How to Boost Your LinkedIn Endorsements

How to Boost Your LinkedIn Endorsements Love them? Hate them? LinkedIn Endorsements were launched in September 2012 and 3 months after the launch users had given 550 million Endorsements, growing by 10 million per day. So the Endorsement feature is here to stay, the question is really how do you maximise Endorsements? I decided to ask the most connected woman on LinkedIn and a featured blogger here at Undercover Recruiter:  Stacy Zapar   questions that Stacy answers in this video include: Are Endorsement more important than Recommendations? Whats the best strategy for getting Endorsements? Should you put 50 Skills on your profile or stay more focused? Should you reciprocate Endorsements? Do recruiters actually look at them? Is there a search impact of Endorsements on your profile? Is this whole Endorsements malarkey worth losing any sleep over? RELATED:  LinkedIn Endorsements: The Good, the Bad the Ugly

Resume Writing Image

Resume Writing ImageThere is a crucial step in resume writing: preparation. If you are planning to write your resume without preparation, you are setting yourself up for failure. You should have your resume written before you start your job search to give you the edge you need to land your dream job.Resume writing includes a lot of preparation. In order to put yourself in the best possible position to get a job, you must know what you want. And before you start writing your resume, you must be prepared to answer all questions that come up during your interview. So, in order to prepare yourself for your interview, the following guidelines can help.Before you begin writing your resume, make sure that you have all the information you need for your resume. This will help you write your resume faster and smoother. You can purchase resume writing software to help you organize your information. Resume writing software can help you organize the various sections of your resume, such as your s kills, education, awards, skills-related work experience, and other information. If you use a resume writing software, you will have a much easier time coming up with an organized and well-written resume.When preparing your resume, you should know the exact qualifications for each job you are applying for. You can either get advice from an employer or a recruiter about what jobs are appropriate for you. Or, you can visit the companies' website and check to see what jobs they offer, and what they are looking for. Some websites may even have job listings that are free for you to view online.If you are going to use resume writing software, you should learn how to customize the resume so that it meets the needs of the employer. The first thing you need to do is make sure that your resume is structured properly. Make sure you make use of bullets, tables, headings, and sub-headings. Using the software will allow you to edit your resume as needed. If your resume does not meet the specific needs of the company, they may reject your resume or it will not be considered for the job. Make sure your resume is able to clearly state the criteria you need for the job.When you are preparing a resume for the future employer, the first thing you need to consider is how to make your resume more appealing to employers. Sometimes, the only way to do this is to remove some of the bullet points on your resume. Ask yourself what information is not necessary for the employer. For example, you may think that your experience with a certain job would be enough, but they may also need to know about your recent accomplishments, your leadership qualities, and what you expect from yourself.The next step is to create a good impression to the recruiter. Before you leave the house, take a few minutes to think about your career goals and how to best get them. If you do not have any thoughts for yourself, ask a friend or family member to provide you with a positive message. A positive outlook is o ne of the most important things in resume writing.After you have completed your resume, ask someone to read it and give it a critique. The final step in resume writing is to polish your resume so that it is ready for you to submit it.

December news and updates for Masters students University of Manchester Careers Blog

December news and updates for Masters students University of Manchester Careers Blog December is the month of optimism.   Although the solstice on December 21st may be the shortest day of the year, it’s the gateway to better things â€" from then on, days only get longer and brighter (notice I didn’t say ‘sunnier’). This has nothing to do with careers, but as a bit of fun, you can participate in the winter solstice in Orkney, an archipelago of islands off the far north coast of Scotland. Every year, local photographer Charles Tait, in partnership with Historic Scotland runs a web cam in Maeshowe, a prehistoric chambered cairn on Orkney’s West Mainland.   For a few days each midwinter, the sun shines directly through the cairn’s entrance passage, illuminating the cairn’s interior. Whilst we’re on the topic, mid-winter is also a good time shed some light on your career options… Essential Career Actions for December Give yourself a pat on the back, take some time to wind down and celebrate (maybe with a trip to the Christmas markets?) as youve made it through the first semester of your Masters! The upcoming winter break is a good time to reflect on the past few months take a look at what youve achieved and whats gone well, and maybe what hasnt gone quite to plan and how to change that in the new year. The winter break is also the prime time to be thinking about your future, whatever stage youre at. Whether youre applying for graduate schemes, wondering what other jobs might be out there, or thinking of further study, weve got a graduate recruitment timetable thatll give you the low down on essential actions to take this year, and when to take them. View our essential actions   Vacancy alert! If you haven’t started looking for job opportunities (graduate scheme or otherwise) for after you finish your course, December is a very good time to start: Careers Link â€" our very own ‘job shop’ for University of Manchester students Targeted job searches and vacancy source by career area in the Careers Service Which Career? Section Passport Career â€" for those looking for a career anywhere in the world.   Passport also runs helpful webinars on working internationally. Knowing where to look for jobs is fine, but…“Help! I’m a Masters student â€" and I’m not sure what I want to do next.”   If you don’t know what you want to do next, be reassured you are not alone. This article by our Postgraduate Careers Manager, Elizabeth, is a fantastic place to get started with easy things you can reflect on to help you decide what direction your career could take after graduation: It’s never too early to start preparing for interviews If you missed the Career Essentials: Successful Interviews for Postgrads, you can find the slides here. If you prefer the face-to-face approach, a little elf has just produced some teaching space, so keep an eye out for more Careers Essentials sessions in early 2017. Our ‘Interviews’ pages contain information, advice, practice materials and videos. Some excellent general preparation advice. and advice for more specific types of interviews god Jul!       glædelig jul!       Gleðileg jól!       hyvää joulua! All Postgrad-highlighted Postgraduate Options postgraduate

Whippersnapper whistleblowers beware Youre in a tough business

Whippersnapper whistleblowers beware Youre in a tough business Being a whistleblower is fashionable right now. Its appealing to be the person who rights the wrongs of the workplace. And many people dream of busting their boss publicly for smarmy acts done privately. Discrimination, kickbacks, broken promises these are illegal and immoral acts that happen every day in the workplace. But be careful. Because the most common result of whistle blowing is not reform. The most common result is that whistleblowers lose their job. Of course, it is illegal to fire a whistleblower for being a whistleblower per se. But the odds are that you will be fired: First your boss lets you know he hates you. Then you get no new projects. Then you stop having anything to do at work and your career stagnates. If youre lucky, you will be able to go to another company. If youre unlucky, your name will be mud throughout your industry. This is not to say that we shouldnt have whistleblowers. I am as impressed as anyone else with the three whistleblowers on the cover of Time magazine as persons of the year. Cynthia Cooper (WorldComm), Sherron Watkins (Enron) and Coleen Rowley (the FBI), showed enormous courage and integrity when they blew the whistle. But an important thing about these women is that they were all very advanced in their careers. They were at a point where they were trusted widely for their expertise. And part of their expertise was knowing what really mattered in the moral fabric of corporate America. Surely, they had all been harassed at work, and they had all heard someone cutting corners on commissions. These women probably spent decades reporting nothing. They chose their battle carefully. If one of these women had made a stink the first time she was harassed, if she had brought that case to court, she probably would have received some sort of financial settlement, but her career would be over. She would not have climbed high enough on the corporate ladder to make the huge difference in corporate ethics that she did. In order to make a huge difference in corporate ethics that is significant enough to be worth losing your career, you should aim to make a difference at the top. Most people who are at the beginning of their careers will not have the ability to make that difference. All you potential whistleblowers in the whippersnapper ranks, think twice about sacrificing your career in the name of corporate ethics. You cant be a whistlblower each time your morality is offended: Youd never be able to hold down a job. So wait until the moral aberration is huge. And huge is relative, so know what sort of aberrations are out there so you can compare. (Reading assignment: Tales from the Boom Boom Room for extreme examples of sexual harassment and discrimination.) For the most part, our experiences are not extreme, and they should be dealt with through normal, company means no need for whistleblowing. Some times you will report questionable behavior to human resources and nothing will change. Stay focused. You will need to put up with a lot of morally questionable behavior at work in order to climb the ladder to a high enough point where you can make a difference. If you dont make it up the ladder, you will squander your power to make change by making small stinks about small issues that will get no attention from people in power. For some of you, there will come a time when you do have a case against your company. You should call the Government Accountability Project. This nonprofit group counsels whistleblowers before they toot, and represents them after they get fired. Until then, hunker down. Report abuse to someone within your chain of command. And dont piss people off so much that you undermine your ability to get real power to make change. Save your moral high ground until you get to high ranks.

How Important Is it to Get Professional Indianapolis Resume Writing Service?

How Important Is it to Get Professional Indianapolis Resume Writing Service?If you are looking for a really professional Indianapolis resume /LinkedIn writing service, then do not be disheartened if you come across one that seems to offer you less than what is really expected of you. A genuine Indianapolis resume/linkedin writing service is well aware of the fact that you want to impress and ensure that you get a fast response when you present your resume to various employers.So you may be a little disappointed that you get bad advice from some brokers who seem to know nothing about Indianapolis. Although you cannot go wrong with any type of professional or personal services offered, you will want to ensure that you are going to be taken care of and that the way in which the service is being rendered is in keeping with your expectations. If you are going to give your resume to several potential employers before making a decision on whether to employ you or not, then it is important t hat you get as much information as possible about them before making a decision.This is where most people go wrong because they think that they are signing up with an all-inclusive service only to find out that they are actually signing up with illegitimate and therefore fraudulent, but reputable and legitimate links. It is so easy to take advantage of others in the business and so you want to make sure that you are getting the best service that you can. In this regard, you will need to find out whether the company offers you only on site services or also the printing services that come with them.One other thing that you will want to look for is whether the company allows you to check out the person testimonials that you are likely to get. This means that you will be able to view some of the former clients of the service provider and evaluate them first before you commit to anything. You want to be sure that you have the right provider who is going to provide you with the best job.W hat you will want to look for is the quality of the services that are provided and also how they show you examples of the best quality in order to reinforce your business ethics. There are a lot of such top notch link building companies that would be able to help you obtain top quality links. In this regard, you will want to get to know more about the types of professionals that they have and the rates they charge for their services.Moreover, you will want to find out whether the prices are negotiable or not in such people who are trying to persuade you to get the best link building services for your business. And in this regard, you may also want to get a list of the services that they offer in order to know what sort of links are being requested by some of the professional websites out there. This way, you will know whether you want to work with them or not.There are a lot of different kinds of services that you may get from these companies and it is important that you understand all about them so that you can compare them properly. You will be able to choose the service that is most appropriate for your needs. However, you will be able to get a lot of information about them by simply conducting an online search.Finally, you will want to evaluate the services and the professionalism of the company so that you can get a good idea of how professional they are and how committed they are to your business. In this regard, it would be important for you to determine the reason for contacting them in the first place and whether they have the ability to get the job done.

Introverted Sales Guy Job Search - Case Study - Career Pivot

Introverted Sales Guy Job Search - Case Study - Career Pivot Introverted Sales Guy Copyright: kolotype / 123RF Stock Photo Did you say introverted sales guy? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Actually, it is not. I spent a good bit of 2015 working with Steve (not his real name). Steve is an introverted sales guyâ€"or better known as an account manager. In the sales world, he was the “farmer.” He cultivated long-term relationships with his customers. Steve was really good at it. Steve had spent over twenty years selling very specialized manufacturing equipment. One day early last year, the company let go of over half of the sales staff. Steve was approaching sixty years of age…and he was scared. He had not searched for a job in over 20 years and was afraid to tell anyone he was unemployed. Steve is a classic introverted sales guy. I will jump to the end and let you know that he was hired into a great position in less than a year using the system I am going describe below. Evaluation Phase Using the Birkman Assessmentand the Career Pivot evaluation process, we worked in tandem to dissect various facets of his personality. What were his core needs at work? What made him feel valued? What energized and restored him? (By the way, his were art and the outdoors.) What kind of boss did he want? Listen to the most recent episode How much structure did he need? (By the way, he was a structured anarchist!) From the evaluation, we created a set ofbranding statements to work with. We then tackled his brand story. We reworked his LinkedIn profile, connecting to all of the complex products he sold in his previous position. Based on his needs, we developed a set of open-ended questions that he could use in any interview. As an introverted sales guy, he was now very prepared. He could explain why the right company should hire him. All of this was pretty standard for any job seeker. Then, the real fun started. Reaching out to Weak Ties Steve reached out to colleagues he had formerly worked with fromlast 20+ years. These people are referred to as weak ties.Weak ties are those people who know you but do not have a close connection to you now. Even though your connection to them is weak, they know people you do not know. Weak ties are actually more valuable in your job search than anything else. Steve had a lot of weak ties. Steve felt embarrassed that he was unemployed. Reaching out to these people wasreallyhard! What Steve discovered is that mostof the people he reached out to had experienced unemployment in the last decade. We are long past the time when, if you were unemployed, there had to be something wrong with you. The more Steve reached out to former colleagues, the easier it became. Did I mention that Steve is a really nice guy? People remembered him and were willing to help. He became quite adept at finding people on LinkedIn using the advanced search feature. You can read more on how he did it here â€" #2 Method to Find Companies â€" LinkedIn Advanced Search He rapidly grew his LinkedIn connections. He found a tribe that was willing to help. Finding Companies Steve then took a two-pronged process to find companies that were capable of hiring him. He followed the process described in this post â€" #1 Method to Find Companies â€" Weak Ties. By leveraging his weak ties, he found companies that needed account managers with Steve’s expertise. Next, he harvested LinkedIn company pages. He started with his last employer and used the “similar companies” section to find companies that were either direct competitors or were in adjacent industries. You can read more on how to do this here â€" #3 Method to Find Companies â€" LinkedIn Company Pages. After following this very deliberate process, he found the perfect match. A former colleague and weak tie worked for a company that made components that went into the manufacturing equipment Steve previously sold. This company needed a national account manager! The interviewing or, as I like to refer to it, the courting process, happened pretty quickly. It was only about 6 weeks from the time he was introduced to the company to the time he received an offer of employment. The Introverted Sales Guy Job Search Process Steve now knew who he was. He could explain himselfâ€"something most of us who have worked in the corporate world for 30-40 years cannot do. Steve did not attend any networking events. He spent all of his time researching his weak ties, reconnecting with them, and finding companies that were capable of hiring him. He did all of his “networking” one on one via e-mail and phone conversations. He leveraged his network to the fullest. Steve had a network that was larger than he would ever have believed. As an introverted sales guy, this process was quite comfortableonce he realized that just about everyone was willing to help. I told Steveearly on that hisnext job would come through a relationship and that he had no control over the timing. This is exactly what happened. Steve learned that he needed to maintain his network of relationships for the rest of his career. He is now a believer in using LinkedIn for both his personal career advancement but also for finding and cultivating relationships in his sales position. Have you found yourself in a similar situation? Tell us how you handled it. Tell us your story. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

Some team members resist happiness. What would you do - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Some team members resist happiness. What would you do - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I received the following email from a manager who reads my?blog and I got his permission to post?it here, to get input from all of you. What would you do? Heres the?email: I have a team of 10 people doing?admin based work. The job can be busy but mundane and this can lower the ?fun? factor within the team. I have introduced some nice changes to help their day go better as like you, my philosophy is enjoy coming to work and never be stressed about it. However, like everyone else I can get stressed but its not the workload, it?s the team that bring me down. Some?ideas, I have introduced are: Listening to music while they work Be flexible with the shifts that they do Let them have their moment where they need to walk away from an issue to calm down without any repercussions. I could go on and we do the team lunches and have events, but there will still be the people that I can?t make happy. The big issue I have is motivating all of the team. Some of my team are motivated and up for some fun or keen to get on board with a project but there will be a few that will put up the objection obstacles and flatly refuse to get involved, this can bring others down and ultimately put me down which really affects me. At times it makes me want to move jobs and try again with a new team. What would you do, as a manager in this situation? Please write a comment, Id love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Is Your Executive Resume Stuck in the Stone Age

Is Your Executive Resume Stuck in the Stone Age Some things simply go out of style, and your resume may be one of them. The best professional resume writers always see resumes that look like they were written 20 years ago. And if it’s clear to those professional writers, then you can guarantee it will be clear to a hiring manager as well. Not only will an old-looking resume potentially give away your age, but it could show you’re not quite caught up with the times and hurt your job candidacy as a result. Here are some of the most common things people still do on their resume that makes it look like it’s from the stone age. Not Including Links To Social Media Accounts The top resume writing services will always suggest including links to your social media accounts, assuming they’ve been cleaned up. Your LinkedIn profile definitely needs to be one of the links. You can consider incorporating Twitter, Facebook or other platforms if you use them to promote your personal brand or expertise, such as with original articles. Employers today want to know more about you than what’s on a resume and cover letter, so including these links is essential. Not Conveying Your Personal Brand Clearly When the best professional resume writers look at your resume, they need to see exactly what your personal brand is. Older resumes are typically generic and lack any type of branding throughout the content. Conveying your personal brand can be as simple as explaining your expertise, your overall views on workplace culture and what you believe in and stand for. Personal branding is not an optional component for resumes today. Including An “Objective” Section Every executive resume service today will delete an objective section if they see one on a resume. By submitting your resume to an employer, you are implying your objective, which is to get a job. You don’t need to reiterate it on your resume. Instead, use the space to show why you are the best candidate for the job. Hiring managers aren’t necessarily interested in what you want, but rather, want to know what you can do for them. Including Your Street Address Putting your street address at the top of your resume was acceptable more than a decade ago, but not today. The best professional resume writers will only include a name, phone number, email address and maybe a link to a LinkedIn profile. Anything more than that just clutters up the resume and is essentially useless to a hiring manager. Professional Resume Services is here to help you modernize your resume to increase your chances of landing the interview you desire. Crafting the perfect resume can be difficult with the technology employers use to filter out resumes, but having a modern one is a great first step. If it’s been a while since you last created or updated your resume, feel free to contact us for an evaluation and see how we can help you modernize it.