5 Ways to Grow Your Professional Network (From Your Smartphone) Building Your Future Now

5 Ways to Grow Your Professional Network (From Your Smartphone) Building Your Future Now Its important to get out and meet people in order to grow your professional networking. Nothing really beats connecting with people face-to-face. However, that doesnt mean we cant connect with people with meeting them face-to-face. In fact, using your smart phone is a simple and effective way to build your network relatively quickly. Here are 5 ways to build your network using your smartphone: 1.LinkedIn LinkedIn is one of the most used (and powerful) social media marketing tools available. It is a free service (with an option for paid premium service.) Be sure to update your profile and when connecting with people created personal and engaging messages. You can download the LinkedIn app and easily connect with other professionals quickly! 2.Calling Using your smartphoneto call is perhaps one of the easily and quickest ways to connect with people. It is also one of the most daunting things to do especially if you are cold calling. You can warm the call by connecting with the person via email. 3.Messenger Facebook Messenger is a great tool to build your network. You can engage with other professionals by using the app. 4.Emailing Another oldie but a goodieemailing professionals is way to engage without really being too personal. Be sure to add as much information in the email (what you do, contact info)being transparent is good because some out there will be hesitate to open and read emails of people they dont know. 5.Facebook There are so many amazing pages and groups on Facebook to join and contribute to! Use it to build your networkmessage people (through messenger), leave comments, rate establishments and share great info-people will definitely see that you want to build and grow. Image:

The exams were a disaster.

The exams were a disaster. “I’ve definitely failed, the exam was apocalyptically bad / the worst ever / completely impossible”. I have heard just about every version of the above laments and confess to being guilty in the (distant) past of wailing in similar vein myself. I fear I may even have added in a few rich expletives. So, if  you thought the exams went badly, is that the end of the world? No, it’s not and here are my four top reasons why not. 1. You probably haven’t done as badly as you fear. Once youve finished an exam try to put it completely out of your mind, particularly if you have other exams still to do. Move on! Of course this is easier said than done, but it is a life skill that you’ll need to cultivate. There will always be “bad days” and its important to be able to “park” how you felt and look forward. 2. Think. What’s the worst that can happen? This will be  different for different people. If you don’t get the First, it might mean that you don’t get on the Masters course you wanted, but, if youve set your heart on further study,  there are likely to be other options for a Masters. Youre unlikely to find a job offer withdrawn because you missed that First. What if your 2.1 has turned into a 2.2? It might be a bit more of a problem from the point of view of employment but it really isn’t a disaster, have a look at the helpful tips in our blog on the subject last year. A Third? Not an honours degree? Your options will have narrowed but you will still have learnt great skills and provided you are able to articulate them, you will find that doors open up for you, not necessarily in the direction you intended, but perhaps in exciting new ways. 3. If things haven’t gone your way, this might be an opportunity to rethink and plan a future better than the one you previously imagined. Did you have a job offer which has now been withdrawn? Was that offer for your dream job, or was it just a “good enough” alternative which you accepted with gratitude at the time? How do you feel about the employer which withdrew the offer? If your degree didn’t work out as planned, you aren’t a different person from the one they put through the application process. Is the employer putting  exam performance  above personality? Perhaps you could find a better employer? 4. What about all those skills you’ve learnt while studying? Most students come to university straight from school. You probably lived at home before you arrived, most likely food appeared on a table at reasonably regular intervals, at apparently no cost. Similarly your clothes may have disappeared from your bedroom floor and reappeared, washed, in your wardrobe. Generally the housekeeping fairy doesn’t come to university with you and it’s only in Harry Potter that you find house elves! Over your time at University youll have morphed from the dependent child to the fully independent adult, able to budget, look after yourself and make your own decisions. That’s quite some journey and you’re almost certain to have got a degree too. Something to celebrate? So, where do you go from here if things don’t work out as you planned? A trip to careers might be a good starting point and how about thinking through the skills you need for a graduate job before you come? So what are they? How’s this for a starting list? Teamwork, analytical ability, communication (written and verbal), commercial awareness, resilience, resourcefulness, determination and a good dose of common sense. (You’d probably be surprised by how many employers tell us they need the last of these). Try taking a piece of paper and listing these competencies on one side and making notes of how you meet each on the other side. This should show you just how much you have developed while at university and demonstrate some of the things you have to offer. With any luck it’ll make you feel better about yourself and more optimistic about the future.

Taking Interviewing Outside the Box Unique Practices by Top CEOs

Taking Interviewing Outside the Box â€" Unique Practices by Top CEOs Over the past decade, we’ve all been fascinated, entertained and a bit puzzled by the brain-teaser-type interview questions that many employers have incorporated into their hiring process. Why are manhole covers round? How many golf balls can you fit into a school bus? Popularized by Google, the jury is still out on whether the ability to answer these types of questions in an interview is in any way indicative of being able to excel at a job. But one thing’s for sure â€" it gets people talking about the company’s interview process and corporate culture, which enhances their employer brand. Some CEOs, however, have opted for a more real-life approach to evaluating potential employees, developing their own unique testing methods for determining how each individual would react in working situations. While coming up with a clever answer to a tricky question may demonstrate the ability to think quickly under pressure, these CEOs feel that candidates’ actions are much more reflective of their ability to fit into the team dynamic, leading to their future success with the company. Let’s look at a few leaders who have developed their own interview techniques, and why they feel they’re effective. The Early-Morning Text Erika Nardini, CEO of sports and men’s lifestyle blog Barstool Sports, received a lot of press recently after sharing her method of evaluating job candidates in a New York Times interview. For those looking to work at Barstool, Nardini will text them at 11 am on a Sunday morning, or at 9 pm in the evening, to see how quickly they respond. Those who respond within three hours pass the test. While she says she does not intend to continuously contact employees at odd hours once they’re hired, she expects them to be responsive and constantly thinking about work, just as she does. The Restaurant Choice If you’re looking to work for music rights management company BMI, prepare to choose a good restaurant for your second interview. CEO Mike O’Neill says that after a first office interview, he’ll invite job applicants to a second interview over a meal, and have them pick the restaurant. After the initial question as to why they chose that particular restaurant, O’Neill says he can learn a lot about a candidate from what they order, whether they choose a location closer to them or him, and how hard they try to impress him during the meal. He then follows up with questions about the candidate’s coworkers, mentors, and peers, as he says he can learn more by asking about the people they surround themselves with than by asking direct questions. The Beer and Barbecue Test Back in 1994, Brian Scudamore, CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, felt he didn’t have the right people working for him, so he fired his entire company. Since then, he has prioritized finding the right team members in order to provide a great customer experience in an industry as unglamorous as junk removal. In order to do this, he asks himself two simple questions during the interview process: “Could I see myself sitting down and enjoying a beer or coffee with this person?”, and “If we had a company barbecue, how would they fit in?” Scudamore likens interviewing prospective employees to finding great friends. While friendships are made in a relaxed, casual environment, according to this CEO, so too are good employee relationships. The Order Blunder Like BMI’s CEO, the CEO of Charles Schwab, Walt Bettinger, also invites interviewees to a restaurant. However, he arrives early and gives strict instructions to the manager to deliver the wrong order to the candidate. Bettinger says that how they respond helps him understand how they deal with adversity. Do they get upset and frustrated, or are they understanding? Even choosing to not say anything about the mess-up tells him the candidate may be timid, not pay attention to detail or not be willing to right a wrong. Ultimately, Bettinger is looking for employees who know how to recover from a mistake and are polite and respectful to others when they make them. The Two-Week Option As the CEO of Build, the online seller of sinks, locks and home fixtures, Christian Friedland recruits regularly from nearby college Chico State University, as well as at the Burning Man festival. Like many employers, Build requires applicants to take a drug test. However, before doing so, Friedland provides an added option: Applicants can take the drug test immediately and, if they pass, start work the following day, or they can wait two weeks. Friedland considers this an IQ test in that any candidate who chooses to take the test right away and fails isn’t smart enough to work for the company. Ask any hiring manager how to conduct an effective job interview and they’ll be able to provide a number of examples of techniques that are and aren’t effective. CEOs who are active in the interview process can do the same, though they have an added advantage: the freedom to alter the process in any way they choose. Hence, it’s not uncommon for an individual with the ingenuity to start their own company to also develop outside-the-box interview techniques that they feel provide essential information about candidates’ future success with the company beyond simply asking, “Tell me about yourself.” So, if you were CEO of your own company and had carte blanche to interview in any way you saw fit, what would you do to ensure the best hires?

Forget Halloween, Work is Way Scarier

Forget Halloween, Work is Way Scarier Ahh yes, Halloween.  Youre no doubt sick of pumpkins by now, and you can take or leave the awful haunting makeup,  but we all know that the pictures of babies in scary fancy dress will never get old. Long live infants in onesies. In my opinion, you dont need it to be Halloween for there to be a bit of a fear factor in your working week. It very much exists anyway, all on its own. Let me explain. Chances are  you awoke with a fright this morning to the sound of your alarm clock interrupting your peaceful sleep, yes? After that initial shock, you were then overcome by that familiar sense of horror (get out of bed now) that plagues you around the same time each morning, yep? See! And thats just the beginning I mean, I dont want to dwell on the negatives here, but lets be realistic. Vampires and fake blood have nothing on these scary work-related occurences: Forwarding an email to the wrong person This, hands down, is the scariest thing to ever have happen to you in the workplace. Sometimes its a an absolute non event, i.e. its quickly solved with a Hi Karen, ignore that email, it was meant for Susan, cheers. But when said email to Karen is about Karen,  and meant for Susan and Susan only, thats when its time to panic for real. Getting your corporate head shots back and realising theyre all horrific Everyone pretends they dont like  having their picture taken, but this is 9 times out of 10 a facade concealing their deep lust for  a Derek Zoolander-style photo shoot.  If were honest,  the only bit that we hate about this is getting your photos sent to you, and realising the photographer was rubbish, managing to get your bad side in all 80 pictures (a real  mind-boggler given you were photographed from all angles). Leaving your computer open and being  hacked by a rogue colleague This is a rookie mistake weve all made before; falsely believing we are in a professional environment and walking away from our computer without logging out. In every office there is an opportunist waiting to prey on the naive. The scariest part is remaining completely unaware for several hours, if not days after the alleged incident, you know, finding out what you  said in an email to Michael in accounts, many days after you were hacked. Yes, Michael thought you were seriously creeping on him. How awkward, he never replied. Can I also point out that youre also a bit offended that Michael didnt accept your fake  offer to go for a romantic dinner with him, even if you didnt even send the email.  Principles, people. Having your lunch stolen You  dont spend 3 hours doing Sunday meal prep (aka dividing a large pizza into 5 Tupper Ware containers) only to have some scavenger take advantage of  your trustful relationship with the refrigerator. Forgetting to tailor a template Taking it back to email territory, little leaves you more fearful than realising youve forgotten to change the names when using a template email (so you dont have to sit there and write out individual, customised emails to different clients). Blowing your own cover, nice. Spilling a coffee at your desk This one speaks for itself really. Its particularly great when all your documents get soaked and your keyboard starts playing up because evidently  it doesnt rely on caffeine and milk to work properly like you do. Leaking sensitive information Youre in a client meeting and innocently let a huge cat out of the bag. Your bosses eyes encourage  the deepest fear to develop within you. Have fun with that. Having an office love affair outed Office affairs tend to be very fun for those watching and gossiping; not so much for those directly involved. Think youre being stealth and secretive? Think again. We know. We all know. Scary times for you John and Rebecca. Scary times are coming. Being invited to a management meeting that goes over  lunchtime Not only has your pre-packed lunch been stolen, but now youre being deprived of lunch at 12pm. How can you seriously be expected to wait until 1pm for food? Listening to loud building maintenance works nearby You see a workman signing in at reception on the ground floor of your building. You walk by and smile, hes probably just fixing the elevator or something. By the time you reach your desk and sit down, the jack-hammering has started.  Its then you receive the email stating itll only be like this for a few weeks, and sorry for the inconvenience. Oh dear. Be afraid, be very afraid. Leaving your phone at home Fear ignites when you reach into your handbag and check every nook and cranny, only to flashback to an image of your mobile sitting on the kitchen bench next to the loaf of bread. A whole day without texting bae; talk about frightening. Leaking pen ink onto your white top That pen was  everything to you; you chose it specifically because it looked like a great, reliable, no-fuss office companion. But no, oh no. Silly you. That pen had other plans, that involve smudging  its contents down your top. Crushing. Having your annual leave request denied You literally could not be more excited about your holiday to Australia. You have looked up everything; flights, accommodation, kangaroo  spotting adventures, the whole shebang. With dates sorted, all you need to do is make it official by running it through the internal leave request system. Needless to say, when your request comes back with a big, fat denied, your whole world comes crashing down. Your colleague has already shotgunned those days off and you cant both be off at the same time. Say bye-bye Skippy. Watching a new person start and realising theyre really annoying You get introduced to your newest colleague. How did they  even make it through their interviews? Realising they are literally the most annoying person in the world and you are stuck with them 40 hours each week is a scary, scary moment. Can you think of any other a scary work moments? Let us know in the comments below or tweet me!

Amazon-Writing a Resume Book

Amazon-Writing a Resume BookWhat do you do when the Amazon-writing a resume book is not working for you? Have you just got fed up with all the countless amounts of copies and CD's and never seem to find the right book? If this sounds like you, read on...Why do you feel so compelled to write a resume book or start your own writing project? The truth is that many of us have been in the same situation. We just have too many books and forms and have become lost and disoriented. Here are some of the reasons why you might be running out of things to say and want to do something else...When you think about the Amazon-writing a resume book, it may be because you are tired of wasting your time trying to find the right book for you. It could also be because you have been watching the videos and reading the articles and realized that there are too many opportunities out there. Maybe you have tried many books, articles and the like and have been at the end of your rambling fingers and can't make head or tail of anything.When you start to think about getting started with an Amazon-writing a resume book, you may realize that you need more than just an e-book. You need a reference manual and a platform to create a platform that works for you. You need a plan and a place to write about it!I used to be in this situation and I had to come up with a new platform to put my ideas and skills to work. I was working as a professional and I needed to increase my clients. What a breeze it was to me that I just took everything I had learned over the years, combined it with some new ideas and wrote my own resource. From there, the rest was history.Many of the people who respond to my e-mails from those who want to find out how to write a resume book have been writing their own personal resource for years. They have already gone through the long process of creating the perfect resume and have the skill set to find success. This is what it means to get started on your Amazon-writing a resum e book.You can find many resources and tools for Amazon-writing a resume book on the internet. There are numerous books, videos and articles that will take you step by step through the steps. You can spend a lot of time doing the research and you may feel that you still have not found what you are looking for. In some cases, the authors may be writing about a technique that worked for them and they will not be able to offer an alternative to you.This is fine if you are ready to move on to the next chapter in your journey to self-improvement. But if you have been doing the same thing for years, it is time to follow your passion. Find a good mentor and use the skills you have to find your path. A new career or a new business can begin to open up when you find a new and exciting place to begin.

5 ways to keep internal communications riveting

5 ways to keep internal communications riveting It’s no secret that many workers feel they are drowning in a sea of communications, unable to distinguish between important messages and those destined for the spam folder. The explosion of electronic communications puts renewed importance on every company’s internal communications function â€" and makes it a priority for companies to find effective ways to cut through the clutter. I spoke with Sarah Perry, CEO of SnapComms, an award-winning company that develops employee communications software. Sarah shared five ways to keep internal communications riveting and effective; communications that get heard. 1. The spotlight on internal communications “What makes an organization awesome? It’s people,” Perry said. And the emphasis on getting employees engaged and passionate about their place of work, instilling a shared sense of purpose and belonging, has rocketed up the C-Suite’s priority list. And guess who’s expected to create that vibrant culture? The internal communications team! They are charged with thinking of new ways to grab employee attention by utilizing fresh and creative internal communications methods. “E-mail â€" that old internal communications standby â€" often goes ignored, unread, or unopened,” she said. “These days, two out of three major organizations have invested in specialized software to communicate with employees. Internal communications need to cut through the day-to-day information tsunami in an engaging, productive manner, and email just isn’t it.” 2. Multi-format content is more popular than ever As “all staff” e-mails continue to dwindle, visual messaging is increasing. Video, infographics, and animated presentations are increasingly used for internal communications. These allow a brand’s personality to shine through and foster a deeper connection with employees. “Push” messaging is playing a much bigger role, too, with tools such as scrolling desktop tickers and desktop alerts making push messaging more “real time” and stimulating. But don’t worry, we don’t anticipate virtual reality goggles to be part of the internal communications mix just yet. (Although just imagine how effective these could be for training on subjects like compliance, ethics, and cyber security!) 3. Podcasts rule “Podcasts are the new darlings for internal communication methods,” Perry explained. “They’re inexpensive to produce, quick to turn around, and perfect for uber-busy people with zero tolerance for downtime. Multi-tasking-types love podcasts, particularly when stuck in traffic, sitting on a bus, or out for a run.” Podcasts are the ideal vehicle to share company messaging in a way that doesn’t effect your team’s productivity. 4. Employee collaboration tools â€" love ‘em or hate ‘em? Few things divide the internal communications world like the use of collaboration apps. Some internal communications teams rave about tools such as Slack and Yammer, as they inspire conversation, innovation, and the sharing of ideas. Others find them to be major distractions and productivity-sappers, creating an environment of “too many cooks.” It depends on what works best for your team and whether or not those tools fit seamlessly into your company culture. “We see the collaboration apps divide getting bigger as more tools become available,” Perry said, “and we predict much tighter controls over their usage.” 5. Increased demand for meaningful measurement Internal communication validation tools are in hot demand by internal communicators; they provide essential intelligence on the effectiveness of internal communication methods. This matters most for issues surrounding compliance, ethics, and security. Information such as who has or hasn’t read a message, downloaded a document, responded to a training quiz, and so much more, helps to identify yet-to-comply staff or those who require further training. “Rather than a box to be checked or a page from the employee handbook to be referred to every once in a while, it’s important to remember that internal communication is the lifeblood that courses through every organization’s system,” Perry said. “Companies ignore the importance of communicating well internally at their peril. Corporate culture starts with good communications.” Join Dana Manciagli’s Job Search Master Class right now and immediately access the most comprehensive job search system currently available!

Can You Love Your 84,000 Hours of Work

Can You Love Your 84,000 Hours of Work I had the honor of meeting author/speaker Andrew Harrison this week.   In order for me to prepare to meet with him, I acquired a copy of his book (thats a funny story, but I wont go there). Andrews book, Love Your 84,000 Hours at Work is a series of interviews he conducted with people who truly love what they do.   Andrew decided to leave his six-figure job in his quest to find his passion.   His friends, co-workers, boss and family all thought he was a bit crazy (and so did he, at first).   Once Andrew began his adventure, he began to realize his passion.   By the way, Andrew calculated that he would spend 84,000 hours on the job over the course of his life.   It was this astounding number of hours spent doing stuff he didnt love which helped motivate him to leave his secure job and find his true calling. What I enjoy most about his book is that it indirectly answers a lot of questions and helps quell the potential fears.   It gives permission to those who need it, to follow their passion- to do what they really love.   So who would benefit from reading this:   parents of college students and high school students, college students, Boomers, any one in transition, those ready to embark on a change. Andrews book isnt a how to book per se.   He interviews people about the work they are doing now and how they got there.   So many of the stories are just amazing!   One of my favorites is the aerospace engineer who becomes a Maintenance Manager for an apartment complex!   There are so many other really great examples of people who followed their dream, stumbled upon their dream, or settled for their dream! Sometimes we start upon a path and we feel like we cant leave it.   Either weve committed to a major in college, tried to adhere to the expectations of those we love, or for some other reason get stuck in a job we no longer or never loved. What Love Your 84,000 Hours proves is that it is never too late or too early to pursue what you really want. Thank you, Andrew, for documenting these amazing stories and thank you to Jennifer Sertl for connecting us!