3 Smart Ways to Brand Yourself as a Candidate

3 Smart Ways to Brand Yourself as a Candidate In a sea of resumes, it couldn’t be harder to stand out than it is right now. While your experience screams, “Hire me!” so does everyone else’s. In today’s job world, it’s a competition about who you know, and even then, the process of getting plucked out of 300 resumes can be an impossible task. There are a number of ways you can brand yourself to stick out in a crowded stack of resumes. How do you get ahead? Get interactive. “…The job search techniques of yesterday â€" send out résumés, search the want ads, and wait for a job to fall in your lap â€" wont even get your foot in the door. What you need in order to get a job today, says Jim Kukral, is the courage to put yourself out there and get the attention of employers by trying something no one else is doing.” â€" RP News Wires 1) Keep a Blog: Blogging has become a popular new form of social media. While blogging has been in existence since the late 90’s, it has become more popular across the board as of late. While many businesses have taken to this medium as a form of social media, you can use it to boost your hiring potential. This shows that you have technical skills with your particular blogging platform and that you are dedicated to your personal growth. Focus on a topic you’re passionate about, even if it has nothing to do with the position you hope to get. This reflects your personal brand. Consider a number of options ranging from traditional written blog, to short form blogging, or photo blogging. Place this in your skills section and hyperlink your URL in. RELATED:  How Blogging Will Boost Your Personal Brand. 2) Take Advantage of Google+: The social platform created by Google might be your best professional portfolio. With a variety of ways to express who you are, it serves as an excellent way to be your brand. Having a Google Plus account, and using it only for professional interactions, allows you to create the best reflection of yourself. Photos: The trouble with Facebook photos is the tagging ability. A survey by Reppler found that 11% of survey participants decided not to hire a candidate because of inappropriate photos. With Google Plus you can place a few simple photos to communicate who you are as a person and keep your St. Patty’s festivities out of the picture. Portfolio: Perhaps one of the best features is the portfolio section of your profile. Here you can place links to various places where you or your work has been featured. Whether it’s photographs, blog posts, interviews, etc, being recognized or published is always good. Other profiles: Use this link area to send potential employers to networks other than Facebook. Link your Tumblr account, your blog, etc. Related: How To Use Google Plus for Professional Networking [10 Ideas]. 3) Create a Video: Whether you’re a skilled videographer or not creating a video of some sort is a smart way to boost your chances of being remembered for the position. Your brand will come through better in video than on paper. This phenomenon has gained popularity on sites like ResumeTube which allow you to promote yourself via resume video. Beyond.com says, “The use of video resumes is a growing trend used by job candidates to effectively market themselves to employers and stand out amongst other candidates who do not yet utilize this tool.” If you can’t manage to create a video, utilize another medium such as Prezi. Whatever medium you prefer, remember to: Be creative: Don’t simply read your resume out loud, find creative ways to show them your resume. Mashable suggests using the video as a means of showing what you will achieve in the future, not necessarily what you already have. You can sing, act, be silly, whatever fits who you are. Make it short: While your video will be entertaining, the employer doesn’t have time to watch a ten minute video. Two minutes or less is ideal. With the number of qualified candidates growing with each new graduating college class, it’s more important than ever that you stand out in your job hunt process. To do this, it’s smart to brand yourself â€" give your potential employer something to really remember you by. Be creative, have fun and get the job. Related: Personal Branding: Blending in to Stand out. Author: Jessica Sanders writes for lead generation resource, resourcenation.com. She gives small business advice on topics such as social media and career advancement. Follow her on Twitter.  

How to Manage Remote Employees Successfully - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Manage Remote Employees Successfully - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career In the modern world that we live in, talented and highly skilled people are everywhere. It is slowly becoming the new norm for companies to hire people from other cities and sometimes other countries. Although having remote employees and managing a remote team have its own challenges, when managed successfully, it may save your company a lot of money. Below you can find the key points of managing remote employees effectively. Communication is the Key: Communicate clearly with your remote employees. If possible, use visual communication techniques such as video conferencing. Share your screen during meetings. Use screenshots or diagrams in your emails to better explain what you want them to do. Use chat platforms when talking about work as a group. Also, make sure your remote employees are not forgotten. Chit chat with them for a few minutes after the meeting is over. Encourage Collaboration: Have a document management system in place for sharing documents and files. Tools like Google Drive and Dropbox are great for this. Don’t rely on emails for sharing files because they might get lost and people can have a hard time tracking the latest version and the changes made. Give them the tools they need to work efficiently and make sure everyone is on board with these. There are also many other free tools available for virtual teams. Set Clear Expectations: Every week make status meetings with your remote employees. Walk through the tasks expected from him/her. Set his/her goals. Establish a timeline. Give feedback about his/her progress. Have a formal process for reviewing his/her performance. If your remote employee doesn’t know how s/he is performing, then s/he cannot motivate him/herself for doing better. Track His/Her Work: Implement tracking systems. Don’t micromanage your remote employees. Give them the flexibility they need but don’t completely leave them on their own. You can ask them to put in their work hours, if they are getting paid based on hours and you can track, if they really work these many hours or spend time surfing on the internet using a time tracking software. Make Them Feel Part of the Team: Send them newsletters about what is going on within the company. Show that you remember and care about them. Establish rapport with them and try to get to know them on a personal level. Send them gifts during holidays. If possible, invite them to the main office once a year and get together as a big team.

8 Unbelievably Effective Ways to Expand Your Email List

8 Unbelievably Effective Ways to Expand Your Email List Growing and expanding your email is paramount for your website’s success. Your email list is the most valuable asset that stays with you no matter which platform you chose. Constantly adding fresh subscribers should be at the top of your mind, whether you blog for business or for pleasure. In this article we’ll show you how to grow your email list effectively. 8 Unbelievably Effective Ways to Expand Your Email List Host a webinar People love to learn and there is no better way to present information than a webinar. It can be your chance to engage your users and provide more information about a topic they are interested in. To take advantage of it, make signing up for your email list a requirement to attend the webinar. Add a newsletter checkbox to your eCommerce checkout process If you have an eCommerce website, consider adding a checkbox that allows users to opt-in to your email list during checkout. Leave it unchecked by default but make sure to let them know your email subscribers get notified first of new products and offer them a discount or a coupon as an incentive. Create an online contest This tip can be applied to various niches. If you offer any type of service, consider creating a special contest allowing your users to win one of your packages or a one-on-one consultation in exchange for their email address. If you sell products, consider offering one of them as a prize for those who help you spread the word about it. The winner could be selected randomly or you can select it manually by the number of shares. Encourage people to share your newsletter Sometimes, the best advertising is word of mouth. Consider adding a button in your email newsletter that allows your existing subscribers to forward it to a friend. This works particularly well because your content gets seen by a very similar and targeted audience which can then subscribe to get more of your content. Create a hero image for your website Large header images with email optin forms are all the range today and you can see them on almost every website. By adding a hero image that features a strong call to action and your email sign up form you can greatly improve the conversion rate and increase the number of your subscribers. Use exit-intent popup forms Love them or hate them, pop up form plugins are one of the most popular ways to grow your email list. However, not all plugins are made equal. They work best when they make use of exit-intent technology which shows up at the exact moment a visitor decides to leave your site. The reason they work so well is because they are often paired with a lead magnet which often is compelling enough to make the visitor change their mind and hand over their email address. Create a splash page Splash pages are another effective method of expanding your email list. The way they work is that when a visitor comes to your website, they are greeted with a page that prevents them from seeing anything else on your website. The page features an attractive lead magnet and the user has the choice between signing up for your email list to access the download or to go directly to the blog. In the most extreme cases, the only option is to sign up for the email list before being able to access the rest of the website. Make use of social media Social media can be quite effective at building your email list and increasing conversion rates. There are several ways to put social media to work for you. Use Twitter Lead Generation Cards signing up for a Twitter Lead Generation card takes but a few minutes and you can connect most email service providers with this feature. Once you card is completed, tweet it out and then pin the Tweet to your profile which will allow your followers to sign up with one click Use Facebook’s call-to-action button Facebook pages allow you to have a call to action directly below your header image. Consider creating a custom Facebook cover for your page that points to your call-to-action which should be set up to go directly to your email sign up form Use Pinterest create a Pinterest-optimized graphic of your lead magnet and add the pin directly from your website. Make sure the page you’re linking to has an email sign-up form so visitors can opt-in to your email list. What are your favorite ways of growing your email list? Let us know in the comments below. Image Source      Image Source; Image Source

10 Simple Rules for Guaranteed Success in Your Career - Classy Career Girl

10 Simple Rules for Guaranteed Success in Your Career I have been fortunate to enjoy a career in business for more than ten years now, and my work with highly-renowned business professionals around the globe has given me a wide range of experiences and taught me a lot. Here are ten of the simplest and most effective ways to guarantee yourself a successful career. 10 Simple Rules for Guaranteed Success in Your Career Rule 1 â€" It’s Your Career! Firstly, you are in control of your career, and nobody else. Think about what you want to achieve and look around at what options and entry routes are open to you, and what you’ll need to do to get from where you are to where you want to be. Make a plan about how you are going to bridge that gap  and put it into action â€" simple as that! Your career can follow whatever path you wish, provided you make good decisions that are in the interest of your ambitions. Do this consistently. Rule 2 â€" Be Very Clear on Why You Got Hired Every job is, in the simplest of terms, a problem that needs solving, regardless of your field. Do you feel as qualified to solve these problems as your employer thinks you are? Try considering what would go wrong if you weren’t doing your job to a good standard, or doing it at all. This will give you a good indication of how well you are solving the problem that you were employed to solve. Rule 3 â€" Respect the Performance Management Process â€" Don’t Fight It Whatever your field or business, your employer will have ways of assessing your contribution and appropriate ways for rewarding you for your work. Usually, bigger organizations will do this in a more formal fashion than their smaller counterparts. Coming to terms with this assessment, understanding and respecting it is very important. Become familiar with how your performance is examined and find ways for it to work for you. Fighting it will only cost you financially. Rule 4 â€" There Are Others That Matter, Besides Your Line Manager The chances of your work impacting only your manager are slim â€" more than likely, your contribution will touch people throughout the company, who you should think of as key stakeholders, such as your manager’s boss, their peers and key figures in finance, HR and IT. They will remember and respect you for taking the time to know and cater to their requirements. Rule 5 â€" Do More Than Your Role Requires… And Then Some Remember Rule Two â€" you are a problem solver. If you want to progress yourself in your career, you must solve one problem, and then move on to a bigger and more challenging one. The quickest way to a promotion is to always aim for more significant problems to solve  and carry on in an upward direction. [RELATED: 10 Steps To a Promotion (Without Working Longer)] Rule 6 â€" Seize Opportunities to Reinvent Yourself The occasional self-reinvention can be very beneficial and re-establish you as a high performer within your organization. Such opportunities are abundant when starting out in a new role or receiving a poor performance assessment; use these opportunities to start over and set some goals that will put you back on top. Make sure to adhere to Rules One to Five when doing this, and you will not escape your boss’s notice. Rule 7 â€" Don’t Do It Alone Not a single successful person has gotten where they are entirely alone. There is nothing wrong with seeking the advice and guidance of those who inspire you. Look out for suitable mentors who can help you in the direction of success. Rule 8 â€" Become an Excellent Communicator The further up the ladder you get, the more essential decent people and communication skills are, so invest time and effort in these skills. If you are not particularly confident, seek out a coach or course that can help you improve. It is near impossible to be a leader without speaking in public, so learn to present in an impactful and succinct way. Rule 9 â€" Master The Art of Networking Networking is central to being in a senior position, so dedicate some time to meeting and communicating with relevant people. Look out for opportunities to network and do what is necessary to maintain these relationships and keep them strong. Expanding and sustaining your network does take time and effort, but it needn’t be out of your way; although in-person is good, you can always reach people by phone or online. Rule 10 â€" Execute Like a True Professional Finally, and probably most importantly, you must be a professional. This means dedicating time and energy to managing yourself like you would others. If you are struggling to find time for everything, approach it from a managerial perspective, solve that problem, and hold yourself to your solution. You may have to make sacrifices or spend more time doing things that you don’t find enjoyable, but if you commit yourself to making your career a successful one, be strict and get it done. It is completely possible.

When Should You Really Get Out of Your Job CareerMetis.com

When Should You Really Get Out of Your Job â€" CareerMetis.com When should you get up and get out?What should you do when you’ve concluded that your current gig isn’t satisfying you and doesn’t present the potential you once thought it had?evalMost of us are familiar with this dilemma because few experiences in life deliver exactly what we expect of them; anticipation is high but results often disappoint.If you feel that you’re at a point where you have to make some sort of a move, consider taking these actions.Take a time-outevalConsider whether you are truly at the point of no return. It could be that you’ve had a temporary mental setback; something triggered your need to get out.See if you can figure out what the causes of your feelings to make a move could be and whether or not you should act on them.I’ve seen people react to what they feel is a bona fide need to move on, only to regret it later. So be sure.There is usually a huge emotional push behind the urge to move and it’s important to hold it at bay until you understand i t and know that it’s justified.Talk to your bossYour boss is responsible for the performance development process for your team, so hold them accountable.evalArrange to meet with them to discuss where you are in your career; get their feedback on your current performance as well as the potential for you to do more for the organization in a variety of other positions.At this point, you need some facts about where you are in the organization to assess whether a move is a right thing to do. Are you seen as a high potential individual or someone who has some challenges to overcome?And if you don’t have a formal process for reviewing performance, take the initiative to have it done regardless.Talk to your mentorsDiscuss your situation with the people you’ve trusted to give you sage advice in the past.evalGet their perspective on what might be driving your desire for change; often we can’t “see the forest for the trees” but others can.And be sure to validate your boss’s views on your potential; your mentor might see things differently and may have some useful tips for you.Re-examine your goalsPerhaps your urge is due to the fact that you have subconsciously changed your views on what you want to achieve in the long term, and this is creating the angst you feel in your current situation.Reviewing your goals regularly is always a good idea but in circumstances of disruption, it is critical. The last thing you want to do is make a move that is inconsistent with an end game that has changed.I used to review mycareer game planon a regular basis; in times of “stability” when you are able to think about things without the emotional pressure of feeling you have to make a change.evalTake a baby stepI’m a fan of taking a step, learning, then taking another step.It’s the most effective way of determining whether you’ve made the right decision. Obviously taking a ginormous leap has high risk associated with it, so see if you can take a less risky and more incremental moveto see if you’ve made a good choice.Dipping your little toe in the waters of change is a practical option that should be always be considered as a tool to see whether your conclusion to make a move was the right one. If one dip tells you that your move isn’t working out, stop and consider another option.Getting out of your job makes sense if you are facing new opportunities that will satisfy your short and long term needs. So it’s important to do your due diligence on whether now is the right time.evalDo your work.

All you need is... Love - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

All you need is... Love - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Im currently reading Tor N?rretranders latest book det gener?se menneske (The generous human). Its all about how generosity and altruism can exist, in a cruel, Darwinistic, dog-eat-dog world. The answer seems to be that the the two basic mechanisms of Darwinism, natural selection and sexual selection, actually favour generous individuals. This reminded me of an excellent article in Fast Company about sharing your business resources and network. In other words, expressing generosity and, yes, love through business. And while researching the subject (actually while checking the spelling of generosity), I stumbled on generosity.org where you can find a fun way to practice generosity in daily life. 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

How to Master the Art of Small Talk - Career Advice Blog for Millennials

How to Master the Art of Small Talk - Career Advice Blog for Millennials In everyday life, you encounter new people in unfamiliar situations: at work, on a date, at a party. And regardless of who you are and what you do, communicating with people is an important part of work and life. But all this networking and meeting new people comes with a caveat: small talk. A lot of people hate small talk and will avoid networking and other events because they don’t want to make small talk. When they do get to an event, they’ll hover close to the people they already know. That’s not only an ineffective use of a networking event, but it’s also short-sighted. Small talk is the foundation upon which a relationship is built. And whether the relationship is a business venture, a potential job opportunity, or a new friend, it’s important to know how to foster those relationships via face-to-face communication. Heres how you can master  the art of small talk  and turn  it to your advantage. Do Your Research It’s always good to know who you’ll be talking to ahead of time. While this isn’t always possible in a social setting or open networking event, it’s a definite must-do when it comes to meetings and job interviews. Seventy-four percent of American internet users are on social media. Take a look at the Twitter or LinkedIn profiles of anyone you’re set to meet. Take note of any connections you have in common, whether they’re people or interests. That way when you go into your meeting, you have those topics to draw on for conversation. In addition to improving your small talk skills, you’ll also impress them with the attention you’ve paid to them as a person. Lower Your Expectations Don’t rest all your entrepreneurial hopes and dreams on a first conversation. When you meet someone for the first time, chances are you aren’t going to work out your next big project or a partnership right then and there. Give the relationship time to develop and grow organically. With too much pressure on yourself, you’re not as relaxed during an event or meeting, and won’t be able to enjoy yourself as much as you would without any expectations. Keep your hopes at a manageable level. Expect to come away from an event with a great conversation about the latest New York Times bestseller or with a new concert venue to check out. Have Something to Say, and Say it If small talk isn’t your strong suit, don’t go into a social or networking situation without at least three things to talk about. They can be anything, including the latest Netflix binge-watching craze, a cupcake bar that opened just up the block, or a podcast you really like. When you have those things to draw on, you can effectively start conversations with anyone. And to start those conversations, just come out and state your opinion on something. It can be tempting to lead with a question, but by entering a conversation with a statement rather than a question, it shows you’re willing to participate in the conversation too, not just stand by and listen to others talk. Remember Names Studies have shown that remembering things is linked to your level of interest, and that includes someone’s name, too. Do your best to keep track of the people you meet, and their names, by remembering key facts about them that interest you. For example, maybe someone’s last name is Pulaski and you remember it by the fact that you’re both avid skiers. You never know when you’ll meet them again in a work situation or otherwise, and remembering their name when you meet again makes a great impression. Ask Questions Follow up with your questions after the start of the conversation. Asking people questions does two things. It shows people you’re interested in what they have to say, and it draws them out of their own anti-small talk tendencies. People love talking about themselves, so avoid yes or no questions. Instead, ask open-ended questions about what they think about something, or give them a two-option question. For example, if they’re from out of town, ask if they flew in or rented a car. Oftentimes, they’ll open up and elaborate on one of the options and their travel experience. Don’t Fear Silences Silences are a natural part of any conversation â€" there’s an old saying that there that there’s a lull in any conversation every seven minutes. You’re just less likely to notice them when surrounded with people you know. When in a situation where you don’t know people that well, silences can seem extra long. Studies have shown that it only takes four seconds for a pause to feel awkward. Avoid uncomfortable pauses and use silences as an opportunity for transition. Read the people you’re talking to and either ease into a new topic of conversation or excuse yourself. Know How to Get Out Clean The art of an exit from a conversation is almost as hard to master as the art of small talk itself. Try these methods: Excuse yourself from the conversation by stating something else you have to attend to. Pointing out the fact that you need to say hi to someone or want to get something to eat lets people know that you aren’t just leaving because you’re bored. Another great tip is to tell someone you’ve enjoyed speaking with them. When possible, include a topic that you spoke about. For example: “I need to go check in for my presentation, but I enjoyed speaking with you about your work in South America.” Making small talk can often seem like a necessary evil, but by remembering these ideas, you’ll be the life of the party in no time. What are some techniques you use to enhance your small talk skills? Share in the comments below.