Of Professionals and Job Seekers

Of Professionals and Job Seekers A few months ago I blogged about regaining your professional identity when you are unemployed. It was based on a presentation I saw (and have since seen it again) from a career coach. I was reminded of this post because yesterday I moved my â€Å"office† from my bedroom to a spare room in the basement. My new office has pictures of my family and other stuff that I had in my previous offices, and it feels so much more professional! Anyway, the ideas in that coach’s presentation are simple: Professionals and Job Seekers view things differently Professionals and Job Seekers act differently Professionals and Job seekers prepare differently Professionals and Job Seekers are perceived differently The message of the coach was basically this: Shed the Job Seeker image and get back your professional image. Instead of wimpily handing someone a resume which says â€Å"I need a job,† hand them a business card which says â€Å"I can bring value to you, and you should get to know me.† Instead of walking into a job interview having studied the job description, realize that a job description may not have hit the nail on the head (after all, it was probably written by someone in HR that doesn’t know anything about the job, and the hiring manager may have other needs/wants). A professional will walk into that interview (especially if he really wants the job) having done great research on the person, the department, the company, and everyone’s sweet spots. And he will speak to those sweet spots! How is this done? Professionals don’t find the sweet spots between the lines in the job description, they do research on-line and use their network to find out as much as they can. Would you, as a professional, ever make a presentation without knowing your facts? The more critical the meeting is, the more prepared you are. So don’t go into a job interview without real preparation! In a networking environment a job seeker says â€Å"Hi, I’m Jason, I hear you have some job openings at XYZ Company.† A professional says anything but that, rather talking about the person they are talking with and trying to develop a relationship. And if appropriate, sharing some of their strengths or reasons why they would bring value to that person’s company or department (you see, it would help to know what the company or department’s needs are, right?). And so, to wrap it up, where do you sit to do your job search (when you are not out networking)? Are you in a make-shift office that doesn’t even allow you to be a professional? Maybe you can carve out a little private space where you can enforce and regain your identity – not as a job seeker, but as a professional. And while you are at it, work on developing your long-term personal branding strategy ?? Of Professionals and Job Seekers A few months ago I blogged about regaining your professional identity when you are unemployed. It was based on a presentation I saw (and have since seen it again) from a career coach. I was reminded of this post because yesterday I moved my â€Å"office† from my bedroom to a spare room in the basement. My new office has pictures of my family and other stuff that I had in my previous offices, and it feels so much more professional! Anyway, the ideas in that coach’s presentation are simple: Professionals and Job Seekers view things differently Professionals and Job Seekers act differently Professionals and Job seekers prepare differently Professionals and Job Seekers are perceived differently The message of the coach was basically this: Shed the Job Seeker image and get back your professional image. Instead of wimpily handing someone a resume which says â€Å"I need a job,† hand them a business card which says â€Å"I can bring value to you, and you should get to know me.† Instead of walking into a job interview having studied the job description, realize that a job description may not have hit the nail on the head (after all, it was probably written by someone in HR that doesn’t know anything about the job, and the hiring manager may have other needs/wants). A professional will walk into that interview (especially if he really wants the job) having done great research on the person, the department, the company, and everyone’s sweet spots. And he will speak to those sweet spots! How is this done? Professionals don’t find the sweet spots between the lines in the job description, they do research on-line and use their network to find out as much as they can. Would you, as a professional, ever make a presentation without knowing your facts? The more critical the meeting is, the more prepared you are. So don’t go into a job interview without real preparation! In a networking environment a job seeker says â€Å"Hi, I’m Jason, I hear you have some job openings at XYZ Company.† A professional says anything but that, rather talking about the person they are talking with and trying to develop a relationship. And if appropriate, sharing some of their strengths or reasons why they would bring value to that person’s company or department (you see, it would help to know what the company or department’s needs are, right?). And so, to wrap it up, where do you sit to do your job search (when you are not out networking)? Are you in a make-shift office that doesn’t even allow you to be a professional? Maybe you can carve out a little private space where you can enforce and regain your identity – not as a job seeker, but as a professional. And while you are at it, work on developing your long-term personal branding strategy ??

How to Use Resume Example Writing Skills

How to Use Resume Example Writing SkillsWhen you're job hunting, it's important to know how to use resume example writing skills. This is a big problem for people who are new to writing resumes. They don't know how to make their own resumes, or how to manage their resumes. It's time to learn the basics of how to write a resume, and what types of examples will help.First, there are the resumes that you make yourself. This is the most effective way to get your resume seen. Just remember that you should avoid all resumes that are mass produced. You want your resume to be unique, and people will remember that you've made yours.If you're able to make a resume, you can also hire someone to do one for you. This is often the best option if you have some computer skills. Of course, you should still follow some guidelines when making a resume. You should follow the same guidelines as anyone else, so make sure that the resume is accurate and up to date. You should not forget to use proper gramm ar or spelling, and keep your resume neat and professional.When you have your resume written, you should always check it out and send it out. You'll be surprised at how many people will read it, and it will help you get a job faster. If you're able to send your resume and cover letter out along with your resume, you'll get more than just a job interview.You should send your resume and cover letter in several weeks after you have submitted it. Make sure that the person receiving the resume checks it out thoroughly before he or she makes a decision on whether or not to hire you. Of course, you should never wait until a position is available before sending your resume, but you should send it as soon as you have it ready.On the other hand, if you wait too long to send your resume, you might lose any chance you had of getting an interview. People will not take kindly to your waiting too long to send your resume. That's why it's important to remember that your resume should be sent out as soon as possible.The case scenario that this applies to is that you're trying to get a job with a company that has open positions. This is the perfect situation to send out your resume and cover letter. Since these jobs are so abundant, you will probably get your own resume and cover letter as well.No matter how you send your resume, you should always follow the same rules and guidelines. Write your resume the right way, and you'll be doing your job better. You should always remember that it's the people who read your resume who decide whether or not you get a job.

Career change looks like Halloween

Career change looks like Halloween When the kids and I moved to the farm, last Spring, the first thing we did was plant seeds. The farmer took the kids out to an open patch next to a corn field, and he planted ten pumpkin seeds with them. I took the kids next to a rhubarb patch that has been growing for about 75 years, and I dumped a package of 300 seeds in a three-foot square area and I told the kids you cant expect all the seeds to grow. And this is how we started out lives together: the farmer being completely optimistic about the future and me wanting to hedge so no one is disappointed. Heres what happened: all the seeds grew. My vegetables mostly died because I hadnt planted them assuming theyd need space to grow. But we had a crop of little pumpkins: So all summer, weve been talking about Halloween, and what well do with all our pumpkins, and whether we should have a party. I am not a big fan of Halloween, (but it does have a pretty incredible history). It makes me nervous that people are all trying to be things they are not. Why do people like to dress up? Why are the majority of costumes sold to adults, not kids? What are the adults doing? But while the pumpkins were growing, I was making career changes. Pulling back on my daily duties at Brazen Careerist, considering new business ideas, and finally, staying on the farm while the company moved to Washington, DC. Its been a while since I did a career change. But I am noticing, now that Im doing it, that career change is not about one, big change, but its really about trying something on for a while, maybe just as briefly as you can. Seeing what its like, and using that knowledge to take decide what to try on next. When you are figuring out what to do with your life, every day is like Halloween. Every day you learn something about yourself by trying something on. Halloween is when we all do it together. So our pumpkins grew, like a monument to optimistic planting, while I worked on figuring out what I should be worked on living my life like a kid let loose in a costume shop. And today on the farm were all ready to go for Halloween.

How to Prevent Inventory Errors

How to Prevent Inventory Errors The customer experience will determine whether your ecommerce business is a success or failure. One way you can cause irreparable damage to your business is with an inventory management error, such as overselling. Yet, it is often an easy mistake to make once web traffic and sales start to increase. To succeed online, you must implement an effective inventory management strategy to provide a reliable customer experience. For this reason, we are going to show you how to prevent inventory errors. Avoid Overselling Overselling can occur if you sell more products than you currently have in stock. Unfortunately, this will result in you having to send an email to a customer to inform them that the item they ordered is out of stock. This will lead to a dissatisfied customer who may feel annoyed that you allowed them to order the item via your website. As a result, a customer will be unlikely to use your services again, and may even write negative feedback on social media, a review website or directly to your company. As a result, prospective customers may also choose not to visit your website. Prevent overselling from occurring by keeping an accurate record of your inventory, and create a strict auditing procedure to eliminate any errors. If overselling continues to be an inventory problem, aim to identify the source of the error immediately by reviewing your history reports, while striving to rectify the problem for the customer as soon as possible. You can also unify your stock levels using Magento integration with NetSuite. This can minimize both under and overselling by synchronizing your inventory levels between BigCommerce and NetSuite. Forecast Stockouts A stockout is an inventory issue that should never happen on your ecommerce website. It occurs when you have an item listed on your website, but you do not currently have it in stock. As the item sells well, you might be unwilling to remove it, as you are waiting for the product to return to a warehouse. However, an out of stock listing can be extremely disappointing to a customer, who may have researched the item only to discover it’s unavailable for order. This is not only frustrating to a customer, but it can damage your reputation. Forecasting is an effective way to prevent stockouts from occurring, as you can identify trends for product sale speed. A reorder report can then remind you when the stock is low, so you can reorder the products to ensure you never disappoint a customer. Prevent Underselling Underselling occurs when you have a perfectly good product in a warehouse, but some or all product quantities are not listed for sale on your website. This is a common problem within unorganized warehouses, as it is easy for items to be mislabeled, misplaced or overlooked. Prevent this problem from taking place with location barcodes, barcode scanners and product barcodes, which will allow you to source the product as and when you need it. Picking and Shipping Blunders Another costly inventory management issue is picking and shipping mistakes, which can cause ‘mis-ships,’ ‘mis-picks’ or damaged goods. A ‘mis-pick’ occurs when a picker has selected and sent the wrong product to a customer. A ‘mis-ship’ happens when the shippers ship out the wrong product on an order. While a damaged product often takes place during transit to a customer’s address, which can result in customer dissatisfaction. Quality control is a necessary inventory management process that can be implemented in various ways at different stages. For instance, a picker can quality control by checking an item against an order while checking for potential damage. A shipper can also quality control prior to shipping. The more quality control processes you put in place, the happier each customer will be and the less money you will waste on replacement inventory. Reduce Human Error Human error can pose the biggest threat to your business, which is why you must aim to reduce any mistakes as much as possible. Unfortunately, mistakes can happen due to low employee morale or a lack of passion for the job role. Provide pickers, shippers and quality control personnel with an incentive to reduce or eliminate any mistakes. Not only will it allow you to track their actions, but they can take quantitative measurements of their work. Encourage staff to work harder with fewer mistakes by providing a bonus or reward for their efforts to boost both productivity and efficiency. You might be surprised by the big difference it can make to your operations. Clear Labeling Inventory mistakes can often occur due to poor labeling. Prevent errors from happening by using clearly named labels on products, which should be in a specific section within a warehouse. This will enable employees to quickly and accurately distinguish products to avoid any confusion. A member of staff can then double check the item against an order to deliver the right item to the right customer. Regular Cycle Counts Organization is paramount in any warehouse, as accurate inventory will prevent a stockout or underselling. Know exactly what is in your warehouse and where it is located.  That will stop any potential problems that could harm your sales and reputation. Undertake regular cycle counts to maintain accurate inventory. The ongoing process should also become part of a warehouse operative’s daily routine. Conclusion Overselling, stockouts or picking and shipping errors not only result in the loss of one sale, but they can result in the loss of a loyal customer. Blunders can happen when selling products on a popular website while running a busy warehouse; however, inventory issues can be avoided with the right processes in place. Avoid inventory mistakes from occurring by adding more organization into your warehouse.  Do that through inventory records, cycle counts, quality control and effective back office management systems, which will ensure your customers can order high-quality products every time they visit your website. As a result, you can build customer trust, retain loyalty and streamline operations to make a business run smoother.

Top Engineering Resume Writing Service - How to Find a Top Candidate

Top Engineering Resume Writing Service - How to Find a Top CandidateIf you're looking for a top engineering resume writing service, then you should be careful who you hire. There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there trying to scam and rip off people. Here are a few tips to help you find a good resume writer.First, you want to make sure the resume writer has a certain type of experience in the field you're looking for. You don't want a person who specializes in the most common areas, because they won't be able to write a great cover letter for you. They will be more likely to write a generic job posting that doesn't really have any value.Second, you want to make sure the resume writer has personal information about you. That way, if they want to meet you or do a second interview, they can give a good reason why. One reason is that it makes them seem more personal. The other reason is that it makes you feel better about their intentions.Third, be wary of people who know technical people or professionals. If they come with preconceived notions, it might give you the wrong impression about the actual person. Be sure you know who the writer is before you hire them to work on your resume.Fourth, keep in mind that online resume service is not the same as hiring an individual. A lot of times, it's easier to get scammed online than hiring someone personally. There are ways to get a person's information without having to go through a background check. You just need to be careful what you do online.Fifth, don't assume that just because you see several different company's name that you have to use them. Keep in mind that these companies advertise with this only purpose. Find a reputable company, and ask them for a sample resume. This way, you know exactly what it looks like.The final tip is to know the rules in the job market. Some companies will demand a certain amount of experience and credentials before they will consider anyone for a job. However, others may not. Know the industry and the qualifications that are required for a job before you hire someone.There are a lot of ways to find a top engineering resume writing service. Make sure you find the right one for you!

What makes people unhappy at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

What makes people unhappy at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Weve looked at what we think makes us happy at work but doesnt. Weve looked at what actually does work. But what actively makes people unhappy at work? What are the most important things to avoid? Lets take a look at that. Bad management In the case where a board can?t figure out to depose self-obsessed, autocratic and power-hungry managers, we?ll probably se in the future that these leaders will be deposed by their own employees, who will leave for better workplaces with better leaders and leadership values, that create a better space for the employees? personal goals and life visions to unfold. This will leave the managers who use hierarchical leadership, control systems and autocratic leadership values without significant access to getting employees. Ie. a leadership with no followers, which is both pathetic and useless. Bad relations between employees and their managers is the single greatest cause of workplace unhappiness. Indeed, the majority of employees who quit do so because of their immediate manager Bad leaders underestimate the value of happiness at work, and are often unhappy themselves. Good leaders, on the other hand, enjoy their work, enjoy the people they work with and actively focus on making themselves and their employees happy at work. Alfred Josefsen, CEO of Irma You tellem, Alfred! Bad leaders lose their employees to good leaders and are left to practice their autocratic, power-obsessed leadership style on no-one. Thats leadership Darwinism. Thats survival of the happiest. One company has taken this to its logical conclusion, and have implemented two practices, which together virtually eliminate bad leadership. At Semco, a company of 3.000 people based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, all leaders are evaluated by their employees twice a year. Each leader gets a total score between 0 and 100, and all scores are posted for all employees to see. And heres the kicker: Employee are free to choose their own bosses. This creates an enormous pressure on leaders to constantly improve, and also means that bad leaders who fail to heed their employees feedback quickly find themselves without followers. Old vs. new leadership So what kind of leader makes people happy at work? Its really not that complicated. A good leader: Likes her people Has time for her employees Listens to and understands her people Praises and gives feedback Is happy in her job and makes her employees happy too Again, its about relations between people. This is good news and bad news. Good news because it means that what leaders need to do to make their employees happy at work is not complicated. The bad news is that we used to think that good leaders: Made fast decisions Cut to the chase Aportioned resources Made plans and follows up Those are two quite different skillsets. They can be combined, but many people excel in one or the other, and most leaders today have become leaders because of their competence in the ?old??? skillset. Also, the skills needed to make people happy at work are highly personal ? in many people they are ingrained rather than learned, making it hard for leaders to migrate from the old leadership style to the new one. But now leaders face pressure to create an innovative and creative culture. To allow employees to realize their full potential. To motivate rather than command. To coach rather than control. All of which is possible only when employees are happy at work, meaning leaders must learn a new leadership style. At the same time, theres very little established education or training available in the new leadership style. Few MBA programs focus on the new style of leadership. So I say: Lets cut our leaders and managers some slack. Many of them are trying. Lets not forget that this is new for everyone, them too. However, managers who dont ultimately get it, need to go. Nothing is more toxic to a happy workplace than a leader who makes his people unhappy but is allowed to keep his position anyway. Stress and overwork I used to work at a company with a strong ?overwork??? culture. After two years obsessing about getting in at 7, leaving at 7 (and then working even more from home), my wife had a baby. I took a week off, then felt justified in limiting my work to 40 hours for the next couple of months (due to my lack of sleep and need to help around the house). In that two-month period I realized I accomplished exactly as much and was exactly as busy as I was when I worked ~60 hours/week. From then on, I was in at 8, out at 5, aside from the occasional large project, and I completely stopped working at home. I was never happier, more organized or more successful in that job. With this peace of mind and free time, I was able to invest a few hours in learning the GTD (Getting Things Done) system, learning more about my field and getting more involved in professional and community organizations. (This may have averaged about 3 hours/week at the max.) All that I learned in this time enabled me to get a new job and a significantly higher salary. Meanwhile, when I talk to employees at the old company, they?re bragging about the 75-hour workweeks and discussing which anti-anxiety meds they take. (Comment on positivesharing.com) Todays work environment is one of near-constant busy-ness. Nobody has an empty in-tray these days. Very few of us can ?clear the desk??? and then go home. Instead theres always one more thing we could do, and many of us feel, or indeed are, permanently behind. This leads to people working longer hours and stressing more because they feel inadequate. And make no mistake: Too much stress makes people sick, and in extreme cases it is lethal. The japanese even have a word for it: Karoshi. Death by overwork. The interesting thing is also that stress makes people less efficient, so they get less work done, fall further behind, and become even more stressed. Thats a vicious cycle right there. I remain convinced that most of us, a few supermen and -women excepted, accomplish only a little more in 60, 80 or 100 hours a week than we do in 40. And while we may get more work done in 80 hours than in 40, theres also a cost. We get: Less creativity, because its easier to be creative when youre relaxed Worse relations with co-workers because were too busy to connect with people Less time with friends and family, which recharges the batteries and gives you new thoughts and ideas Less openness to new ideas theres no time! Less happiness at work because of all of the above Or as one top executive puts it: You can always find reasons to work. There will always be one more thing to do. But when people don?t take time out, they stop being productive. They stop being happy, and that affects the morale of everyone around them. Carisa Bianchi, chief strategy officer of TBWAChiatDay Bureaucracy An august 2000 survey of 1.100 american employees from various organizations concluded that organizational red tape, cumbersome work rules, and tangled processes take up an extraordinary amount of time. On average, workplace bureaucracy steals 9.4 hours from the weekly schedule. For one in five people, more than 16 hours per week go down the bureaucracy drain. Furthermore, there is a clear correlation between workplaces with more bureaucracy and workplaces people want to leave. In other words: People flee organizations burdened with red tape. Source: http://www.meaningfulworkplace.com/survey/page4.html As CEO of Oticon, Lars Kolind went on a war against bureaucracy in the company. This turned Oticon around from a marginal player to the worlds leading manufacturer of hearing aids. In his excellent book ?The Second Cycle, Winning the War Against Bureaucracy??? Kolind writes: As organizations grow larger, older and more successful, they introduce more management layers, more departments, more procedures, plans, budgets, reports, meetings, traditions and the like. This leads to management developing its own agenda, increasingly detached from employees and customers. It becomes more important to win awards than to care for customers and employees. Management loses touch with the business, which becomes increasingly complacent and even arrogant. This all leads to less action, slower action and no action outside the well-known patterns. Red tape kills the soul. There you are, an employee with a plan or a great idea, and the corporate rule book is holding you back against common sense and everything you know to be right. That kind of thing makes people desperately unhappy at work. Bullying It was like a cloud of evil had descended on the factory. Everyone was afraid of this evil. I knew that I was being harassed and bullied, I felt like I was being forced in to resigning. Every reasonable step I took to resolve my situation was refused or worse I was totally ignored, all the time my treatment seemed to get harsher, I was given totally menial tasks, which when complained about would result in me being given physically impossible tasks. To cut a long story short I eventually suffered a breakdown. This not only devastated me but all my family too. (Source: http://www.bullyonline.org/cases/case12.htm) Bullying is fortunately fairly rare, but when it happens the effects are devastating. People break down mentally and physically, and can take years to recover. Power games That whole ?Who people see me have lunch with is more important than what I actually do??? and ?Getting ahead is more important than getting results??? mentality makes most people desparately unhappy at work. Its true that some people flourish under these conditions, especially those with a more political mindset. But most people only notice that the wrong behavior and the wrong attitudes are being rewarded. In the end employees stop caring, and they stop being happy at work. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Its Time to Be Still - Remove Your Tolerations and Breathe Again! - Jane Jackson Career

Its Time to Be Still - Remove Your Tolerations and Breathe Again! - Jane Jackson Career Its Time to Be Still Remove Your Tolerations and Breathe Again!Your life is filled with activities, work, more work, juggling multiple responsibilities, meetings, deadlines, networking events, managing your finances, family, friends, responsibilities, hopes, desires, wants and more wants.   Mine is too.   Do you ever feel exhausted?   When do you take a breather? Think about it when was the last time you were really still?Being still is the pure pleasure of doing nothing.   Just being.   Feeling the ecstasy of simply being able to breathe.   It is the feeling of being enough.   Enough in your own eyes, not simply in the eyes of your partner, your children, your friends, extended family, your colleagues and the list can go on.   Are you enough for you? I am so grateful to have learned to take a step back in my own life and simply be me for myself and it feels good.   One of the wonderful things about being a Coach is that I am able to take a step back and be objective for others t oo.   To help them clear the clutter in their minds.   What is the first step to being still?    Remove the tolerations in your life.   So, what are those tolerations?   They can be small daily ‘nigglers’ or they can be great big whopping, irritating tolerations that make us feel guilty almost every day.   Conduct a “Tolerations Audit” of your life and write down absolutely everything that may be an issue.   These issues can be as small as the flickering light bulb in your office that needs replacing, the tiny torn patch in the leather of your desk chair to the pile of documents that needs filing, the emails that are semi-urgent (or are they?), to the colleague who interrupts constantly, or the manager who doesn’t listen, to constantly working late into the night, lack of time to exercise, people whom you don’t want to speak to so you cross the road to avoid them when you see them in the street and the list goes on.You’ll start to feel much lighter once you’ve been very honest with yourself and have written down every single toleration.   Do you need to deal with any of them?   Of course that is up to you however, if you don’t, they will continue to irritate, annoy and drain your energy.   Decide how you will deal with them and when you will deal with them.   Take charge of your life at work and at home.   For those things that cannot be changed, accept them as they are and let go.   Then you will be still.   Then you will be able to breathe and you will be enough.Id like to share this from Eckhart Tolles Stillness Speaks’: What a miserable day.He didnt have the decency to return my call.She let me down.Little stories we tell ourselves and others, often in the form of complaints.   They are unconsciously designed to enhance our always deficient sense of self through being right and making something or someone wrong.   Being right places us in a position of imagined superiority and so strengthens our false sense of self, the ego.   This als o creates some kind of enemy:   yes, the ego needs enemies to define its boundary, and even the weather can serve that function.Through habitual mental judgment and emotional contraction, you have a personalised, reactive relationship to people and events in your life.   These are all forms of self-created suffering, but they are not recognised as such because to the ego they are satisfying.   The ego enhances itself through reactivity and conflict.How simple life would be without those stories.It is raining.He did not call.  I was there.   She was not .Be present, accept every situation for what it is, not what you interpret it to be.   Remove your tolerations.   Then, be still.Jane is Director of Style Success.   For more information on coaching or training for your organization visit:   www.janejacksoncoach.com   or email:   jane@janejacksoncoach.com