Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom How to Automate Your Day (Evening)

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom How to Automate Your Day (Evening) This is the last in a three-part series on how to automate your day so that you have more time for the important things, stay at the top of your game, and remain relevant and marketable in your field. Check out our first post for helpful smartphone and social media hacks to leverage in the morning and our second post for helpful e-mail, research, project management, buying, and delegation hacks to use in the afternoon. Storage Hacks At the end of a busy day at work,you’veprobably accumulated more paperwork than is useful to anyone. How about automating your note-taking and document storage via a tool like Evernote? Evernote not only allows you to save your ideas, things you hear, and things you see throughout the day, but you can also scan the day’s papers directly to an Evernote virtual notebook. Ifyou’veever had the experience of losing out on valuable content because it was taken off a website before you could copy it, Evernote can help with that. Get rid of those Firefox bookmarks and import all of your important web pages into Evernote as clipped notes. Two major advantages of Evernote: it works with every kind of mobile device and computer, and it allows you to encrypt confidential data. As for all of those business cardsyou’vecollected, consider downloading an app like ScanBizCards that allows you to automatically input card data right into your online contact database so youdon’thave to worry about losing or storing the physical cards. For more evening automation hacks, head over to the full post at Intuits Fast Track blog.

What Should I SAY at a Career Fair (Part 2)

What Should I SAY at a Career Fair (Part 2) Career Fair Advice and Tips (Part 2). We have a career fair here at my college next week and I was wondering what your thoughts are/personal experience is with events like career fair. I would love any tips or strategies you have on attending a career fair or similar event. -Kaitlyn My advice from “How to Prepare for a Career Fair” (part 1) continues in part 2:   What you say at a career fair should not be left to chance. I know many feel they are outgoing and undoubtedly “different” than all the other candidates out there (I know I did!) but this alone is not going to cut it. What sets you apart from your competition is simple: know who you are and what you want. That’s all. If you don’t know what you want, then you better find out or at least have enough info to convince the recruiters that you do.   Recruiters would much rather continue a conversation with someone who wants to be there and knows why they want to be there. Career Fair Conversation Tips Have a great professional handshake and make eye contact when introducing yourself. After introducing yourself with your first and last name, exchange business cards with the recruiter. Know and BELIEVE in thyself. Smile! Breath mints please. Ask a lot of good questions. Let the recruiter take the lead in the conversation to avoid sounding like you are “pitching” (or an annoying know it all). As I’ve said before, I don’t believe in elevator pitches and therefore don’t recommend creating one for a career fair.   My reasoning is that elevator pitches are impersonal, often memorized, and aren’t designed to build long-term relationships.   Elevator pitches are like speed dating (and who meets their dream person from speed dating?!) Great Career Fair Questions Can answer the following questions? Make sure youve carefully considered the following.   Don’t memorize your answers verbatim, just make sure you’re solid with the themes in each of your answers. Who are you? (you can include where you are from, organizations you are in on campus, major or other things that show your credibility as a candidate) What do you want to do?   Why? (Honesty and knowledge here) What have you done on campus or off that gives evidence that your desired career path is genuine? Think of a few questions for the person you are talking to at the career fair. Here are some ideas to get you started.   You may or may not use them all. Where are you from?   Where did you go to college? (People love talking about themselves!) How did you get started at this company? What’s your favorite thing about this company? What types of entry-level candidates are you looking for? What do you think sets an entry-level candidate apart? Fun questions that match the time and personality of the person you are talking to (what’s your favorite college football team, what do you miss most about college, when you were in my shoes did you know you were going to pursue this career path, why is this company a great company for women to work at, etc.)

SearchSmarter 50 Ways to Get a Job Career Coach JobJenny

SearchSmarter 50 Ways to Get a Job Career Coach JobJenny SearchSmarter is a new, periodic series that will showcase emerging tools designed to make managing your job search (or career) easier, smarter and/or a lot less overwhelming. Karen Friesen debuts SearchSmarter with a report on an incredibly cool new website, 50 Ways to Get a Job. Raise your hand if you know this foolproof, three-step formula for landing a great job. It goes a little something like this: 1. Get your resume in order. 2. Scour the internet for a custom-made opportunity to fit your skills. 3. Slap a cover letter together, apply, and wait for the offers to roll in. Oh, wait. That hasnt been your experience? Well, of course not. Landing the perfect job is rarely so easy. (And is anything truly foolproof?) Even if your list of accomplishments includes earning straight As at Harvard Business School (congratulations all three of you), finding a career you love means knowing what youre great at and what brings you satisfaction, searching out those opportunities and convincing a potential employer that YOU are the person they have been waiting for. Oh, and keeping calm and focused in the process. A just launched website aims to help job seekers uncover their career purpose, take positive action, and -- importantly -- stay sane in the process. Best of all, its free. Created by Dev Aujla, co-author of Making Good, 50 Ways to Get a Job does more than just throw out the normal platitudes of find your passion and follow your bliss, says Aujla. We set out to give (job seekers) those steps in as tangible and actionable a form as possible. Thats right. Wherever you are in your job search, 50Ways aims to help by doling out you guessed it 50 different missions to inch you closer to your dream job. Just starting a job search? Click in and Map Your Current Career Path, Discover How Long Your Money Will Last, or Update LinkedIN As Your Future Self. Feeling Overwhelmed or Stuck? 50Ways is on the case, with assignments ranging from Sit Quietly in a Room for 45 Minutes (its about unplugging and relaxing) and Help 5 People to Remove all Tolerations (we all have them; I just didnt know what they were called.) The site, Ajila explains, is set up as a linear list of 50, but once you begin doing the exercises you will see how interrelated they all are. There is no linear way to find a job and there is no right path through the site. Find something that resonates with you, take ten minutes, turn off your computer and do the work. Once youve moved on to applying for jobs and interviewing, missions still abound. Thought-provoking, action-packed, reflective and interactive, the 50Ways map to finding meaningful work offers activities for every mood or state of mind. This is not, Aujla emphasizes, the path to employment that the media showcases. The exercises outlined were tested and researched over a three-year period. Choose one step, choose three or do all 50. As Aujla says, there are tools and exercises for everyone. Whether you are in a job currently and are unhappy or have been unemployed or under-employed for a year there are steps that will help you build momentum and meet the person that will hire you. Now thats a plan we can get on board with.

Why Recruiting Online is More than Just Sourcing

Why Recruiting Online is More than Just Sourcing Have you noticed how it is getting easier and easier to find people online? Nowadays you can find Java developers on GitHub, accountants on LinkedIn, journalists on Twitter and your  neighbours cat on Facebook. Everyone is leaving an online footprint somewhere, whether its actively pushing content out on Google Plus or just being listed for tea duties at your local church. Sourcers are getting increasingly skilled at finding not just your profile and information but also your activity trail that you leave behind when just answering a question or writing up a review. What does all this mean? Well probably that the challenge for recruiters moving forwards will not be to find and identify talent, rather to make the approach and win their interest and trust. Branding in all of its forms will come in handy; if a candidate has seen your LinkedIn status updates (which werent just about vacancies I hope) they are more likely to take time and chat to you about opportunities. If you produce blog posts, video or podcasts you have actively contributed and will be seen as a source of information rather than just looking to do the next placement. Do you agree with me? Please let me know in the comments! Related: How Recruiters Can Get Started with Social Media. Image: Shutterstock

Who Else Wants to Improve Their Resume Writing Skills?

Who Else Wants to Improve Their Resume Writing Skills?Writing a resume for a new job is not easy, particularly when you're trying to get into that particular job. There are many types of resumes out there, and each requires different skills, some people prefer a very basic one while others want to go way above and beyond the call of duty. Well, a new system has been developed that has changed the whole process and making your resume look great.Writing a resume doesn't have to be difficult anymore; however, this doesn't mean that the process is easy. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to come up with a resume that will get you that dream job you've been looking for. The good news is that a system has been created that is going to help you make it look amazing and add all the information that you need in order to get noticed by employers. This system is called Resume Scout.In Resume Scout, you simply input your information, and you can have a beautiful resume out of it in just a few seconds. Your information goes into Resume Scout as keywords, making it extremely easy for you to get great results. When your information is properly captured and put into your resume, you'll notice how the words just flow smoothly from the resume into the end. Instead of manually going through and putting keywords in, it's automatic. No more keywords to wade through and miss.With a system like this, it will be much easier for you to write your resume so that it has all the right information and shows your passion. Every part of the resume should flow seamlessly from start to finish. This makes it so much easier for employers to see, and they will pick up on it right away. With Resume Scout, the keywords will be so important, because they are the ones that you'll be putting in your information.Ifyou use Resume Scout, you can have the knowledge you need to have in order to write an amazing resume that will show your expertise in your desired field. It's going to show the reade r why you are going to be the perfect candidate for the job you're applying for. The only problem with it is that it's not always easy to use.One of the things that companies look for is how well you know your field. If you are just starting out in your career, it will make it hard for you to get noticed. You have to keep it fresh and relevant in order to stand out and make the employer want to hire you. With Resume Scout, this will be easier, because all the keywords will automatically be included in your resume.If you use Resume Scout, you won't have to do it yourself. It will automatically take care of it for you. You won't have to go through the trouble of collecting keywords or putting it together manually. You can get started immediately and resume writing won't get in the way of you getting the job you're after. A system that will help you show off your expertise and skills is a must.Writing a resume is hard, but it's easier than ever before. With a system like Resume Scout, it makes it easy and hassle free to write a fantastic resume. You just have to know what to put in, and how to write it!

How to ask your network for help - Sterling Career Concepts

How to ask your network for help How to ask your network for help Ask your Network for Help. When someone asks you for help in their job search, you willingly offer it (if you’re able), don’t you? So why is it that we’re so reluctant to ask others for their help when we need it? People like to help other people. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, but make sure you’re asking for the right kind of help. Ask specific questions: “Do you know anyone who works for Company XYZ?” “How did you get your job at Organization ABC?” “Would you mind helping me practice my interview answers?” Also think in terms of four different things that they can offer you:  information, advice, leads, and referrals. Which one they offer will be a function of timing, what they know, and who they know, but all three are equally valuable. If you treat your job search like a project with a defined objective, action plan, and timeline, you can decided which one will best move your job search forward right now. In the beginning planning stages of a search, advice or information may be most helpful.  As you start to identify the direction youd like to move, referrals to people in that space are valuable, and then once youre ready to begin interviewing and speaking with companies, leads on openings or potential employers will push you forward. Advice from trusted members of your network may also be helpful towards the end of your search when making a final decision. Keep this timeline and these options in mind as you speak with people in your network.  To help them help you, be specific in your conversation and in what you could best benefit from today, tomorrow, or this week.

Skunk works - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Skunk works - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Ron Avitzur was working on a project at Apple, when the project was cancelled and he was fired in 1993. What does a real geek do facing unemployment and the terrible notion of having worked on a project for a year only to see it go to waste? Well, a real geek keeps sneaking into the building, working for free, enlisting various other people and ends up creating a piece of woftware that ships on 20 mio. Apple computers. Heres Rons summation: I view the events as an experiment in subverting power structures. I had none of the traditional power over others that is inherent to the structure of corporations and bureaucracies. I had neither budget nor headcount. I answered to no one, and no one had to do anything I asked. Dozens of people collaborated spontaneously, motivated by loyalty, friendship, or the love of craftsmanship. We were hackers, creating something for the sheer joy of making it work. Its the wonderful, funny story of Rons illicit work for free for Apple, of his many scrapes with bureaucracy and security and not least of the generosity of all the people who decided to help, and it demonstrates once and for all that salary isnt the motivator we think it is. Read the whole story here. 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