The Maryland Job Search Presentation

The Maryland Job Search Presentation Today Im presenting twice at POAC.  POAC is forward-thinking state sponsored outplacement services for professional level Maryland residents (that is my description).  Very cool and smart people offering great services at no cost for Maryland residents. I cant remember how many times Ive spoken here over the years, but its one of my favorite places to speak.  The audience will be different than those in Madison (WI) and Cincinnati (OH) and in Rochester (NY). More government and contractor types, helping federal agendas and big D.C. organizations. In reality, the needs of the audience are the same: Principle-based job search and career management advice, tips, and tactics. Much like what I talked about in Madison. Looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends today! The Maryland Job Search Presentation Today Im presenting twice at POAC.  POAC is forward-thinking state sponsored outplacement services for professional level Maryland residents (that is my description).  Very cool and smart people offering great services at no cost for Maryland residents. I cant remember how many times Ive spoken here over the years, but its one of my favorite places to speak.  The audience will be different than those in Madison (WI) and Cincinnati (OH) and in Rochester (NY). More government and contractor types, helping federal agendas and big D.C. organizations. In reality, the needs of the audience are the same: Principle-based job search and career management advice, tips, and tactics. Much like what I talked about in Madison. Looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends today! The Maryland Job Search Presentation Today Im presenting twice at POAC.  POAC is forward-thinking state sponsored outplacement services for professional level Maryland residents (that is my description).  Very cool and smart people offering great services at no cost for Maryland residents. I cant remember how many times Ive spoken here over the years, but its one of my favorite places to speak.  The audience will be different than those in Madison (WI) and Cincinnati (OH) and in Rochester (NY). More government and contractor types, helping federal agendas and big D.C. organizations. In reality, the needs of the audience are the same: Principle-based job search and career management advice, tips, and tactics. Much like what I talked about in Madison. Looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends today!

Why Do Many Small Business Owners Dislike Writing - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Why Do Many Small Business Owners Dislike Writing - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Many small business owners dislike writing so much they avoid it as much as possible, or put it off until the last minute. Many small business owners can talk the moss off a rock, but freeze when asked to write an article, a series of blog posts, orheaven forbid!a book to promote their business and build their brand. Their dislike of writing hurts their businesses in several ways: Lost opportunities lead to lost profits. Writing is the currency of brand-building and social marketing. In todays Internet-driven world, small business owners must be able to efficiently write an on-going parade of 140-character Tweets, e-mail subject lines, blog posts, landing pages, and social media profile pages. Without consistent online visibility and social media participation, small businesses wither and die. Procrastination. Small business owners who dislike writing inevitably put it off until the last minute. This inevitably leads to frustration, stress, and unsatisfying results which reinforces the owners dislike of writing. Where does this dislike of writing come from? Many small business owners dislike writing because they havent been taught an efficient way to produce the social media content needed today. Contributing factors include: Irrelevant writing classes. High school and college courses often approach writing from a literary, or creative, point of view. This approach emphasizes reading, analyzing, and critiquing books written by historys top fiction authors. Little, or no, emphasis is placed on rhetoric, or creating an efficient process for goal-directed writing to persuade. Negative writing experiences. This emphasis on best examples sets students up for later failure. Their assignments and term papers dont come out anywhere near as good as the books written by the authors theyre studying. In addition, their assignments are returned with judgmental comments that further undermine their confidence. Unrealistic expectations. Classes rarely address practical writing considerations, like time management and the importance role that editing plays in writing success. As a result, small business owners start to write articles and blog post at the last minute. When their projects dont come out right, they feel its because theyve failed, not because they werent taught how to efficiently schedule projects and manage their time. Bad writing habits. Small business owners often developed poor writing habits in college. A lack of structure coupled with peer pressure encourages last-minute cramming for exams and binge writing the night before papers were due. Unfortunately, techniques that helped   beat the system in college dont rarely work later in business.   Lack of consistency. Most small business owners dont write enough. Because they only write when they have to, they never develop the habits, rituals, and systems, that professional authors depend on. These include short, frequent daily writing sessions, choosing the right tools to organize their ideas, reviewing their progress between writing sessions, and tracking their progress. Failure to plan before writing. Small business owners often start to write by staring at a blank computer screen, trying out ideas and waiting for words to appear. Writing without identifying their goals, their readers needs, or creating a framework to guide their writing usually results in stress, false starts, and wasted time. Premature editing. Although small business owners are usually familiar with the basics of grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, they usually havent been taught when to edit. They often start editing too soon, before the first draft is completed. As a result, writing sessions turn into editing sessions, with little progress to show for it. A writing process for small business owners To build lasting brands, owners of small businesses must overcome their dislike of writing. They need a new approach to writing, one that focuses on the type of short-form writing, (140-character Tweets, 500 word blog posts, scripts for 4-minute videos, etc), needed for brand-building in the social media world. Small business owners must begin to like writing, viewing writing as a way they can become content creators rather than “artists” seeking critical judgment. Writing can no longer be a stressful task put off as long as possible. Writing has to become an on-going process of sharing expertise, educating their market, and building lasting relationships that attract followers and convert them into prospects, andâ€"laterâ€"clients. With writing the currency of social marketing today, small business owners have to like writing in order to prosper and survive. Author: Roger C. Parker’s Published Profitable offers ideas and tools for writing a brand-building book. Download his free 99 Questions to Ask Before You Write and Self-publish a Brand-building Book.

The Second Biggest Mistake You Are Making - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

The Second Biggest Mistake You Are Making - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career My career transition practice is full of amazing people with a huge well of talent, potential and experience. Each person is completely different. And with each person, I’ve identified a specific obstacle they are overcoming, so they can quickly move ahead on their goals. That problem identification and problem solving is the primary focus of our work together. Typically that obstacle has arisen from a mistake in their understanding of the specific challenge or opportunity they have, and the right way to approach it. Of course, this would be a specific problem to solve in each specific situation. However, no matter how specific the #1 mistake or obstacle is for each individual, the #2 mistake theyve been making is pretty much the same. I suspect you are making the same mistake as well. The second biggest mistake people make in a career transition or business is this You think you need something else. You think you need something more than what you have right now at your fingertips. I hear these things: “I need to brush up on my Spanish skills.” “I need more ideas. I need new content. “I need a website. I need a new website.” “I need a contact management system.” “I need a project management app.” “I need more recommendations on LinkedIn.” “I need to get another certification, MBA, to finish my AA…” “I need a partner.” “I need an investor.” “I need an office.” “I need to convince ….” No. You. Don’t. You dont need a business card, location, degree, another degree or anything else. If you are reading this from some device with your own eyes and you understand this content: you have everything you need right now. Stop yourself from looking for reasons not to succeed. Stop yourself from wasting one more moment. You have you. That’s what you need. Anyone who ever told you a piece of equipment, the perfect resume or portfolio, or anything else is wrong. Anyone who ever told you that you are not enough is wrong. Now go tell everyone you know exactly what you do â€" or want to do. Speak plainly. Then, ask them whom they know among their friends who might need what it is you do. Or, could possibly connect you with someone who might. What you need is hiding in plain sight. Stop looking for it. See it.

3 Things You Need to Stop Thinking Right Now (Podcast #54) - Classy Career Girl

3 Things You Need to Stop Thinking Right Now (Podcast #54) Have you ever wanted to reinvent yourself and start all over? I know when I was back in my corporate days and feeling totally stuck, I wanted a brand new life and I needed to stop thinking some things that were holding me back. I was also going through some personal issues at the time and the prospect of reinventing myself was something I needed like yesterday. But the truth is reinventing yourself and transitioning your life and career does not happen overnight. It’s tough and that’s why I wanted to make sure I got this interview I did with Linda Rossetti, author of Women and Transition on the podcast today. Click play below or  right click here and save link as  to download or subscribe on iTunes  here on this link: If you are enjoying our podcast, please leave us a review on iTunes! It would mean the world. Thank you! Get ready for a special Career Transition Workshop where you’ll find the necessary tools you need to successfully progress from one transition to the next.  Our special guest this week, Linda Rossetti, Harvard MBA, tech start-up CEO, and author of the book, Women and Transition: Reinventing Work and Life, offers a fresh and provocative view of transitions over the arc of women’s lives. To make transitions, we have to really evaluate what we value. Transition is process oriented more than a change. The pattern goes through 3 changes. 3 Transition Stages Stage #1: This starts with a trigger. Lindas trigger was her crazy job didnt hold much meaning for her. It could be a job loss, a marriage or a birth. This is where you start envisioning what the future might hold for you. What could captivate you and keep you interested? Stage #2: A decision that someone needs to make with what you are going to do with this information. This is the validation stage of testing and creating cycles to gain confidence around this new future vision that you are going to work towards. Stage #3:  The act of transitioning. Transition begins to happen where there is a shift in what value means to you. The trigger is different but the pattern happens in the  exact same way. 3 Things You Need to Stop Thinking Right Now 1. I feel like a failure. Transition is misused with the word change.  Transition is wildly misunderstood and the skills women need to navigate this are often underdeveloped. The most shocking thing Linda learned is that very often without a baseline knowledge of transition, women misinterpret the early stages of transition as a failure instead of recognizing it as early stages of a growth opportunity. Sometimes it can lead to more feelings of self-doubt. At that moment women can retreat from living lives that they imagined. 2. I dont like change. Its too hard. Transitions happen very frequently over a womans life. 90% of women Linda interviewed expected to transition again in a five-year period. Transition is an opportunity to re-assess what holds value and meaning to us and integrate it into how we express ourselves every single day. Transitions require us to re-examine our assumptions about our identity and force  us to really evaluate what is important to us. Many of us realize that what we were doing no longer holds the meaning that it once did so we need some tools to navigate the transitions in front of us. 3. I need  to stop dreaming. Linda also found that women wanted to shortchange the step of dreaming. Because of the demands on our time, women want to go to the do loop. Its important to see if you can invest the time to take the vision step and make sure you take time to reach beyond some of the things you thought were at the edge of your capacity. Because, you are all capable of doing incredible things. In Lindas work with women over the past several years, she observed that too often women are reluctant to reach when setting goals for themselves. She  heard this repeatedly as I interviewed more than 200 women in writing her book. You have to ask yourself how can you reach higher. How can you  contribute your greatest potential to this world? So we challenge you to reach higher, determine what truly is important to you in your work and to get comfortable with transition in your life. Don’t let it hold you back from the life you are meant to have. Note: If you are ready to make your next transition and turn it into a growth opportunity, make sure you sign-up for our Fall in Love With Your Work and Life Challenge starting on September 9th. Sign-up here.

Why a new year doesnt have to mean a new you - Debut

Why a new year doesnt have to mean a new you - Debut The difference between 12:01am and 12:01pm on New Years Day really is staggering. First, the euphoria of turning a page of history and getting a fresh start, then the all-consuming hangover that has you questioning all your life choices to date. The dizzying high and the crippling low in such a short space of time is unlike anything in the world. I can understand, therefore, why people make New Years Resolutions. Its a way of coping with all this rushing change.  Just by the creeping of the Big Bens big hand past midnight, everything changed forever. So you need a New You to accommodate that right? Its been about 5 years since I made a New Years Resolution. Not because I have completed the project that is me and Im now certifiably perfect. More because I, like most people would set myself a whole bunch of general and immediate plans, inevitably failing when I stretched myself too thin. Ironic, considering the point of my diet and exercise plan was to stretch myself thin. Some people respond well to the pressure of making ten life-changing decisions on January 1st and thrive. If youre human, however, it might result in a bit of a car crash. But theres an easy enough way to get around this. Dont get hung up on a New You and focus on being an Improved You. Set targets and dont wait Dont think that I dont get it. Im well aware that no-one is completely happy with themselves. But if you absolutely have to make resolutions, do them right. Vague proclamations at the beginning of the year are all very well and good, but then go away and do the planning. Any goals you set for yourself should be SMART specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic and time-based. Set yourself a realistic goal for the end of the first month, the first three months etc. and re-evaluate constantly depending on your progress. Doing it in increments like this is just a bit more manageable and youre more likely to succeed. Why wait for New Year anyway? If youve got multiple resolutions, staggering them a little bit will help you build up some momentum. That way, if youve kicked cigarettes in January and you want to do away with meat in say, April, youll already be into a bit of a routine and the sting wont be so bad. Its difficult, but doable. Heres the most important thing about self-improvement that everyone seems to forget: Celebrate the good things about yourself New Year is essentially low self-esteems birthday. Its way too easy to get in your feelings about all the things you didnt achieve the previous year and how, with every passing month, you get a bit less cool and a bit more decrepit. Before you get carried away on making resolutions, take stock of how you improved and what you did well in the last year, from the tiny to the ultra-significant.  A great way to do this is to make an anti to-do list, logging every little accomplishment. Looking at all your unfinished tasks can drain you a list of achievements can push you to achieve more. You might even realise that perhaps there isnt much need for resolutions after all. People get so caught up in arbitrary periods of time, they forget that even though its January 1st, youre the same person in the same world as the day before. The truth is, youre you. And theres nothing wrong with that. And if youre gonna set out to be better, loving the current You is an instrumental part of the process. Images via Giphy Feature image via IB Times Download the Debut app and  get Talent-Spotted by amazing graduate employers! Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter

2 Personal Branding and Professional Image - Jane Jackson Career

2 Personal Branding and Professional Image - Jane Jackson Career Personal Branding is an important part of career management.   You only have one chance to make a first impression so make it a positive one!A stunning first impression was not the same thing as love at first sight. But surely it was an invitation to consider the matter.Lois McMaster BujoldTo manage your professional image and personal brand effectively, be aware of the 5 essential aspects of your image.   These must be congruent to ensure you project your most professional, competent and confident image.The 5 aspects of your image are:1. Your Hidden Image2. Your Assumed Image3. Your Visual Image4. Your Experienced Image5. Your Proven ImageUnless you are authentic in the way you present yourself, you wont be able to project true confidence and credibility. Enjoy this podcast episode and take away valuable tips to manage your brand and image effectively. Get a copy of Janes Dress for Success in Business Guide today! Click here

Career Tips and Tricks For Veterans in Resume Writing

Career Tips and Tricks For Veterans in Resume WritingIf you've been a professional for a long time, chances are you will have more experience in resume writing than the average person, but even then, you can still learn a few things from veteran professionals in the industry. Resume writing is very much a learned art, as you will have a better idea of what it takes to get your own resume written than most people do.One of the first resume writing tips and tricks for veterans is how to write a strong, professional resume without the help of a professional writer. This means that you should follow a few simple guidelines in order to create a strong resume. They will save you time and money and show you how to be a veteran professional, while doing something professional at the same time.You should always keep in mind that you are trying to get a job when submitting a resume to an employer. Whether you're in sales or you're the human resources director, the time you spend on your resume will pay off for you. The only way you can get a job is by making sure your resume gets noticed. A mediocre resume won't get you anywhere.Try to write one to two paragraphs, depending on how many pages you want on your resume. Be sure to highlight key information and also use bold and italics to make it easier to read. Be sure to also change the font from Arial to Times New Roman, especially if you have a lot of experience in sales or service. You should be able to find many different font sizes in the majority of publications online or in books.Instead of using your full name, try using a first name only, so that it is easier to know who you are talking to. It is even better to use a middle name for those who wish to be completely anonymous.If you wish to give more of a detailed resume, then you can write down a career objective in the first paragraph, followed by a list of skills you possess, your education and training and your work experience. There are some programs that will allow you to type out a lot of information on your own, however, you will have to pay for this service, so do not be surprised if it is not free.Veteran resume writing tips and tricks don't stop there though. When you begin the job hunt, make sure that you always stay up to date with your employment status. These experts agree that employers will be more likely to hire someone who is always up to date on their career.Keep your career objective and resume as short as possible. The final part of a great resume is the cover letter, which you should follow the same guidelines as the rest of your resume. Make sure you always stay ahead of the curve and you will be rewarded.