Giveaway Im at a Networking Event Now What

Giveaway Im at a Networking Event â€" Now What PREPURCHASE the second edition of LinkedIn for Job Seekers, the DVD at a discount. Check out all the specials here. Last week there was awesome, hearty discussion to the giveaway question on my Facebook wall.  Unfortunately not many people saw that, and no one from that discussion was considered by Tom (except one who copied and pasted their answer to the blog). Please comment on the blog, below.  This book is awesome and very useful.  I bet most people you meet at a networking event dont network, dont get it, arent effective, etc.  This book will change that for you. Im at a Networking Event Now What??? is a book in my Now What series.  Written by Sandy Jones-Kaminski, its full of ideas, strategies and tactics to help you take something that is not value-add and make it a high-value activity. Get it on Amazon here, OR just answer this question below: Assume job boards are inadequate in your job search. What are one to three ideas you have that could make a job board MUCH more valuable to you? Ill send this on to the job board people I know it wont fall on deaf ears. Well announce the winner next Monday. Last weeks winner was recently announced: Congrats to Mauro Pennacchia! Giveaway Im at a Networking Event â€" Now What PREPURCHASE the second edition of LinkedIn for Job Seekers, the DVD at a discount. Check out all the specials here. Last week there was awesome, hearty discussion to the giveaway question on my Facebook wall.  Unfortunately not many people saw that, and no one from that discussion was considered by Tom (except one who copied and pasted their answer to the blog). Please comment on the blog, below.  This book is awesome and very useful.  I bet most people you meet at a networking event dont network, dont get it, arent effective, etc.  This book will change that for you. Im at a Networking Event Now What??? is a book in my Now What series.  Written by Sandy Jones-Kaminski, its full of ideas, strategies and tactics to help you take something that is not value-add and make it a high-value activity. Get it on Amazon here, OR just answer this question below: Assume job boards are inadequate in your job search. What are one to three ideas you have that could make a job board MUCH more valuable to you? Ill send this on to the job board people I know it wont fall on deaf ears. Well announce the winner next Monday. Last weeks winner was recently announced: Congrats to Mauro Pennacchia! Giveaway Im at a Networking Event â€" Now What PREPURCHASE the second edition of LinkedIn for Job Seekers, the DVD at a discount. Check out all the specials here. Last week there was awesome, hearty discussion to the giveaway question on my Facebook wall.  Unfortunately not many people saw that, and no one from that discussion was considered by Tom (except one who copied and pasted their answer to the blog). Please comment on the blog, below.  This book is awesome and very useful.  I bet most people you meet at a networking event dont network, dont get it, arent effective, etc.  This book will change that for you. Im at a Networking Event Now What??? is a book in my Now What series.  Written by Sandy Jones-Kaminski, its full of ideas, strategies and tactics to help you take something that is not value-add and make it a high-value activity. Get it on Amazon here, OR just answer this question below: Assume job boards are inadequate in your job search. What are one to three ideas you have that could make a job board MUCH more valuable to you? Ill send this on to the job board people I know it wont fall on deaf ears. Well announce the winner next Monday. Last weeks winner was recently announced: Congrats to Mauro Pennacchia!

The 6 Benefits of Hiring Graduates

The 6 Benefits of Hiring Graduates Looking to expand your company, but not sure if hiring a graduate or a more experienced employee is the best route to take? Whether youre a small startup or a large global business, graduates can bring a lot of valuable qualities to a role. Its understandable that you may be a little apprehensive about hiring somebody straight out of University, however all hires have an element of risk to them and there are a lot of advantages of hiring graduates, that greatly outweigh any downfalls. If youre weighing up your options, here are a few benefits of hiring graduates that may make your mind up: 1) Theyre enthusiastic Everyone is excited about  starting  their first job and will work their hardest in order to make a good impression! Graduates  bring bounds of energy and enthusiasm to the workplace, that you may not get from an employee later in their career and are eager to get stuck in wherever they can. Studies have found that millennials have want to  climb the career ladder much faster than previous generations and therefore they will be eager to please and contend with a bit of healthy competition in order to progress in their careers. 2) They provide a fresh perspective Hiring employees of different generations will bring a variety of different attitudes and  ways of thinking to the workplace. Younger staff will have different experiences of the world to their older colleagues and an awareness of current cultural trends. Therefore they will have the ability to look at things with a new  outlook and contribute fresh  ideas. 3) Theyre flexible If they are starting their first job, they probably dont have any pre-formed work habits or practices, so they will be  open to adapt to the working hours and culture at your company. Being new to the working world, they will also be keen to impress, so will be in a good position to fit in where you would like them to within the business. Younger employees are also less likely to have commitments such as a family outside of work, which could affect factors such as their working hours. 4) Theyre a blank canvas Graduates are like sponges  who will absorb all of the new information that you feed them. As it is their first experience of the professional world, you are in a good position to train them and shape their role however you see fit within the business. They are essentially a blank canvas, open to learning new skills and gaining experience in different areas. 5) Theyre tech savvy As a generalisation, todays graduates have grown up surrounded by technology and have developed the ability  to pick up  new tools and technology rapidly. This puts them in a good position to learn how to use  any software of hardware required for the job quickly and they may even be able to assist other employees with technology too. Theyre also likely to  have a proficient understanding of social media, which can benefit a company from a branding and networking standpoint. 6) Reduced salary cost One of the most appealing aspects of hiring a graduate is that due to their lack of experience, they  are willing to work for a significantly lower  salary than those who are further into their careers. The main focus of most businesses is to make a profit and therefore saving on yearly salaries can be financially beneficial to the company. Image: Shutterstock

Greatness through Gratitude - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Greatness through Gratitude - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Gratitude seems to be a rare or discounted commodity.  In our time deprived, hyper-connected world, we may text a quick “thx” or smiley face and go on our way. And, practices like that make us like everyone else â€" just average. How do you stand out in someone’s mind?  How do you engage and inspire them to speak positively on your behalf? You must be more than average for anyone to step out, risk their reputation and advocate for you. Today’s busy schedules often leave little time for enriching people’s lives â€" our own included. Connecting can occur because of a sense of obligation to recognize important events, or it can simply result from an act that we’re grateful for. Sometimes one person connecting with another will set off a ripple effect of gratitude and reaching out! [tweet this] As a brand, we want to be visible.  It is necessary before being memorable, engaged or advocated for.  A recent study by the Greeting Card Association, found that only 3% of Americans send thank you notes or cards.  Imagine if you incorporate gratitude into your personal brand communication plan. When does appreciating lead to advocating? Appreciating, acknowledging and advocating 1. When it’s personal Anytime that someone assists you, supports you, advocates for you â€" then send a thank you note. Make this an important part of your daily brand communication plan. Your notes do not have to be long. In fact, three sentences in a handwritten note and handwritten envelope will be most impactful! Just make sure those three sentences are very personal to whatever you’re thanking them for. 2. When it’s sincere Be sincere and authentic in your thank you (anything else will smell like a hidden agenda that anyone will steer clear of.) 3. When it’s timely Saying ‘thank you’ at anytime is appreciated â€" especially since there are so few who actually engage in saying or documenting gratitude. Yet, when it’s in a timely fashion it’s more effective and memorable. It’s more about how genuine it feels to the other instead of feeling it was done out of obligation. 4. When it’s organic â€" not expected This applies to so many more interactions than expressions of gratitude â€" don’t tell us what you’re going to do â€" just do it. I’ve seen too many not know what to do with “moments of silence” that they fill it with listings of what they’re going to do next. Be it departing an interview or disengaging from someone that you’ve met at a networking event, they will say things like, “I’ll send you a thank you note so you’ll remember who I am” or “expect a thank you note from me â€" that just how I roll.” That really is TMI (too much information)! Just do it. The unexpected, genuine, timely, sincere thank you means much more than promises of its pending arrival.

Unmissable Hacks For Keeping Healthy On A Budget!

Unmissable Hacks For Keeping Healthy On A Budget! Your health can end up costing you a fortune if you are not careful. Doctors appointments, healthy foods, and gym memberships will soon leave you feeling out of pocket. But it’s so important to look after your health if we want to live a happy and long life. Here are some unmissable hacks for keeping healthy on a budget. Download health apps You may want to get your health back on track and have decided to go to see a nutritionist or a personal trainer. However, these can both be expensive costs that us girls just can’t afford. So instead you could download some health apps which will help you get on top of your health. There are thousands of apps on iTunes which can boost your health and fitness for free. For example, My Fitness Pal keeps you on track of your daily calories so you can see where you should make cutbacks. You can also download MyNetDiary which has a ton of recipes to help you plan healthy meals. There are a lot of apps with meal and fitness ideas to keep you healthy so that you don’t need to pay out for professionals!   Grow your own fruit and vegetables As stores put their prices up, it means our food bill can rocket well out of our budget. It can lead to us making unhealthy choices as processed food is often a lot cheaper than healthier options. To keep costs down while eating healthy, you should consider growing your own fruit vegetables. It’s a lot cheaper and healthier than buying from a store. If you don’t have a garden, you could also save money by buying healthier meals from local markets. Look for discounts online on medicines Medicines are expensive but are necessary if you want to keep your health in check. To keep the costs down, you could look online to see if there are any good discounts on medicines. You need to ensure it’s a reputable company before buying any so that you don’t get ripped off and put your health in danger. You can also see if your pharmacist does a prescription discount card. That way, if you have to buy medicine regularly, you will get a good discount each time. You should also check if you are exempt and don’t have to pay for medicines. If you are a student or earn a low-income salary, you might be able to get a discount. Go for a run or walk around your area Gyms are an expensive cost that can break the bank. The average gym membership is around $58! However, you need to get some exercise in to stay healthy. Therefore, you could go for a run or walk around your area instead to stay healthy. It’s free, and it’s a great way to lose the calories. You can make it fun by getting a friend or family member to join you. It will spur you both on to get fit!   Borrow health books from the library to save you some money. A lot of them have a large selection that you can choose from. As this article says, you can then borrow different ones and change up your health routine as often as you want for free! Images: Main Health apps     Meds    Jogger

How to Help Millennials Succeed in the Workplace CareerMetis.com

How to Help Millennials Succeed in the Workplace â€" CareerMetis.com Ever since they began to graduate from college and enter the marketplace, Millennials have maintained a less-than-flattering reputation. Millennials are often depicted as lazy, inefficient and entitled. While this may be true for some, it’s certainly not the truth for the majority.What many people fail to see is how beneficial young energy can be to any company. Many Millennials bring fresh and new ideas to the table but are often overlooked because of their age. If you’re a boss or manager over Millennials, there are a few ways to help them succeed in the workplace.1) Inspirational LeadershipevalevalIn order to be a great leader, you have to be willing to be a great servant.Companies like Apple and Amazon, for example, are guided by exceptional leaders who jump right in and set the example for those they work with. The people that are underneath your leadership need to be encouraged to be better followers and supporters. That will only happen when you’re dedicated and can insp ire your group to be great.Lead by example. Challenge yourself to read and learn more about the field. As you read, recommend books to your staff. Learn to care about your staff. If someone is going through a rough patch in their personal life, don’t hesitate to make sure they know you care.A bit of emotional equity can go a long way. When your staff knows that you’re thinking with them in mind, they’re more likely to do what they have to do to support the bottom line and succeed in the workplace.2) Ideas and StrategiesMany Millennials usually have lots of ideas and strategies. They have concepts involving how things could operate better and exciting new ways to reach customers. However, if you’re not willing to include them in the room, they won’t be able to share these ideas. Do your best to include and invite Millennials to have a seat at the table.Be willing to take risks and try the strategies they suggest within reason. For example, companies like Nu Skin, an innovat ive leader in skincare and nutrition, have a reputation for having satisfied and engaged employees. If you take a look at Nu Skin reviews, it’s clear that employees are happier when they feel like their company is engaging with them.When you’re in a relationship with someone, it’s a terrible feeling when one person feels like they’re never heard. After a while, the relationship becomes stale. This happens because no one likes a one-sided conversation. Avoid this travesty in the workplace by considering the suggestions and ideas of your Millennial employees.3) Full OwnershipevalWhen you give any employee the reigns on a specific project, you’re simultaneously communicating your level of trust and respect for what that person can do. That’s a huge level of responsibility and it also validates their reason for being at the company. This is a perfect way to help Millennials succeed.As they suggest different strategies and ideas for the company, ask them to see particular ide as through to fruition. Sure, if there’s a need for regular status updates and supervision, that’s totally warranted.However, it’s good to allow Millennials the opportunity to take ownership of a project and learn the ropes of how to execute successfully.Photo Credit â€" Pixabay.com4) InvestmentIt doesn’t matter what field you’re in. There’s usually a conference for it. Send the Millennials to conferences. Allow them to network and get around other inspirational people in the field. Once they come back from these conferences, they’re usually fired up and excited to continue.evalEducation is also a major element of investment. Whether it’s a course or a degree, do your best to create and facilitate a program that invests in the minds of your employees, young and old. Education is another perfect setup for success.Employee satisfaction isn’t guaranteed 100% of the time. However, these four tips are great ways to help your Millennial employees feel happier and valued in the company they work for. Make these steps a priority and you’ll create your own legacy as a leader.

Is Your Resume as Fashionable as Plastic Slipcovers

Is Your Resume as Fashionable as Plastic Slipcovers I put up a picture on Facebook yesterday of me as a kid sitting in my living room. I love this picture because it reminds me what my house looked like as a child and its a window into what trends influenced how homes were decorated at the time. My mother had a penchant for plastic slipcovers and she put them on everything in the living room, including the lampshades. Plastic slipccovers made their debut in the mid 50s and managed to haunt my family well into the next two decades. My friends and I have been chuckling over the picture and trying to figure out why anyone would subject their loved ones to the feel of sticky plastic, especially in the summertime.But when my Mom had plastic slipcovers it was all the rage and many of my friends tell stories of growing up plastic as well. Of course now when we think about plastic slipcovers we immediately conjure up a dated image.We moved on from the plastic slipcovers some time in the mid 70s when they began to lose their avant garde appeal . Its easy to figure out that your furniture is dated because you have to look at it every day and you are constantly comparing it to other peoples furniture and the trends you see on the Internet, television, and magazines.But what about your resume? Many people dont look at their resume or update it for years and years because they dont feel they have a need to. And when they do need their resume for something, what do they do? Pull out the old one and just add the new job. No redecorating hereSo what people end up with is basically the same resume they wrote 20 years ago and have been suffering with ever since. ..kind of like outdated plastic slipcovers.Here are some   of the telltale signs that your resume needs to be redecoratedYour resume leads with an objective. No one wants to see an objective on a resume anymore. They communicate what you are looking for which isnt of much interest to a hiring manager. Hiring authorities want to know whats in it for themdo you have the com petencies and the proof of performance to help solve their business problems. Create a profile or executive summary outlining your big picture accomplishments and the value you can bring to an employer instead and leave the objective off the resume and in the past where it belongs.Your contact information includes your fax number. Nothing screams the 80s like a fax number. Chances are no employer will need to contact you by fax. Leave the fax number off the resume or better yet, use that space to include your LinkedIn vanity URL.Your dates of employment are all left justified. Having dates of employment to the left made sense in the days of the typewriter when tabs were the only way to indent content. Thanks to Microsoft Word, text is much more maleable and space can be better utilized. Place employment dates after the company name or to the right to optimize space and save room for other important content.The font on your resume is Courier 10. Courier 10 was all there was when all documents were created on typewriters. Now we have scores of choices. Pick something else.Your resume contains several personal attributes to describe you. If you are using adjectives on your resume such as loyal, detail-oriented, good communicator, or hard-working to describe your value to an employer, stop. Descriptions of personal attributes are meaningless unless there is tangible proof of these traits within the body of the resume. Their use is very old-school and my guess is you copied those words from someone elses outdated resume or from a book of resume samples that was published during Clintons first administration.Your resume states that references are available upon request. Well, they used to be. Now many hiring managers Google candidates before they call them in for an interview. So frequently your references are available online whether you want them to be or not. Ditch the statement about references and save the space for something more important.There are furniture trends, fashion trends, and even resume writing trends. Be hip and stay informed of the latest resume writing styles and tips to increase the likelihood of getting noticed by hiring managers.

Signing an NDA and Writing on Resume

Signing an NDA and Writing on ResumeThere are many things that should be taken into consideration before signing an NDA and writing on resume. Although an NDA or Non Disclosure Agreement is mandatory in most cases, it is not necessary for all. In the same way, signing such an agreement does not mean that one is free from any liability in case the employer gets annoyed with one's wrong doing or he has gone on to file a court case against the employee.The reason being that if you have signed the NDA and you are still facing legal charges against you, then that means that you are committing an offence punishable under the law. This is something which should be taken very seriously.However, the time to think about this is when you have signed the NDA and still find yourself in a legal battle with your former employer. You can think of taking legal help from a lawyer. It is highly recommended that you hire a legal professional who knows how to protect your rights.The most important thing that should be considered when signing an NDA and writing on resume is to read through it carefully. It is very common that one might come across a section which contains a provision to waive off the agreement. It is therefore essential that you go through it carefully. This way, you can ensure that you are dealing with a person who is more than eager to put an end to the legal issues.The next thing that should be done is to read through the entire NDA and make sure that it mentions what you are agreeing to. You should also make sure that you are being given a copy of the agreement in the event that it comes into the open for scrutiny. Make sure that you are familiar with the clauses in the agreement so that there is no question of any misunderstanding later on.Keep in mind that the purpose of the agreement is to protect you from any harassment that might be committed by your former employer. If you need any clarification about the agreement, then get it clarified. Otherwise, you ca n simply ignore the document and keep on working.If you are not familiar with the internet, then try to gather information on it by visiting a few online forum or joining some online discussion board. You can also get some tips from the writers, who are often busy in writing articles about the agreements. If you take these simple but effective steps, then you will not face any legal issues in the future.Writing an NDA and signing on resume should be a done after many years of working together. So do your duty properly and do not make things complicated.