary programs?
• Availability of information—are all your documents prepared and ready to be sent?

3. Create A Specific Plan

Prepare for the conversation by outlining key talking points to be sure you touch upon every area you’d like. If you were going to an in-office meeting, you’d likely have information and an approach prepared. Apply the same preparation to video conferencing. Don’t ramble on or fall of track. Make a guide to keep you on point and on schedule.

4. Avoid Changes To Settings During The Interview

It’s important to maintain as much consistency as possible during a video conference. Keep the attention on the matter at hand, not the conference itself. As such, users should work out all the variables beforehand.

• Select a secure and reliable Internet connection
• Adjust camera angles for best lighting and positioning
• Adjust volume setting for background notifications

5. Practice Your Talking To Get Appropriate Volume And Tonality

A good way to be sure that everything is set perfectly is by doing a dry run. In doing so, users can be sure their topics stay on point, the settings and quality are all-concrete, their volume and appearance is perfect, and so on. Additionally, it can help users get more comfortable. Practice does make perfect. If you are familiar with the process, you’ll be more comfortable delivering it, and you’ll likely deliver it much more effectively.

6. Account For Delays In Data Transmission

You want to be sure your party can hear you, but repeatedly asking, “Can You Hear Me?” can really hurt a video conference. Sure, you can ask this initially, but a practice run might be the way to eliminate this altogether. Still, it’s inevitable that you face some hiccup with quality sooner or later. In this event, it’d serve users well to account for a two second delay when they are speaking.

Give your party enough time to receive and absorb whatever it is you’re saying. On the other hand, this applies to you as well. Allow the other party enough time to say what they need to.

7. Punctuality & Timing Are Crucial

Users want to be sure they retain professionalism. A good way to do this is through being on time. It can be very distracting when individuals arrive late, even if they’re merely sitting in on the conference. A late entrance creates unexpected background noise that can really hinder the interview.

Another good way to optimize your time is by making sure that all involved parties are on the same page. Send out your agenda to all parties. Be sure to include:

• Time, Date, Time Zone of interview
• Complete list of all participants
• Meeting name and phone number

Video conferencing can be a great tool for interviews in augmenting the hiring process. However, users need to be sure they are able to supplement the platform efficiently. As such, it’s wise to think ahead and prepare as much as possible.

How To Best Showcase Your Skills With Social Media

How To Best Showcase Your Skills With Social Media

These days, the term “branding” doesn’t just apply to businesses. With a tell-all Facebook profile and a, shall we say, “dynamic” Twitter feed, you’ve got your own brand, too. It can be a real hazard when job hunting if your presence is focused more on the social aspect of social media, as employers may not find those photos of your drunken weekend as amusing as you do. However, online platforms can also be the perfect place to build your personal brand.

Using business marketing tips as our inspiration, let’s take a look at a few ways you can best showcase your skills with social media:

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is undoubtedly one of the first places you stopped on your job hunt, but if you’re like most people, chances are you probably don’t know the many different ways you can use the platform to showcase your skills.

Fill out your profile. This means going beyond scribbling in a few job titles to really going into depth about all that you’ve done and being hyper-specific about what you do. If you’re not clear on this, a career aptitude test might be able to help you narrow your focus. Doing so will not only give employers and networking contacts a richer sense of who you are, but it will also get your profile ranked higher on Google search results, both for your name and for any  job-related keywords.

Post or write interesting articles. Regularly sharing helpful and actionable articles on LinkedIn that relate to your industry will show employers that you’re passionate about what you do and are engaged in advancing the field. It’s all the better if some of these expert articles are penned by yours truly.

Join a group and get commenting in forums. LinkedIn has a diverse ecosystem of alumni and professional groups. Joining them gives you an opportunity to do some digital networking as you start compelling discussion threads and comment on others.

Find hiring managers. LinkedIn is a treasure trove not just of your information but of employer contact information as well. As you reach out to hiring managers, use their LinkedIn profiles for research so you can tailor your cover letters to the specific person rather than trying a one size fits all approach.

Follow your target companies. Most companies over a certain size have LinkedIn feeds where they post expert articles and job openings. Being an active commenter on these feeds will gain you exposure within the company, and of course, you’ll be among the first to apply to your dream job.

Google+

Google+ is one of the fastest growing social networks. It’s a nice blend of social and business, and it’s a little more casual than LinkedIn but it’s not so relaxed as Facebook or Twitter. If you’re new to the platform, we recommend starting with a guide to Google+, as the platform offers a number of features that are unique and compelling but that may require a little guidance to master.

Use the site as a portfolio. Other than Pinterest, there are few social media sites as visually pleasing at G+. As such, consider varying your feed between shared articles, updates, and examples of your work. Adding images to your links will greatly improve the viewer’s experience, making them much more likely to click on the material provided.

Network in circles. One of the most useful tools on Google+ is Circles, a feature that allows you to easily organize your contacts into different groups and control privacy settings for each one. This makes it easy to funnel articles and status updates to the people to whom they’re most relevant at exactly the right time — an important feature, as there’s no use spamming people who aren’t engaged with what you have to say.

Host a Hangout. Another great G+ feature is Hangouts. This feature is kind of like Skype but way better in that you can hang out with a number of people at a time and there are plenty of extra features, like games and special effects. You could host a Hangout just to broadcast your job search, but a much better idea is to, say, host a panel with former colleagues and industry experts in which you discuss the issues most pressing to your industry. This will establish your reputation and personality in a much more powerful way than even a resume can do.

The Takeaway

Like it or not, every job seeker has a digital footprint — one that employers are sure to find. But that doesn’t have to mean a loss of control. With a little forethought, social media can be one of the best places to build your personal job and land yourself a job.

7 Surprising Reasons You Didn’t Get An Interview For The Job

7 Surprising Reasons You Didn’t Get An Interview For The Job

It’s natural to wonder the reasons you didn’t get an interview – or perhaps make it to the second round – for a job you thought was a perfect fit. While I always feel it’s best to ask the hiring manager what went wrong, do a little self-analysis first. Didn’t get a call back for the job?

1. You Didn’t Follow-Up, And Someone Else Did

At every part of the job search process, it’s important to follow up with the hiring manager. My general rule of thumb is to state you will follow up in one week on your cover letter. Thereafter, it’s appropriate to follow up once a week for a few weeks. You can e-mail the manager, give them a call, or even write them a small thank you note and drop it in the mail. A follow-up can make the difference between landing a job and being another submission in the pile.

2. You Didn’t Sell Yourself

When you walked into the interview, were you just desperate for a job, any job? Hiring managers can tell if you aren’t necessarily interested in their open position, and they will ask you questions accordingly. You need to be prepared to answer what your short-term and long-term goals are, how you can help the company and why your past experience makes you ready for this position. You also need to identify any weaknesses or areas of inexperience you have. Tell the hiring manager why they don’t need to worry about these.

3. The Position Was Filled By An Employee Referral

More often than not, referrals end up getting the job over online applicants.

4. You Didn’t Seem Passionate Or Interested Enough

Did you ask questions about the organization? Did you research it well, and identify how you can be of service to the company? Although job searching can be a frustrating and long process, you still need to convey your interest for the organization and position in order to seem like an ideal candidate.

5. You Didn’t Listen

A big red flag to a hiring manager is a candidate who doesn’t really answer the questions they’re asking. You need to be completely focused on all aspects of your search, whether it’s an e-mail correspondence or an interview.

6. You Didn’t Have Any Stories To Share

When managers ask about specific situations you’ve been in or mistakes you’ve made, you need to have a few interesting stories ready to tell them. Compile these stories from past experience and education.

7. You Didn’t Seem Natural

Smile. Relax. Take a breath. These sound simple—but many people can’t seem to do them in an interview! A hiring manager wants to get to know you, the real you. Although you still need to be professional, don’t be afraid to act naturally and be relatable.

How To Make Sure Your Resume Gets Noticed

How To Make Sure Your Resume Gets Noticed

It is harder than ever to get noticed in your job search, especially when you send your resume through the job boards or a company website. One of the problems you have to consider when writing a resume is making sure your resume can be read by the Applicant Tracking Systems, the software many companies use to read and rank resumes (see Best Resume Writer Tips: Complying with the Applicant Tracking Systems).

However, just being compliant with the software still does not mean your resume will be seen. Here are some of the best resume writer tips gleaned from over 15 years of experience in resume writing and job search assistance that will make sure your resume gets noticed:

Check Out The Right Job Boards

There are minimally three job board sites you should check out when you are looking for jobs: Indeed.com, LinkedIn, and employmentwebsites.org, which is from the International Association of Employment Websites.

Indeed is good as it is the top job board aggregator. LinkedIn shows jobs (it now has more listed than Monster.com) which lead you to the company site to upload your resume. The Association site lists hundreds of job sites by industry and geography (there are more than 5,000 job boards) and you should absolutely focus on industry niche boards.

Make Sure You Have The Correct File Version

Although some sites are now taking Word files, you might need an electronic (or ASCII) version of your resume. You can do this by opening your resume in MS Word, hitting File-Save As and choosing Plain Text, which will create a .txt version of your resume.

Now close the file, reopen it from Word and edit out any stray characters left over from your bullets and other graphics characters. This file will now automatically format itself when you cut and paste it into web sites and e-mails. I do not recommend sending your resume in .pdf format as a lot of Applicant Tracking Systems cannot read them.

Print It One The Right Stationary

Now, print your resume and cover letter on matching stationery, either a white or buff colored 24 lb. paper. Stay away from the fancy colors. If you have the extra money, a 100% cotton watermarked paper is impressive, but not really necessary. Get matching 9×12 envelopes as they will stand out more and your great-looking professional resume won’t have to be folded. If you can print labels, buy the clear kind as they look almost as if they were typed on the envelope, but handwriting an address is more effective.

Give Them A Ring

After sending your resume, follow up with a phone call. Yes, this is aggressive and if you do it correctly, you will definitely be noticed. Follow the instructions in the ad first, so if they say e-mail the resume then do that first. Otherwise, send the paper copies first and send the e-mail two days later, mentioning that the e-mail is a follow-up to your mailed resume. Finally, prepare to call the employer no later than three days after your resume has arrived. This is critical as most people don’t do this. Most importantly, develop a phone script to use.

If you just say, “I’m calling to see if you got my resume,” then you’ve already blown it. Instead, show that you know something about the company and state that you’d really like to know more about the job. Then, ask one or two great questions that demonstrate your knowledge and insights.

For example, if you are going for a sales position, ask, “I know your company is growing, is this position for a new territory or an existing one?” If they say it’s a new territory, casually mention how you opened a new territory before and delivered 120% of sales targets.

Try as much as possible to build a rapport with the person you’re speaking with, as employers hire people they like. Key tip: watch your energy level and intonation as they are the most important factors that define how you will come across. Be friendly, professional and conversational. End by asking if you may call them again next week to see how the selection process is progressing.

Remember that most people don’t follow these steps and if you do, your resume will rise to the top of the stack!