Your Career

22
Jan

45 Pieces of Career Advice That Will Get You to the Top

{Click here to read the original article on The Muse.}

When it comes to your career, sometimes it feels like you could use all the advice you can get. From picking the “right” career to actually excelling in it, there’s certainly a lot to learn.

And that’s why we’ve gathered our all-time best career advice. From starting out at the bottom of the totem pole to advancing to a more senior position to – who knows? – maybe even branching out to open your own business, we’ve collected 45 of the best tips for whatever stage you’re at in your career. Read more

12
Jan

5 Tips for Preventing Age Bias in Your Executive Resume & LinkedIn Profile

{Click here to read the original article on Careerrocketeer.}

Back in the job market for an executive role? You may have encountered (or wondered about) potential age discrimination when putting yourself “out there” for an executive job search.

If you find yourself experiencing rejection in your job applications, the possibility of age discrimination may seem all too real.

Yet, it’s possible that you’re actually CALLING attention to your age – more so that your leadership qualifications. Read more

6
Jan

5 Tips on How to Use LinkedIn Better

{Click here to read the original article on Real Simple.}

Whether you’re looking for a new job or just want to network, use these tips to make your profile more effective.

You’ve friended just about everyone you’ve ever met on Facebook (including your crush from the summer of ‘89). You’re a pro at curating deceptively easy dinner-party recipes on Pinterest. And on Twitter you have a couple of hundred followers reading your 140-character zingers. Yet all this time you’ve hesitated to join LinkedIn. Are you missing out? Here’s a guide to the career-networking website, along with ways to navigate it if you do sign up.<!–more–>

Who should use LinkedIn?

If you work in health care, finance, marketing, event planning, law, technology, consulting, human resources, or sales or at a nonprofit, “the site is a great place to connect with people who can help you professionally, and vice versa, whether you’re job-seeking or networking,” says Victoria Ipri, the CEO of Ipri International, a Philadelphia-based marketing firm that specializes in LinkedIn strategies. About 26 percent of companies research potential employees on the site, according to a 2013 CareerBuilder study. Feel free to skip membership, however, if you’re contentedly self-employed with a trade like personal organizing or gardening; you’ll be able to market yourself to clients more easily on Facebook.

Should you connect with your best friend?

What about a stranger? Your college roommate is a nurse, and you’re an accountant. So you can’t really assist each other professionally, right? Not necessarily. “You’re not just connecting with a person, but their network as well. She may have a link to someone who could help you,” says Viveka von Rosen, the author of LinkedIn Marketing ($30, amazon.com). For the same reason, it’s also wise to consider accepting a request from someone you don’t know. “When you receive a random invitation, look at the sender’s profile and determine if it is a quality connection for your needs and circumstances before accepting or rejecting it,” says Ipri.

What’s the best way to grow your network?

Use the site’s “People You May Know” tool (located on the right side of your page) to reach out to professionals with similar backgrounds and connections. If you’re interested in working for a particular company (IBM or Procter & Gamble, say), go to its page and click to “follow” it, then look at the list of people who work there. Next, find an employee whose path you would like to emulate, then invite her to connect, says Nicole Williams, the resident career expert at LinkedIn: “To demonstrate that you would be a meaningful connection, write a note that conveys that you have done research on her employer and her personal accomplishments.”

How frequently do you need to check in?

Every day for a few minutes, and once a week for about a half hour. That’s how much time you’ll need to write to a new connection and to participate in a group discussion. Keep in mind: “Hiring managers are 10 times more likely to look at your profile if you post something at least weekly,” says Williams.

Should your profile page replicate your résumé?

It should be even more detailed. Think of it as your résumé, plus everything else that you couldn’t fit on it, like video clips of speeches that you’ve given and news articles about your work, says von Rosen. The more thorough you are in describing yourself, the easier it is for an employer to assess your qualifications. So go on—toot your own horn.

22
Dec

37 Tips for a Better Work-Life Balance

{Click here to read the original article on The Muse.}

It's no secret — managing all the things you have to do as an adult is a challenge. From doing your best on the job to taking care of yourself (and, if you have them, your kids) to trying to see friends and stay sane, we know you've got a lot on your plate.

And while it's up for debate whether you can "have it all," you certainly ought to be able to balance everything you've got and live a happy, fulfilling life. Read more

15
Dec

How to Be Happier at Work

{Click here to read the original article on Real Simple.}

You know the type: the worker bee who waltzes into the office with an eager smile and, perhaps even more impressively, walks out at the end of the day looking just as jolly. But according to a Gallup poll last year, these happy workers are a rare species, outnumbered by discontented types by nearly two to one. With the average employee clocking in for 8.8 hours each day (and probably more if you count the off-hours spent shooting off a “quick” e-mail, then grousing about it), that’s a large amount of time spent potentially being unhappy. Read more

24
Nov

Overcoming Introverted Tendencies that Might Limit Your Leadership Growth

{Click here to read the original article on Careerrocketeer.}

When I openly discuss Introverted Leadership, it gets a lot of reaction. The one that interests me the most is when people don’t know for sure they are an introvert. All they know is that they face daily challenges that come from their own tendencies.

Are you facing challenges due to your own behavior?

My view on this is that it doesn’t really matter if you are an “official” introvert as measured by the Meyers-Briggs assessment. What matters is that if you are faced with some introverted tendencies (which we all have at times) – do they get in your way of achieving your goals? Read more

17
Nov

How to Get Ahead at Work Without Becoming a Workaholic

{Click here to read the original article on TheMuse.com.}

I watched Wolf of Wall Street recently, which inspired several flashbacks to my days in finance, working in the pit for a large bank. Seeing those crowded trading desks and excited sales traders reminded me how hard most of those people worked to try to get ahead.

Probably too hard. Read more

27
Oct

9 Types of Bad Bosses, and How to Handle Them

{Click here to read the original article on RealSimple.com.}

If your boss is unapproachable or a micromanager, don’t just accept it. Try these tips for a better supervisor-employee relationship.

Management Issues

We wish we could mandate that all bosses go to boss school. Or that the ones who did get management training absorbed everything they were taught.

Fact is, there are a lot of bad bosses running amok out there, and most don’t even know that they’re the bane of your existence.

But the good news is—if you’re stuck under the thumb of a less-than-stellar superior—there are strategies for managing her particular strain of craziness. Read more

20
Oct

3 Good Things You Can Learn From a Bad Boss

{Click here to read the original article on TheMuse.com.}

I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but chances are, you’ll probably have a bad boss at some point in your career. And, while it’s easy to simply chalk the experience up to a rite of passage and move on, there are actually some pretty valuable lessons you can learn from a lousy manager. Read more

6
Oct

3 Shortcuts to Better LinkedIn Traffic From Keywords

{Click here to read the original article on Careerrocketeer.}

Boosting your findability and presence on LinkedIn has never been more important in your job search.

After all, you can build your Profile, but unless it’s keyword-optimized to draw traffic, it will be the proverbial tree falling in the forest (with no one to witness your great skills).

To get interest from employers, your Profile MUST contain sufficient skills and terms that employers use in search queries. Read more