You’ve just graduated from university or college. You have the skills, the passion and the drive and you can’t wait to start a career in your field.
You send out your resume to a position that seems like the perfect fit for you. When there’s no response, you send out your resume again. And again. And again. Pretty soon you’ve fired your resume off to dozens of different companies and you haven’t heard a word back from anyone. Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
Like many new grads, your resume is not doing a good enough job of selling you to a hiring manager. Your resume needs to tell your story in a clear, focused way that shows off the skills and experience you DO have, rather than highlighting what you don’t have.
Our client’s original resume started off with a short objective statement, which is a huge mistake. Hiring managers only spend an average of 10-15 seconds looking at each resume, so you need to start strong.
We use an opening value statement to summarize your unique value to the hiring manager right away. We can work with you to outline the experience, strengths, and skills you possess that are relevant to the job—and don’t be afraid to name drop big name companies! Remember, hiring managers aren’t looking for what YOU want in a position—they are looking for the VALUE you can add to their company.
After your value statement, we include a bullet-list of your specific skills and competencies. We also include any technical skills such as software proficiencies, as well as industry-specific tasks that you are capable of performing and soft skills that are important to the job in question.
The purpose of this list is to build on the idea that you already possess valuable skills the company is looking for. This is a crucial step towards convincing the hiring manager that you’re not just a blank slate who needs time and money to be trained, but that you already have what they need.
In the education section, our client had the right idea by listing school projects, as they’re a great way to showcase academic achievements and practical capabilities. However, it could have used more details and information.
Using the first project mentioned as an example, try to answer some of the questions that the hiring manager will be considering:
You want to give the hiring manager a good idea of your thought process, problem solving, practical use of skills, and the results you’re capable of achieving.
Normally, new grads place their education above their work experience on their resume. This is because most new grads don’t have enough relevant work experience worth mentioning and the best way for them to demonstrate their skills and experience is through school projects.
However in this example, our client had over a full year of very valuable and relevant co-op experience with a large oil company. As a result, we swapped the sections to show off their work experience front and center. We also had them include a general outline of each role’s main tasks and responsibilities.
It’s one thing to claim you have all of these skills and experience, but if you really want to sell your value you should back them up with achievements. For every job or internship entry, list a few of your most notable contributions that involved you excelling in a practical way using your skills.
Take it to the highest level, and make sure that what you showcase are the same skills the employer is looking for. You can tell this by looking at the job description, and picking out any skill that’s mentioned several times throughout the whole thing.
To wrap it all up, keep the story you want to sell in mind and never deviate from it when writing your resume. Everything from the value statement, to the core competencies list, to the notable projects and achievements sections, and the content you include in your education and work experience sections should all further the notion that you are the person the company needs for the position.
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If you have even a passing interest in sports, you’re probably aware of the story of LeBron James. Actually, a lot of people who hate sports have probably heard about it—whether they wanted to or not.
Widely considered the best player in the NBA, he left Cleveland in 2010 to join a super-team in Miami. Cleveland fans burned LeBron jerseys in the streets, and Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert posted an infamous letter online that eviscerated ‘The King’ for his “cowardly betrayal” of the franchise and the city.
Oddly enough, none of that anger prevented LeBron James from returning to Cleveland this off season, nor did it prevent the previously furious fans and owner from welcoming him back with open arms. It’s a fact of life that if you have a talent that’s at a truly elite level, you’ll always be welcomed back no matter how ugly the situation might have been when you left.
If you want more proof, consider the famous case of Steve Jobs, who left Apple in 1985 disgrace after having been effectively pushed out by the board of directors. For all his genius as a visionary, at that point in his life Jobs was a poor businessman due to a narrow-minded, combative and stubborn attitude.
Oddly enough, none of that anger prevented Steve Jobs from returning to Apple a decade later, nor did it prevent the same company from welcoming him back with open arms. In those intervening years he had matured as a person, and improved upon his knowledge and abilities as a businessman and a leader while losing nothing of his greatness as a visionary.
There’s a pattern here, if it’s not too obvious by this point.
Jobs himself gives credit to his embarrassing fall from grace as motivation to examine himself critically and generate the willpower to improve upon his weaknesses, like all great executives should do. In his second stint with Apple, he led it to unparalleled heights as a company, revolutionizing personal technology and how business is done along the way.
There’s no guarantee that LeBron James will be able to lead his team to a similar level of success, but both his and Steve Jobs’ stories should teach important lessons both to employers and the elite talents of the world.
First, the natural talent of the truly elite can never be denied, but sometimes that talent needs time or even a change of scenery to fully mature and reach its potential. Most of all, it’s worth letting that talent reach that potential even if it isn’t with you.
Second, if you’re an elite talent that feels unappreciated and stagnating in your current situation, don’t be afraid to use your talent as leverage to rectify the situation. Your elite status means you’ll always have options and tons of offers to field, and if LeBron and Steve Jobs’ situations are any indication you can always return once the situation changes for everyone.
In sum: if you’re good enough at what you do, you’ll always be welcomed back.
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The issue of workplace bullying has risen in profile in recent years – either because of an increase in bullying itself, or because of the greater attention paid to it has led to people being willing to report it more often.
One survey conducted by Harvard Business Review reported that roughly half of workers polled in 2011 reported being treated rudely at work at least once a week, while another found that 35% of employees say they felt bullied at their jobs. More importantly, 16% of those who say they felt bullied reported health issues and 17% left their jobs as a direct result.
No one should ever have to suffer through being insulted, demeaned, or harassed as part of their job, but it’s a sad fact of life that even grown adults are capable of such maliciousness. If you are someone who feels bullied at work, you probably feel trapped and don’t know how to handle it. Do you confront them? Do you report it to HR? Do you try and find a new job to escape it? We here at Resume Target have some tips that will hopefully help you live in a bully-free work environment.
First, it’s important to know what constitutes ‘workplace bullying’. Practically speaking, those who answered CareerBuilder’s survey created a list of acts against them they felt qualified as bullying:
While these are the types of things you as the bullied party consider to be bullying, there are unfortunately two important sources to consider before you do anything to deal with your bullies.
There is some variation on what specific laws exist in certain areas when it comes to workplace bullying. It’s very important to know what legal rights you have and what you don’t have, and so you should definitely thoroughly research what laws exist for your city, state or province, and country.
Most laws that exist will require a company to have some sort of policy to deal with workplace bullying or harassment, but not many will have anything more concrete than that. Further, some laws will say what, if any, legal recourse or compensation rights a bullied employee has. Pay careful attention to the wording, and if you have any friends or family who has experience in legal matters it would be worthwhile to get their input.
Next, look into the company’s policy when it comes to dealing with bullying. They might have, in writing, what they define as bullying or harassment and what they don’t. They might also list the proper procedures that are to be taken when it comes to reporting cases of bullying both by the employee and by the company.
Make sure to get your own legitimate copy of the company’s policy in writing. Having an official document, or a copy of one, will be a great help to you.
Having gained all of the important knowledge and understanding what rights you have in dealing with the bullying, there is some preparation you need to do before reporting your grievances to the company.
First and most importantly, be absolutely sure to document every case of you being bullied at work in as much detail as you can recall. If there are any co-workers of yours whom were witness to any such incidents and are willing to give you verification, be sure to get that documented as well.
When writing down incidents of bullying, record them in a factual manner. So rather than writing “my boss totally screamed at me for no good reason today!” write something more like “on October 12, 2013 during a staff meeting, I made a suggestion for our summer initiative and was told my idea was ‘stupid’”.
Now that you’re fully prepared, there are a couple of different ways to deal with the bullying.
One of the main reasons why the bully constantly harasses you is because they think they can get away with it, either because they think you’ll let them or because they think they won’t be punished even if you report them. In the case of the former situation, sometimes confronting the bully (or bullies) directly can solve the problem.
The CareerBuilder survey data shows that 49% of those who claimed to have been bullied tried to do so. Of that group of people, 50% said the bullying stopped, 38% said the bullying continued and 11% said that it got worse. If you do confront them yourself, it is important to do it in an appropriate manner.
First, be confident in your voice and in your body language: look them in the eye, stand tall before them, and speak in a firm tone of voice. Try not to yell, fidget, or make exaggerated movements. When it comes to what you say, use “I” messages and avoid making more accusatory statements about them. Instead, you should state, in a factual manner, what they have done to you that you don’t like and how it made you feel.
So rather than saying “you’re always mean to me” or “you always treat me unfairly”, recount some of the specific instances that you’ve already documented and say how it made you feel.
For example, say something like this: “Last Tuesday I was not invited to the meeting despite being involved in the same project, and this has happened more than once. I feel frustrated when this happens because it prevents me from being able to do my job properly.”
If you choose not to try and deal with the bullying yourself, or if you tried to do so and they continue to harass you, submit a report to the company. The company’s policy should tell you whether to make the report to your boss or human resources. It’s up to you whether you submit the report in writing, such as an email, or if you do so in person.
Regardless of what avenue you take, be sure to again document in writing what actions were taken: what they said to you about how they would handle it or if they said anything at all, what actions (if any) they took in response, or if they actually take actions against you.
If the response from the person you reported to was not satisfactory, you might have to report to someone higher up in the company with the same, and updated, documentation.
Be forewarned, however, that there’s a fairly high chance that the company will either do nothing to address your problems or might even act against you. If that happens, your thorough and factual documentation of everything will help you a great deal in the event of any legal actions that result.
This is the most important bit of advice to anyone who is bullied at work. It is not your fault that someone at your job harasses you. If you find that someone is bullying you at work, be sure to act quickly. Trying to just suffer through it will not work, and you owe it to yourself to deal with the problem or extricate yourself from the situation if it can’t be resolved.
And remember that your job is just one part of your life. The last thing you should do is internalize it and let it affect how you live the rest of your life. You will have friends and family who can hear you talk about your problems and give you advice, and help you still have fun and be happy.
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Maintaining a positive attitude at work will benefit your career and steer you towards a promotion. 36 per cent of professionals polled on LinkedIn agree that a positive attitude is the most important quality that employers look for in candidates and team members.
However, maintaining a positive attitude on a daily basis in the workplace is harder than you may think. Work is stressful and challenging, and most professionals face deadlines and obstacles on a weekly (if not daily) basis. This is not an environment that fosters a positive attitude – you really have to work at it.
We’ve decided to not only tell you how you can convey your positive attitude at work to your colleagues and superiors, but also why it is important and how you will benefit from this attitude shift.
No matter how long you’ve been with a company and how comfortable you may be around your colleagues, you should never use profanity. If it slips out in a high-stress situation we can let it slide, but you cannot swear on a regular basis. This is a professional environment, and the use of profanity immediately ignites a negative aura into its surroundings.
There is a difference between criticism and constructive feedback. Always use the method where you begin by complimenting the individual on something they’ve done well, and follow it up with a suggestion on how to improve their performance.
Also, ensure to have this conversation in private. The individual will respect your feedback, and also respect the fact that you brought awareness to the situation in a professional manner.
Nothing eats away at a teamwork environment worse than gossip does. Whether team members are gossiping about colleagues or their personal problems, avoid the situation altogether. If you are caught in the conversation, act as a listener who does not provide any input.
Maintaining a positive attitude at work means that you are a team player who provides all team members with respect. By refraining from joining a gossip circle, you can ensure that you maintain that level of respect.
When a team member has performed well, let them know. Offering pats on the back and compliments on a job well done are two simple and easy ways to foster a positive teamwork environment.
In the same regard, when the team is faced with an obstacle, be sure to offer solutions and next steps rather than focusing on the negatives. Approach each obstacle with a “glass half full” mentality and you will create a positive outlook that will catch on to the rest of the team.
Every day is not a good day – but don’t let everyone on the team know that. You may have been stuck in standstill traffic that morning, or experienced a 45-minute delay on your train ride, but you can’t let those variables affect your work.
If you are in a foul mood, ensure you walk it off before you get to the office. That way, instead of ranting to your colleagues about how terrible your morning was, you can poke fun at your bad luck and give everyone a chuckle.
Laughing at your unfortunate circumstances will keep the work environment positive, where ranting will add negativity and diminish the upbeat working tone of the office.
A positive attitude is about more than just smiling at work.
It literally benefits your overall health. Stress can deteriorate your health, especially when you experience it on a daily basis. These daily stresses start to wear down your health and your immune system. Put a stop to that before it starts by using our steps to ensure you face each workday positively.
People avoid negativity and they are drawn to positivity. Your positive attitude at work will allow your colleagues to feel comfortable coming to you with questions or for advice. You will quickly become a role model and an ally for many team members which will be viewed as an excellent quality by superiors.
Your positive attitude will rub off on your teammates. Nobody wants to be the grumpy and pessimistic team member when everyone else is so positive. You will set an example, become a role model (as stated in point #2), and eventually create a full team of professionals with positive attitudes. This will boost the effectiveness of the overall working environment and lead to successes for the company.
You’ve become a role model in the team, so naturally management will see that you have the leadership qualities to take on the next special project. The team members will respond well to your leadership and you will be given additional responsibilities to help you climb up the ladder in the office.
The same way that Hiring Managers look for a positive attitude in potential candidates to fulfill a role, Management will also look for a positive attitude in a team member that is ready for a promotion.
Positivity in the workplace shows that you can encourage your team members to overcome obstacles and work cohesively to achieve the company’s goals. As a team member with a positive attitude, you will have already demonstrated these traits to your superior and therefore will be favoured for a promotion.
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Employee productivity in the workplace is one of the key components of a successful business.
As most companies pay their employees on a salary or by the hour, they want to ensure that their team members are getting the maximum amount of work completed in the given time frame. In other words, they want more bang for their buck.
Productivity is generally the result of an individual’s work ethic. Those who portray an effective work ethic are generally more productive than those who do not portray an effective work ethic. However, due to human nature, we are all susceptible to various other factors that affect the way we work.
One of these factors is – the weather. Determining the productivity level of each employee in various weather scenarios is an impossible task.
The weather creates different mood responses in different people. So we’ve broken down the two sides to each weather story – and how you can encourage employee productivity in these situations.
A rainy day is a gloomy day. The moods of employees will generally be lower as there is no sunlight to cheer them up. However, rain does not always have a negative impact on employee productivity.
The most common impact employers will experience from a rainy day is lower employee productivity. Employees are less motivated and simply complete tasks to head home and hopefully stay dry.
However, certain team members with a more proactive personality and work ethic will experience heightened productivity on a rainy day.
When an employee looks out the window and sees rain and clouds, they prefer to stay indoors at the office. Therefore they will stay at work longer, and complete work faster as they are not distracted by temptations of outdoor activities.
If you find that your team is predominantly negatively affected by rainy days – give them something to cheer them up. Something as simple as treating everyone in the office to hot coffee/tea and pastries will put the team in the right mood.
Bright and sunny weather will most often put employees in a great mood, unless it’s too hot. When employees are arriving to work sweaty and uncomfortable, they can only be productive in the right working conditions.
There are people who love the heat and people who hate the heat. Therefore, hot weather will have different impacts on different employees.
Those who love the heat will come into the office with a smile on their face, but they may also be completely preoccupied with ideas of what to do after work, that they don’t spend much time focusing on their work.
On the contrary, employees who prefer the shade will arrive at work in a foul mood, and generally want to stay in a cool air-conditioned environment for as long as possible.
The working conditions have to be optimal. Fully functioning air conditioning coupled with cold water available for all team members are key.
While you’re at it, embrace the childhood spirit in all employees (those who love the heat and those who don’t) by bringing jumbo freezies into the office after lunch. The whole team can take a quick break to enjoy a freezie, cool down, and rejuvenate their energy before tackling the second half of the day.
For those of you who are located in climates just as extreme as we are here in Toronto, you will deal with both the hottest of days and the coldest of days. Though employees are prepared for the winter months with their coats and boots, it can still affect their productivity in the office.
The temperature is not the only factor affecting the mood of your employees on cold days – it’s also the lack of sunlight. The days are shorter and when your employees wake up to a dark sky to arrive at work, and leave to a dark sky to head home, their mood will be glum.
The productivity throughout the sunlight hours will generally be unaffected, but once the sun goes down after 5 p.m. most employees will be rushing to head home.
Offer more flexible schedules in the winter to accommodate employee preferences.
If team members want to come in earlier so they can enjoy some sunshine on their way home, give them that option. Other employees may want to come in later to enjoy sunlight in the morning, and stay later in the evenings.
Let your team know that they should be putting in the same hours, and they will be grateful that you’ve given them this flexible option to suit their needs.
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Staff socials are always somewhat awkward to start and often end with mildly inappropriate comments or behaviour – however, they are still an integral component in advancing your career.
Whether in the form of a holiday party, team-building event or a birthday celebration, a staff social is used to bring people out of the professional setting so that coworkers can get to know one another. You may see your colleagues every day and share witty jokes while sitting across from them, but you rarely see them outside the office.
Management teams place a large importance on staff socials as they often prove to enhance the teamwork atmosphere and create a positive working environment that employees enjoy coming to day-in and day-out.
Though a staff social promises free food and even a few free drinks, many professionals still dread spending their free time hanging out with their colleagues and their boss (unless it is during regular office hours, which is always a plus for all team members). This is the wrong attitude. As a professional in your field looking to advance your career, you should jump at the chance to attend a staff social. Here’s why.
This is especially important if you have recently joined the company.
Nobody knows you yet, you may still be referred to as “the new guy” or “the new girl”, so you really need to get your name out there. Attending the staff social will allow your colleagues the chance to get to know you. They will not only learn your name, but they will likely find something in common with you.
Whether you are fans of the same sports teams or enjoy the same outdoor activities, finding a personal connection with your colleagues will enhance the relationship you develop with them. They are likely to remember you, remember what you have in common, and continue to develop that relationship after the staff social.
For those of you who have been employed with the same company for years and have never attended a staff social, you are in the same boat as the new hires.
People may know who you are, but they don’t know anything about you. You’ve never developed any type of relationship with your team members, and this will likely hold you back from career advancement.
Your goal is to be viewed as a positive member of the team that is enjoyable to work with. This will show your superior that you will thrive in a higher-level leadership role and places you in line for a promotion – as long as your work ethic matches up to the requirements as well.
Apart from your teammates, you should get to know employees in other departments within the company.
These inter-departmental relationships will benefit your daily operations within the company, because you will have the ability to contact members of various different departments for favours you may need.
If you are experiencing computer problems and need to get them resolved immediately, having a relationship with someone in the IT Support department will definitely help in getting the problem resolved in a timely manner. This is also true for when you need data or reports from departments such as Sales and Marketing.
Looking to the future, if you are ever at a point when you are considering a career transition, these relationships will once again prove to be very useful.
You may already know professionals in the field you are transitioning to, and can use them as mentors to ensure you are completing the right steps to be successful on your new career path. You may also use these relationships to receive referrals for job opportunities.
Remember to always connect with these colleagues on LinkedIn to maximize your professional networking abilities.
An employee who does not make an effort to attend staff socials, whether they are during office hours or not, is an employee who does not consider themselves a member of the “team”.
By avoiding staff socials, you are telling your colleagues and superiors that you are only at work to clock in your eight hours, and that you have no interest in the company or your role outside of that time.
These are not the qualities that employers look for in employees. Employers want to hire (and promote) individuals who view themselves as an integral component in the overall success of the company.
You should view your daily tasks in the big picture and understand that the work you complete now, will benefit the company overall – and your main goal should always be to see the company succeed.
A perfect way to demonstrate that you are this type of employee, is to attend staff socials and discuss the company’s successes and failures with colleagues and superiors. Take this time to show that you have a genuine interest in the company’s success and request feedback on how you can further contribute to that success.
If you are a new hire or have recently received a promotion, this is also a great time to express gratitude for the opportunity you’ve been given, and to show how much you’ve enjoyed your time thus far in your new role.
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Daytime naps are an integral component in a toddler’s development. Their brains are constantly stimulated as they act as sponges soaking in all of the information around them, and therefore need to nap to allow the brain to process the new data.
Doesn’t this also sound like a typical day in your life?
Most professionals are stimulating their brain from the moment they open their eyes right through the day until they return home. This stimulation includes watching/reading the news, commuting/driving to work, completing your daily tasks, and heading home from work.
Employers are required to give their employees sufficient time for “breaks” to either refuel with caffeine or nourish themselves with a hearty lunch; however this break time does not necessarily provide any rest.
Rest comes in the form of sleep and relaxation, and cannot be achieved by sitting in a loud food court eating a plate of Chinese food. By taking a nap in the middle of the workday, employees will experience an improved mood, performance, safety and productivity.
This is precisely why so many corporations are now providing their employees with designated “nap” or “rejuvenation” rooms to assist employees in maintaining alertness and reduced stress levels on the job.
This “nap room” phenomenon became incredibly popular in the USA, within companies such as Google, Nike, Pizza Hut, Procter & Gamble, and the Huffington Post.
There is also buzz spreading north of the border with Canadian companies, like Hootsuite, Intuit Canada and Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital, joining the ranks of companies who provide various services for employees on site – including nap rooms.
For companies who don’t have the square-footage to spare, there are napping salons that are slowly popping up to allow companies to outsource their napping as part of their benefits package.
Employee wellness is a hot topic in the modern workplace, which triggered the introduction of massage therapy into employer-provided benefits packages after identifying the health problems associated with sitting at a desk for at least seven hours a day.
The modern workplace also reflects the competition of the job market and employees are generally clocking more hours and getting less sleep – which can lead to high stress levels and medical conditions such as heart disease.
Short periods of sleep (in the form of naps) are proven to improve alertness, memory, motor skills, decision-making and mood, and are therefore the solution that employers are turning to.
Here at Resume Target, we got curious about just how popular naps rooms would be if they were introduced at all workplaces. We polled professionals on LinkedIn to ask them if they thought companies should offer employees nap rooms to boost productivity.
The Results:
So the popularity of nap rooms isn’t overwhelming just yet, but we’ll admit that we do encourage power napping here at Resume Target headquarters in Toronto. Sometimes a quick snooze is exactly what you need to tackle the next project with the right energy, efficiency, and effectiveness to get it done right.
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It’s your third day at your new job, you step in the elevator on your way up to the office and your boss walks in right after you… what now? You don’t have an amazing 30-second elevator pitch to pull out of your back pocket, so instead you stand in silence until you reach your floor.
You definitely didn’t leave a great impression on your boss – you didn’t leave a bad one either – you just left no impression at all. Don’t be afraid to break the silence. By starting a short and easy conversation, you are establishing your presence and demonstrating your social skills.
One of the most important soft skills that employers find in successful candidates is effective and professional social skills.
If you aren’t confident in your social skills or you’re absolutely terrible at thinking on-the-spot, we’ve got three fail-safe conversation starters that will help you break the silence.
I truly believe that this is everyone’s go-to conversation topic in all social situations.
I talk to my hairdresser about the weather as they cut my hair, I discuss the weather while catching up with friends, and I definitely mention the weather with my colleagues. Although it is a blatantly obvious conversation starter, it always works!
If the weather conditions are extreme or abnormal, the go-to line is “can you believe this weather?”
However, you can even make a comment if the weather is absolutely perfect outside with a line like, “isn’t this weather amazing, I wish it was like this all year.”
If it seems simple and easy, that’s because it is.
There is always something happening in the news. Always. Whether it is local, national, or international, there is definitely a story that everyone has at least heard about.
However, the news can be a tricky topic because you also want to avoid any topics where your boss may be on the opposing side of an argument. So our recommendation, stick with natural disasters if you can.
Everyone thinks a natural disaster is terrible and unfortunate, whether it’s a flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, etc. If you’re really at a loss, let’s hope that your building has a news screen playing in the elevator.
Glance up at the screen as soon as you enter, take a look at what’s going on in the world, and cue your conversation.
When all else fails, take a look at your boss’s outfit and pick an item that you like.
There is a thin line between offering a friendly compliment and blatantly sucking up to a superior, so be wary if you choose this conversation starter. Also, make sure the conversation can be extended past a “thank you”, by following up with a question or statement.
“That leather briefcase looks great, I’ve been searching for one that colour, where did you find it if you don’t mind me asking?”
You’ve offered a compliment, made a statement and followed up with a question. Now your boss will have to reply with more than just a “thank you”, and the conversation doors have opened.
A conversation like this one in the elevator only has to last about 30 seconds. These tactics can also be used for lunchroom conversations, coffee break conversations, water cooler conversations, and a variety of other professional and social settings.
We haven’t reinvented the wheel here – these are definitely obvious options. However 9 times out of 10, we are all standing in a silent elevator. So it’s time to keep a mental list of these conversation topics so you can pull them out and show everyone that you’re the social butterfly of the office.
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Job hunting can get expensive. Not only are you spending a lot of time applying for roles and attending interviews, but you’re also paying for additional assistance to better your chances.
This assistance could come in the form of a course enrollment, an interview coach, or a resume writer. Regardless, this help isn’t free.
For those of you who don’t have extra funds to take these steps, there are free options. Upgrading your skills is not a necessary aspect of everyone’s job search, but it is definitely recommended as an added benefit for your resume.
Review the job postings you’re applying for, are there specific technical skills listed that you are not proficient in?
If so, it’s time to upgrade your skills. Understandably you may be employed and don’t have the time (or the cash) to enroll in a certification course, but there are other options.
The number of online resources available at your fingertips is never-ending. You can easily find experts in the specific field or program, and at least a few of them will offer webinars.
We recommend signing up for their mailing lists to ensure you receive the notification as to when a webinar will be offered. You will be surprised at how much information you will soak in during a 30-45 minute webinar with an expert.
Another great resource is YouTube. Using the search function on YouTube, you can find videos on almost anything.
If you are trying to gain skills in a new technical program, this is a great method. People with advanced level skills will walk you through what you need to know about the program, how to use it, and even provide screenshots to walk you through step-by-step.
Apart from technical programs and software, YouTube can also be used for tips and tricks in other areas – but we’ve found it to be the most useful for computer programs.
Whatever you do for a living (or want to do for a living), someone already blogs about it. Many of those people could be fulfilling mid-level roles, but many more are established professionals.
A great place to find blogs from professionals is through LinkedIn. LinkedIn features blogs and articles from “influencers” and industry experts on a daily basis. You can scroll through their selected list and find bloggers who relate to your field and industry.
Think of it like a free mentor that you can connect with at any time. The advice you will receive is literally priceless, and yet highly valuable.
Not just any books – books on career strategies from the experts. Professionals who have reached impressive levels in their careers will often publish books about their success and how they got there.
They will also publish books on their business strategies and tactics. This type of reading will provide you with inspiration and new ideas to bring into your next role. You may even be inspired enough to start your own business.
Though these free options to upgrade your skills will not add up to certification programs on your resume, they will still benefit your job search.
If you acquired skills in Microsoft Word by using the program on your own, you will list the skill on your resume. Under the same policy, if you acquired skills in Adobe Photoshop through YouTube tutorials, you will still list the skill on your resume. Formal training is a great option if you have the money for it, but keep in mind, it’s not the only option.
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