How to Brand Yourself an Expert on Social Media

How to Brand Yourself an Expert on Social Media Social media is a great leveler and its easier than ever to brand yourself a thought leader, publisher or expert online. The trouble is that there are no barriers to entry and anyone can call themselves an expert. Social media experts are ten to the penny for sure, not to mention their peers known as gurus, samurais and ninjas. You have to be a bit careful with social media and what you label yourself; if you claim to be an expert youre probably doing it wrong. Most well-known experts would probably not call themselves just that, but others would. Our friends at Zintro have put an infographic together about how they believe you can leverage yourself as an expert in your field. They say that if you research the most well known people in your field or industry and they probably have one thing in common: They voice their opinion on and off the Internet and have publicly displayed contact information on one or more social media platforms. Each business and industry is different, which means the audience and potential client base may better be suited for one platform over another. Recognizing the right social media site to use is important, and connecting with your audience on a personal level by giving valuable tools, resource or tips is paramount. See what you think. Related: How To Use Social Media to Build Your Personal Brand (Infographic). Related: Top 3 Ways to Become an Expert in Your Industry.

How to Use the Holiday Season to Network for Jobs

How to Use the Holiday Season to Network for Jobs December can be one of the best times to network and look for your next opportunity for several reasons: Less people are looking for their next opportunity because they assume it’s not a good time to do so. People tend to be in a better frame of mind. There are many social gatherings that can be used as networking opportunities. It’s a great time to follow-up by sending a holiday card or email. I put together a short email to my business and personal contacts, extending my best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season. I also mentioned a bit about myself but nothing too pushy. You will each probably find out about many upcoming holiday parties coming up. Go out and have fun and casually mention that you are looking for a new role. You should also do the same electronically via connecting with your network for the holidays. Many professional associations have holiday parties between Thanksgiving and New Years Day and some companies may have holiday parties for their employees families. Utilize your places of worship and volunteer organization networks, as there are many opportunities to help those who are in need and its a potentially great chance to meet other folks helping out, as well as those in temporary or long term need of help themselves. Networking during the holidays means laying the groundwork now for the positions that open up after the New Year, when the new budget goes into effect. An effective job hunt begins BEFORE the jobs are posted, so you can do an end run around the competition, and get in front of the hiring managers, recruiters, etc., before everyone else. Break out the business cards, folks, and be prepared to spread good holiday cheer! There is almost no time that is off limits for networking, but it also a light time of year. Its festive. Contact people you know from other jobs, family and friends you might not have talked to in a while, however, dont bombard them with Im looking for a job right away. People will ask what youre doing these days and you can say looking for a job and take it from there. If you feel like theyre interested, ask if theyd like to get coffee or lunch. Dont make obvious networking your goal if you can help it. You might also consider taking a part-time seasonal job, meet more people, pick up some extra cash. You might like it and stay on while looking for something more up your alley. Reach out to agencies and recruiters, you never know what youll hear back from them. Continue with LinkedIn networkingthis is a great time to revisit some of your network connections that you have not connected with in a while. In all cases, look to see how you may be able to help someone else that you meet or reconnect with first, and dont look for a job lead right at the beginning.. One of the overlooked aspects of job networking during this holiday period is that many companies have to fill a “hiring ticket” for a position before year end, sometimes in a “use it or lose it” mode. Therefore networking during this period can be very productive. Above all be authentic, warm and genuine. Be yourself! Offer to help the people youre networking with without expectation of return. Make sure you follow up with the people you meet and stay in touch periodically. Hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday season!

Prevalent Yet Subtle Workplace Bias Erodes Productivity and Engagement

Prevalent Yet Subtle Workplace Bias Erodes Productivity and Engagement A new study has found that more than a quarter (27 percent) of those who experience discrimination at work report the bias to be common, impactful and beyond their ability to manage. The result of this triple threat of factors leads to frustration, stress, depression and helplessness on the job. To measure the impact of workplace bias, David Maxfield, vice president of research at VitalSmarts, and Judith Honesty, CEO of Honesty Consulting, asked 500 victims of discrimination to share their stories. Each subject experienced incidents in the workplace which resulted in them feeling unwelcome, excluded, discounted, or disadvantaged because of who they areâ€"their race, age, gender, national origin, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status or sexual orientation. By analyzing the stories, Maxfield and Honesty found that bias in the workplace is pervasive, permanent and unmanageable for victims. Specifically: Pervasive: 49 percent of victims said the discrimination happens regularly in their workplace. Permanent: 66 percent of victims said it has a large impact on their engagement, morale, motivation, commitment and desire to advance in the organization. Unmanageable: 60 percent of victims said they did not feel they could master incidents of bias in the moment or prevent them from recurring in the future. Maxfield and Honesty rated the stories based on Martin Seligmans work on Learned Helplessness to measure the impact of discrimination on employee behavior. Seligman has found that the way people perceive an event determines the impact it has on their behavior. Events that are seen as permanent, pervasive, and beyond their control lead to frustration, stress, depression and helplessness. Additionally, they found seven themes in the stories indicating the most prevalent types of workplace discrimination. Dont Be Yourself. Employees are warned to avoid showing who they really areâ€"i.e. to avoid talking about her wife, to dress in a more feminine way etc. Youre Not Credible. Employees are interrupted and discounted, excluded from meetings, passed up for high-visibility assignments or promotions, etc. Others hint the perceived lack of credibility is the result of race, sex, age etc. Oops, Just Kidding. A manager or co-worker makes a blatant racist, sexist, intolerant comment to a colleague and then tries to walk it back. Anything Goes After Hours. A manager or co-worker makes blatantly racist, sexist, or intolerant comments/jokes about othersâ€"customers, people in the news, etc. They feel its okay because theyre not at work or because they arent talking about an employee. Youre Unwelcome. Employees are excluded from conversations at both work and social gatherings. Co-workers or managers forget to invite them to meetings or give them information they need to do their job. Others fail to socialize with them or change the subject or stop socializing when they join. Gotcha. A manager or co-worker seeks to tear down their colleague or believes others, even when they arent credible; dishes out unequal punishments; finds faults to the extent of distorting the truth. Unconscious Bias: Women, minority, or older employees are told they lack executive presence, dont fit our culture, are too aggressive even though their performance would be seen as exemplary in a white, male or younger employee. Honesty says these 7 themes reveal a trend of subtleâ€"yet harmfulâ€"workplace discrimination. While overt bias is likely not tolerated, under-the-radar forms of discrimination are pervasive and severe across corporate America. She said: We catalogued hundreds of moments where victims were left questioning others intentions and their own perceptions. The inner litany sounds a bit like, Im upset, but I dont know if I should be, or if I have a right to be. At best, this shadowy bias is exhausting. At worst its soul-destroying to both the individual and the organization. Maxfield says its important leaders demonstrate and teach skills for confronting bias in a way that uncovers what really just happened. He added: Our research shows people who initiate honest, frank and respectful dialogue build understanding and cultures of respect. These are the kinds of cultures that promote rather than erode performance and engagement. Maxfield and Honesty share five skills to confront and reduce subtle to overt forms of bias in the workplace: Use CPR: When confronting bias, should you talk about the Content (a one-time incident), the Pattern (a series of incidents), or the Relationship (the impact of a pattern on your ability to work productively with others)? Many stories described micro-inequitiesâ€"small incidents that wouldnt be worth addressing except that they are a part of a pervasive pattern. If you confront the one-time incident, youre likely to be seen as over-reacting. But if you address the larger pattern or relationship concern, you can demonstrate that these micro-inequities add up to soul-crushing impacts. Start with Heart: Before you speak up, identify what you really want to happen. Is it enough for the bad behavior to stop? Or do you want an apology, punishment and reparations? Also consider that youre likely going into the conversation with a lifetime of grievances. How responsible is the person in front of you for that history? Likely, he or she plays a smaller role than what you may be attributing to his or her actions. Master My Stories: Before speaking up, separate the stories you bring to the situation from the facts of the other persons actions. Only then, can you master your own strong emotions. State My Path: Discover what really just happenedâ€"no apologies, no self-repression, no accusations and no indictments. Begin with the detailed facts, then tentatively suggest what the facts mean to you. Make it Safe: Is a person who exhibits unconscious bias automatically a bigot? If so, then were all bigots. Its challenging to describe biased behavior without the other person feeling attacked. More findings from the study can be found in this infographic. Infographic courtesy of VitalSmarts.

6 Resume Tricks to Beat the 6-Second Rule

6 Resume Tricks to Beat the 6-Second Rule By now you’ve certainly heard some of the ridiculous job search  stats  that are being thrown around. Yet, none are as silly as the claim that  recruiters only spend 6 seconds on a resume before they decide  whether or not to trash it.  Job seekers have been led to believe that all the hard work they put into  their resume and their chances of getting an interview rest on a mere 6  seconds. With a stat like that, how can anyone feel hopeful about the job  search?  Resume Genius decided to give some  hope back to job seekers  and  put this resume  myth to bed but how? More than 9,000 participants (average Joes AND experienced  recruiters) completed a challenge, whereby different resumes were to be judged as good or bad in just 6 seconds. The results are compiled in the  infograpahic below. What do they tell us?    The success rate  hovered around just 50% for both cohorts not very promising! So although the 6-second rule, or myth, has now been debunked, we cant become complacent with our resumes. It doesnt mean hiring managers and recruiters won’t stop  making judgements about a resume as soon as they lay their eyes on it. The experiment also concludes that  you increase your chances of getting your resume past the  first 6 seconds of judgment by 25% simply by making  it  aesthetically pleasing and well-formatted!   Here are some top tips on how you can make a strong first impression with yours: 1. Apply Proportional Margins Most job seekers don’t play around with the margins of their resume,  but a few minor tweaks could really improve its readability. One-inch  margins are usually the safe choice for most resumes as they help keep  the length of the lines of text short and skimmable. 2. Maintain a balanced white space to text ratio This point is directly related to your resume’s margins. “White space” is  another overlooked aspect of the resume. Too much white space makes  a resume look desolate and can give the impression that the applicant  lacks experience.  On the other hand, a resume with too little white space can appear too  crowded and leave recruiters feeing claustraphobic. Therefore, it’s  important to find a happy medium between text and white space on the  page. 3. Use an easy-to-read font When choosing the right font for your resume, aim for one that is  scannable and not distracting. Some applicants disregard these goals  and try to get too creative with their fonts. Sure, this may help them  stand out from the competition, but for all the wrong reasons.  Don’t choose a font that will distract recruiters from what’s actually  important â€" your skills and experience. Instead, choose a font that will  add a subtle hint of style while maintaining your resume’s readability.  Fonts like Calibri, Helvetica, Garamond, and Bookman Old Style are all  appropriate choices. 4. Make sure all your bullet points are evenly aligned Although this tip sounds like common sense, uneven bullet points is an  issue that recruiters see way too often. Before sending out your resume,be sure to double check that all your headings, subheadings, and bullet  points are evenly aligned. Otherwise, you will give the impression that  you are a sloppy individual that doesn’t pay attention to detail. 5. Use lines to break up the text Adding horizontal lines is an easy way to improve your resume’s  readability. Lines cue recruiters to pause momentarily and process the  information they just finished reading. 6. Add a bit of color Deciding whether you add color to your resume really depends on the  job or company you are applying to. If you are applying for a position at  a conservative company, it’s probably safer to go with the traditional  white and black.  However if you the job you applying to is in a more creative industry,  then you should definitely make use of a subtle color scheme. It’s best to  stick with primary colors and avoid any bright or neon variations. To sum it all up, job seekers no longer need to fear the first 6 seconds  that a hiring manager or recruiter spends on a resume. With an  aesthetic and properly formatted resume, your chances of getting past  the first 6 seconds are significantly higher. About the author:  Erik “EPIC” Episcopo is a career adviser and hiring manager at Resume  Genius.   Image credit: Shutterstock

How to Deal with Your Colleagues Annoying Office Habits CareerMetis.com

How to Deal with Your Colleagues’ Annoying Office Habits Source â€" DepositPhotos.comThe average worker spends34 hours and 26 minutes at work each week.Being in one place with the same people for such a long period of time makes people’s annoying habits all the more evident. It doesn’t matter how much you think you like them, there will always be things that get on your nerves while you’re trying to stay focused at work.This is supported by recent researchconducted by printing company instantprint, which reveals that 96% of people get annoyed with their colleagues at work, with over half saying they find themselves irritated on a regular basis.evalThe research offers some insights into the most common annoyances in UK offices and how you might go about overcoming these.Irritating habits and distractions can have a negative impact on employees, in fact, 1 in 3 respondents said they felt workplace annoyances had affected their productivity. This can impact on the company so it’s important for employees to effectively manage these bad habits. Unfortunately, you can’t put a stop to them, but there are plenty of ways to overcome them to avoid hindering your business.Most Annoying Office HabitsevalThe research included 800 UK office workers, and when asked to rank annoying office habits, there were some clear winners. Poor personal hygiene:Yep, think we can all agree that a bad smell can be more than enough to put you off your work, never mind your lunch.Someone eating smelly foods at their desk:Continuing a similar theme, people don’t look kindly on those who tuck into a smelly lunch without any regard for those around them.Regular smoking breaks:Non-smokers can often find themselves working while other colleagues go out for regular smoking breaks.Whistling:There aren’t many things more distracting than someone whistling while you’re trying to concentrate.People being late:evalWhether it’s showing up late to work, meetings, or anything else. Waiting around for people can be very frustrating.It’s not ju st habits that can get under people’s skin either, overused phrases are more than capable of making us want to pull our hair out while at work.Here are the top ones highlighted by instantprint’s research:“Regards”, as opposed to ‘kind regards’ in a passive aggressive email“It’s on my radar”“Ducks in a row”“Move the goalpost”“Hit the ground running”Cliché phrases are just something you need to try and dodge when working in an office environment, because they’re everywhere. If you’re a culprit, maybe you should consider some less irritating alternatives.evalThe survey also allowed UK workers to reveal some of their own pet peeves they have to suffer through during a working day. They gave the following responses:“My colleague flirts with the customers”“Always whistling an inane tune, such as ‘bippity, boppity boo’”“Heating smelly fish in the microwave!”“They called me Christine. My name is Kim.”“Ate half my chocolate bar, and th en barked when I was on a business call”“Leaving their smelly socks on the floor”“My boss rushed a meeting so he could get back to the golf course”The Importance of Managing Bad HabitsAs mentioned before, irritating habits can have negative impacts on the morale and productivity of your employees, which as a result, staggers or interrupts business output.evalAccording to Workplace Insight, a quarter of the UK workforce already admit to being unproductive for up to two hours a day, this accounts for 40 million working hours every week.Businesses can’t afford for this to be any higher, and with 30% of respondents claiming annoying colleagues reduce their productivity, managing these annoying habits should be taken seriously by employers.As an employer, there are things you can do to manage these habits, and it’s important you take it upon yourself to do so, as according to instantprint’s survey, the majority of people suffer these annoyances in silence.As many as 40% s aid they wouldn’t say anything if someone was being annoying, and of the 60% who would, it doesn’t mean the problem is always effectively being solved.As well as leading to a fall in productivity, 29% claim annoying colleagues make the day feel long, and 23% said they feel stressed out because of them. Even more worrying for employers, is that nearly one-third of respondents said they are likely to leave their job because of annoyances in the office.evalProductivity, morale, and staff retention are huge areas of concern for employers, so keeping these as high as possible should be at the forefront of employer’s minds.Overcoming Annoying Workplace SituationsFinding a way of handling colleagues’ annoyances with each other can be difficult, but before we get into that, it was also revealed that a number of employees were annoyed by the facilities at work.When the work kitchen microwave isn’t cleanFlickering Office LightingThe office printer that’s broken… againUnpleasant toiletsMeeting rooms being double bookedA fridge that isn’t big enough for everyone’s lunchNowhere to take a lunch break away from your deskWhen the air con isn’t set to your optimum temperatureAn untidy kitchenLimited car parking spaceThese were the top responses when people were asked what annoyed them about their office space, as an employer, addressing these should be fairly straight forward. Make sure the office is kept clean, fix any faults, and ensure there is enough space for employees to feel comfortable in their working environment. If it means an increase in productivity and morale, it makes a worthy investment.Moving onto more sensitive issues between employees, Sean Kachmarski, trainer at instantprint, offered some expert knowledge on how to overcome certain annoying workplace situations highlighted by the survey.1) Last minute cancellationsEmployees grow frustrated when colleagues become unreliable and they feel they’re being let down. Introduce a policy where if you need to cancel a meeting, you should be the one to reschedule it or go and speak to someone directly. This will stop your employees from feeling let down.2) Stealing food from the fridgeIn most cases, this is a matter of trust. But making sure there is enough fridge space and leaving notes to remind employees to respect what belongs to their colleagues can make a difference.3) Poor communicationTo avoid break downs in communication annoying your employees, promote an office atmosphere where employees are free to go and speak to each other at their desks or book in rooms for a catch-up. This will have other positive effects on the office as well as working relationships will improve.4) Untidy toiletsToilet habits can get on employee’s nerves if they consistently find them kept in poor states. Encourage policies and provide the right equipment for employees to keep the toilets clean and use posters to remind people to consider their fellow workers.5) Unanswered emailsSimilarl y, to poor communication, encourage your employees not to get annoyed by unanswered emails and try alternative methods of communication as there is probably a good explanation for why the receiver hasn’t written back. Face-to-face communication is the best, and it’s a quick way of getting things done.6) Using a colleague’s mugA common dispute in the communal kitchen, chances are the cause of this is there aren’t enough mugs to go around. Bring in some company branded mugs for everyone’s use to help solve this issue.It can be easy to turn a blind eye to these workplace annoyances and leave employees to sort it out amongst themselves. But with the negative impacts this can have on your business highlighted in the study, it’s worth taking some time to ensure you have a happy and productive workforce.

Job Roundup - Job Reality Check - CareerAlley

Job Roundup - Job Reality Check - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. This infographic has been created using information from various sources around the web. The Job Round-Up looks into the wonderful world of employment, giving you details of the best and worst jobs around the globe, including information about the highest paid jobs, the weirdest jobs, the most unpopular jobs and the most dangerous jobs. Did you know, for example, that zombies can earn up to 30k a year? And that the first female police officers were appointed by London Metropolitan? more Brand yourself BioJob Zoo was created with the primary purpose of giving young people, school leavers, grads/post grads and first time jobbers the best chance of finding that dream job. They provide users with job listings, CV templates and much more. This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Who Likes Winning Cool iPhone 5 Gear? Our friends at TimaruCases.com have partnered with us to give away one of their exclusive Timaru iphone 5 cases. How Do You Become Eligible? Eligibility is as simple as 1-2-3: Tweet out and/or Facebook share this blog post. Comment on this postand tell us why you need a new iphone 5 case. Like Timaru Cases on Facebook and tell us what website sent you there! Winners will be randomly chosen and revealed at the end of the contest (one week), so be sure to check back at the end to see if youre a winner. Good luck in your search. Visit me on Facebook

Making Your Resume Stand Out Through Reddit Writing

Making Your Resume Stand Out Through Reddit WritingAre you planning to submit your resume to an employer through Reddit? You need to make sure that the information is accurate and applicable. The following are a few tips for submitting your resume with Reddit in mind.* Writing an awesome resume. When submitting your resume, make sure that you include all of the relevant information. These include name, phone number, address, and email address. Do not leave out any information that can be used against you during an interview. Make sure that the information is current and accurate.* Send a cover letter. A cover letter will get the ball rolling and helps to speed up the process of getting the ball rolling on a resume. The cover letter is a great way to go. Make sure that it stands out and is compelling.* Writing an awesome resume is just the beginning. You need to know how to make your resume stand out from the competition. Use graphics and websites that help you express yourself throug h text.* Submit your resume online. You do not want to put all of your hard work into a resume, sit back and wait for people to find it. You can submit your resume online and be assured that you will get a response.* Submitting online is the easiest and fastest submission process. Everything else requires time and effort. However, the entire process is fast and free.* Must have your resume printed. Once you have submitted it online, you must be sure that the information is professionally printed and mailed out. If your resume is not printed properly, you could have a job offer or a conversation with the employer taken away.If you have been rejected or if you need to find something new and exciting to write about, then using Reddit to write an awesome resume might be the perfect fit for you. It is a great place to start and offers a lot of writing opportunities.