Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom How Youre Pissing People Off Without Even Realizing It

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom How You're Pissing People Off Without Even Realizing It The devil is in the details. While it’s of course important to focus on the big ticket items, small, everyday interactions added together can make or break a professional relationship. Here are some things you might be doing without thinking. Stop today! Forgetting (or never learning) personal details When someone tells you their name, commit to it memory and use it in your next conversation. Make a note of your colleagues’ children and their names and ages. Wish your colleagues a happy birthday, and if they tell you they have something important coming up in their lives, remember that and ask about it later. Failure to do these things will keep your relationship at a purely business level, which won’t provide the rapport you need for your colleague to go the extra mile for you. Ignoring a non-urgent request When a colleague sends you an email, make a habit of responding within 24 hours. Even if the message isn’t a priority for you, it may be for them. Don’t be one of those people who is “bad about email.” While you may not mean any harm, this will eventually result in a loss of trust and respect as well as a vicious cycle of inattention (i.e. you ignore me, I ignore you back). Forcing other people to ask you about status Do your boss and colleagues have to track you down in person or nag you repeatedly about the projects you own? Even if your results are stellar and everything turns out fine in the end, giving your colleagues a few extra gray hairs wondering what the bleep is going on will not do much for your work relationships. Instead, be proactive about providing status in the manner in which your colleagues would like to receive it. Doing something else while having a conversation Multi-tasking is a fact of life in the twenty-first century. But people who can’t pry their eyes away from their smartphones for 5 minutes to have a meaningful interaction with another human will also not be able to count on the benefits of valuable relationships. Make sure you are both physically andmentally presentwhen a colleague comes into your office. For more things youre doing to sabotage your relationships, check out the full post at Intuits Fast Track blog.

How to Find Free Help in Writing a Resume

How to Find Free Help in Writing a ResumeThe internet is filled with information on how to write a resume, and you can find it at no cost. However, this can leave you feeling confused and overwhelmed, wondering how to find out what free help in writing a resume offers to you.It is important to find a company that offers online assistance when working on your resume. This is because people can access your resume through a variety of sources, including online journals, college classes, social networking websites, resumes online, and even other people's resumes. Because of this, it is necessary for you to make sure that you are able to access the information on the job application.When you have finally found a company that offers free help in writing a resume, you will want to do some research on the company. This is very important because they will be able to provide you with all the resources you need to learn how to write a resume. The best part about these resources is that they can offer you tips on how to improve your resume by simply following the directions.Most companies offer a service that is paid for, but these companies offer free help in writing a resume. These sites also offer a variety of applications, which includes templates, applications, and more. The free services that are offered offer you some great tools and resources, which are something you will want to keep in mind when looking for free help in writing a resume.One of the best resources you can find when searching for free help in writing a resume is to read the testimonials of previous clients. The testimonials will show you exactly what other people who have used their services have to say about them.Many of the companies that offer free help in writing a resume give you an initial evaluation, which allows you to decide if the service is right for you. You can also find a variety of tutorials online for free. The tutorials are designed to assist you in creating a good resume.Many of th e companies that offer free help in writing a resume also offer referrals. When you refer someone to the company, you are also referred to the person who referred you. You will get the opportunity to ask any questions you may have regarding the resume and how it was written.By taking advantage of free help in writing a resume, you can save yourself a lot of time and money. You can even learn how to use professional software for resume writing that has been designed by professionals for resume writers. This type of software is designed for you to begin on a free resume, or you can purchase it and learn the best way to begin writing a resume and utilize the tips and techniques that have been developed by the company.

The Personal Branding Authority Flowchart - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

The Personal Branding Authority Flowchart - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Do you want to stand out from the crowd? Do you want to be seen as a leader in your niche? Do you want to be one of the top earners in your line of work? If you are nodding your head up and down   saying yes, this post is for you. The steps of the Personal Branding Authority Flowchart are building blocks, they are easy to follow, and will lead you to personal branding success if you stay disciplined. The flow chart of authority looks like this: Reach Reach is the amount of people you are connected to in your social networks. The sum of all your social media connections is the total amount of your reach. There has been considerable debate on the quality versus quantity of your reach. Whatever camp you are in does not matter there are benefits to both. What matters most is that in the Web 2.0 world you need to have reach. Visibility Visibility is made up of your search engine ranking and how many eyeballs that physically see your content each day or over time. It is a by product of your reach. Most of the time, the greater your reach, the more visibility you will have. One of your major goals should be to own the first search result in Google when someone searches your name. Influence Influence is a measure how much juice you have. The best way to measure it is through how many RSS subscribers you have on your blog and the blogs you write for. Keep in mind that you do not need to have a crazy high number of subscribers to have influence the more the merrier though. In its simplest form influence is when people listen to what you have to say and take action. Credibility Credibility is how real you are, how trusted you are, and how believable you are. Your combined perception on these measures is what makes up your credibility. Authority Authority is the result of the combined measures of reach, visibility, influence, and credibility. When you combine them personal branding authority is   a certainty. Now it is up to you Each building block leads to the next one. First you build reach, then visibility, then influence, then credibility, and then you arrive at authority. It works every time. It has never been easier to create exposure for yourself because the rules of the game have changed. The balance of power has shifted away from the major media players and into the hands of individuals. With social media platforms like Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook you can spread your message far wider and more quickly than ever before. Everyday the world becomes more connected, more networked and riper with opportunity. Just follow the steps. Author: Chad Levitt is the author of the New Sales Economy blog, which focuses on how Sales 2.0 Social Media can help you connect, create more opportunities and increase your business. Chad is also the featured Sales 2.0 blogger at SalesGravy.com, the number one web portal for sales pros, the professional athletes of the business world. Make sure to connect with him on Twitter @chadalevitt.

Bird In The Hand Recruiting Do It!

Bird In The Hand Recruiting Do It! Youve probably heard the phrase before: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It means it is better to have a definite than hold out for the possibility of something better that may never come. It is time to start incorporating this methodology into your recruiting operations. The more the merrier: How many times have you been in this situation? Your hiring manager interviews a series of candidates for a specific opening and comes back to you satisfied with the candidates, however there is one issue. They want to see more candidates. This is understandable, not all candidates are going to be great for the specific role. So naturally you inquire why that is. The answer you receive? I just want to see who else is out there. Who else is out there? The most current figure on the population of the earth is 7.125 billion people. You want to see who else is out there? We may be here a while. Continuing your search: By: Westconn The problem with this mindset? It goes back to the bird in the hand analogy. Let’s assume you decide to hold off on those good candidates you interviewed for this mysterious “better” candidate. You continue to interview and 2 months later you realize the initial candidate was better. So you go ahead and call to deliver an offer. Well it is now too late and that candidate is working at your competitor. Sure your job may have been #1 on their list, but they have to continue their career search as well, and waiting for you to make up your mind was not in their plans. So here you are, back to square one having to re-evaluate candidates or even worse, begin the recruiting process over again. There are many reasons to decline a candidate. The wrong skill set, not enough experience, poor references, the list goes on. The reason of “there could be someone better” is not a justifiable reason. If this is your reason this means you in fact do not know what you are looking for. Either that or you are an indecisive person. Either way, you should be stripped of your decision making responsibilities. Leadership: Being a decision maker means being a leader. A person is put into a leadership role because of their ability to handle situations that arise. You wouldnt expect the CEO of your company to flip flop on every question that comes up would you? No. You would expect him or her to make the decisions that need to be made. Same goes for hiring. This article is not to suggest you hire the first candidate who comes through your door. Each recruiter will tell you differently when you ask them how many candidates hiring managers should be interviewing. However if you are doing your due diligence on the back end (i.e. phone screens and other vetting) by the time you bring in those selected candidates for interviews you should have a feel for what the market bears. That is what is most important. You need to get a feel for the candidates in your specific market regarding that position and make a decision from there. Are you going to end up hiring the best Java Developer in the area? Maybe not. That does not mean the one you did interview isnt a good fit. Stop declining the quality candidates you have because of this mysterious candidate you made up in your mind. [image credit: Shutterstock]

You Can Write a Resume Without Microsoft Word

You Can Write a Resume Without Microsoft WordThere are many people who can write a resume and it doesn't matter what software they use, if they know the basic skills needed to do so. This is why it is important that you know how to write a resume from beginning to end so that it is not intimidating for your potential employer to read. This is because your resume is going to be the first thing your future employer sees.You want your resume to grab the employer's attention because your resume will be used for more than just contact information. Your resume will be a main component of the hiring process. When you walk into a job interview, your potential employer will look at your resume. If you can come off as professional and knowledgeable, then you will have a better chance of getting the job.With this in mind, it is important that you do not let your resume come across as too busy or too casual. Because if your resume looks sloppy, then you will have to prove yourself to them. With a sloppy resume, you can easily get caught out with some grammatical errors or other minor blunders. Although it is not your fault, but there is a good chance that you will have to prove yourself to your future employer. It is important that you don't embarrass yourself because you need to go to interviews for interviews and you need to make sure you do well.When you send your resume out, you want to be sure that it looks professionally done by someone who knows what they are doing. When you are doing your research, you will want to make sure that you use software that is professional and that it can be easily modified if necessary. If you are using an older version of Microsoft Word, then you can easily change it and not worry about it being formatted incorrectly. If you are using an updated version of Microsoft Word, then you should make sure that you format it properly.Make sure that you also know the basics of the resume formatting before you even start writing. If you want to m ake sure that it is formatted properly, then you will want to make sure that you know what you are looking for. If you know what you are looking for, then you know what the proper layout of your resume should look like. If you don't know what you are looking for, then you may not know what type of formatting you should be doing.It is also important that you know how to format a resume properly so that you can focus on the content of the resume instead of being distracted by the formatting. If you are able to get a little bit of a break and concentrate on the content, then you will be able to focus on the writing and get it done. This is important so that you will be able to provide a professional impression to your future employer.When you are ready to send out your resume, then you will want to take your time. Don't rush your resume, because if you rush it, then you will have to rewrite it later. It is important that you make sure that you are taking your time and that you understa nd what you are doing. If you take your time, then you will be able to get your resume done and make sure that it is professional and up to date.As with anything else, take your time when you are writing a resume and do it right. You will be able to make a good impression with a professionally written resume and it will help you make the most of your career in the future. Make sure that you follow the basics so that you don't have to rewrite the same resume all over again.

6 Tips to Hone Your Job Interview Etiquette

6 Tips to Hone Your Job Interview Etiquette Asking or being asked the right questions is not the only aspect that can make a job interview successful; etiquettealso play a part in it.Making an impression count and can affect the results. What to say, wear, and bring can communicate volumes of the kind of interest people have for the position.evalHere are some job interview etiquette tips that can have a lasting impact on the interviewer:1. Dressing for the job interviewevalFirst impression lasts, and it is a common idea that works all the time. The kind of image projected to the interviewer will be the one that sticks and can affect his/her decision for hiring. This is why it is important to dress appropriately.Formal business attire is good enough for a professional air, but if the workplace is in a casual environment, a tidy and well-groomed appearance can count.2. Being on timeIt is important to arrive at the interview location a couple of minutes early before the scheduled time. Not only does it say a lot about interest an d punctuality in the job, but it can give opportunities to prep up. Fixing the hair and staying calm can lessen the stress brought about by the pressure of getting interviewed.3. Bringing the necessary thingsevalComing in prepared can save a lot of time. The things that should be brought to a job interview are a list of references and extra copies of the resume. The interviewer may need these for more information. When applying for a position that requires samples, such as writing, web designs, and the like, these should be brought as well.A portfolio can thoroughly measure the person’s capabilities for a certain career/job. The only things that should not be brought to the interview are food and drinks. Cell phones should also be turned off to avoid disruption.4. Greeting the interviewerWhen finally meeting the interviewer, greet him/her with a firm handshake and a brief introduction. Some small talks can be exchanged for better rapport. Following the interviewer’s lead can mak e for a smooth conversation, and important discussions can later take their course.5.Responding to interview questionsevalevalAnswering interview questions is the most important part of the process. Many other applicants are selling themselves as best candidates for the position, so it is important to highlight the skills and relevant experiences that can be assets to the company. Responses should be direct and related to what has been asked. Interviewers want to find out what contributions can be made to the company if ever they decide to hire you.6. Closing the interview with a word of thanksTowards the end of the interview, the employer may or may not ask if you have questions. Either way, the closure is an opportunity to tell him/her about your interest in the job.It is also important to thank the interviewer for taking the time to interview you. This is the chance where you can ask about the next hiring process, the company’s vision and mission, and its culture to better fami liarize with it. This can emphasize your willingness to take on the position.Knowing the common courtesy in interviews is a learning experience that does not only stop at the interviewing process. It also applies to the actual workplace. A good presentation and attitude is a job criterion, and a show of positivism and interest has always been the appeal.The best candidate is always the one who comes prepared and is confident with the skills that can benefit the company in the long run. With you as an applicant having done your share, how can the company itself help you grow professionally?The interview is a two-way street, and by the end of it, it is your turn to ask questions.

Gearing Up for the Next Big Thing

Gearing Up for the Next Big Thing You know whats coming soon. January 1st. And it is time to start thinking about real New Years resolutions. By real, I mean the things you will actually work at! The actions that you will take and complete! Shorter Is Better Instead of saying this will be the year I will maybe it is better to say, this month I will If you can make something a habit over the course of a month, it is more likely to stick. And, it makes it less ominous! It Doesnt Take 12 Months Most of the changes, adaptations, goals, etc. you want to achieve dont take 12 months!  Set immediate, concrete, dated deadlines! Baby Steps Lead to BIG Changes You cant go run a marathon without building up your endurance. And it is too easy to lose sight of a gigantic end goal. Try making incremental changes. When applied over time, they have enormous impact! What Are Your Action Items for 2014? Ive got some plans, hopes, dreams and steps I want to take for a better 2014. Do you? What will you do to start mapping them out before the calendar strikes 1?! Photo credit: MorgueFile

Global Trends Might Affect Your Interview

Global Trends Might Affect Your Interview A recent survey of 1,205 business decision makers in four regions and twelve countries has confirmed what many would say is obvious: video conferencing is here to stay and going to increase in the future. The survey, “Global View: Business Video Conferencing Usage and Trends,” was done by  Redshift Research for Polycom, Inc. and is a fascinating look at how technology changes the way we do business. Its also a reminder that your job will be affected by it in the future. One finding was that 32% of the U.S. respondents were likely to use video technology for interviewing potential employees. Thats the highest percentage of all the countries represented, with the next largest group being 28% of the Asia-Pacific region. So Id say that knowing how to get ready for an online interview  is a very good idea. Another factor that may come up in your interview is your view of working with colleagues from other countries and cultures. Quite often, this doesnt mean globe-trotting; it means video conferencing. The more familiar you are with the idea, the better a candidate you will be for that position. So Polycom came up with a Guide To Collaborating Across Borders  as a result of their survey, and Im letting you in on the free tool because I want you to be that savvy candidate who knows about the trends where business is heading. The interesting thing about all this is that no matter what your background or career track is, your job will probably include technology and multicultural experiences in the future. Being ready for it at the interview gives you an advantage.