How to Create the Ideal Social Media Resume

How to Create the Ideal Social Media Resume Its no secret that your tweets and Facebook profile can come back to haunt you during your job hunt. Whatever you type on the internet should be considered as carefully as the words that come out of your mouth. One poorly considered remark can literally cost you your job, and maybe your career just look at pro baseball manager Ozzie Guillén, who was fired by the Miami Marlins in October over a careless pro-Castro statement he made. Weve all heard what NOT to put on Facebook and Twitter over and over; drunken party pictures will not help you get hired at a law firm. In this day and age, its probably a good idea to avoid politics and potentially divisive social issues as well. Of course, you can always adjust your privacy settings on Facebook, but then how do you react when your potential new boss sends you a friend request? Do you spend the whole day digging into your timeline to clean up any hint of your wild college days (and subsequent reunions)? Youre far better off making everything public. If theres junk to clean out, take the time to do it. From now on, your social media profiles should scream fine upstanding citizen at every turn. And if you do still get a little crazy on the weekends, go ahead and adjust your settings so that any photographs must be approved by you before they appear on your profile. With everything you shouldnt post out of the way, start thinking about what you do want to convey. Start with whats on your resume. How can you convey the same list of accomplishments on your personal one sheet in the form of a Google+ or Facebook profile? Dont overlook the importance of that in many cases, an employer may actually spend more time examining your Facebook page or Twitter feed then they will looking through your resume. To ensure that what they find only helps your case for a job, look for this checklist of items in your social media profiles: Pictures of Family If youre married and have children, this occurs automatically. Once we settle down, our Facebook profiles are little more than baby pictures and first steps. But if youre a 20-something fresh out of school, put on a nice shirt and take some happy shots with Mom for your profile. The appearance of a strong emphasis on family can demonstrate to employers that you value close relationships, and that the people who know you best have genuine respect for you. Highlight Charitable Work Volunteering can help you get a job. When youre willing to give your time and effort to a cause you care about, it shows that youre a hard worker and securing a paycheck isnt your sole motivation in life. Theres nothing wrong with highlighting your charitable outreach when youre helping others, allow that to help you, as well. A photograph of you building a Habitat for Humanity house or a tweet about your work at the local animal shelter can work wonders to demonstrate your community-minded attitude. Thats an asset to any business. Be Health Minded Healthy employees save a company money, both on the overall cost of health insurance plans and higher productivity levels (and less sick days). If youre a runner, get the word out about your progress whittling down your 10K race time. Are you an aspiring yogi? Tweet about the retreat youre headed to next week. Of course, you dont want to let any one activity dominate your profile be fit, happy, and well-rounded. Dont Hide Your Hobbies You never know your love of flying kites could end up being the ice breaker in your interview. If youre passionate about something, let it show. And you never know when a potential employer will share your interest, giving you that extra edge over a competitor for a position. These ideas are just the start. If youre proud of your college, make a point to tweet or pin stories about research being conducted there or accolades they receive. Did you study abroad in South Africa? Dont hesitate to reference your experience there in comments on the current news stories coming out of the country. Keep every post positive. If you complain on Twitter and Facebook, you will probably complain at work. With your new attitude and glowing profile pages ready to go, its time to make social media your ally. Less than 50 percent of Facebook users are using their profile for career gain, so youre already at an advantage. The numbers are even weaker for LinkedIn (surprisingly) and Twitter. For most people, the biggest challenge when perfecting a social media resume is giving up the outdated idea that your Facebook profile or Pinterest page are still personal to you and your friends. Unless you set the highest privacy standards (not recommended youll give the impression that youre hiding something), anyone can look at the bulk of your pages. Remember that this is a good thing! When someone searches your name, your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles will likely be high ranking hits, and you want prospective employers to click through them and explore at will, because what they find will impress them and convince them that you are a person they want to work with. Marketing Director Thomas Ford of www.123Print.com leads a team offering high quality customizable items like business cards, letterhead, banners, yard signs and other promotional printing materials for small businesses and solo practitioners.

4 Keys to Successful Teamwork - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

4 Keys to Successful Teamwork - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Effective teamwork is the number one rule of an organization’s success. It has many benefits such as increased productivity, improved work quality, increased employee morale and etc.   Putting together a great team may seem like a simple task. Hire the best individuals and there you go! Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that in the real world because making a group of different people work together in harmony is in fact a very difficult task.  There are certain key elements to it. Below you can find 4 of them. Open Communication: Communication is one of the most important aspects of team working. Team members must be able to say what they think, share their ideas, ask questions to their teammates. In addition, all team members must provide honest feedback to each other in order to grow as a team. It would be also very helpful for the team if all members try to get to know each other on a personal level. Respect: Team members are not supposed to like each other but they should show mutual respect. There may be conflicts between members of the team but the team leader should find a way to solve these conflicts. Also, every team member should have equal work load and should not try to impute his/her own share of the work to someone else. Additional ways of showing respect to members include arriving to meetings on time, being prepared for the meetings and listening to team members’ ideas even if you don’t agree with them. Commitment: Team members must be committed to the team. They should understand the overall goals and direction of the team as well as find out how they fit in to the overall structure of the team. Each team member can show his/her dedication to the team by going that extra mile or invest additional time and energy to really come up with innovative solutions to their business problems. Adaptability: Being adaptable means pushing yourself out of the comfort zone to face with new situations and as a result, grow. Team members must be adaptable because they need to grow as an individual. Moreover, change is constant. For example; a team member can change, a project can change or a client can change. Therefore, all of the team members must be flexible and keep calm when change happens.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese 7 Considerations for Taking a Job Overseas

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese 7 Considerations for Taking a Job Overseas As opportunities have become more limited in the U.S. -- especially for young professionals trying to gain workplace experience -- more people are looking overseas for job opportunities. Here are some things to consider if youre looking for a job abroad: Evaluate the risks. The U.S. State Department (www.state.gov) posts information on where it is safe to travel for Americans, and the danger zones. Still, no place not even the U.S. in 100 percent safe. You need to consider the level of risk you are willing to take, and for how long. Plot your career path. Companies and jobs often dont operate the same overseas as in the U.S., even if you are working with an American company. Local cultures and customs often dictate how business is done, as well as the input from local workers who may be employed by an American business overseas. Will you be given the right kind of responsibility? Will your skills be given a chance to grow? Are there opportunities overseas that y ou might not be able to experience in the U.S.? Know the law. Its not enough to decide you want to go overseas you must acquaint yourself with the permission needed to gain a job in another country. Work visas are normally only offered through the company offering you the job, and the company must prove that the position cannot be filled by a local. Decide on the type of work. You may decide to gain work experience through volunteering (if you can afford to go without a paycheck), or by teaching English as a foreign language in another country, typically a one- or two-year gig (check out the Peace Corps, and Fulbright scholarships). Another option is an international internship for academic credit, but again, you probably wont get paid. Still another idea is a short-term job, usually about six months, with employers such as restaurants or farms, or taking care of children. Use foreign language skills. Even if youve only got one or two years under your belt, that high school or college French may come in handy when considering a job. Its also a chance to become truly fluent in a language, which may help your career later. Recharge your batteries. Believe it or not, helping a small village put in a well can give you more personal fulfillment than making a million dollar deal. If youre finding yourself burned out with your life and your career, working abroad can be life-changing event that helps put your life back on track, while helping you gain skills by working with people of diverse backgrounds. Watch the deadlines. Its not going to be possible to decide you want to work abroad and then leave two weeks later. There are applications and deadlines that must be followed, so its best to make your decision and then begin the process. It may take a year to get where you want to go, and remember to apply early to increase your chances of acceptance.What are some other considerations before making such a move?Socia l Bookmarking

Crowdsourcing for the Rest of Us Marla Gottschalk

Crowdsourcing for the Rest of Us Marla Gottschalk In todays world, how do small to medium sized businesses leverage cutting-edge tools to improve day-to-day operations? Answer: Borrow the strategies of the big hitters such as   InnoCentive and Proctor Gamble, then adapt them to meet your needs. One relevant example: crowdsourcing â€" and its really just about listening. Crowdsourcing is all about opening the lines of communication, forging new connections and gaining a new perspective. The concept may sound intimidating â€" but it is simply about listening respectfully and utilizing the information to move your business forward.   When implemented correctly, it can offer you information that can help business evolve effectively. Your customers and crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing can augment your overall customer strategy. The process can not only offer a needed layer of protection when tracking a developing product or service problem, it also has the ability to collect customer ideas for future improvements. Starbucks, Cadbury and Toyota are a few of the companies gathering customer input, with links on their websites to gather ideas and feedback   â€" a strategy that any business can implement. Other common social media platforms provide targeted crowdsourcing opportunities. Consider posting a question on your company Facebook Page, include a poll on your blog concerning options for product updates, or post an informational video on Youtube (youll get plenty of comments). You can also utilize your Google+ Brand Page to hold a hang out with your customers and explore ideas relevant to your business plan. Whatever the topic you choose to explore, be sure to keep the call to action simple and try not to overwhelm your customers in the process. Get Creative Organizations of all kinds, are connecting with their customers through crowdsourcing. Sweetgreens novel New Years Resolution campaign focused on developing a link with customers. By collecting resolutions through post-it notes at their physical store and on Twitter, customer relationships were forged and strengthened. You can utilize crowdsourcing to include your customers in your developing business story, whatever the topic. Crowdsourcing within your organization Crowdsourcing is not only about establishing a rapport with your customers, it can also open a new communication channel with your employees. It is possible to crowdsource just about anything within your organization â€" including ideas to solve inefficiencies within a department or a function. Have budget constraints? Want ideas on how to save money wisely? Pitch the question to your employees, as they are the experts concerning the day-to-day operations of your organization. Does your organization routinely utilize teams to develop new ideas and solve problems? Social engagement platforms such as Jostle, offer opportunities to implement crowdsourcing within your day-to-day operations, by facilitating new connections and communicating current topics, challenges and opportunities. Essential elements for internal crowdsourcing. The platform provides opportunities to document team formation in response to ever-changing business needs. As explained by Brad Palmer developer of Jostle, The idea is to connect people by encouraging the discovery of those within the organization. This facilitates cultural knowledge that can positively enhance effectiveness and extended teamwork. As such, this information allows employees even somewhat removed from the work at hand to serve as a potential contributor or problem solver. Before you shrug off the notion that crowdsourcing is inappropriate for your business â€" give the idea just one more thought. Implementing the process could offer you the needed edge to catapult your organization forward. Check out this crowdsourcing infographic. Dr. Marla Gottschalk is a Workplace Psychologist located in East Lansing, Michigan. Contact her practice at marlagottschalk@comcast.net.You can also find her on Twitter and Linkedin.

Hiring Developers Fighting with Tech Talent Shortage - CareerMetis.com

Hiring Developers Fighting with Tech Talent Shortage Source â€" Pexels.comWe all know that the tech industry is constantly changing. Due to recruitment challenges, companies look for other, more creative solutions to fill a position.Needless to say that the situation with tech talent pool depends on location and many other factors and, for some companies it’s very hard to find and hire dedicated developers, especially if the required set of skills is rare.Hiring Tech Talent Is Harder NowIn recent years, technical hiring has become one of the hardest challenges. HR professionals, recruitment agencies, and tech CEOs alike are bemoaning the shortage of tech talent.evalThe problem has become so severe, particularly in advanced economies, that it now occupies a role in the mainstream discussion.Solutions to the Tech Talent GapGovernments in North America and Europe have debated how they can create programs to teach coding to more people, for example. Meanwhile, venture capitalists and investors complain that the lack of developer talent i s holding their VC portfolio companies back.Technical Skills in High DemandDue to the high demand for tech experts in Western Europe and North America, among other regions, recruiting developers is much harder now. For example, according to EuroStat, about 20% of EU enterprises needed ICT specialists.In this group, in all EU countries, employers had challenges hiring the ICT specialists they needed. The situation was worse for employers in advanced economies such as the Netherlands, Austria, and Denmark.Chart: Employers Who Experienced Challenges Finding Tech TalentAmong advanced economies, Spain and France have lower recruitment challenges for tech roles.Reasons for Shortage of Skilled Human ResourcesBehind the tech, shortage lies a number of trends which have resulted in the supply of talent not matching with demand.The following are important causes of the current situation, according to Hackernoon.1. Technology AdvancesevalevalSoftware engineering has advanced in the last decade . New stacks have emerged, and new tools and techniques. The majority of talent has not yet sufficiently caught up with the latest advances that employers demand in the marketplace.Some relatively new skills that are hard to recruit for include data science, Node.js, No-SQL, big data, and machine learning.2. Employer Expectations for Tech JobsEmployers want to use the best, most cutting-edge technologies available and are willing to pay higher technical recruiter salary to conduct tech pro-research.Some of the businesses in tech are among the best companies to work for. For them, using an older technology stack that has more candidates available is seen as a strategic disadvantage.3. Tech Graduates Not Sufficient for DemandevalIn advanced economies, the supply of new STEM 2. IT outstaffingThe outstaffing model is often seen as an improvement on outsourcing, particularly for product quality. Instead of shipping out the execution of a project and its oversight, in outstaffing, the com pany that needs talent creates a tightly knit team in another location where talent is available.The project managers of this company then work with that team. The outstaffing company provides the entire team of dedicated developers for a project.Some advantages of this model are:Higher software quality â€" Because the company sponsoring the project has control and insight into the team of software developers working on it, work processes can be improved. The entire team can work to quality specifications controlled by the company that needs the product. When you hire dedicated developers, the quality of the end product is sometimes superior to what you could achieve internally.Better communication â€" Because the client and development team are tightly integrated into the project execution, communication is often better. This makes it easier to identify and solve problems or brainstorm together.evalThe potential drawback with outstaffing is that if the client has no team managers a ble to collaborate with the outstaffing firm, the collaboration can create logistical overhead.Hiring FreelancersAnother solution to the tech talent shortage is to hire freelancers. Hiring freelancers let a client company augment its existing staff with the talent for one-off projects or contingencies.Advantages of freelancers include:Fast access to talent â€" Individual freelancers outnumber companies, so finding a single freelancer for a small project is often easier than locating a company that can work on big projects.Few restrictions on finding talent â€" While a company might not be able to outsource an entire project to certain regions, there may still be freelancers in those countries that can help. For example, if a company in Europe needs financial development talent but has no intention to set up an office in New York, freelancers can help. The company can simply hire experienced financial developers who have worked on Wall Street so they work on its project, collaboratin g over the internet.A drawback with freelancers is that it’s harder to complete large, complex projects with freelancers. Managing time zone differences and different work schedules makes team collaboration more challenging.Best Countries in Which to Hire DevelopersOne area that has emerged as a winner in the tech talent race is Central and Eastern Europe. This region includes nations like Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Poland, which have rapidly growing tech communities.evalThis makes it easier for companies that are hard-pressed to find tech talent elsewhere. Given the high quality of talent in this region of the world, these countries are likely to become very important for the future of the tech industry globally.How Companies Can Circumvent Tech Recruitment ChallengesThe intense need for software developers and tech experts around the world has created a shortage of skilled talent.This creates opportunities for developers and challenges for businesses. Some options that many businesses are now using to solve this problem include outsourcing, outstaffing, and hiring freelancers.Each solution has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. All, however, provide an opportunity for any business or developer looking to work on cutting-edge projects.

Top 10 Oddball Interview Questions on Glassdoor in 2015 - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Top 10 Oddball Interview Questions on Glassdoor in 2015 On holiday over Easter, I was helping a relative prepare for an upcoming job interview â€" his first. After covering the basics (like research the vacancy and company, appropriate dress code, eye contact etc) the conversation moved onto the subject of handling interview questions. There are some interview questions that are tricky to answer but must always be handled truthfully: â€" Explain what you did in the 6 month period missing on your CV Others seem just plain weird and need a creative answer: â€" How many golf balls can you fit in a school bus? Actual question attributed to a Google interview. With most well thought through interviews, you can bet that the interviewer will have a reason for asking every question. Some questions are looking for facts and others aim to get candidates talking. Its clear that candidates must be prepared for anything during an interview, and as the more extreme questions get talked about online, you can be sure that more companies will adopt them into interviews. The online career community Glassdoor has combed through tens of thousands of interview questions that were shared with its community by job candidates over the past year. The resulting list of Top 10 Oddball Interview Questions for 2015, makes interesting reading and should help to get candidates thinking about what they may be asked. Have a look at them here: http://worklab.breathehr.com/top-10-oddball-interview-questions-on-glassdoor-in-2015

Tips For Writing an Insurance Resume

Tips For Writing an Insurance ResumeInsurance resume is basically a list of your experiences in the field of insurance, including jobs you have held and what your educational credentials are. Often a resume is more about showing potential employers what type of person you are than about your skills, but there are ways to make sure you get the most out of it.First of all, keep the information concise. Most people who write insurance resume never see the final draft, so you need to make sure that you don't jumble the facts or distract from your message. Also, you need to highlight specific skills.Second, you should list only those skills and tasks that you feel will be helpful to you in your new career. In other words, if you want to write an insurance resume that attracts a more senior position in a large company, for example, do not list reading and writing experience.You should avoid too many bullet points because they sound too formal. Instead, concentrate on the highlights. Also, avoid being too brief, and stick to a maximum of two pages, with no more than three bullet points per page.Finally, include a cover letter that will highlight your qualifications. Include your personal credentials, including your educational background, for this is an important part of your cover letter.As you prepare your insurance resume, keep in mind that you should tailor it to the needs of the company or insurance agent you are looking for. The resume format should be something that matches the requirements of the agency and does not scare off the interviewer. Keep in mind that the more experience you have, the more impressive you appear.It is also a good idea to include the companies that you have worked for as well as how much experience you have in that field. Also, keep in mind that there are many variations of the insurance resume format and you may have to customize yours for each particular company. Don't try to fit your resume into the mold of the rest.It is a great ide a to write both your cover letter and your insurance resume at the same time. This way, you can give an interview that is more efficient and interesting to the interviewer.