Job Search News Whats Up

Job Search News Whats Up The economy seems to be getting better at least, when I speak, the job clubs say they are having people not come back because they land.  Im hearing this a lot, lately.  Thats great, right? In other news, layoffs are still abundant. Yahoo just dumped 2,000 engineers into the Silicon Valley area (again). Sony dumped 10,000 people (not sure where they are, Im guessing many of them are outside of the U.S), and the Detroit Public School system pink-slipped at least 4,100 teachers. No one is safe from this.  Nowhere is safe.  No industry is safe.  What used to be safe (teacher, govt employee, etc.) is now fair game. What does this mean for you? Prepare on your own with the right skills and credentials.  In the olden days (a few years ago) that meant a good, solid education. I think today it means something else (not necessarily replacing education).  Here are three things YOU can do to protect yourself, and try and get some sense of what we used to call job security: Sales ability. When I got laid off my younger brother said to get a sales job for one to three years, just to get sales training and experience. I think this is brilliant advice.  We sell all the time, but we arent trained, and we arent fearless, and many times we do a bad job.  Whether you think you are a salesperson or not, start learning sales techniques and strategies. Entrepreneurship. Decades ago you were a cog in a wheel.  You had a place, and depended on all the other cogs to do their job, and things would work.  You let higher-ups make the strategic decisions that would affect your livelihood and future spending capability.  TODAY it is different.  This year you might have multiple jobs, or multiple income streams.  Thats not bad. Personally, I think its empowering!  Its awesome.  But we need to have that mindset change so we understand that we need to do our career more intentionally, rather than just show up. Career Management. For me this means cultivating and nurturing your network and your brand.  No one else is going to do this.  Its up to you to finally get serious about your relationships, and how you manage them long-term, as well as how others perceive you (aka, your brand).  Keep neglecting this and your degrees and experience will sit on the shelf getting dusty while you have long, painful job searches. What have I been up to? Im cranking through my book 101 Alternatives to a Real Job.  I hope to have it done and shipping by July, when I head to the D.C. area for some presentations.  If its out in July, it will only be 7 months behind schedule :p What have YOU been up to? Job Search News Whats Up The economy seems to be getting better at least, when I speak, the job clubs say they are having people not come back because they land.  Im hearing this a lot, lately.  Thats great, right? In other news, layoffs are still abundant. Yahoo just dumped 2,000 engineers into the Silicon Valley area (again). Sony dumped 10,000 people (not sure where they are, Im guessing many of them are outside of the U.S), and the Detroit Public School system pink-slipped at least 4,100 teachers. No one is safe from this.  Nowhere is safe.  No industry is safe.  What used to be safe (teacher, govt employee, etc.) is now fair game. What does this mean for you? Prepare on your own with the right skills and credentials.  In the olden days (a few years ago) that meant a good, solid education. I think today it means something else (not necessarily replacing education).  Here are three things YOU can do to protect yourself, and try and get some sense of what we used to call job security: Sales ability. When I got laid off my younger brother said to get a sales job for one to three years, just to get sales training and experience. I think this is brilliant advice.  We sell all the time, but we arent trained, and we arent fearless, and many times we do a bad job.  Whether you think you are a salesperson or not, start learning sales techniques and strategies. Entrepreneurship. Decades ago you were a cog in a wheel.  You had a place, and depended on all the other cogs to do their job, and things would work.  You let higher-ups make the strategic decisions that would affect your livelihood and future spending capability.  TODAY it is different.  This year you might have multiple jobs, or multiple income streams.  Thats not bad. Personally, I think its empowering!  Its awesome.  But we need to have that mindset change so we understand that we need to do our career more intentionally, rather than just show up. Career Management. For me this means cultivating and nurturing your network and your brand.  No one else is going to do this.  Its up to you to finally get serious about your relationships, and how you manage them long-term, as well as how others perceive you (aka, your brand).  Keep neglecting this and your degrees and experience will sit on the shelf getting dusty while you have long, painful job searches. What have I been up to? Im cranking through my book 101 Alternatives to a Real Job.  I hope to have it done and shipping by July, when I head to the D.C. area for some presentations.  If its out in July, it will only be 7 months behind schedule :p What have YOU been up to?

Writing a Resume - Dont Work In a Few Years?

Writing a Resume - Don't Work In a Few Years?Writing a resume is something that many people have trouble with, especially if they've been out of the work force for a few years. They're often unsure what should be included and they get discouraged by the number of applications they receive.The good news is that you don't have to spend the first few weeks of your job search worrying about how to write a resume. With just a little time and effort, you can create a professional document that will stand out from the crowd. Even if you have only worked in a few jobs recently, it's possible to still create a successful resume.There are many different resume formats. In general, there are two main categories: chronological and functional. Functional resumes usually focus on what you have accomplished. The same goes for chronological resumes. However, each of these types of resumes has its own advantages and disadvantages.A functional resume focuses more on your previous employment and educat ional background. It will tell a prospective employer about your skills and work experience, and how well those skills match the job that you are applying for. In this form, you need to be clear about what you want to convey to an employer.Basic resumes do not focus as much on the employer. These contain a list of job titles and employers. This means that they include many of the top employers. However, when you use a basic resume, you do not have to stress yourself about showing employers that you are qualified.Most people tend to think that if they have not had a lot of recent employment, they should not bother creating a resume. You don't have to worry about having someone looking over your resume. You can include your educational history and work experience in the basic format without worrying about an extensive amount of information being included.A basic resume does not take into account your experience with potential employers. This is very important, especially if you are ap plying for a job that requires previous experience. Most employers prefer people who have worked in the past, but even if you are applying for a job that is in the very early stages of hiring, a basic resume can help you secure a job.If you have never created a resume before, there are many different forms that you can choose from. The most common type of resume is chronological, but functional and basic resumes also exist. In order to produce a resume that will stand out from the rest of the applications, you will need to spend some time thinking about the content that you include.

3 Spring Cleaning Tips Your Bank Account Will Love

3 Spring Cleaning Tips Your Bank Account Will Love You can finally open your windows to the promising air of spring. A thousand projects await, and you’re itching to get started. But that ever-present worry persists in the back of your mind. How much is all this going to cost? Relax! We’ve found some truly therapeutic spring cleaning tasks that will not only save you money but potentially pad your bank account as well. Spring Clean Your Yard Forget its chore-like reputation, mowing your lawn is really a classic traditional cardio cruncher! Think about it. You pay for a gym membership, keep track of daily steps and characteristically crave outdoor time. This cost-effective weekly activity checks off all your boxes! Ever been so angry you just wanted to snap? Consider pruning. Sharp shears cut satisfyingly through dead, ugly growth and make them disappear, clearing the way for hopeful new shoots. Pruning your property can be as cathartic as it is satisfying. How about putting in borders and a garden? Start by mapping out the location of your current borders and flowerbeds as well as possible sites for additional plantings. Recall the extent to which your current garden thrived last year. Observe and record how much sun and shade each location gets. Thanks to your newfound landscape and garden finesse, there’s a nice little nest egg of savings at your disposal. The lawn and shrubs look amazing, garden plans auspicious. Perhaps now is the perfect time to consider using some of those savings to contact a professional landscape gardening company. How can employing professional service at this point save you additional time and money? They purchase flowers, plants and fertilizer in bulk so you pay wholesale prices. Gardening is not your full-time job. You’ve got a lot to do besides plant. Healthy attractive landscaping adds value to your property. Professional landscapers stand by their work. Shrubs and flowers that don’t make it are replaced for free! Appealing landscape contributes to approximately ten percent of a home’s re-sale price. In this scenario, you are using your personal property maintenance return to assure an even greater one down the road. Spring Clean Your Energy Efficiency Now that you’re less dependent on your HVAC system, it’s a great time to check and clean your heating, ventilating and air conditioning unit filters. You don’t need special equipment, simply compile the following: Ladder or step stool Screwdriver Vacuum with hand attachments Stiff cleaning brush Running water Try to clean filters outside, preferably on a beautiful day. You’ll be amazed at all the dust and debris they have collected over the winter. Clogged filters force your HVAC unit to work progressively harder. When you clean and clear away blockage, you directly lower energy cost and increase air flow efficiency. Another cost-effective energy saver is the utilization of home light timers. These can be placed both indoors and out. Many simply plug into existing outlets. Adjust their automatic settings to take into account spring’s increasing hours of daylight. Spring Clean Your Storage You know you’ve got stuff that’s worth something to someone else. Stuff being the operative word because it’s stuffed in closets and drawers, on shelves and in boxes. Sorting can be as restorative as it is daunting. The trick is to start small â€" one drawer, one cabinet at a time. Stay away from potentially emotional items in the beginning. You’ll accomplish more while creating a strong sorting momentum. Once you’ve compiled enough promising pieces, selling options abound. Garage Sale Neighborhood Tag Sale Social Media sites like Facebook Marketplace Specific Apps such as OfferUp and LetGo Aside from an immediate influx of cash, the result of sorting and selling is additionally beneficial in a more long-term and universal manner. By organizing your household, you’ve lightened your load, pared down possessions and minimized junk. This, in and of itself, is cost-effective. Think about it. Saving come with specifics such as dumpster renting and storage pods, packing, perhaps the necessity of a quick move or an unexpected one. Above and beyond making and saving money, beautifying your property and honing energy efficiency, you have literally and figuratively cleaned and pruned away towards sweet, healthy new growth â€" and that’s the best way to end your spring cleaning adventures and enter summer on a high note.

3 Ways Guest Blogging Can Boost Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

3 Ways Guest Blogging Can Boost Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Your personal brand relies on many factors, but digital presence is probably the biggest. But sometimes, you can be so busy running a business that you simply don’t have time to handle the traditional aspects of personal branding (speaking engagements, for example). Content marketing is quickly becoming one of the biggest digital branding outlets, and the effects it has on SEO are invaluable to your strategy. Guest blogging is a valuable and effective tool for the person who is in the starter stages of establishing a brand but just doesn’t have the time to delve too deep into it. Reaching out to online industry magazines and blogs can expand your audience base, increase your SEO ranking, and establish credibility in your personal brand. Here are three ways you can boost your brand with guest blogging: 1. Expand your audience Sarah has just started her journey into personal branding. She created her social media pages and started a blog but hasn’t had much success attracting followers. In an attempt to save her brand from sure destruction, Sarah reaches out to a well-known blog that many in her industry go to for advice and information. She pitches the site her content idea with a little preview of how it will look. The moderators accept it, and Sarah writes the rest of the post. On the date of publication, her post proves to be a monster success, becoming the site’s top post of the day. Sarah’s success brought forth a multitude of relevant and engaging followers on social media, and the traffic to her blog nearly tripled. The site asked her to stay on as a regular contributor, and by doing so, she was able to build and maintain the following on her personal blog. Sarah’s story isn’t unique. People from all sorts of industries often launch their personal brands by building a following guest writing for other sites. Regularly pushing out content that links back to your own blog will attract and sustain a broader, but more targeted, audience to your site. You might not get a viral post on your first time like Sarah, but if you frequently write interesting, quality content for guest sites and promote it throughout your social media pages, your following will continue to grow and flourish. 2. Boost your SEO rank Sarah’s friend, John, is also interested in guest blogging to build his personal brand, and he recently pitched an idea that got accepted by a very well-known online industry magazine. When the post gets published, it does extremely well, but John doesn’t notice any significant changes in the growth of his brand. Perplexed, John asks Sarah what the problem could be. She takes a look at the post and realizes he didn’t include any backlinks to his site. When she Googled John’s name, his results didn’t come up until the second page. Sarah attributed this fact to the lack of backlinks in John’s content and suggested he implement backlinking tactics in his next post. John agrees, and in his future posts links to his website, blog, and social media pages when applicable. As a result, his search ranking dramatically increased, bumping him up from the second page to the first in a matter of days. This, in turn, increased his following. SEO (search engine optimization) is a crucial part of building your personal brand, and guest blogging a great way to aid in its success. By backlinking to your own blog and website in guest posts, search engine crawlers will find them, detect that the website your content is on is credible and relevant to the sites you’re linking to, and bump you up in the search results for specific keywords that you target. The more posts that get published with links back to your blog or site, the more you’ll show up in search results, and the more you’ll increase awareness in your personal brand. 3. Build credibility Shelby has been trying to build her personal brand for a few months now. She excels in her industry and always posts new and unique takes on important topics in her blog. Puzzled as to why she’s not getting more attention, she asks her friend John what the problem could be. John takes a look and agrees that the content she puts out is incredible, but because Shelby is so unknown in the industry, her target audience just doesn’t know how to find her. John suggests Shelby take one of her more interesting pieces, include some backlinks, and send it out to well-known industry sites as a guest post. After a little persistence and determination, Shelby’s post gets accepted on a huge site. Because of her unique perspectives and persuasive opinions, she immediately becomes a popular contributor to the site. Shelby soon builds a base of trusting fans on her own site, and they regularly visit her blog for the latest industry information and advice. You can’t get anywhere in your personal brand if you don’t establish credibility in your industry. People want to know you’re the real deal before they take the advice and information you post seriously. Guest blogging not only helps you establish that credibility in your audience’s eye and builds a following for your personal brand, but also it eventually will spread to the point where other people will want to submit their own work to launch their own brands. How has guest blogging helped boost your personal brand? Let us know in the comments below!

Online Free Resume Writing Service - The Best Way to Get a Job

Online Free Resume Writing Service - The Best Way to Get a JobOnline free resume writing is the best way to have a nice resume and a wonderful career. It is not difficult to write a great resume for your job.Before starting online free resume writing, you need to prepare a good objective statement. You can take the help of the free resume writing services to do this. You will have to write an objective statement as well as a list of the accomplishments you are proud of. You will have to put down the reason you have done the job well.Your objective must be short, but to the point. In this free resume writing service, they will review your paper and give you their assessment. It would be best if you write down the assessment as it helps in getting the right direction.Writing your resume is the best time for you to tell about your achievements. You should include these achievements as well as your career goals. You should also write down the specific skills that you have. Do not forget to include the position that you are applying for as well as the name of the company.You need to be very concise when you are doing online free resume writing. You should remember that the objective statement is very important because this will help you in getting a job.There are many free resume writing services that offer their service at the websites. They help the job seekers in creating the perfect resume and cover letter in a short period of time. This is the fastest way to get a job. The prospective employer will not take much time before giving you a call.It will save time for you. You can work according to your own time and schedule. A resume is not all there is to a person who wants to get a job.A resume is not enough and there are things that you need to look into. Online free resume writing service helps you in creating the perfect resume and cover letter in a very short period of time.

Tips For Writing Resume Summary

Tips For Writing Resume SummaryThe most important thing when writing a resume is making sure you include the correct tips for writing resume summary. Without this, your potential employer will not read through all of your information and will lose interest in what you have to say. This does not mean that you should include an endless list of keywords because there is a reason they are on your resume, but rather, you should focus on what really matters.First of all, the first tip is to make sure that your resume looks at the top and the right side of the page. It is best if you outline the sections so that there is no missing information. The resume is supposed to serve as a summary of your past work experience.The second tip is to be very thorough. As the saying goes, the golden rule is 'the less you know about something, the more you can benefit'. This means that when writing your resume, you want to do a lot of research and get a grasp of what is important to your prospective emplo yer.The third tip is to remember that you are not just showing off your skills. You should also be able to say something about your strengths. Even though there is no need to be overly specific, you can offer your best skills when writing the resume summary. That way, the employer will see you in a positive light.The fourth tip is to state the bottom line. This is the most important tip for writing resume summary.The fifth tip is to make sure that you end the resume summary with a call to action. Even though you are listing down all the achievements you have achieved during your past work experience, you need to close with something like, 'Apply for a job today.'The final tip is to save yourself some time. You have made the decision to write the resume and this should not be a big ordeal.These are just a few of the tips for writing resume summary. Keep these tips in mind to make sure that you are prepared for the interview.

5 pillars of successful employee engagement

5 pillars of successful employee engagement As the job market continues to gradually improve, employers are being held by their staff to new standards for positive and engaging workplace experiences. Gone are the days where workers held on to their jobs for dear life. Instead, employees are constantly on the lookout for better opportunities, better perks, and overall better jobs â€"and, of course, the grass is always greener on the other side. This pressure has become a catalyst for businesses to reevaluate their human resources practices and gain a deeper understanding of their employees’ needs, interests, and motivating factors. Organizations are using this information to create employee engagement programs aimed at improving workplace culture and keeping employees happy and productive. However, it can be overwhelming to understand where to start when developing engagement programs and identify which initiatives will truly have an impact. Susan Hunt Stevens, co-founder and CEO of WeSpire, a Boston-based startup that has developed a platform on which companies can run their engagement programs, says that the key to success is to develop a multi-pronged strategy. “There isn’t a single, magic solution to make all of your employees engaged and fulfilled,” says Stevens. “Businesses need to create a holistic strategy that takes into account all of the factors that impact employee engagement.” Here are the five pillars that Stevens recommends implementing when creating your strategy. 1. Manager relationships Only 10 percent of working people possess the talent to be a great manager, according to the Gallup State of the American Manager study. “It’s just not effective for companies to promote all of their top-performing employees to managers,” says Stevens. “They need to approach promotions to managerial positions as though an employee is taking on a completely new role.” Employees should first express interest in being a manager, then a training plan should be put in place to learn the necessary skills and regular check-ins with HR should be scheduled. 2. Company reputation and values Historically businesses and corporations have functioned with the sole purpose to make money, but many are now taking a step back and identifying their greater purpose in society. Articulating your organization’s purpose helps employees to see the bigger picture and where they fit in to help achieve the company goals. In fact, the leading source of professional contentment is having a sense of purpose, according to the Happiness Research Institute. 3. Sustainability It may seem an unlikely pillar for employee engagement, but the reality is that many organizations have sustainability initiatives deeply embedded in their business practices, yet they under utilize their employees. Creating programs around recycling, energy savings, or other corporate initiatives, provides a way for your employees to contribute to company-wide goals. Stevens stresses that it’s important to measure and communicate program impact and goal progress so that employees can see tangible results from their actions. 4. Physical and emotional well-being “Workers dedicate the majority of their waking hours to their companies, and now they want to see that their employers are just as dedicated to their employees’ well-being,” says Stevens. Developing programs centered around wellness shows your employees that you care about them as people. Additional programs such as mentoring and stress management provide employees with the peace of mind that their employers care about their emotional well-being too. 5. Gratitude The idea of thanking and congratulating people for a job well done seems like a simple task â€" yet it is often overlooked in the world of business. Putting in systems and capabilities for both managers and peers to be able to recognize employees for their work or share what they are personally grateful for serves as validation that their presence is important, meaningful, and that they’re a valued member of the organization. These five pillars can help structure an employment engagement strategy, but Stevens makes it clear that the challenge of managing and running engagement programs effectively should not be understated. Even with a variety of programs, what works for one employee may not work for another and growing companies face a whole new set of challenges when it comes to scaling programs. As employee engagement programs become increasingly important and complex, many organizations are turning to a new breed of technology on which those programs can be run, measured, and promoted. There’s no doubt that the workplace is changing, and any organization that is prioritizing employee engagement is already a step ahead of the rest. Whether you’re just starting to think about employee engagement or it’s been an established initiative for years, consider these five pillars, how you’re measuring success, and where there’s room for improvement. Join Dana Manciagli’s Job Search Master Class right now and immediately access the most comprehensive job search system currently available!

Why Ive pared down my offerings - and my business mission! - When I Grow Up

Why Ive pared down my offerings - and my business mission! - When I Grow Up Within the past couple months, Ive made some BIG decisions. The decision to no longer offer  Running Over Writing Roadblocks a workbook I made 3 years ago as a download on my site. The decision to transition my Grown Up Gigs interview series from video to a podcast. The decision to close The When I Grow Up Clubhouse my community site thats been open for almost 2 years this past Monday. The decision to take less one-on-one clients and, instead, offer smaller coaching packages to my upcoming Career Campers. These decisions, as you can imagine, were not made lightly. Some of them were truly nerve-wracking and filled with tons of  resistance. But behind it all, there was just one thing. Its the thing thats behind my business evolution. Its the thing thats been clear for quite a few years, honestly, but I was too scared to pinpoint. To take action on.  To embrace. I want to be the catalyst for creative women to identify their passion-based lifestyle biz and have the courage to pursue it. The first 5 years of When I Grow Up Coach LLC have been about discovery, activation, and next level-ness for creative types when it comes to their passionate careers. But the next 5 years? Its about the discovery, the ignition, and the proof. To bring that message home, I have to walk my talk. And ya know what? It goes against every piece of business advice Ive seen. I know that taking this angle in my biz will have me searching for new clients all the time, instead of rolling over my discovery clients into activation clients, for example. My sales funnel (ugh, I hate that gross term)? Its gonna be pretty obsolete. But the way that it feels? It feels  right. It feels like me stepping into all Ive learned. All Ive experienced. All that I can uniquely offer. All the facets of who I am, what I do, and how I help. All I wanna work on and all I wanna be known for. So, for now and the forseeable future, my offerings will be these: my free Grown Up Gigs interview series (as well as my blog and newsletters) my $9.99 Amazon book, An Effective Escape: Leaving Your Day Job Without Living In Your Parents Basement my 32-video, 122-page workbook, $99 CreativeLive class, Create Your Dream Career my 3-month-long course, Career Camp, which  helps creative women discover their dream biz  for $497 or $997, depending on if they want one-on-one sessions to go along with the group dynamic 12 one-on-one coaching sessions ($897/month or $3397 total with pricing going up by this time next year) Its so important for me to have these different touchpoints at different price points, spreading the grown-up gospel that its possible to have a career you love and  still pay the bills. As I wrap up this post, Im surprised about how  good and  free and  empowered I feel. Stepping into your truth and expertise (I hate that word, too!) even when its a direct opposition to what youve been told is always always always a good feeling. Its actually the feeling I always search for with my clients. Its funny to think that its an infinite cycle. I feel this way and do my best work, which allows my clients and Campers  to feel that they can do their best workand I feel fulfilled all over again. A grown-up, passionate cycle of life and business bliss! Dont forget that tonights my free webinar, How to Discover Your Meaningful Biz (in 5 Easy Steps!). Get on this list to join us live and/or get the recording!