Your Most Important Job Search Tool - Hire Imaging

Your Most Important Job Search Tool - Hire Imaging My client, Connie knew that she wanted to find work with an employer close to home. She was interested in financial security and a place where she would feel valued. Her background was in various roles, ranging from customer service manager for a Fortune 500, to sales leadership for a startup. Was Connie ready to walk out the door and nestle into a new job? No! Before Connie even started her search, she needed tools for her job-search job. An iPad salesperson needs a demo to show people. Farmers need the right equipment to till their soil and harvest their crops. If you’re in career transition as Connie was, you need career-transition tools. Me, myself and I. “Your destiny is not for someone else to manage â€" it is your destiny.” The above, written by Byron Pulsifer in “The Hard Part of Balance,” could have been talking about your role in your job search. You are without doubt, the most important tool. It’s your skills, your talents and your special traits that will land you the job. You must know who you are. You must know what you offer. You must convince others. First, name your skills. How? Look at what you’ve been paid to do. Begin by reviewing your past work history: past job descriptions, performance evaluations, email with feedback and kudos, special projects or temporary assignments. Sometimes those things that seem routine can be forgotten. They can, in fact, be important clues to your value. Glimpse back at your education. What does your academic background say about you? It may be very interesting to a global employer with a South American presence, that you blended a major in Economics with a Spanish minor. Include any professional development. Scrutinize content. Does a communications course taken add value to your potential contributions as a liaison with the central office of a healthcare provider? The latest CRM technology certainly helps support your case as an impactful account executive. Outline your volunteer work. You’ve spent hours coordinating your daughter’s soccer team’s competition. You’ve served with Meals-on-Wheels for nine years, and taken your children along to learn the essence of helping those in need. You initiated your neighborhood watch, and have a block of more-secure folks maintaining proactive, systemized security efforts. Inventory your volunteer work â€" all of it. It will help you identify those skills perhaps not used in paying work. Examine your personal characteristics. While skills and qualifications are central, personal character is equally important. The most common reason for terminating employees is not incompetence, but the inability to get along with others, habitually showing up late or missing work, or other undesirable traits. In the same vein, companies hire people they like; and they hire candidates that will fit into their workplace and culture. It is totally up to YOU to identify those traits that make you likeable, admired or a fit, right along with those skills that make you a competent teacher, salesperson or software engineer. Know and show. Of course, identifying your skills is only the first step. You need to be able to convince others to want your skills, qualifications and traits. Christopher Columbus told people the world was round, but until he landed in the New World, no one believed him. Similarly, saying you are hard-working and responsible falls â€" ah-hem, flat. So how do you win folks over? Use your voice. Practice sounding interested and enthusiastic. This is especially crucial on the phone, because folks can’t see you. Your voice has to “say everything”! Avoid monotone; vary your tone to get people involved. You become more interesting and believable. Try calling a friend or family member. Speak to them when you are smiling. Then, switch to a frown and continue talking. Afterward, ask them if they could tell the difference. Then, try it again with them having a heads up. Use your whole body. When you’re face to face, look directly at people when talking to them. You lose credibility when you look away too frequently. Your body language can help you sell your value. You seem more confident when you have good posture and your head up. Last week, I spoke to a hiring manager who told me she did not hire someone because of their slouch. “He seemed as someone who would simply disappear at the onset of a challenge,” she told me. Video yourself describing your skills. Are you interesting enough to keep an employer’s attention? Do you think you should add some pizazz to your presentation? What might it be? Flesh it out, tweak and refine, and practice! Practice telling yourself and everyone who will listen, who you are; and what you have to offer. Convey your career charisma! You’ll be right on track to convince employers that you are the best person for the job. Do you have any ideas to share on knowing and showing who you are? I’d love to hear from you! Photo: Mayr

Learn from Both Sides of Your Internship Hard and Soft Skills

Learn from Both Sides of Your Internship… Hard and Soft Skills 28 Flares 28 Flares Dave Ellis is an original member of the YouTern team where serves as the Content and Community Manager, and enjoys his role as the company’s “Man Behind the Curtain”. In his spare time, Dave volunteers, rescuing and rehabilitating sea lions and baby elephant seals. Connect with Dave on  LinkedIn  and follow him on  Twitter! Congratulations! You were hired for that internship you worked hard to get. This is important because as you may know, internships are becoming essentially a required first step for young professionals toward starting a career. How important is your internship? A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) of almost 16,000 undergrads showed that 60% of paid interns received a job offer. Each internship presents two sides to your potential learning… the tangibles and the intangibles. These are commonly referred to as “hard skills” and “soft skills”. To increase your chance to get hired, you’ll need to learn from both of these sides of your internship. Many interns make the mistake of only focusing on the hard skills. They don’t realize that both skill types are equally important to career development. Your Internship… Side One â€" Hard Skills For many young professionals, an internship is your first exposure to a “real” job. You’re eager to learn everything you can about your chosen industry. And this is great! Because before hiring you for any job throughout your career, employers will want to know that you have the tangible skills to fulfill their needs. This side of your internship involves “hard skills”. These are the day-to-day duties of your internship. At this level, be ready to get your hands dirty with social media, code, spreadsheets, press releases, financial analysis… whatever your assignments involve. On this level of your internship, do your absolute best to impress every day. Complete your assignments on time and as perfectly as you can. Remember that your internship is not a job… yet. Every day, remind yourself that your internship is essentially as an extended job interview. Learn as much as you can in the limited amount of time that your internship extends. Ask questions, go beyond your assignments and present your own project and assignment ideas to your boss. Develop your job-related skills and learn about the industry as a whole. Think of your internship as on-the-job training and get everything out of it that you can. Develop some mentoring relationships. Many of the people around you have developed skills beyond your current ability. Speed up your learning curve by developing a relationship with others who are willing to teach you what they know. Your Internship… Side Two â€" Soft Skills The ability to complete assignments and tasks is one side of the hiring equation, and an important side to your internship. However, employers also want to hire employees who have the interpersonal, or soft skills, to fit with their company’s culture and help you work well with others. These skills are just as important to develop as hard skills. They may even have an advantage over their harder counterparts because they’re transferrable from job to job, industry to industry. Your soft skills include confidence, coachability, personality, likeability, professionalism. Soft skills can’t necessarily be “taught” in the same “read the directions” manner that a lot of hard skills can. This doesn’t mean though, that they can’t be easily learned. Become an observer. This may be one of your first experiences in a professional environment. Observe how people dress and speak in an office setting, and how they interact with one another. It’s often different than in the “outside world”. Each company has its own culture. Especially if your internship is with a company you hope to obtain a permanent position, learn the protocols and behavior nuances of that company. For example, is there a casual, friendly atmosphere? Or perhaps it’s more formal and hierarchical. Of course be yourself… but act accordingly. Network, network, network. The more people you get to know on more than just a first name basis, the better. It’s an un-written rule in business that people hire people they like. Sure, it’s a professional environment but you can still make friends… be likeable! Remember, your internship offers two separate but interdependent sides to what you can learn. Employers want to hire employees who not only can complete assignments but who also have the personal skills to “play well with others”. In each of your internships, look for ways to develop both sides and you’ll dramatically increase your career development, and improve your chances to get hired.

Answering odd interview questions - Part 1 - Hallie Crawford

Answering odd interview questions - Part 1 I’ve been asked by many clients lately how do I answer those strange interview questions like if I were an animal what would I be? We have all heard horror stories about difficult interviews. One of our clients in Baltimore, Jeff, said he had participated in an interview where he felt they were truly testing his ability to answer questions under stress. They changed the schedule on him several times and asked him to speak to multiple people he wasn’t prepared for. Here are some of the questions I wanted to answer for you regarding odd interview questions (excerpted from the things clients typically ask me) and how to best prepare for them. Read more in our next blog post this week, this will be broken into 2 parts: Is using strange interview questions  in the hiring process becoming more common? It is, as employers try to come up with new ways to effectively vet out employees. With so many more applicants per job opening, there are more qualified applicants per opening than ever. It becomes even more important to find ways to determine the right fit. I also think the standard typical what are your strengths and weaknesses questions just dont cut it anymore because they dont give enough insight into an employees behavior, how they think, and what their work performance might be like. Behavioral interview questions are becoming more common. Employers want to understand how an employee thinks, performs and reacts in order to determine if theyre the right fit.   Are these kinds of questions used to trick people or to see if they can think quickly on their feet? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some companies do ask trick/tough questions to stump an employee to see how they perform under pressure. Other times the employer truly is trying to get to the bottom of an element thats important to the position that they dont just want to ask a yes or no question to. Too many people might just say yes in order to land the job when its not completely accurate, or the issue theyre trying to vet out is more complicated than a yes or no closed ended question. Plus employers dont want you to just say yes you can do something or explain it, its much more insightful to have you tell them about a time or situation that demonstrates the skill theyre wanting. Then they can see how that skill was applied. What are some examples of these questions? What would your current/former boss say about you thats positive and negative? [This could be used to find out strengths and weaknesses and how you handle them now, if you are self-aware and pro-active about managing both.] Why are you leaving your job? [This could be used to find out what went wrong if anything, why you want their job and how you handle a situation where things aren’t working out.] Tell me about a time when you failed in a professional situation. [This could be used to determine how you handle problem solving and failure.] Do employers always get the answers they need from them? If the candidate doesnt have an answer, stumbles and doesnt give a good example of what they were actually looking for or hedges and answers another question no, they won’t. Or if the question was not well formed and doesnt address what theyre actually looking for, it won’t work either. But the majority of the time, it gives the employer information about you and your communication skills, even if it doesn’t divulge what they were specifically looking to find out. Job Coach P.S. How do you know if your resume is good?  Take this  Resume Quiz  to find out how to keep your resume out of the trash can.

The True Meaning of Mid Level Resume Writing Service

The True Meaning of Mid Level Resume Writing Service Introducing mid Level Resume Writing Service By carefully targeting resumes for certain jobs, you are able to greatly enhance your odds of getting noticed in the work market. If you're on the lookout for professional writers to aid with your job applications, then you've come to the proper spot. Whichever accounts you opt to add, make sure that they're regularly maintained, professional, and support your present job targets. How to Choose mid Level Resume Writing Service Our professional resume writers know the very best approach to compose a work application! The site mainly, focuses on truly being a platform where it is possible to look for jobs and the recruiters can post jobs. Should you do a fast search on Google, you're most likely to think of a lot of resume writing companies. Portal to produce link personalized resume. Having writing resume reviews makes it possible to select the best one. The use of language c an make all of the difference too! Possessing a Reference Available' section isn't necessary. Otherwise, all of your great experience is going to be of no use in the slightest. The War Against mid Level Resume Writing Service All you have to do is fill in the application form on our site. The site appears cool and funky, but with regard to usability and UI design, it might have been better. Yes, resume builders are absolutely helpful in regards to creating a resume in a jiffy, but could never provide you with the satisfaction of true resume where you are able to make thing personalized. Professional resume writing company supplies you with an expert resume writer service devoted to getting you the ideal job. Our career consultants understand what you will need to do in order to get the sort of role you desire. Marc Grandmaison Operations Director Marc is a very experienced, skilled, and talented hospitality professional that has been in the business for over 20 years. Wor k experience is more meaningful than school, and is the very best approach to demonstrate that you've got the wisdom and expertise to be successful in your area. If you aren't certain what things to search for in a sample, look past the aesthetic qualities and see whether they included over a list of job duties. Your base Fiver writer is not likely to get that skill. Even the smallest mistake in your resume could be damaging to your odds of being hired on account of the competition you face. On the flip side, you will want your resume written by somebody who has written far more resumes than just their own. The conventional service directory has listings, maybe. Contact careerstrides to find out more about my sales resume service. Most likely, it was tricky to fill up a whole page.

How To Ruin Your Brand At The Press Of A Send Button - Work It Daily

How To Ruin Your Brand At The Press Of A Send Button - Work It Daily Grandma knew the importance of brand management. In Grandma’s days, children were not allowed out of the house with holes in their underwear for fear of the proverbial ambulance ride. Housewives cleaned thoroughly under their beds and chesterfields lest dust bunnies be discovered and whispered about. Business owners were careful not to do anything that could alienate their local customers. Grandma and her compatriots did brand management by instinct, although they called it protecting one’s reputation. Small-town living made brand management a matter of every day survival. The Internet is moving us back to the imperatives of small town living. We are in a global village where reputations can be ruined at the speed of light. The examples are numerous: an instant of road rage, captured on traffic cam, forever brands the corporate executive as a lunatic. An ill-considered comment forever brands the politician as a moron. A funny caption on a Facebook picture forever brands a job seeker as a problem-drinker. Fortunately, we seem to be taking heed of these brand accidents, and many of us are paying attention to our online footprint. After years of social media and e-mail debauchery, we are re-learning the value of circumspection. At least, some of us are. I was once CC'd on an e-mail to a local volunteer about a dispute the sender was having with a recreational sports organization in which they were both involved. The e-mail was angry and inflammatory, and verged on slanderous, but anybody who has experience with volunteer-run sports leagues will recognize it as par for the course. What was unique was that the sender elected to CC dozens of other people who were not involved in the dispute â€" myself included â€" and signed the e-mail using her professional position as the owner and president of 25-year old small home services firm. This business owner had done the e-mail equivalent of going out with hole-filled underwear - exposing her dust bunnies and alienating her local customers. While I’m sure it was emotionally satisfying in the moment to craft her e-mail and press the send button, it was clear the sender did not consider the long term impact of her e-mail message. She had just announced to nearly one hundred households in her target market, as president of her company, she was somebody who was prepared to resort to mud slinging and petty tactics. And, as Grandma will tell you, a reputation once ruined cannot easily be mended. Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!

How to Find a Career Path - Your Career Intel

How to Find a Career Path - Your Career IntelSometimes theres a real difference between what youre good at and what you love to do. Sometimes theres leid and they are one and the sameansicht are the really lucky folks who dont have to do much work trying to find a career path. For those who dont know what to do next professionally or which direction you want to go in, here are some tips on how to find a career path.Step 1 Quiet your rational mind. By this I mean, open up to the entire world of possibilities, regardless of how much you think a job pays, where youd have to move to, how it would affect your partner and everything else your mind likes to break in and tell you as youre daydreaming about your career goals. What would you do if you could do ANYTHING?Step 2 Think about yourself. What do you ENJOY? What types of work environments would you thrive in? For example, do you get energized by putting on a suit in the morning and heading to a formal corporate environment or do you f ind more satisfaction in an edgier space where you can be casual and work in a shared, open floor plan workspace? Are you social or do you like to work solo? What do absolutely NOT like to do?Step 3 Start down a path even though it might not lead you to your forever career. Theres a certain amount of trial and error when it comes to finding a career. So figure out what you enjoy and try something in that vicinity. If itdoesntwork out, go back to the starting point of the core of what you love to do and try something different. Over time, you will refine your career goals and find the trail that works best for you. But you have to keep at it and follow your instincts.And dont beat yourself up about not finding the perfect thing immediately Thats pretty rare.

Heres the Management Mistake Were All Making, According to 1 Sales Manager

Heres the Management Mistake Were All Making, According to 1 Sales Manager As a Sales Engineering Manager at Trimble, a positioning technology company, Jenna Dobrovolny manages a kollektiv of technical sales engineers that work with customers to make the world go round. She sells important positioning ordnungsprinzips to customers in a wide variety of industries, all while learning the ins-and-outs of unique businesses.But Dobrovolny didnt know she would wind up being a salesperson at one of the most unique companies in the U.S. With a background in marketing, she took a winding path to get where she is today and she has celebrated every minute.How long have you been in your current role, and what were you doing previously?Ive been in sales engineering at Trimble for a little over 3 years. Previously, I welches in Product Management at Trimble.Whats the first (and/or last) thing you do at work every day?Im a morning person, so I try to get in early. The first thing I do is a mental s can of what my week looks like. I occasionally make to-do lists, but I detest procrastination. If I think of something I need to do, I try to do it right away. I usually have a pretty good handle on my schedule, but I double check my calendar anyway.Whats the most unique or interesting aspect of your job or company?I think the most unique thing about my job is the group of customers I get to work with. ur customers are the heartbeat of our economy. Transportation, agriculture and construction all come together to make sure we have clean water, houses to live in, prescription medications to survive, and all the wants that internet shopping has made available to us.For example, take natural disasters something that is extremely relevant right now. From the supplies we get when the first disaster strikes to the rebuilding process, we rely on the men and women in our industry doing a very unglamorous job to help us put our lives back together. Its incredibly humbling to step onto a tr uck yard and realize that when stuff gets real, these individuals are the ones called to action. Whats something you think most people (perhaps even current employees) dont know about your company that you think they should?I think a common misconception about my company is that you must fit into a certain mold to work here or work in a certain department. While company fit is certainly important, my team has individuals from all backgrounds. Some have trucking experience and some that are new to the industry. Some are more advanced in their careers and some are just starting out. I have a bachelors in Communications and Public Relations, and a background in marketing. But about 9 years ago, I got into technology and now I work in sales.Whats something youre especially good at at work?Public speaking. I enjoy it. Its a rush for me, but thats probably because I have a bit of an ego.What about outside of work?Im pretty good at handling money. I like organization and money makes sense to me.What are you trying to improve on?Trusting people that I work with. Its not natural to me and has nothing to do with the other person. Im naturally suspicious and in some cases, thats just a time-waster.Whats your favorite mistake?There was a time a few years ago when I didnt stand up for myself on something. It was mostly gossip-related. I let my anfhrer at the time dictate how a situation was going to be handled, and I felt powerless. Thats the feeling I am most uncomfortable with.It taught me not to rely on others to do your bidding. If someone you work with has a belief or understanding about you that is false, say something. Id rather get a reputation that I wont take crap than let others define me. Whats the one career move youve made that youre most proud of?Moving into an industry that is mostly male-dominated. It is not uncommon for me to be the youngest and only female in a customer meeting. Ive always been fairly assertive, but in my business, thats not seen as a ba d thing. I think in other industries a softness is required. You try and win over business on a relationship level. My job is to help make our customers more successful and competitive in their own right, and that takes a certain amount of bravado.What do you love most about your job or your company?A new employee on my team mentioned that we have a lot of passion for what we do, and I believe that to be so true. We also have an unshakable desire to get better. Were pretty hard on ourselves. If you value activity over productivity, this isnt the place for you. We are driven by results.What are you currently reading/watching/listening to?I get both the New York Times and FreightWaves (an industry publication) delivered to my inbox daily. I also just finished Anthony Bourdains Kitchen Confidential, which I found to be wonderfully relevant to both being a manager and to the food delivery business (many of my customers work in this industry). I think its important to read books for busi ness, but its also important to read for the human element. Id rather read a biography about a successful individual than a how to book. That said, Ive read my fair share of good business books as well. Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg was eye-opening. It changed my way of thinking entirely.Whats your 1 piece of advice for women who are looking for jobs right now?Your resume must be results and success driven. Dont say I worked on our RFP process. Define how much you improved the process. If you brought in revenue to your company, say how much in dollars. Quantify everything dollars, percent improved, efficiencies gained. Ive seen a lot of resumes recently and numbers jump off the page to me. It also shows that an individual knows their value, which becomes extremely important upon salary negotiations.Who is/was the most influential person in your life and why?My mother. She is absolutely the hardest working person I know, and her compassion for humanity is unwavering. Shes n ot afraid to call others out for their lack of understanding, and believes in being fully educated before voicing an opinion. She follows her heart, even when it is contrary to the belief system she was raised with. As her daughter, its empowering to see that and it gives me confidence as well.Whats the most memorable piece of career advice youve received?What other people say and do is not about you. Ever.What was the best quality of the best boss youve ever had?Allowing for independent action and thought. Delegating and micromanaging can sometimes look like the same thing. When you delegate, you identify a problem that needs solving. When you micromanage, you tell others how to solve it. Micromanaging is a cheap way to manage people. And its extremely unsuccessful. Having a boss that delegates and asks for my opinion makes me feel valued.--Fairygodboss is a proud partner with Trimble. Find your job today