Learn New Tools To Change Careers
One of the most flawless ways to transition into a new career, or to prepare yourself for industry changes in your current career, is to learn new skills and new tools. Business needs are evolving daily and so too are requirements for employees. Upgrading yourself as a worker makes you a better asset to a company and paves the way for you to advance into new opportunities. Whether you’re an international broker, a Miami life coach,
Hitting The Delete Button On The Office Mean Girls – And Guys
Sure, the movie “Mean Girls” may be set in a high school, but we can bet there’s a few “mean” girls and guys at your office – the ones who always seem to spread the rumors, tease other employees, and generally bring that gray cloud across the office. Think that’s how it always has to be? Think again. Regardless of whether you’re in management or not, you can take steps to stop this behavior in your office – the right way.
Pharmacy Technicians by Day, Drug Shortage Coordinators by Night?
With the continuous drug shortages that the United States has withstood for quite some time, pharmacy careers and expectations are going to see changes. Each pharmacy technician will have to not only have a great education behind them, but through the right personal development, stand above other pharmacy
Musings on the concept of work-life balance
Work / Life or Life
Generation Y has a world in which there are increasing rules, regulations, processes and parameters which segment what they do and how they do it. Work/Life balance was a natural ‘philosophy’ that was bourne out of these cultural and societal changes.
Many a manager has been left standing open mouthed when asked by the mid management employee about the level of his ‘bonus’ and ‘the expected pay-rise for next year’. Many of these most demanding employees don’t make the connection with ‘bonus’ and pay rise to the contribution they make. The most vocal, according to a Recruiter survey, were those employees who worked 9-5, ignoring the financial and business crisis of the past 12 months, and lacked initiative.
Looking at the teaching of ‘work/life balance’, by inference, the term itself has an entire generation thinking consciously or unconsciously that work is somehow ‘outside’ of what is life. The phrase ‘work/life’ balance has inferred a negative connotation on working – be it a job or career. Generally speaking, there is an entire generation who justify many shortcomings, unhappiness or failures to be successful in their lives by blaming ‘work’. Anything from ‘spirituality void’ to ‘addictive and the cause of unhappiness, stress, health issues or marriage break-down’! Work is seen as an experience endured rather than enjoyed; a view of work (employment) as separate to everything else that makes up our lives.
Of course, life is one holistic whole rather than a juggling or balancing act between work and all the rest of our existence! Generation Y was led to believe ‘they could have it all’ and was never told how….
When I asked one of the most adamant ‘work to rule’ employees in my own firm how he was getting on with his football he said ‘Oh ya, forgot to tell you, have to leave early tonight for extra football’,- the team were not doing too well and he had to put in extra hours of practice. Does he enjoy it? Yes! Always? Well, most of the time. Does he miss out on his favourite TV shows because of the need for extra practice? ‘Yes’ Does he get paid for it? No! Does he get a bonus if he wins? No!
Like sport, drinking, relationships and music – work is no different. To truly enjoy work, one needs to embrace the challenges and situations that accompany it. Just because a person does not get the job or career they ‘want’ does not mean they can’t make the most out of what is a twist of fate or circumstance. A job, like sport, relationships, building a home and so forth are largely what we make it. The enjoyment, energy and benefits you receive are down to you.
Professionals in HR have the responsibility to coach and guide our employees. Many young professionals have been overwhelmed with technical or sales training but the emotional substance and guidance has not kept up. Do the older generations make too many assumptions perhaps? Induction programs, however modest, need to go back to basics. Set out the culture of the organization, spell out the flexibility and commitment needed for the role they are hired to do, don’t be scared to reiterate what you might think is common sense or patronizing.
Are you affected? A simple example/test for you is to ask yourself whether your thinking been affected by everyday phrases, such as ‘Work/Life Balance’, ‘Earn a living’, ‘Work for a living’, ‘Overtime’. Each one could imply that work has a negative effect on your life; work as the necessary evil interrupting what could otherwise be a utopian existence!
This post was written by Rosalyn Rahme – CEO of Goldjobs.com
I just got a new job thanks to Linkedin – Here’s how
If you are a regular reader of my career advice blog then you know that I am a professional recruiter by day and blogger and resume writer by night (and weekends). I have written extensively about using social media and specifically Linkedin to help you find a new job. I am happy to say that I started a new job this week and I found it…or I should say…it found me via Linkedin.
Here is how I leveraged Linkedin to find my next job and hopefully these tips will help you in your job search.
Keyword Rich- It is very important to include your keyword(s) multiple times in your profile. This is extremely important and will move you up in the Linkedin search results. In my profile the word “recruiter” or “recruiting” appears over 13 times. This is how I appeared on the first page for the search result “recruiter” in my geography. You will not be contacted by recruiters if they can not find your profile.
When you are found, make sure your profile is complete.
It is essential to have a complete profile. This should include a headline, career summary, specialties, work experience, and education. Linkedin will let you know where you are in regards to being 100% complete an then provide suggestions on what you can do to complete your profile.
Here are a couple of other minor things to keep in mind and I do believe that they really helped me once the recruiter found my profile.
Attach resume – I have noticed that very few people actually have their resumes attached to their profile. Your profile is a good starting point for a recruiter to get an understanding of your background but it is important to have your resume attached to your profile to provide a deeper insight into you experience and accomplishments.
Include your email – Again, I have noticed that very few people provide a way for a recruiter to connect with them. In my case, I was contacted through an inmail and email but there are some recruiters out there who will not send inmails and will want to connect via email.
Include a picture -
This adds a personal touch to your profile and helps establish a connection. Remember this is Linkedin and not Facebook so a professional picture is required. You do not have to wear a suit (like my picture) but it wouldn’t hurt.
There you have it – 5 tips that I am passing along that worked for me and will hopefully work for you.
I would love to here about other success stories. Leave me a comment if you found a job through Linkedin or if you have any other tips to add.
Better networking tool for job seekers than Linkedin?
We all know that Linkedin is an awesome networking tool and an indispensable resource for job seekers. But what do you do if you are in job search mode and do not want your entire network and their network to know about it?
This is a very common occurrence and I can say that if I were looking for a better job, I would not want to put this out to my network because it would take less than a second for my manager to find out. Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a networking tool that leveraged your social network but allowed you to control you gets notified? This is the very problem that a new start-up company called StartWire is attempting to solve. The company, which launched yesterday is attempting to change how job seekers collaborate with their social network.
Here are some details:
- The job seeker will sign up, create a profile and submit their resume. The user will also select certain parameters like location, job title, and keywords. Job listings from Indeed.com are then listed for perusal.
- The next step is to connect to your various social networking websites. You are given the option to load all of your contacts or you choose which contacts to select. The decision on who will be invited to assist you in your search is in your hands.
- Your contacts then are given the option to join StartWire
- When you see a job that appeals to you, you can flag it, and create a message and ask your contacts for assistance.
- Your network can also make job suggestions or provide advice.
Another cool feature of ShareWire is their “Expert Advice” tab. This tool will allow job seekers to connect with professional career advisers and get their job questions answered. Of course you can always get in touch with me any ask me any career related questions as well.
It is hard to predict if this site will take off or just fade away. Let me know what you think about this new tool?