Are You Making Informed Decisions In Your Job Search

Are You Making Informed Decisions In Your Job Search Call it 20/20 hindsight or the school of hard knocks but learning from your mistakes is often the best teacher.  If you havent had to look for a job in the last several years (or ever), you are going to need to learn some lessons. As a job seeker, you will face numerous new situations. If you haven’t been faced with some of these before, how will you know you are making an educated decision? Choices Based on Emotions: These are real examples of decisions job seekers confessed to. Did the job seeker use facts, or were these hasty, gut-influenced choices? Turned down a second interview because the head of the department was a jerk. After 99 weeks of unemployment, turned down a job because it was “below” her. Refused an interview because the commute was longer than 20 minutes. Refused to fill out any online application that asks for social security number. Refused to get on LinkedIn because he wanted to keep his life private. While all these choices are not necessarily wrong, they did have an impact. Choices Based On Lack of Information: Sometimes, decisions are based on lack of information. So why is lack of information a problem when almost everyone has access to the internet? Here are real examples of uninformed choices job seekers made: Wouldnt talk to recruiters, contract houses or temp agencies because they were a rip off. Insisted upon making as much, if not more, than he previously made in his last job. Followed up after the interview by showing up at the business location. Didn’t follow up with a networking contact because he wasnt the right level connection. Failed to ask what the time-frame was for making hiring decision. Stress and Anxiety: By: oKikos Think about the beginning of a game of chess or checkers. When youve got lots of pieces on the board, you have choices. The fewer pieces you have, the fewer options you have. How does that make you feel? If you eliminate yourself from a job opportunity too soon (and without all the facts), youve taken pieces off the board and limited your future choices. This leads to stress and anxiety. Dont Opt Out: The WORST decision you can make is to opt out. Taking yourself out of the interview process before it is over or not submitting an application is like taking yourself out of the game before its over. Who does that? For better or for worse, stick it out and see what happens.  You cant win the lottery if you dont buy a ticket, likewise, you cant land a job if you dont apply and go through the process. Dont Go It Alone: By: Ice Birdy Almost all great achievements are team-based or include collaboration. If you are trying to conduct your job search solo, you will undoubtedly run into difficulty. Who will proof read your cover letters and correspondence? Who will you bounce ideas off of when you run into a roadblock? Who will practice interviewing with you? Working alone is difficult. You need people around who can keep you motivated after a day of rejection. You need fresh perspectives about how to approach a new networking contact. You need to learn to ask questions, and lots of them, to get information to make decisions. None of this can happen in a vacuum. The Moral of the Story Is Before you make your next move, seek out insight, advice, and opinions from different people! Dont make assumptions, especially those that limit your potential choices in the future. Any other tips? Let us know in the comments below!

Best Tips for Increasing Your Networking Effectiveness - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Best Tips for Increasing Your Networking Effectiveness - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Becoming unemployed is likely a sudden, unexpected event, and most people do not have the networking skills needed to immediately switch gears and begin efficiently developing job leads. There could be many reasons: feeling uncomfortable with the networking process, not knowing the process, being shy by nature, or never having needed to network in the past. Unfortunately, people in transition need to resort to networking, because it has been found that 60 to 80 percent of people are getting their next jobs via networking. The purpose of job-search networking is to cultivate relationships to lean on for getting advice, information, leads, andit is hopedreferrals. The objective is to expand your sphere of personal connections. Certainly, whom you know is important, but in this instance, equally or possibly even more important is who knows you. After all, you’re the one looking for a next job. Networking is a learned skill. And it’s not necessary to be Mr. or Ms. Personality in order to be successful at it. Networking also involves consulting people who can list the search tools and strategies that have worked for them in past; people like telling their especially success stories. Involve people in building your own search tools. Try to unfold the hidden job marketthe positions that have not yet been advertised or that won’t ever be. That’s the reason they’re called hidden. While networking, be considerate, genuine, and timely so that people will be willing to lend a hand. Smilingsmiling a lotis very effective while networking. Genial body language coveys that you are friendly and are enjoying your relationship with the other person. Who wants to be associated with a Sorrowful Sue or a Negative Ned? It’s a big enough burden just to be in transition, and others usually don’t want to hear about someone else’s problems. You need to project a friendly and helpful image of yourself: Let the other person talk. Don’t monopolize the conversation. Exchange contact information and agree to follow up within a day or two. Keep the momentum going. By being a good networker, you increase your chances of getting a job several fold.

Somebody That I Used To Know The 4 Types of People You Went to College With

Somebody That I Used To Know The 4 Types of People You Went to College With I’m sure many of you are sick of hearing Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know. I admit to being one of those people who had that song on repeat all day every day for at least a month. You can all be happy that I’m not your radio DJ. Anyway, I went to my Alma Mater a couple of weeks ago and that visit was the inspiration for this post and with the title above, you can bet your pay check, I am going to have fun with this. We all know the types of people most of us interacted with in college â€" the overachievers, the party people, the book worms, etc. So it makes you wonder what becomes of these people when they graduate. Upon my visit to my Alma Mater, Drake, it was nice to see some people had changed; it was nice to see some people hadn’t and then of course you were hoping for the best for others. Have you been back at your Alma Mater? What types of people did you go to school with? Labels might be for cans of tuna but sometimes the shoe just fits. So here is my take on a few of the types of people we all graduate with: 1.  The Overachiever I start with this one because I like to think of myself as an overachiever. Even through what has been a less than perfect post-graduation year (putting it mildly), I think I’m still doing some pretty cool things in my career and otherwise. My experience has been so different and for that, I am grateful. There are of course the super-deluxe overachievers who work a day job, a side hustle, are en route to ending world hunger and still have time to cook dinner each night and fundraise for the animal shelter during their free time.” Overachievers get about as much sleep that they got in college, a.k.a., none. 2. The Party Animal When you graduate college, there is a certain responsibility that you have: to act just a tad more mature when you go out. Not these folks, these guys and girls have the same level of “tolerance” they did in college. I’m not really sure how they do it but they do. Well, I take that back. I know exactly how they do it. Many of them substituted work for school but their 9PM  -3AM  activities did not change at all. 3. The Daddy’s Money folks Let me start by saying I’m not hating. Really, I’m not. I mean you’ve likely never had to worry about money your entire life and you probably never will. That’s not a bad thing.   You had the best car, best couch, best No.2 pencil and you continue to have the best of everything.  Not a bad thing either. Then there’s the fact that you probably have a great job that you may or may not have worked hard for but somehow daddy and mommy still pay your rent, your bills, take you on shopping sprees….you get the point. Now I’m hating. 4. The Wannabes These are my favorite group. They are also the group with a large amount of people in them. They’ve been trying to impress everyone with money they really don’t have, or fictitious intelligence or incredibly awesome life experiences that somehow always seem so much greater than the rest of ours. They did it in college and they’re doing it in the real world. They make it seem like their post grad experience has been nothing but a walk in the park and they are living the dream. Yeah, some of us know better. Okay, there are a ton of  types of  people that  I could include in this list but I think I’ll stop here before things get too serious. It’s all in good fun.   Still maintaining this good fun, what “types” of people would you have on here ? And are there are any groups of somebodies that you used to know? Happy Thursday!

Interview with Emily Bennington Author of Who Says Its a Mans World

Interview with Emily Bennington Author of Who Says Its a Mans World Last week, I sat down to do an interview with Emily Bennington, the Author of  Who Says It’s a Man’s World: The Girls’ Guide to Corporate Domination. Emily has led training programs for numerous Fortune 500 companies and has been featured in business press ranging from CNN, ABC, and Fox to the  Wall Street Journal,  Glamour, and  Cosmopolitan. She is also a contributing writer for Monster.com and a featured blogger for Forbes Woman. Emily can be reached online at EmilyBennington.com. Read this book if:  you want to learn how to navigate the rocky path from cubicle to executive suite. Here are the highlights from my interview with Emily Bennington Women make up half of the workforce and yet the higher you up the ladder, the more that number seems to drop…and drop. Women account for just 4% of Fortune 500 CEOs, 6% of top earners, and only 16% of board directors and corporate officers. This is unfortunate, because countless studies have confirmed that organizations with the most women board members outperformed those with the least number of women holding board seats by 16%. It really is a womans world! You must be a magnificent woman first to have a magnificent career! Want a huge career and salary? Leaps don’t come from waiting until your performance review to be handed incremental bread crumbs.  They come from knowing your value, going after what you want, and bulldozing through any judgemental blocks along the way. Spend 70% of your time pursuing virtues and intentions and 30% pursuing goals. Common mistakes women make that kill your career: Negativity, grudges, and worry. Be your best. Do your best. Work hard. Never give up. The glass ceiling is only there if you think it is. Who you are has no glass ceiling. Remember, it is our world because it’s what we make of it! Thanks,  for taking the time to talk with us, Emily.  

#4- A Day in the Life of a Professional Photographer - Kyle Dowie

#4- A Day in the Life of a Professional Photographer - Kyle Dowie The Career Insider Podcast Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSSFor Episode 004 of The CareerMetis Podcast, we will learn about : A Day in the Life of a Professional Photographer. evalOur guest Kyle Dowie shares his experiences on how he went about becoming a Professional Photographer.Kyle shares his journey on how he evolved into a Photography Career. He also talks about all the things that him his peers enjoy about the role. He also delves into some of the challenges that a Professional Photographer face.Photo CreditA key takeaway is the importance of hustle i.e cold calling, reaching out to strangers,etc.; and how doing unconventional things like that will help one’s career.It will help to get the word out and win new clients. Kyle also mentions that a Photographers work should speak for itself; and that helps win referrals.To learn more about Kyle Dowie and his business â€" check out his Instagram page.Intro Music provided courtesy of Acc elerated Ideas (www.accelerated-ideas.com). Soundtrack â€" Siren KickbackEnding Music provided courtesy of Accelerated Ideas (www.accelerated-ideas.com). Soundtrack â€" No Need to Rush