Retooling an Automotive Resume to Show Transferable Skills

Retooling an Automotive Resume to Show Transferable SkillsRetooling an Automotive Resume to Show Transferable SkillsKaren Caswelch had worked at a General Motors subsidiary for 20 years. Her new resume opens new routes for zu sich talents.Karen Caswelch had been working for the same company for 20 years when she decided, in April 2008, to take some time off and reassess zu sichbei career after her company was sold to a private equity firm.She had been working at Allison Transmission, an Indianapolis company that had been owned by General Motors for the past seven years, she worked as vice president of purchasing. Once the company was sold, I decided it was time to take a step back, spend some time with my family, she said. Even before I left, I had people at other companies telling me, Call me when youre ready. We want to hire you. By October, when she was ready, she contacted her network. I was talking to a COO, very high up in a $13 billion company, and right as they were ready to hire, they had a hiring freeze, the OpsLadder member recalled. At that point, holey moley, what do you do?It wasnt my resume that got me into talk to them because I knew them, Caswelch said. Up to that point, I hadnt had to worry about what my resume looked like. I needed to start thinking about rewriting my resume. It was 20 years out of date.Caswelch, who does not shy away from a challenge, did what she would normally do when faced with a problem She took charge. I was going to rewrite it myself, she said. I went zugnglich to look for good resumes and use them as a model for my own rewrite. It didnt take long for her to admit that wasnt the solution. It was a total disaster, she admitted. Im not a professional.In her online search for resumes, she came across the resume service at Ladders. She sent her resume to the writers for a critique. The note she received from one of the writers warned Caswelch she was going to be tough on her. Im an executive. I can handle tough, and I need ed the truth, Caswelch said. Everything that writer said about my resume expressed the concerns I had with it. Everything they said was exactly right.One of the things that really resonated with me when the resume writer said of my original resume, This is a resume for someone with little experience. It doesnt capture the value of what you can bring to an organization. Youve done so many things, your resume doesnt capture it.So Caswelch and the resume writer got to work finding what it was in her background that would that would make that value pop on the page.Opening up optionsAt the same time Caswelch was rewriting her resume, she was speaking to her network about her job search. During a lunch meeting, a friend who works in the health care industry recounted a bad purchasing decision by her company. Caswelch recognized that she could have solved the problem better, and it occurred to her that her search might be too focused on her current vertical.I realized, Wow, my skills reall y are transferrable, she said. I can branch out of heavy manufacturing. It became a matter of looking not at what I had done, but what my skill sets are.The resume writer and Caswelch talked about her transferrable skills and how to present them. I hadnt thought about this when I left Allison, she said. It was a completely new way to present myself. As I went back and forth with the writer, we talked about my skill set and what other industries could use my skill set. We worked on a resume that captures the fact that I have a skill set that is transferrable across other industries.The value of performance reviewsIt was a lot of work to go back 10 to 15 years and then pull out what your top five or six accomplishments were, Caswelch said. It was probably 20 to 40 hours of work on my part, really trying to determine my major accomplishments. One lesson I learned Keep your performance reviews. When you go to update your resume, there will be a lot of information in there that can help you describe what you did and the success you brought to the company.Caswelch said the whole process took about a month, in part because she worked methodically and meticulously on it. The writer had turned around a resume in two or three days, and then Id work on it for two or three hours at a time, kept coming back to it, re-reading it, making aya that I was comfortable with the information that I sent her. I spent a lot of time making sure that she had really had good stuff going in.We went back and forth a couple of times. When she gave the finished product to me, I put it away for a week or so, then went back to it and changed just two or three statements.Next step looking for a job. Which isnt so easy in Indianapolis right now, said Caswelch. Right now, the economy is mediocre we have a lot of foreclosures, even in an affordable housing market. There are not a lot of company headquarters thats part of the complexity.While she has spoken to her husband about the possibility of relocating, with a daughter about to enter her junior year of high school, its not something shes ready to do right now. While she waits out the tough job market and toys with the idea of relocation, she continues to add to her skill set. She is volunteering at a private school, which her children attend, as the chief marketing officer.Ive spent most of my career in manufacturing this is a chance to learn marketing, Caswelch said. The school is re-branding itself. One of the parents on the board, a marketing professional, worked up a complete marketing plan. I am working with an ad agency to come up with a new tag line, an admissions campaign, a new Web site and more.For now, she said, she is going to consider herself a work in progress, as well as her resume. I took a step back, and Im not going to stress, she said. Right now, the school needs me, so I will focus on doing this work at the school. I havent updated my resume with this new assignment. My next step is to go back to La dders and add this latest work to my resume.

Working at Home as a Parent The Basics

Working at Home as a Parent The BasicsWorking at Home as a Parent The Basics

5 rules that will make you successful in life

5 rules that will make you successful in life5 rules that will make you successful in lifeIts 737 am, the first day of the month. Ive already earned 80% of my monthly salary.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraI got payments from four different sources. Admittedly, next payments will not be as hefty as the ones I got, but my side hustle will exceed my day job salary yet again.Today is my wifes last day in her day job. She finally trusted that my business will provide enough income so she doesnt have to go to the work she passionately hates.Those arent the grandest successes in the world, but big enough for my small ecksto of it.Five yearsagoI had no business and no clue what to do with my life. I welches aimless. I had another day job at that time, and it paid 30% less than the current one. I was killing the existential void with computer games and excess fiction reading.I changed a nd achieved success in all aspects of my life, not only in the financial aspect, because I followed the five principles I enumerate below.Success leaves clues. Tony RobbinsI didnt have to figure them out on my own. There were others before me who did the heavy lifting. The only thing I had to come up with was mypersonal implementationof those principles.1. Your Habits MakeYouSuccess is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day. Jim RohnSuccess is not a grand thing. Its not winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Its not saving a billion people from starvation like Norman Borlaug did. Its not coming up with a new theory that explains better how the universe works.Success is small disciplines that lead to those things. Its training, studying and pondering on a daily basis. Only if you have such preparatory habits can you achieve those huge things.When it comes to financial success, my fruchtwein important discipline is writing every day. I have been doing that sinc e 23rd of September, 2013. For the last few years, I aimed to write 1,000 words a day.I am not an especially brilliant writer, but this discipline helped me to achieve my moderate successes publishing 15 booksand selling over 30,000 copies of them.2. Your Habits Can Break You asWellFailure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. Jim RohnEntropy is real. If you dont cultivate good habits, bad habits creep in. And they will break you.Your habits make you no matter if they are good or bad. Your life as it is right now, is mostly the result of your actions. Your actions are in huge part the result of your habits.If you are overweight, its most probably because of your crappy eating habits. If you have a handsome emergency fund secured, its most probably the effect of your money-managing habits. If you are well educated, its most probably because you had good enough study habits. Your colleagues who preferred hooky over school are not educated to your level.However, you h ave the power over your habits. You can watch them, break the bad ones and build the good ones.You simply need to be aware of the Principle 2 otherwise, you will ignore this important subject.Five years ago, I paid no attention whatsoever to my habits. They just were what they were for me. And I was who I was.I had been losing an enormous amount of time on computer games, excess fiction reading, TV and commenting on news sites. And I was average in every aspect.My good habits didnt materialize on their own in my life. I put a lot of effort and dedication to developing my writing habit to the current level.3. Change Is a TeamPlayYou cannot succeed by yourself. Its hard to find a rich hermit. Jim RohnI love the precision of Jim Rohn. Its not impossible to find a rich hermit. Its only fricking hard. There are some vocations where a lonely hero journey is totenstill possible. I can recall exactly one guy who is a rich hermit Cormac McCarthy, the author of The Road and No Country for Old Men.By the way, what does change have to do with success? Well, if you are not successful right now, you need to change, dont you? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.The only sure thing in pursuit of success is constant change.Isolation is the enemy of excellence. Aaron WalkerYet, we have this picture of a lonely hero firmly hammered into us. Every self-help book saysDo this, do that, and you will be a success.In fact, they should sayGo, find people who have been there and done that and hang out with them.Thats the best success formula you will ever get. If you cannot find mentors or coaches, find folks who are as clueless as you and want to achieve similar things as much as you. Thats your second best option. If you want to lose weight, find a friend who wants to shed some pounds and do it together.If you want to fail, try to change yourself in a social void.Life and business are team plays as well. When I started self-publishing, I read one very good book, and I thought I knew it all. I worked hard on implementing what I learned for a few months. My results werent encouraging. I hustled half a year for an equivalent of two hours of my overtime.Then I started to get involved into self-publishing communities, interact with my peers and follow mentors. Suddenly, other people appeared by my side, and I started to succeed. Hynek Palatin made new covers for my books, and my third book sold over 100 copies in its first month. Chris Bell helped me to edit and market my fifth book. Steve Scott promoted it to his email list. The book became my first bestseller.I got a publisher, found editors, proofreaders and narrators. I organized and participated in online book events and giveaways. I promoted books of other authors. I wrote guest posts and accepted them on my blog.And my business grew each month. However, it all starts with Principle 1, and mastery of your habits comes before any business success . You desperately need at least one other person to help you with your personal change.4. KnowThyselfSuccess in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves their strengths, their values, and how they best perform. Peter F. DruckerThe true success that means fulfillment and serving others to the best of your abilities always came to those who knew themselves. In the past, you could be misplaced and prosper. Nowadays, its impossible. Statistics confirm that70% of employees are not engaged at their work. They feel miserable, and they export this vocational frustration to their family life and also make their families miserable. It spills over like a plague.But if you know yourself, and you do exactly what you were called to do, you are destined for success. You are simply the best in the world at what you are doing, thus you are appropriately rewarded.I studied for 18 years before I graduated from the university. I was 25 years old, young, adaptable and bright when I start ed my IT career. Ive been working in that field for 13 years. I participated in international projects, I worked on multiple positions, and with several companies. I gained a lot of experience.But I was misplaced.Five years ago, I discovered I want to be a writer. In five short years, I published 15 books, starteda life coaching practiceoff the ground, and along the way learned a ton about online marketing because self-publishers have to be self-promoters as well. I did that NEXT TO my day job and while living my normal life, taking care about my wife, three kids and our household.In five years, my side hustle income exceeded my day job income because I was meant to do this kind of work. Helping people drives me. Its my reward and addiction. I can write, coach, speak and help others all day long.And I still didnt narrow my core genius to be the best in the world. Im still in the process of self-discovery. But those five years of doing my thing beat 18 years of studies and 13 years o f IT practice.5. Be Grateful, Be PositiveWhen the brain is positive, every possible outcome we know how to test for rises dramatically. Shawn AchorYouve heard it correctly. Every single measurable outcome is better when you are positive. Health. Wealth. Relationships. Savings. Fitness performance. Chances for promotion. Sleep. Net worth. You can continue the list ad infinitum. Scientists have not found a single exception.EverythingBut how to make your brain positive? It seems to be a tough riddle. Truly positive people are very rare. Of course, if you have money, friends, security, health and fame its easier to be positive, right?You have it backwards. People who live abundantly usually started from a positive mindset and ended up rich, healthy and famous.Rewiring your brain into positivity is very simple every morning, write down three new things you are grateful for. Three bullet points. Thats all.Research concludesthat its enough to practice this tiny discipline for 30 days to re wire your brain, even if you were a pessimist for decades and have a pessimists gene.I say, if it does work and works so well, and its so simple and easy, why not do it for the rest of your life?Five years ago, my life motto wasExpect the worst, thus you will have only positive surprises.Does that sound like a shiny optimist?Five years ago, on 26th of September, 2012, I started my first gratitude journal, about my wife. Ive kept this discipline and started a couple more gratitude journals within the next few months.Strangely enough, every possible outcome in my life rose dramatically. Health. Wealth. Relationships. Savings. Fitness performance. Friendships. Sleep. Net worth.Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day. Jim RohnFailure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. Jim RohnYou cannot succeed by yourself. Its hard to find a rich hermit. Jim RohnSuccess in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves their strengths, t heir values, and how they best perform. Peter F. DruckerWhen the brain is positive, every possible outcome we know how to test for rises dramatically. Shawn AchorFollow those 5 rules, and you will become more successful. Ignore them or neglect them, and you will not. It is as simple as that.This article first appeared on Medium.

11 Goals for the Ambitious Aviation Enthusiast

11 Goals for the Ambitious Aviation Enthusiast11 Goals for the Ambitious Aviation EnthusiastIts a new year, and once again time to review your aviation goals. Become a better AvGeek this year with these 11 hobby ideas. 01Get That Private Pilot License Youve Always WantedLightvision, LLC / Getty ImagesIf youre going on vacation at least once this year, pick a new destination that you can fly to easily.

Buy Your First Professional Wardrobe

Buy Your First Professional WardrobeBuy Your First Professional WardrobeWhen you graduate and begin the job-hunting process, it is essential to have a professional wardrobe. First, youll need to have at least one suit for job interviews. Additionally, you may be expected to dress professionally at your job each day, so youll likely need an assortment of dress pants and shirts, accessories, even a briefcase or professional bag. But building a professional wardrobe quickly right after you graduate from college and before you start earning regular paychecks may be difficult. Read on for tips on how to dress professionally on a budget. Focus on Your Interview Outfits Your interview outfit should be impressive. Sure, you can shop for sales, but be sure to choose classic pieces that work in a business setting. Your gesamtheit can reflect your personal style, but it should be both conservative and classy. Look for a suit that can work for both interviews and for everyday attire once you start your new job. You may also want to get a second shirt to go with the suit, in case you have mora than one round of job interviews. List the Basics You Need for Your Wardrobe Prepare a list of items that will work for the rest of your professional wardrobe. For men, this should include shirts, ties, dress socks, and accessories such as collar stays, a watch, and shoes. Women should have both dress slacks and skirts that will work in combination with your blouses and jackets. Pick pieces that coordinate and interchange well with each other. Shop the Right Stores with Your List Shopping the sales at high-end department stores and boutiques can help you to find clothing at a lower price. However, you should still be careful that you do not overspend. Take a list of items or outfits that you are looking for and do not buy things that are not on the list. If you are worried about going overswitch to cash to cover unterstellung expenses. Shop the Clearance Rack for Deals Take the time to shop the clearance rack. It does take extra time and effort, but you may be able to find some excellent deals on clothing items. When shopping the clearance racks, focus on items that will last for more than one season. Look for classic pieces that fit well. It helps to shop for clothing at the end of the season because you can find better deals. Visit Consignment Stores You can find great designer pieces and high-end clothing at consignment shops.Often these items have only been worn once or twice. If you can find a good second-hand boutique type store, you may be able to save money on putting together your first professional wardrobe. Take the time to make sure that the items are free of stains and flaws before you purchase them. Find Accessories That Work with Multiple Outfits Accessories can make a huge difference in an outfit. However, do not spend too much on these items. Try to choose shoes that will work with several outfits. You can add more person al accessories over time once you have your job and you have been getting a regular paycheck. Other Tips Once you have begun working you can update your wardrobe on a more regular basis. In fact, buying items slowly means that you can spread the cost throughout the year. Keep abreast of your favorite stores sales.Organize your closet so that you do not buy multiple articles of the same item. For example, you do not need five black shirts or five black jackets. It is important to have variety in your wardrobe.Keep in mind that your hair and makeup should also reflect a more professional image. Updated by Rachel Morgan Cautero.

The Do This, Get That Guide On Free Resume Online

The Do This, Get That Guide On Free Resume Online Heres What I Know About Free Resume Online You dont ever want to use over two pages. The upcoming free resume template was made in the shape of a brochure. Dont forget an immediate cover letter is equally as critical as a great resume Which means you have to find out the way to create the best letter as possible send to the organization and offer great first effect about yourself. Resumizer free resume creator allows you to preview your resume at any location in the creation practice. If you dont create a resume employing an on-line sites resume builder but leise wish to post it to the website, you must upload it. Unlike a lot of the online resume builder sites that need the user to register, it doesnt require registration. ConnectCV is another exact efficient online resume building tool free of charge. After you add your private stamp to it through imputing your specific abilities, professional experiences, and wording, i t is going to stand from the crowd for all of the perfect factors. Theres no doubt that a resume which is both cohesive and professional will have a much better prospect of standing from the crowd even supposing its made utilizing a template. The absolute most important caveat we can provide you whenever youre endeavoring to construct a resume is that you make beyond any doubt there arent any spelling or other grammatical mistakes. As an issue of fact, on an average, the majority of the recruiters do not search for over 6 seconds at a resume. The sections are simple to skim for the most relevant info. To compose a good resume it is beneficial to use examples of different resumes. The Free Resume Online Chronicles As soon as youve listed the above, you wish to go onto highlighting your achievements from college and any appropriate work experience which you have, if any. Developing your resume is essential. When you have gained enough knowledge, you might get started building your own. Together with the work experience, an exhaustive understanding of the skill set you possess should assist the recruiter rank your candidature. If youre a software developer looking for employment, you have to first give your resume a facelift. Consequently, the resume will keep evolving at each step in anybodys career. The majority of us already know that the resume we submit while putting in an application for a work interview is actually crucial for a lot of reasons. The majority of us already know that the resume we submit while putting in an application for a work interview is actually crucial for several of. Hiring managers are busy people and youve got a limited time to draw their focus to your candidacy. The most important value of any resume is to bring the most essential info, which hiring manager would love to find the most. As soon as it isnt likely to land you the job in the event the interview went poorly, it can act as a tie-breaker or set you over th e top in the event the hiring manager likes a number of candidates. Think about the hiring manager who needs to wade through 200 resumes. All you need to do is choose the one which is most suitable for your personality. The reason youre not obtaining a job may not be due to your work experience or your education, it might be brought on by the resume that youre sending to offices. A fundamental job resume is excellent for candidates that are fresh out of college and are probably searching for an expert start. If youre on the lookout for work in the creative industry, its fine to bring just a little charme to your resume, provided that its still formatted clearly. The Secret to Free Resume Online Work aspirants ought to think about a resume template rather than a curriculum vitae template. To find out more on what it requires to be an Online Teacher, take a look at our complete Online Teacher Job Description. Based on their area and degree of expertise, Online Teachers can hold from at least a high school diploma till a Doctorate Degree. Three sorts of Resumes Choosing the best resume format is vitally important as there are many facets to take into consideration. Simple doesnt need to mean uninspired and boring. Zetys resume templates are made with the assistance of recruiters and stick to the best practices in HR. Creating Resume here is as easy as creating an on-line profile.

5 Ways to Add Value Using Analytics in HR - Spark Hire

5 Ways to Add Value Using Analytics in HR - Spark HireThere are multiple ways to look at Human Resources. Some think that we merely manage the workforce, from recruitment to exit interviews. Others think HR exists to reduce personnel costs as much as possible, working primarily for the geschftlicher umgang rather than the employees. In reality, the real purpose of HR is to create value. Not just for the business, but for employees and for society at large. Creating meaningful value can be difficult when you rely on just your gut feeling. Using People Analytics can help you tremendously in this endeavor. In this article, I will show you 5 ways on how you can add value using Analytics in HR.Recruitment Selecting new hires through gamificationEnhancing your recruitment function is an incredibly useful way to add immediate value to the company. Being able to hire quickly and bring in the talent required to grow the company is of paramount importance to the business.For example, Nissan an d PlayStation worked together to create the GT Academy, an alternative route into mainstream motorsport. The GT Academy provides Gran Turismo players the chance to compete against each other on the virtual tarmac. The players who proved to be the most successful were then asked to go from virtual to reality. This started a real-life professional racing career with Nissan for some of these talented individuals. Creating new channels, such as how Nissan gamified parts of their recruitment channels, are a great way to bring new, talented employees to your company.Engagement Measuring employee engagement without breaking the bankEmployee engagement is often seen as the most important metric for people management, for several reasons. Tim Young, VP of Workday, writes Employee engagement is paramount to attracting and retaining talent and remaining competitive in the global market. Research shows a direct link between employee engagement and corporate wertmiger zuwachs.Measuring employee engagement can be difficult and costly, however. Measuring engagement yourself has a large risk. It can take a lot of time and you may design questions that dont actually measure what you want to measure. Hiring external providers can help with this, but they are usually costly. A way of measuring employee engagement without breaking the bank is to use pulse surveys. Pulse surveys are fast and frequent surveys designed to be done every week or every few weeks. They give continuous insights into the health of a company, hence the anthroponym pulse. Using validated and short surveys that have as little as three questions can measure engagement reliably. Using these surveys allow you to gain valuable insights into the workforce without breaking the bank.Learning Development Learning on-the-goLearning Development is an important part of the long-term strategy of any organization. With the rise of online learning, learning and development is becoming increasingly personalized. Through the use of HR Analytics, employers can see which skills their employees are lacking according to the needs of the business. Utilizing this data and combining this with adaptive learning technology, employees are able to receive personalized recommendations on courses, activities, and tests that suit their preference.Expensive training courses that pull employees out of their jobs for days or even weeks are slowly phasing out. Individual, self-paced online learning is mora cost-effective and increases learning retention. Employees can now choose when, and for how long, they wish to study. Dow Chemical switched to eLearning for their regulatory compliance training of its 60,000 employees and contractors. Doing this, they cut the average spending costs per student from $95 to just $11. In total, this saved them $34m annually.Utilizing the latest developments in learning development, similar to Dow Chemical, can help your organization reach their long-term goals in a cost-effective ma nner. Analytics also offers the possibility to measure the impact of different training methods. If the cheaper training yields the same result, its a good choicePerformance Driving employee performance like GoogleDriving performance has, and always will be, a key issue for the business. Many organizations have realized that conventional performance reviews are outdated. They dont capture the full spectrum of an employees performance. Laszlo Block, former senior vice president of people operations at Google, wrote a book about his experiences at Google and how they drove performance.Google uses peer reviewers for their performance reviews, which they hold multiple times per year. They abolished numerical ratings, so each Googler is now subjected to a five-point scale ranging from needs improvement to superb. Managers then decide on the final evaluation of an employee, assisting them in their development and long-term goals. Google also continuously looks at the performance drivers o f their employees. Over many years, Google measured employees traits and performance indicators. They then analyzed these characteristics and performed correlation and regression analyses on them. Certain characteristics, such as creativity, have been shown to drive performance. Understanding these characteristics helped Google to develop their employees and recruit the correct talent to drive performance.HR Analytics can thus assist managers to track employee performance and spot develop star performers accurately.Strategic Workforce Planning Staying ahead of the trendThe need for proactive workforce planning is indispensable. HR acting ad-hoc to company- and industry-wide challenges negatively impacts the bottom line of the company. By combining financial forecasts with headcount management and talent acquisitions, you can leverage HR data to improve workforce planning.Pacific Gas Electric Co, a California energy utility, is a great example of effective strategic workforce plann ing. They first designed the workforce planning process using the Human Capital Institutes strategic workforce planning as a model. Then, they developed software around it that allowed business leaders to walk through a workforce forecasting process. This included segmenting their workforce based on how critical they are. It also included questions to help business leaders estimate workforce demand over the next five years.For instance, it showed that certain critical software developers would be in high demand over the next few years, whereas a large portion of the current software developers would either retire or leave the company in the near future. Combining this data allowed the company to perform analytics, creating a database that showed how HR was prepared to tackle future trends.After collecting this data, the HR team at Pacific Gas Electric Co. developed a strategic workforce plan in collaboration with the business leaders. This helped them minimize their financial losse s and stay ahead of future trends.Utilizing Analytics in HRAdding value to the business from an HR point of view can be difficult, but the use of HR Analytics can make this endeavor much more accessible. Relying on a gut instinct may have worked in the past, but todays world is much more data-driven. Understanding and utilizing HR Analytics is therefore key to drive HR, and the business, forward. The examples shown in this article only highlight a small portion of the vast amount of analytics that can be performed. All the activities that are traditionally seen as HR best practices can be improved using data There are many more types of HR Analytics that you can perform within the business. Its an exciting time to be in HR and I wish you the best of luck in your HR Analytics journeyAbout the AuthorBastiaan Stokkel is the Curriculum Manager and Admissions Advisor for HR Analytics Academy. He has extensive experience in learning development and is a data-savvy HR Expert who regularly writes about HR Analytics.

How a Rock-Solid Resume Strengthens Your Job Search

How a Rock-Solid Resume Strengthens Your Job SearchHow a Rock-Solid Resume Strengthens Your Job SearchIn todays job search, a resume is foundational to the entire portfolio. Without a well-forged foundation, your entire communications strategy could crack and sink.The reason behind so many job-search flops and missteps is lack of a messaging infrastructure. So how do you set about constructing this easily navigable transportation network for your career influence conversation?Step 1 Research target companies and jobs. Clarify the target industry sector(s) and company (ies) you binnenseek to attract. Research voraciously to focus on job descriptions that have the look and feel of what you want to appeal to (and for which youre qualified).Step 2 Clarity is essential. Before you begin writing your resume, make koranvers you have attended fully to Step 1. Without clarity, youre wasting valuable job-search time. If you are an I can be all things to all people sort of job seeker, you will lose. If you think, I can do this or that, even though I have no real experience doing it, STOP. Be practical and pragmatic in picking target jobs and ferreting out your value proposition areas (i.e., the what makes me better than my competing candidates in doing what I do?).Step. 3 Get intimate with your own value. Concisely articulate your three to five unique areas of value that, when communicated to the reader (e.g., the hiring decision maker,) will excite them because they now see YOU as the problem healer of their business pain.Step. 4 Prioritize your portfolio items. Start with your professional resume as the first-priority item. With the resume as your foundation, the rest of the portfolio will be firmly grounded. The deep career introspection, or the career brain dump, that you must employ to build a successful resume will equip your remaining portfolio documents.Step 5 Flesh out your CAR stories. Make sure you drum up meaty Challenge-Action-Result (CAR) stories and punctua te them with the so-what, as well as the leadership and other professional strengths that were leveraged when surmounting those hurdles. Here is an examplea. Challenge Complete development of coal fired plant in 9 months to prevent project cancellation.b. Action Completed acquisition and managed project company. Used expertise in fossil power to run multiple project activities concurrently. Forged excellent relationships with regulatory entities. Obtained board approvals.c. Result Managed company and teams to complete development of $400M coal-fired project in 9 months.d. Strength/Translation Vision, leadership, team building, delegation, perseverance.e. Relevance True leadership in a tough situation that saved company from losses and built wealth.Step 6 Write a cover letter foundation. Yes, each cover letter must be tailored to each opportunity, but give yourself a break. Write a foundational letter with excess language from which you can trim and tweak when applying to yet another position. Dont wear yourself out with a blank-slate endeavor each and every time you must compose a new letter.Step 7 Refresh your LinkedIn account. After youve written your resume, its time to revamp your LinkedIn profile. Think of it as a message that extends your value proposition, one that pulls bits and pieces from your resume into the Experience section. As well, build a distinct Summary section written in a more conversational tone than your resume but which derives its focus and distinguishing threads from the resume and resume process. Add sections and beef up your LinkedIn profile to give it greater impact and boost search results.Step 8. Decide if a personal website is for you. If youre technology savvy or are able to invest in a career technologists services- someone trained to present you professionally at YourCareerWebsite.com, then get started. Use the website to pull together your professional presence. Again, use your resume story to guide the focus of your website . Create a web repository that is easily navigable for hiring authority visitors. Your downloadable resume should be quick and easy to spot. A page devoted to career highlights, succinctly written and powerfully stated, should be speedily discoverable, too. Further, if you are in a creative field, such as graphic arts or other media-focused endeavors, you can provide seamless access to your visual achievements.Step. 9 Explore other social media venues. Design a complementary, pithy biography/profile for each social media site. Most venues have specific formats in which you enter biography details. A sample of sites and biographies follow. If you read all of them, you will see a common thread while also noting that no one profile is EXACTLY like another.About.me http//about.me/JacquiBarrettPoindexterFacebook https//www.facebook.com/CareerTrendTwitter http//twitter.com/ValueIntoWordsGoogle+ http//bit.ly/Smodx8Pinterest http//pinterest.com/valueintowords/Glassdoor glassdoor.com/Resume/ User-G_8368397.htmStep 10 Finesse with flair. While consistency is important, adding a little flair and uniqueness with each profile is okay. You can use a different picture or varied phrasing on Twitter versus Facebook or LinkedIn, for example. While some may argue this tip, the rule of thumb is to develop overall brand consistency that showcases individual, targeted strengths while not being agonizingly repetitive in every presentation.Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter is a Glassdoor career and workplace expert, chief career writer and partner with CareerTrend, and is one of only 28 Master Resume Writers (MRW) globally. Jacqui and her husband, Sailor Rob, host a lively careers-focused blog at http//careertrend.net/blog. Jacqui is a power Twitter user (ValueIntoWords), listed on several Best People to Follow lists for job seekers.

How to manage distraction and become indistractable

How to manage distraction and become indistractableHow to manage distraction and become indistractableIn this talk, I describe a new model for managing distraction - how to become Indistractable.Ill write more on this topic in the coming months and Im finishing a book by the same title. Id love to hear your feedback.Also, please share this video with people who may benefit from watching it. ThanksThis post originally appeared on Nir Far.

Old school 7 ideas from ancient thinkers to improve your modern life

Old school 7 ideas from ancient thinkers to improve yur modern lifeOld school 7 ideas from ancient thinkers to improve your modern lifeThe modern world has brought us a lot of great stuff. (I, for one, am ahugefan of antibiotics.)That said,we know there are things that were better in the past, ideaswe can learn from or reclaim.Whats interesting is recently science and experts havevalidated many of the lessons ancient thinkersknew but could bedrngnis prove.Here are 7 new ideas from the old worldthat canmake your life better1) Community Is VitalFor 99% of human existence we lived in small tribes. We were constantly surrounded by family and friends.Jared Diamond, author ofGuns, Germs, and Steel, says its obvious why hunter-gatherers joinmodern society and elend the other way aroundbutwhat are the advantages of the traditional world that they leave behind?Always being surrounded bythe people they love.ViaThe World Until YesterdayLoneliness is not a problem in traditional societies.People spend their lives in or near the place where they were born, and they remain surrounded by relatives and childhood companions As one American friend who spends much time in Africa summed it up,Life in Africa is materially poor and socially/ emotionally rich, while U.S. life is materially rich and socially/ emotionally poor.And, no, Facebook isnot a replacementfor time with friendsIn one experiment,Cacioppolooked for a connection between the loneliness of subjects and the relative frequency of their interactions via Facebook, chat rooms, online games, dating sites, and face-to-face contact.The results were unequivocal. The greater the proportion of face-to-face interactions, the less lonely you are, he says. The greater the proportion of online interactions, the lonelier you are.Not feeling socially connected canmake you stupider and lead to an early deathWhen peoples sense of social connectedness is threatened, their ability to self-regulate suffers for instance their IQ performanc e drops (Baumeister, Twenge, Nuss, 2002). Feeling lonely predicts early death as much as major health risk behaviors like smoking (Cacioppo Patrick, 2008).The solution?Use technology to facilitate face to face meetings with friends, not to replace them.(For mora on how to improve your social life, gohere.)We definitely need others, but what did our ancestors know about feeling better as an individual?2) Mens sana in corpore sanoLook at me getting all fancy with the Latin - actually its a phrase weve all heard A sound mind in a healthy body.Originally written by the Roman poetJuvenal,itwelches meant to make sure we kept our priorities straight.But in the modern world we oftenneglect our bodies, eating bad food and not exercising.Science backs Juvenal up. In fact,research showshaving a healthy body is an essential part of having a sound mind.Want to get smarter? Exercise.ViaSpark The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the BrainOne of the prominent features of exercise, which is sometimes not appreciated in studies, is an improvement inthe rate of learning, and I think thats a really cool take-home message, Cotman says. Because it suggests that if youre in good shape, you may be able to learn and function more efficiently.How about happiness?Research from Duke University shows exercise is as effective as antidepressants in treating depression.ViaSpark The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the BrainIn alandmark study affectionately called SMILE (Standard Medical Intervention and Long-term Exercise), James Blumenthal and his colleagues pitted exercise against the SSRI sertraline (Zoloft) in a sixteen-week trial Blumenthal concluded that exercise was as effective as medication.Whats truly amazing is that exercise can help you totally overhaul your life.Working out is whatCharles Duhiggcalls a keystone habit.Its a habit that research showsleads people to create other, often unrelated, good habitsWhen people start habitually exercising, even as infreq uently as once a week, they start changing other, unrelated patterns in their lives, often unknowingly. Typically, people who exercise start eating better and becoming more productive at work. They smoke less and show more patience with colleagues and family. They use their credit cards less frequently and say they feel less stressed. Its not completely clear why. But for many people, exercise is a keystone habit that triggers widespread change. Exercise spills over, said James Prochaska, a University of Rhode Island researcher. Theres something about it that makes other good habits easier.(For more on how to build better habits and overhaul your life gohere.)So community can surround us with friends and exercise can build a better body and mind. But what can the ancients teachus about wisdom?3) Gnothi seautonNot Latin this time, its Greek.This is the most famous maxim from the Oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece Know Thyself.Often espoused but rarely systematically explored, there a re few things that can truly guide powerful decisions more than knowledge of who you really are.Pete Drucker, modern business guru, knewthe ancient Greeks were on to something.Drucker saidits only by having a clear vision of your strengths that you can make good decisions.ViaManagement Challenges for the 21st Century(This) enables people to say to an opportunity, to an offer, to an assignment Yes, Ill do that. But this is the wayIshould be doing it. This is the way it should be structured. This is the way my relationships should be. These are the kind of results you should expect from me, and in this time frame, becausethis is who I am.When I askedGautam Mukunda, leadership expert at Harvard Business School, thekey to becoming a better leader, he didnt hesitateMore than anything else, Know thyself. Know what your type is. That if you are, both in the sense that you can use these coding rules to figure out okay, how would I score with the organization? But even more profoundly, think about your own partality There are types, and Im not saying be in the wings, Im saying be who you are, and understand what the downfalls of that are so you can counteract that.(For more on theprocess of how to get to know yourself better, gohere.)But what aboutafterthe big decisions? How do weprepare better for the tough situations that inevitably follow?4) Premeditatio MalorumYou can call it the premortem. More simply,its merely asking yourself the question Whats the worst that could happen?TheStoic philosopherswould imagine the worst before any major undertaking. Why? To prepare themselves.Ryan Holiday, author of the excellent bookThe Obstacle Is the Wayexplainswe look to envision what could go wrong, what will go wrong, in advance, before we start. Far too many ambitious undertakings fail for preventable reasons. Far too many people dont have a backup plan because they refuse to consider something might not go exactly as they wish.Today this technique not onlyhelps CEOs close de als, it saves lives.Dan Coyle, the expert on expertise, says its anessential part of how US Special Forces preparefor every dangerous missionthey spend the entire morning going over every possible mistake or disaster that could happen during the mission. Every possible screwup is mercilessly examined, and linked to an appropriate responseif the helicopter crash-lands, well do X. If we are dropped off at the wrong spot, well do Y. If we are outnumbered, well do Z.(For more on how premortems can make sure youre prepared for anything, gohere.)So the premortem can get you ready. But what makes sure we actually knuckle down and getthe work done?5) FocusIf this were Renaissance Italy, you might be an apprentice studying under a master of his craft. Robert Greene, author ofMastery, explainsAn apprenticeship in the old days was about seven to ten years, and thats pretty much how it is now, because thats how long it takes to become extremely skilled at what you do.If youre busting your hump every day to be amazing, 10 years is around10,000 hours- the expertise number Malcolm Gladwell popularized inOutliers.Why does it seem so hard to become a master of your craft today vs in 1400s Florence? Its all the distractions.And our natural reaction is tothink we need yet another thing to save us from the distractions. Wrong.What we need is more like the old days - fewer things, not more.Lifehacker extraordinaire Tim Ferris, author ofThe 4-Hour Workweek,has some insight on this. I gave him a call for his thoughtsFocus is a function, first and foremost, of limiting the number of options you give yourself for procrastinatingFocus is thought of as this magical ability. Its not a magical ability. Put yourself in a padded room, with the problem that you need to work on, and shut the door. Thats it. The degree to which you can replicate that, and systematize it, is the extent to which you will have focus.(For more on the secrets to focus and improvement gohere.)The classics can teac h us a lot about getting better at work. What about at home? What do they say about family?6) A Family LegacyWe get a kick out ofGame of Thrones, where the different families are known to be one way or another A Lannister always pays his debts.With our moreindividualist culture, weve moved away from this - and certainly no one should be branded forever by their family name.That said,research has shown thathaving a family story that you share with your children can be extraordinarily powerful.Children who know the stories of those who came before them have higher self-esteem and a sense of control over their lives.ViaThe Secrets of Happy Families Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much MoreMarshall and Robyn asked those questions of four dozen families in the summer of 2001, and also taped several of their dinner table conversations. They then compared the childrens results to a battery of psychological tests and reached some overwhelmi ng conclusions.The more children knew about their familys history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believed their families functionedMarshall says that children who have the most balance and self-confidence in their lives do so because of what he and Robyn call a strong intergenerational self. They know they belong to something bigger than themselves.Weve been led to believe that kids merelyneed good rules. But that doesnt jive with how the human mind works.We dont remember rules very well - only 14% of people can remember all Ten Commandments.ViaThink Like a Freak The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your BrainA recent survey found that only 14 percent of U.S. adults could recall all Ten Commandments only 71 percent could name even one commandment. (The three best-remembered commandments were numbers 6, 8, and 10- murder, stealing, and coveting- while number forbidding false gods, was in l ast place.)We dont remember rulesorstatistics. But we do rememberstories.And what effects do stories have on us? Research shows that the list is longTheymotivateus.They give lifemeaning.They relievedepression(and are more effective thanmedication.)They offerguidance for decision making.Theyincrease learningin children.(For more on how to improve your family,gohere.)So if theres one takeaway here, what idea hasstood the test of time all around the world?7) The Golden RuleThere have beenalotof great ideasin the past fewthousand years. But what does everyone around the globe, throughout time all seem to agree on?The Golden Rule.We find it at the rootof most every major religion.Via30 Lessons for Living Tried and True Advice from the Wisest AmericansThe version of the Golden Rule that most of the experts learned in Sunday school comesfrom the King James Version of the Bible and goes like this All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do yeeven so to them.But one reason why the Golden Rule comes up so frequently is that every religious tradition has a version of it.Hinduism Knowing how painful it is to himself, a person should never do to others what he dislikes when done to him by others.Judaism What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.And Islam None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.And research has validated how fundamental theidea of reciprocity is to human nature.Adam Granthas shown that nice guys do finish last but they also finishfirst.Givers are disproportionately represented at the bottomandat the top when you look atwho succeeds in lifeThen I looked at the other end of the spectrum and said if Givers are at the bottom,whos at the top? Actually, I was really surprised to discover, its the Givers again. The people who consistently are looking for ways to help others are over-represented not only at the bottom, but also at the top of most success metrics.(For more on how to leverage t he science of karma and the Golden Rule gohere.)Sum UpThere are plenty ofold sayings that are true and plenty that are false.The good old days werent always good but weve got a lot to learn from the thousands of years of living that happened before us.Here are a fewCommunity Is VitalA Sound Mind In A Healthy BodyKnow ThyselfThe PremortemFocusA Family LegacyThe Golden RuleMany things are gone but not forgotten - but here we have some powerful lessons that are forgotten but not gone.Join 315K+ readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related posts4 Lifehacks From Ancient Philosophers That Will Make You HappierWhat 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple EmailsThis articlefirst appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.