Anyone who's ever been unemployed (or looked for a job while employed) knows how stressful and exhausting the job search process can be. So, during your job search, should you feel guilty for taking some time for yourself?
The short answer: No. Of course not.
If we're not spending every waking moment applying for jobs, sometimes it's easy to feel guilty—like we're not doing EVERYTHING we can to land our next job. This strategy of applying for as many jobs as possible and hoping for the best actually doesn't help anyone get a job faster. In other words, choosing quantity over quality. This is the wrong mindset to have, and it does more harm than good.
The job search process is about working smarter, not harder.
Think about a normal work day. It's pretty balanced, right? You get up, go to work, come home, and still have hours left in the day to do whatever you want. Your job isn't the only thing you have going on in your life. That's why it's called work-life balance. To sum it up...
Your job isn't your whole life. So, your job search shouldn't be either.
Here are some ways you can take time for yourself as you look for a new job (because you deserve it!):
via GIPHY
When you're unemployed, here at Work It DAILY we like to say this is an opportunity for you to get in the best shape of your life.
Taking care of yourself is important and regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for both your physical and mental health. It's a great way to relieve stress and it may even help you sleep better.
Take advantage of the free time you have after applying for jobs and get moving! Chances are, you'll walk into your next interview with more confidence and an extra spring in your step.
Nothing helps us detach from our busy lives like reading a good book.
Quiet those racing thoughts by reading—any genre will do! Reading may help you learn something new, gain new perspectives, and help with empathy (all things that will benefit you at your next job).
Knowledge is power!
Although you may dread networking, think of it as a necessary evil. Sure, it sucks having to step outside your comfort zone and you'd rather be doing other things. But nothing can produce positive career results quite like networking. There's no substitute for it.
If you're between jobs, you should devote some of your time to networking. You'll meet new people in your industry and connect with those who have similar interests and career goals. If it doesn't help you get your next job, it may help you get a job down the line.
Sometimes all we need when we're feeling down is a visit with our family and friends. They've supported you through tougher times, and they'll support you through this transition too.
When you're starting to doubt yourself, they will remind you of your strengths and accomplishments. They'll give you that confidence boost you need. At the very least, you'll have quality time with the people you love—time you don't always have when you're working every day.
One of the best ways you can spend your time during the job search process is by learning a new skill.
Whether it's getting certified or taking a class, this skill should be applicable to your new job. You can add it to your resume, and it shows employers you've been doing something productive for your career, even when you weren't employed.
If you try these five things (or just one!), you'll transition to your next job with ease—and it won't feel like you're just waiting out the clock. Be proactive and take ownership of your career like never before! You may be looking for a job, but don't let that stop you from living your best life.
Need more help with your job search?
Become a member to learn how to land a job and UNLEASH your true potential to get what you want from work!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
If you are over 40, have a big skill set, and are struggling to get hired, you've come to the right place. I work with thousands of people who have big skill sets and can't get hired. What's going on? What can you do to stand out in the hiring process and land a job?
When you're networking and interviewing as a seasoned professional, you're probably giving employers the wrong impression because you're sitting there telling them all your skills, all the things you can do for them, and making it sound like you're a Jack or Jill of all trades. And while you think that's what they want to hear because you're thinking, "I'm the best bang for the buck," that's not what they're hearing. What they're hearing is that you're narcissistic. You're a know-it-all. You're going to be difficult to work with, and you're probably going to leave for more money anyway.
Employers don't want that headache.
Now, here's how you fix that...
@j.t.odonnell Replying to @luvmy2goldens over 40 job search tips! #over40 #over50 #careeradvice #jobsearch #interviewtips ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
1. Ask, don't tell.
You want to listen twice as much as you talk in your interviews. The way you do that is by asking great questions.
Examples:
You really want to get at their pain point and how the job supports them. But you're also sending a message, and that message is, "I get it. I'm the service provider. You're the customer, You're the leader. And I'm going to make sure that you're happy." That's the mindset they need to hear.
2. Make it clear that it's an equitable partnership.
By "equitable partnership" I mean you need to point out all the things they have to offer that you really want because you don't want them worrying that you might leave. You need to talk about the skills you'll be able to develop there, the knowledge you'll gain, and the opportunities you'll have that you won't have anywhere else. You need to hype them up and say, "You have so much to offer me here. This is the place I want to be. You are at top of my bucket list. This is the place I want to spend years at." And you've got to make them see that as well.
Between asking great questions so you're not overselling yourself and also making employers realize that they're exactly what you want, that's how you're going to get the results that you're looking for. Those are my best tips for job seekers over 40. Give them a try.
Reading books is one of the best ways to learn something new and improve your communication skills. But the benefits don't stop there. Most of the benefits of reading books can help you succeed at work and in your personal life. If you're a professional who hasn't picked up a book in a while, or you're an avid reader with a career who's looking for more book recommendations, you're in luck.
We recently asked our executives what books they think every professional should read this year.
Here are their responses...
I’ll cheat a little bit and cite two books: Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt and Herding Tigers by Todd Henry. I finished the former in late 2022 and I am about halfway through the latter with plans to finish it by the end of January 2023.
Both, broadly speaking, are about leveling up to become a better team member and a better leader. In some instances, that means how to achieve better clarity in your work through more efficient use of your time, or, in other instances, it means better delegation in order to level up your team.
On the topic of delegation, one takeaway that really resonated with me was scoring delegation tasks 1-5 so that team members have absolute clarity on how much latitude they have with a particular task.
Both books have been a nice refresher at the start of a new year on how I might become a better leader for my team over the next 12 months.
John Cox has 20+ years of performance excellence in advertising and marketing, leveraging Google-certified skill sets in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and paid search strategy, web planning and conversion measurement, and creative direction and graphic design.
In my particular case, I strongly would recommend Attention Span by Gloria Mark (2023).
There are many reasons why, yet there is one in particular: Currently, the currency that we have (does not matter how old or young or where you reside on the planet) is attention. Attention is the common currency that we all have across the board!
Attention Span by Gloria Mark is a groundbreaking book that reveals how technology affects our attention and how we can restore balance, happiness, and productivity in our lives. The author is a psychologist who has conducted decades of research on a) distraction and b) multitasking.
She debunks four (4) popular myths about our attention and technology, such as "why multitasking hurts rather than helps productivity." She offers practical strategies to follow our own rhythms of attentional peaks.
I think this book is super relevant and helpful for anyone who wants to improve their focus and well-being in the digital age.
Some of the key strategies that Gloria Mark suggests to improve your attention span are:
Hope these are helpful!
Ana Smith helps people & organizations achieve their full talent potential by developing and co-creating people strategies and customized solutions, and turning them into impactful outcomes and collaborative relationships, using coaching as the "red thread."
The Art of Work by Jeff Goins
How do you find your true calling? Finding your true calling is a path. Not a plan. You have to remain flexible. There will be twists and turns. Just like a map, your path is a journey.
7 Common Steps in Finding Your True Calling:
Preparation Phase
1. Awareness - Listening2. Apprenticeship – Let your mentors in3. Practice – The pain in the journey
Action Phase
4. Discovery – Fiinding your "why"5. Profession – This is not a hobby6. Mastery – Refining your skills7. Leaving a Legacy
In my work at the NFL, I have experienced a journey from the beginning. I started out working for a developmental grassroots project called NFL Europe. I learned how a team works and the team’s interaction with players, coaches, and other staff.
When that league ended after 12 years, I continued my journey working in Football Operations with the game officials. My previous role had prepared me for this role. I grew in this role by understanding my audience by becoming a liaison between the NFL and the Game Officials’ Union. I pride myself on calming relations between the two entities. I created trust and a better working relationship.
Michael Willis has 18+ years of experience working with accounting & sports organizations and has managed P&Ls of $10M - $125M+ with budgets of $3M-$50M+. He worked for the NFL for 22 1/2 years, mainly with the game officials working on the financial/accounting side of the business.
Therapists Phil Stutz and Barry Michels have written two books: The Tools and Coming Alive.
If you’re looking for simple, concrete “business” ideas that can be easily translated into e.g., “having more effective meetings,” then these books are not for you.
"The Tools" themselves are highly empirical “runes” that you run when life gets in the way of you—or you get in the way of life. The authors are at pains to note that they don’t care if you don’t understand or agree with the techniques. Just do them on an ongoing, consistent basis.
As you read deeper and begin to implement, you find that they are a conduit to understanding how life really works. Phil in particular is Yoda-like in his insights.
For me, such insights are becoming bedrock foundations for an adult outlook on the world as well as a basis for sound life and business decisions.
Mark Taylor has 20+ years of risk, technology, and product management experience working in global and regional financial services firms in the UK and the U.S. He's managed teams of 40+, successfully addressed 100+ regulatory issues, and has saved companies $15M+.
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has significantly influenced my career as an experiential marketer, creative producer, and storyteller. This classic book has resonated with me on two crucial levels:
1) I find immense satisfaction in the challenges of my work. As a foundational text in positive psychology, Flow explores the concept of "optimal experience" or "flow," emphasizing the happiness that comes from fully immersing oneself in an activity and pushing oneself to the limits.
2) This idea is especially relevant to my work, where I create immersive experiences that bring people into the moment and leave a lasting impact. These moments that captivate and engage consumers help build deep-seated brand loyalty. Flow has been instrumental in teaching me how to recognize and create those "optimal experiences" in my life and the lives of my client's customers.
Let's chat if you seek richer experiences and deeper connections in experiential marketing!
John Hoffman has 15+ years of leadership experience creating and producing video content, branded entertainment, PR stunts, and experiential and live events. At his core, he's a storyteller who has mastered the creative map and can scale logistical mountains.
I’m a curious, self-improvement, continuous learning/growing junkie so I LOVE books and am usually working my way through three or four meaty books at one time.
I guard these precious hours to feed my soul and challenge myself to drown out distractions, strive smarter, and catapult my business outcomes as I help SaaS companies get to market and create a modern buyer experience that sells.
If kin to your priorities, this is a recap of two reads that I recommend:
Sell the Way You Buy: A Modern Approach to Sales That Actually Works – David Priemer
Learn how buyers are often unaware of what they want and need, and the mechanisms they use to make decisions.
You’ll also gain scientifically supported methods to understand the customer, identify their needs, and move them toward the right solution for them while avoiding the behaviors that make most people hate salespeople. You’ll find yourself in the customer’s shoes as you ask questions, listen, tell your brand story, and communicate to truly connect with your ICP.
Jump: Dare to Do What Scares You in Business and Life – Kim Perrell
Are you hungry for a new career, ready to start a business, or eager to rewrite your current script in life?
If your next move isn’t a step but a jump, a leap into the unknown, this book will give guidance and shortcuts to make life-changing decisions with actionable steps to make a change, overcome doubts, and draw deep on your courage to take calculated risks that will pay off.
Lynn Holland is a business development executive with 18+ years of experience taking operational, IoT & retail technologies, products, & consumer engagement to market with a focus in petroleum & convenience retail.
If you’re looking to accelerate your career success, Atomic Habits by James Clear is one of the best books out there. It’s an incredible read that can help you develop better habits and stay on track with your goals no matter what stage in life or career you are in.
Atomic Habits covers topics such as how to build a system that reinforces positive habits and how to break bad ones, which will help you become more successful in your professional life.
Atomic Habits has helped me organize and prioritize. Forgetting about goals and instead developing systems, creating your own identity, and making small changes leads to better habits and a much more productive day.
This is why I feel Atomic Habits is the perfect roadmap for building habits that stick and can be applied long term. It provides practical advice on how to develop self-discipline, stay motivated, and make lasting changes to your lifestyle.
Percy Leon is a digital media content producer specializing in educational technology and entertainment. He is interested in web3, metaverse, and the use of virtual reality for storytelling.
As a brand marketing executive, I immerse myself in brand marketing books. But, recently, I've ventured off course. The reason is that in 2023, the single word that defines my professional focus is "abundance." Abundance in professional wealth and success. Specifically on making an additional $100,000 this year. Crazy, right? I didn't know how this would be possible until I read the book You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero.
This book helps you create a more abundant life to master the mindset of wealth. In addition, the book provides practical tips, exercises, and real-life examples to help you overcome limiting beliefs and take action toward your financial goals. Here are six things I've learned:
This quote from Jen Sincero sums up the book for me: "Everyone arrives on this planet with unique desires, gifts, and talents, and as you journey through life, your job is to discover what yours are, to nurture them and bloom them into the most authentic, gleeful, and badassiest version of yourself.”
Lisa Perry helps companies build leadership brands, driving loyal customers & delivering profitability. She does this through a process that builds brands consumers love. Her goal is to help companies develop, monetize, and grow their brands.
What books do you think every professional should read this year? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily's Executive Program.
How you communicate with employers after an interview is an important, but often understated, step in the interview process. Most of the career advice surrounding job interviews discusses how to land an interview, and what to do when you get one.
We're here to help you in that difficult (and sometimes lonely!) stage after a job interview when you're not sure where you stand in the employer's eyes.
Here are two ways you should follow up with an employer after a job interview:
This piece of job search advice is common. Yet, executing a good thank-you note is harder than it looks.
You should send a thank-you note to a potential employer within 24 hours after your job interview. And, since the hiring manager is probably really busy, it's best to send an email, not a handwritten note.
In your note, it's not enough just to say "thank you." You should also explain why you're thankful for the opportunity to interview at the company. Mention specific details from the interview if you can—about the company, meeting members of the team, and the position itself.
During the interview, make it a goal to remember the names of everyone you shake hands with. Then, you can drop the names of the people you met in your thank-you note.
This will show the employer that you pay attention to the details and have already connected with the people at the company you'd be working with if you get the job.
Lastly, end your thank-you note by reiterating why you believe you'd be a great fit for the job, and express your excitement about the opportunity to work there.
A well-written and thoughtful thank-you note like this will definitely stand out to hiring managers.
After you send your thank-you note, the waiting begins.
It's in your best interest to follow up one to two weeks after your interview. The only exception is if the employer gives you a certain time frame of when to expect to hear back from them. If given a time frame, don't follow up before then.
When you do decide to follow up with an employer, a short, concise email is the way to go.
Ask if there's anything else the hiring manager needs from you. Reiterate your excitement for the opportunity. And finally, close the email with a forward-looking statement, and another "thank you."
Communication with a potential employer after a job interview is an integral part of the hiring process. You don't want to annoy them, but you need to convey your enthusiasm and excitement for the opportunity at the same time.
By following up in these two ways, you'll stand out as an eager and proactive applicant, one with communication skills that will help you shine in any position.
If you are confused about the differences between project and program management, don't worry, you are not alone. Many people use these terms interchangeably, but they are two methods organizations use to oversee projects and achieve business objectives. Although project and program management are interrelated, each plays a unique role in handling projects and has different objectives. Let's start by first defining what we mean by each term.
Project management is the process of planning, executing, monitoring, and closing a specific project within a defined time frame, budget, and scope. A project is a temporary endeavor that produces a unique product, service, or result. Examples of projects are developing a new software application, launching a marketing campaign, or building a bridge.
Program management coordinates and aligns multiple related projects with a common goal or benefit. A program is a group of projects that are interdependent or complementary to each other. Examples of programs are implementing a new business strategy, improving customer satisfaction, or expanding into new markets.
Ok, now that we have defined each term, let's compare and contrast each of these disciplines in terms of their benefits, challenges, best practices, and tools. We'll begin with project management.
Benefits of project management:
Challenges of project management:
Best practices for project management:
Tools for project management:
Let's now go through the benefits, challenges, best practices, and tools for program management. You will now see the similarities and differences between project and program management.
Benefits of program management:
Challenges of program management:
Best practices of program management:
Tools of program management are:
Project management and program management are different but related processes that help organizations achieve their desired outcomes through the effective initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure of various initiatives.
Each process has its benefits, challenges, best practices, and tools that require different skills, knowledge, and competencies from the managers involved.
Improving organizational performance requires professionals to understand the differences between these processes and apply them appropriately relative to the nature, scale, and complexity of the company's strategic initiatives.
For detailed information about project and program management, please visit the Project Management Institute website to learn how to become a certified practitioner in these areas, join a local chapter, and much more.
P.S. If you like this article, check out this previous article in the series that explains the difference between digital transformation and change management.
Your cover letter and resume have made a positive impression on a potential employer, and they've called you in for an interview. Now, you need to ensure the employer stays impressed with you and your potential in their organization.
There's an old saying first impressions count—and there's no better instance of the truth to this than the impressions made during a job interview. A variety of factors are in effect. It may include the way you are dressed, how you communicate, your personality, and a number of other considerations.
It takes a lot to develop a positive impression, and very little to leave one that does not work in your favor during a job interview.
Here are 10 common mistakes that can ruin any job interview (if you're not careful):
Everyone's time is valuable. Show respect and do not waste other people's time.
Of course, sometimes things pop up and cause unexpected delays. Try to plan ahead so you don't arrive late. Give yourself plenty of time to get to the interview location. Make sure you have an outfit ready the night before, so you're not scrambling five minutes before you're supposed to be heading out the door.
If there is an unexpected delay, at the very least, give a call to apologize and inform your contact of your expected arrival time.
There will be a time for this discussion—generally not in the first interview, unless the employer brings it up themselves. You do not want to appear as though all you care about is, "What's in it for me?"
At the same time, approaching the topic of salary is especially risky. You may end up putting yourself in a position where you are asked to present a desired salary and fall under what the company hadn't anticipated. Learn more about the position and conduct research before going into the salary discussion.
Show respect by letting your employer know this interview is more important than any call, text, or notification. Turn off your cell phone. If you forget and it rings, apologize and turn it off.
Regardless of the reality of the situation, never talk badly about your current or previous employer(s). It brings to question if you will do the same with this potential employer in the future.
If they ask why you are leaving your current job, be honest, take ownership of the situation, and focus on the future.
Just as you want to learn about the employer, the employer wants to learn about you. At the same time, you don't want to be the only one talking throughout the interview. You also don't want to be too brief with your answers. You'll come off as unenthusiastic and uninterested in the position.
Learn to listen and have a balanced conversation where you both have a chance to receive information and ask questions.
Regardless of how thorough the interview discussion is, when asked, "Do you have any questions for me?" always have a question. Preferably two or three.
When you do not have a question, it may come across as though you are not sincerely interested in the opportunity.
Your appearance includes not just what you wear but how you groom yourself. Employers will not be impressed with a sloppy appearance. You need to appear and dress the part of what is expected of the position.
We recommend dressing one level up from the employees who work at the company. If the workplace culture is casual, wear something that's business casual. You should look like you want the job, while also appearing like you'd fit in.
Conduct research so you have at least a general sense of the type of business the company is in and what the position you are applying for is about. The hiring manager will know right away whether or not you're clueless about the job you applied for.
With thorough research, you will be able to better tailor your questions and answers during the job interview.
False information can lead to immediate disqualification and exemplify your weaknesses. You will most likely be blacklisted by the company, too.
Lying on your resume or during a job interview is never a good idea.
Carefully listen to what the interviewer is saying and show you are attentive. You do not want to appear disinterested and come off as inattentive. It is not a desirable characteristic for any position.
If you're not interested in them, they won't be interested in you.
Most candidates will only receive one opportunity to make a good impression. Make sure the one you leave is as positive as possible by avoiding these 10 common mistakes during your next interview.
I was excited to catch up for some coffee with a CEO friend of mine at their request. We had met a month or so ago when they were really “stuck” at taking steps to prepare for the future while also preserving the company during the current uncertainty.
We talked about the importance of strategy, an action plan, resources, skills, and incentives to accomplish what she wanted to do. She actually seemed lifted up out of a fog when we finished. In fact, as we departed our last meeting, she said, “Thanks for hearing me out and helping me clarify what steps to take, and how to make choices with ROI in mind. I cannot wait to meet with my leadership team in a couple of days to discuss. They will be thrilled that we are finally taking action.” It was almost like she knew she was holding them back.
As we sat down with our coffee she immediately jumped in with how she had wanted to meet with her team and start to figure out their strategy and so on but can you believe this banking situation? How she and the team had been discussing it and the same with her key clients and so on. She went on to explain how she had been consumed by and before she went much further, I SMILED. Her face turned red and she said, “What is so funny?"
"I thought you banked with J.P. Morgan Chase bank?"
She said, "Yeah, I do. We switched to them a couple of years ago so we are in great banking shape and they are going to be fine, and wow, thank god I do because can you imagine…"
I put my hand up.
I asked her, "What is holding you back from attacking the game plan we discussed a month ago?"
As she dropped her head, she said, “I know, I know. I just have never had to do it before and wonder if I am up to the task or not.”
Look... Intention isn’t good enough as a CEO and/or business owner. Action trumps it.
I also realized that as an executive coach and facilitator, maybe I was playing a role in this and because she is a friend, I had a blind spot so I stepped back myself and thought further about how to help her move forward in a more confident way. Here are my thoughts that I shared with her and will share with any/all CEOs of SMBs that are wondering what is the best way to proceed.
First and foremost, just because you are the CEO doesn’t mean you have to be in the driver's seat behind the steering wheel for everything. It is worth considering having a professional facilitator who knows your space or works with companies of your size and scale.
I would be asking myself the following questions to decide how to proceed:
Facilitators bring an outside perspective: A facilitator can offer a fresh perspective on your organization and its priorities. They are not bound by the same biases or assumptions as your team and can help you identify blind spots or areas for improvement.
Facilitators can help manage group dynamics: When a group is trying to prioritize initiatives, there can be a lot of competing opinions and emotions. A skilled facilitator can help manage these dynamics, ensuring that everyone's voice is heard and that the discussion stays on track.
Facilitators can bring structure to the process: Prioritization discussions can quickly become overwhelming and unproductive if there is no clear structure in place. A facilitator can help design and facilitate a process that is efficient, effective, and aligned with your organization's goals.
Facilitators can help drive consensus: It's important that your leadership team is aligned around your organization's priorities. A facilitator can help drive consensus and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Of course, bringing in a facilitator comes with a cost, and may not be necessary for every organization. However, if you feel that your leadership team could benefit from an outside perspective, or if you're struggling to make progress on prioritization discussions, it may be worth considering.
Peer Advisory Groups - There are several of them in every market place so exploring the right fit for you takes some time but is well worth it. I wish that when I was a CEO someone gave me that advice! When you join a CEO peer advisory group you will be working with a group of people who are demonstrably committed to learning—people who dedicate significant time, effort, and money to being regularly challenged by their peers, speakers, and chairs—all in the service of becoming better leaders and better people. It doesn’t get much better than that. It is the only safe, confidential space for business owners and CEOs to validate their decisions, recognize gaps in their thinking, or gain new exciting ideas they didn’t think of on their own.
When a CEO is deciding to prioritize certain projects over others, it is important to measure the return on investment (ROI) of each project to ensure that the projects being pursued will have a positive impact on the organization. In my experience, I would ensure my finance lead or CFO (depending on org size) had this responsibility. The two of us would talk it over and they would help me decide how best to measure the ROI. Below are some things to consider.
Define the goal: The CEO should define the desired outcome of each project, such as increased revenue or improved efficiency.
Estimate costs: The CEO should estimate the costs associated with each project, including both direct and indirect costs, such as labor, materials, and equipment.
Forecast benefits: The CEO should forecast the potential benefits of each project, such as increased revenue, improved customer satisfaction, or reduced costs.
Calculate ROI: The CEO should calculate the ROI of each project by dividing the projected benefits by the estimated costs. This will provide a percentage that indicates the potential return on investment.
Prioritize projects: The CEO should prioritize the projects with the highest ROI to ensure that resources are allocated to projects that are most likely to generate a positive return.
Monitor progress: The CEO should monitor the progress of each project and adjust priorities as needed based on actual results.
When you are ready (note the prep work below), I would bring your team together and ask them the three most powerful words outside of I LOVE YOU…
I need help.
Set clear goals and expectations: Before you can prioritize tasks, you need to have a clear understanding of what your goals are. Take some time to articulate what you want your team to achieve and communicate those goals clearly to your team.
Define what is important: Know the big from the small and you will have to learn to be aggressively patient. (Move fast on some things, slow on others.) Once you have your goals, it's important to determine what tasks or projects are critical to achieving them. Make a list of these items and share them with your team.
Collaborate with your team: It's important to involve your team in the prioritization process. Hold a meeting or brainstorming session where everyone can contribute ideas on what should be prioritized. Encourage open and honest communication to ensure that all perspectives are heard.
Assign ownership: Once you've prioritized your tasks, assign ownership to specific team members. This will help ensure that everyone knows what they're responsible for and that the work is distributed evenly. This is one of the most important steps in all of this because it establishes buy-in.
As a side note, I would also suggest looking at Patrick Lencioni’s new Working Genius tool (see image above) because it does an amazing job helping you and your leadership team identify your gifts as individuals and as a team. You will quickly see where maybe certain team members' gifts are not being leveraged. Great story in Chief Executive magazine.
When you have total alignment it requires preparation and planning but, done well, you deliver optimum results! Strategy (without you get confusion), set the action plan (false starts without), have the right resources (frustration without), make sure you have the skills/competencies (or you create anxiety, and finally have incentives aligned (you will get only gradual change).
Resumes are still the main “calling card" used by job seekers and there are various schools of thought about the formatting of this document.
Here are a few tips for formatting your resume that may help you beat the blank screen blues if you're creating a new resume from scratch (or updating one you haven't touched in years):
Most resumes have at least a half-inch margin, but a full inch is preferable. If your margins are smaller, you risk losing content if the document is printed by the hiring manager. Plus, a resume that lacks a one-inch margin is harder for the reader to peruse and may look cluttered or chaotic—two qualities that are not often sought by employers.
Readability is key when formatting your resume. Keep this in mind if you're using a resume template, or adding bullet after bullet of new information to your already-existing resume. It's a delicate balance between too much and too little information. Never underestimate the power of white space in your resume.
If you're going to use a resume template, ensure all of the fields are completed with your personal information. Nothing looks worse than seeing "insert job information here" on a candidate's resume. A glaring resume mistake like this may tell the hiring manager you lack attention to detail or other basic skills needed for the job.
The better choice may be to look at a variety of resume formats and combine styles based on your level of experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Spellcheck is great, but it doesn't catch all grammatical and typographical errors. It's helpful to have someone else review your resume. Ask for that person's feedback on the style of your resume and the resume's readability and content.
Where do their eyes look first? Did you quantify your work experience? Are your skills relevant to the position you're applying for? Does the resume prompt them to want to learn more about you and your qualifications?
A good resume format doesn't mean a thing if you have spelling and grammatical mistakes. Having another person review your resume could save you from some embarrassing job search fails. It's definitely worth the extra time and energy.
Your resume should be clear and concise. Almost all people applying to jobs nowadays know how to use Microsoft Office programs and email, so there's no need to have a technical skills section on your resume unless you have skills that set you apart from the competition.
There's also no need to list "references available upon request." If employers want to check your references, they will ask for them.
Resume fluff only hurts your chances of getting the job. Nowadays, it's about quality, not quantity. A one-page resume with quantifiable accomplishments and work experience is always better than a two-page resume with irrelevant information.
So, cut the fluff and get clear on the value you bring to the table.
Keep fonts and font sizes the same throughout your resume. You should also consider using a similar heading on all pages of the document if your resume is more than one page. This is a good precaution in case the pages become separated.
Any inconsistencies will be distracting for the hiring manager. Choose a clean font, pick a font size, and keep the same style in each section of your resume, including section titles.
Most resumes are one to two pages. However, if you have more than 20 years of experience and/or a number of academic or professional publications, your resume may be longer.
Keep in mind that a longer resume doesn't equal more review time by the recruiter or hiring manager. Your most important information should still be at the top of page one. This is where all your hard skills (and transferable skills) should be, as well as your most relevant work experience.
When in doubt, ask yourself if the information you want to include on your resume makes you a better candidate for the job. If not, it's probably not relevant to the position and can be removed.
Resumes are not static documents, so even if you think you're finished with crafting a great one, you will want to revise it slightly for each job you are applying for and add to it as you obtain more experience. Since more and more recruiters are using social media, you will also want to update your LinkedIn profile to match your new resume.
With the right resume format, you'll catch the eye of hiring managers everywhere. We hope you use these resume formatting tips during your next job search. You'll be surprised by how much of a difference it makes.
The job search process is already difficult enough. Now, throw in the fact that job seekers have to be on the lookout for fake job postings. This is an unfortunate fact of life for those looking for a job in today's market, but luckily there are some simple ways to spot these fake postings.
You don't want to fall victim to one of these fake postings. Not only is it a waste of your valuable time, but spammers and scammers are trying to gather your email address and other personal information to potentially steal your identity.
In some rare instances, established employers post fake openings as a way to collect resumes, or to see if any of their current employees are applying for jobs elsewhere.
In order to make the best use of your time, here are four easy ways to spot a fake job posting:
A simple search of a company on the internet should contain a diverse wealth of information about a company, including a link to its website and other third-party websites that contain information about the company, such as Glassdoor, Indeed, and LinkedIn.
This is especially true now with so many companies focusing their efforts on good employer branding. Companies are pushing digital content through third-party websites, and their company websites and social media accounts, to tell their stories and give job seekers some insight into what it's like to work at the company.
If your research on a company comes up empty, then that may be the most obvious red flag of all.
In addition, you should also be able to easily find a contact in human resources to send your materials to or reach out to with any questions. If that information isn't included in the posting and is impossible to find, that should set off even more alarm bells.
Reputable companies take the process of recruiting new talent extremely seriously. They're going to spend a lot of time crafting the job posting, and they're going to make sure it has been proofread.
If a job posting has multiple typos and grammatical errors, you should be very suspicious. Look at it this way: Employers will throw out a job seeker's cover letter or resume for such errors, so job seekers should hold employers to the same standards.
Whenever you apply for a job, there's always some basic information that you must give, but there's some information you should never give out from a job posting.
Bank Account Information - With so many people working from home now, a common job posting scam will ask job seekers to give out their routing numbers so "the company" can pay for equipment to help them do their jobs. Sound suspicious? It should, because it's bogus. The exchange of money or banking information should never be involved in a job posting.
Social Security - Most job postings don't ask for a Social Security number right off the bat. That usually comes much later in the process.
This warning sign may be a little more subjective than the others, but you should keep a reasonable amount of suspicion if the job seems too perfect.
If you're applying for a job, there were obviously things about it that made it attractive to you, and it's not uncommon for employers to list some perks in their job postings to entice top talent. However, if a job posting is littered with perks and promises, and has very little information about the actual job, then it's trying too hard to attract a number of candidates, instead of the right candidates.
If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
One last thing to look for: Job postings by staffing companies may not always contain the name of the company the job posting is for. In those cases, you'll want to research the staffing agency to make sure it's a reputable company, not a fake posting.
By keeping your eyes open for these warning signs, you should be able to avoid falling victim to a fake job posting.
While making the most money we can (or at least enough to be comfortable) is the goal, sometimes a high-paying job costs you more in the end. You might have to give up things that are important to you like job security, stress-free work, and work-life balance. So, when should you leave a high-paying job for a lower-paying job? How do you know it's time to find a new job?
@j.t.odonnell Replying to @_.michele4._ When to leave a high paying job for a lower paying #job. #jobtok #edutok #careertok #learntok ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
If you're getting thrown around in a job and it's really draining you, but they pay you a lot of money, you have what we call "golden handcuffs." You're trapped. And the reality is if you can't find a way to make peace with that, if you can't find a way to not let the way they throw you around and raise your blood pressure bother you, then it is time to move on.
Now, oftentimes when you decide to leave a high-paying job, you get offered a job that would require you to take a huge pay cut. If that happens to you, don't assume that's your next long-term career move. Look at this lower-paying job as an opportunity for you to get yourself back to a happy place and figure out how much more money you need. You might be perfectly happy with the lower salary, or you might decide you want to start a side hustle, or you might decide that you want to take this time to do the homework and figure out your next career move so that you can make more money and be happier no matter what.
It comes back to working on yourself. And if this lower-paying job will allow you to do that for, say, six months to a year, then I would say go for it. Leave that high-paying job for a lower-paying one. Your career and mental health will thank you.
Mary McClinton was a patient admitted to the hospital for a routine medical procedure. She had full trust in the health care providers and was looking forward to going back home after the procedure and spending valuable time with her family and grandkids. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
She died during the procedure due to a medication error. She was injected with Chlorhexidine, a chemical antiseptic used for skin cleaning instead of another local IV injection. Both liquids were colorless, but the receptacles of the medications were unlabelled leading to a mixup and fatal medication error.
Sadly, medical errors still happen in healthcare and healthcare organizations are working towards zero harm, but we still have a long way to go. Patients come to the hospital worried about their medical condition and its impact on their livelihood and their families. They place their full trust in the medical providers. The last thing they expect is they will suffer harm or death due to medical errors.
That's why it is vital for organizations to develop a culture of safety.
Many of you must have heard different definitions, but the one I like is very short and simple: the culture of safety is how the healthcare organization and the people working in it behave when no one is watching them.
So, what exactly does this mean?
It means patient and workforce safety is engrained as a core value from the top level person in the organization to the frontline staff AND they will not take any shortcuts to compromise patient safety for the sake of productivity
That said, let’s look at how an organization can build a culture of safety.
Pillar #1: Psychological Safety. This is when frontline staff are empowered and are not scared to speak up. They are not punished or humiliated but are appreciated for bringing out safety concerns. Psychological safety leads to better brainstorming of ideas, more possibilities, better assessment and testing of ideas, and rapid cycle learning process. Staff will be more valued and respected. This leads to staff engagement. Teamwork thrives in the organization that has psychological safety.
Pillar #2: Active Leadership. This is when leadership in the organization uses strategies and has skills that foster staff engagement, staff development, and staff well-being. The leadership words resonate with their actions. Some of the essential leadership skills are communication skills, creating an intentional culture, providing employees with a voice, developing a reward system, supporting career development, and fostering employee well being.
Pillar #3: Transparency. This is where open communication thrives in the organization. Safety information is shared with all the stakeholders which leads to the building of trust. Transparency is used in this organization as a vehicle for learning.
Pillar #4: Fairness. This is where individuals are evaluated for their actions with the same lens irrespective of their position and titles. Everyone is treated equally and fairly in the system.
When an organization has developed all of the four pillars outlined above, then it has laid the foundational work to support the culture of safety.
If you’d like to talk with me more about how to build a culture of safety at your healthcare organization, I can be reached by email at sa7860@comcast.net, or on LinkedIn.
Everyone has a professional presence. The question is, do you have a good one? As a professional, your reputation is as important as your skills and experience. Your professional presence is your reputation, what people think when you walk into a room. Developing good professional presence is essential for success. No matter what industry you're in, good professional presence can open the door to new opportunities and pave the way for raises and promotions.
We recently asked our successful executives what defines good professional presence.
The three main ingredients in any executive presence are:
Confidence – The most shining part of executive presence is gravitas—how you act. It means that you show up as inspiring, trustworthy, and capable.
From the start, you must show that you have substance and authority in your talents, knowledge, and skills.
Leaders with gravitas show grace under fire. They are great at handling adversity with a cool head, letting others know that any crisis can be taken.
Clarity – People with poise have a way of talking that transparently engages people.
Executives who have complete command over the goals that need to be reached can communicate and break down elements of the tasks into step-by-step instructions.
Leaders who can communicate effectively develop a personal brand for delivering information.
Credibility – Is the quality of being trusted and believable. In working in the sports business, credibility is paramount.
If fans lose confidence that the games are unfair and non-equitable, the NFL loses the core part of the business—the game.
Good professional presence requires good personal skills that can help you succeed in your career as well as your personal life.
I believe you give 100+ percent. Show up, engage, collaborate, and connect with the team. In higher education, it is critical to model the way and inspire a vision that allows for success.
Maria Grandone is dedicated to student access and success, particularly of underrepresented students in higher education. She loves to wake up early to meditate, go for an early morning run, and meet people from all walks of life.
A professional presence is your image, your mission, your passion, your values, and your vision. It’s not a logo, a resume, or a profile on LinkedIn or other social media channels. It’s the story of how you solve problems and improve morale or service vs. your credentials—degree or job title.
Developing a strong professional presence can help showcase who you are—your skills, expertise, and passion. It provides a platform for you to establish credibility, helps you inspire and succeed, and establishes you as a thought leader in your field.
There are a few key tenets to keep in mind:
Kathleen Duffy is the founder, CEO, and president of Duffy Group. The company's vision is to elevate recruitment research as an alternative to contingent and retained search. Since its founding, Duffy Group has been a remote workplace and a culture of work/life harmony.
As a seasoned executive recruiter, I have advised many hiring executives and candidates on their image. Professional presence includes feeling and looking your best, embracing a positive mindset, communicating effectively, and being likable. It would help if you gave people reasons to want to meet with you and build a relationship. I suggest six tips when improving one’s professional presence.
Sharon Grace is a veteran search executive who helps hiring leaders hire great people because of her proven track record as a strategic partner and advisor to recruit, identify and assess talent.
Professional presence in the music industry is different than other industries. As a female executive in the music industry, earning respect is essential and requires putting in the time with teams that are highly sought after and in demand.
Professional presence starts with social media checks and ends with teams liking you.
Many times, just showing up is crucial because the teams, artists, and bands that connect with you personally provide roadmaps to other connections. That said, a few basics that are important include:
If I love a project or something I want to do, I don't do it for money. I do it because I love it. If the budget isn't there, I'll make it work for me and throughout my career. I think that's been a consistent theme. I hear all day long that peers will turn down jobs because the money is not right. Some people will throw away opportunities because of the pay. That's just not how I do business as so many opportunities happen from just being in the room.
To be invited into successful circles, your presence is important no matter what industry you are in, and making sure that you are providing an attractive, positive image is always on trend.
Kathryn Marshburn has spent 12+ years in the music and gaming industries guiding teams on identifying targeted goals with an agile approach resulting in driving revenue and reducing risk.
According to multiple surveys, over 60% of organizations that hire coaches say executive presence is one of the two top purposes for their coaching. Companies see this skill’s value and want their leaders to lead with a strong presence!
So, if it is so critical, what is it? It is defined in different ways for sure, depending on who you ask, yet the definition that I typically go to combines:
And these probably include a wide variety of possible combinations which generate a successful "executive presence." The result is a leader who can command the attention of a room and immediately draw you into their vision and who is set apart from others, allowing you to establish a reputation of respect and knowledge.
Companies and leaders may already know that executive presence is important, but it isn’t a skill that comes naturally for a lot of people.
It takes some time to develop and refine.
So, the most important question is, how can you develop it yourself?
Building executive presence is probably one of the most complicated things to do in leadership development, therefore don't forget to get a coach, a mentor, and several peers who will be willing to support your development as you will support theirs!
Developing a good professional presence is crucial for success in any industry. It is not just about having the right skills and knowledge, but also about presenting oneself in a positive and effective manner. Good professional presence is defined by a combination of qualities, such as:
Overall, good professional presence requires intentional effort and self-awareness. By embodying these qualities, individuals can establish themselves as respected and trusted leaders, achieving success and making a positive impact on those around them.
Marshall Martin is a former executive with start-up/entrepreneurial and large multi-national organizations with 20+ years of experience in the delivery of sales, finance, and operations management. His mission is to be a servant leader that connects, creates, and builds innovative ideas and solutions.
In today's competitive business world, having a good professional presence is essential for success. Here are some key characteristics that I feel contribute to a strong professional presence:
A good professional presence is a combination of confidence, communication skills, professionalism, emotional intelligence, and competence.
By focusing on developing these characteristics, you can build a strong professional presence that will help you in your career.
I didn’t know much about professional presence until about 2 ½ years ago when I met J.T. O’Donnell. I took her in-depth course on executive presence and learned that it’s about what people see when they come in contact with us. It’s our ability to project gravitas, confidence, competence, poise under pressure, decisiveness, speaking skills, assertiveness, and the ability to read an audience or situation, among other key characteristics. It enables us to build trust, establish credibility, and accelerate outcomes and results. What defines good executive presence is a personal journey and requires work. And that’s what I’ve been doing over the last several years. I did a deep dive into four areas:
This process was very enlightening, helping me understand where I was undervaluing myself based on feedback from those who have worked with me. As a result, over the last year, I’ve been able to turn around my executive presence based on the action plan I put together, helping me become a more effective leader, build stronger relationships with others, and achieve greater success at work.
An excellent professional presence is essential for anyone, especially those starting a career path.
It begins with credibility, being present, paying attention, and inspiring confidence in your colleagues.
To build credibility, focus on four simple aspects:
Always be willing to learn and improve by asking questions, stepping out of your comfort zone, and being open to feedback. Stay positive, avoid negative language, and have fun. Taking yourself too seriously can be detrimental to your professional presence, so remember to keep it simple and enjoy the journey.
In closing, pay attention to the positive and ask yourself if your actions are helping or harming the task. Then, do these things and develop a professional presence to set you up for success.
What do you think defines good professional presence? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily's Executive Program.
Landing a management job is a big deal. You're moving up in your career and getting recognized for all of your hard work and accomplishments. But it takes more to be a good manager than just experience and an impressive resume.
We've all had managers at different points in our careers, and let's be honest: a few, if not the majority of them, were not good managers. And that's okay. Not everyone is cut out for a management position. But if you recently landed a job as a manager at your company, you probably want to be the best manager you can be.
Here are 10 mistakes new managers make at work that you should try to avoid:
New managers frequently believe that they need to change everything. They place the stamp of their own ideas on every policy, procedure, and rule. And if there are no policies and rules, they're eager to create new ones.
They act on poor performance appraisal data. They immediately favor co-worker friends for key assignments, schedules, and so on. They want to create their "own team" as quickly as possible.
Other new managers act too slowly—buying into the "we've always done it that way" mindset. This can be particularly true of new managers with no management experience or very little experience with the company (e.g., a new manager hired from outside the organization).
Managers report that they intended to "wait a year or so" to learn how things work in the organization so "my employees can get to know me."
This mistake holds the solution to the paradox of the first two mistakes—the "just right" solution. A new manager must assess the situation of the organization, the expectations given by senior management, and the strengths and weaknesses of the department and each employee (hopefully, more focused on strengths).
Typically, a new manager is charged with solving some specific problems. Ignoring them is fatal. Not meeting with each subordinate to get to know them personally, get to know their strengths, and get their input is equally fatal.
Performance appraisal data is fundamentally flawed by rater bias. The appraisal data reflects more on the performance of the previous manager than it does on the employees being rated. Spending hours reviewing old performance ratings on subordinates is a waste of time.
If the previous manager was promoted because of his or her successful management of your new team, ask that manager some simple questions about each member of your new team. For example, ask: "Would you always pick (or rehire) this person for your team?"
If you're replacing a manager who was not successful, see the mistake below.
Solving key problems may be a top priority (e.g., poor customer service). But solving problems is less likely to be successful if the focus is on weaknesses instead of strengths.
If you can't objectively measure the strengths of the team using an assessment like CliftonStrengths Assessment then interview members about their strengths. Ask each one of them how they see themselves best contributing.
Yes, it's a classic movie line, but it could be number one on this list. Too often, new managers lock into a learning mode to read policies and procedures. They want to "understand things" before saying anything to their new team.
The solution is simple: communicate now and communicate often. Give your team the opportunity to learn about you as you learn about them. Let them learn your communication style as you learn their styles.
"If I ask questions, it shows I don't know what to do." That's scary, but it's not unusual.
Too many new managers fail because of both inaction and action driven by the failure to ask. Some of the most successful managers I've known were the most curious—asking questions of their bosses, other managers, and members of their team. They had a two-year-old's curiosity and loved the "why?"
The biggest mistake all managers make, not just new managers, is trying to motivate all team members the same way—or assuming they're motivated by what you think "motivates everyone."
Motivation has some common elements known to anyone who really studies performance and it has some myths that managers routinely follow by mistake. The solution is to understand your team members' strengths. That way, you'll know more about how to best motivate each person on your team.
New managers often believe they must be the know-it-all decision maker for the team, failing to realize the job is coaching people to be top performers and NOT being the "I can do it myself" manager.
In today's multiple-skilled workforce, a manager is likely to be the least knowledgeable regarding specific job/technical knowledge. The solutions are communicating, asking, and listening!
New managers are often challenged by Red Scott's "hire smart, or manage tough" dilemma with a situation created by themselves or the previous manager. Managers must know when and how to firmly make decisions (legally) that someone does not want to meet performance objectives.
A common refrain: "I know I should have terminated him/her a long time ago."
A favorite management quote: "Management is now where the medical profession was when it was decided that working in a drug store was not sufficient training to become a doctor." —Lawrence Appley
The ultimate solution to these 10 mistakes new managers make is adequate training! We wish you the best of luck in your management position and hope you receive the training you need in order to be the best manager you can be.
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Job seekers spend hours drafting their cover letters and contacting different companies, hoping to get a job interview. A smart job seeker knows the common interview questions a hiring manager will ask in a job interview and will prepare answers accordingly. Anticipating and crafting interview questions and answers gives you the best shot at making a good impression.
Usually, employers ask a common set of questions. So, we're going to share some important points regarding those questions and how you should respond to them. Here are five smart tips for answering interview questions:
Different hiring managers speak at different speeds. Allow the hiring manager to complete the question and listen to each and every word carefully. Some questions start off similar to other questions but demand different responses.
For example, an employer might ask you, "What skills do you have to deal with a customer?" Here, if you listen to only the first part, that is, "What skills do you have…?" you will end up giving a wrong answer.
Wait a few seconds after the employer stops speaking to make sure you heard the complete question. Create a mental list of points to include in your response. Do not wander off the point, and answer directly, covering all main points of the questions. Be sure to answer all parts of the employer's question.
Repeat your key points 2-3 times while answering the question. Explain how you have applied these points in your previous jobs. Finish your answer by reiterating these points. This will highlight your skills and reinforce your case to the employer as the ideal person for the job.
If you are good at creative things like graphic designing, essay writing, event planning, and so on, then you should definitely let them know about your extraordinary skills. It's important to leave the interviewer with a lasting impression.
Each response must tell the interviewer something new. For example, when you answer questions like, "Tell me about yourself," you can start out with "As a longtime volunteer at XYZ organization..."
Some final things to keep in mind while going through the job interview...
Listen carefully to your interviewer. It does not matter if you get the job or not, an interviewer is giving you an opportunity for professional growth and therefore deserves respect. Put your phone on "silent mode" before going into your job interview. A ringing tone or message alert may distract you and the interviewer from the discussion.
If you remember these tips during your next job interview, you'll impress the hiring manager and stand out as a smart, capable, and qualified job candidate. Never underestimate the power of good interview questions and answers!
When you land an interview with a company, the deciding factor was probably your resume—specifically, the types of skills and experiences you included on it. But, what if you lied on your resume?
Lying on your resume can come back to bite you in the hiring process. It can hinder your job search and cause more problems down the line if you do get hired. If you're considering lying on your resume, here's why you should think twice.
Most job seekers lie on their job applications and resumes because they are worried that they can't get hired based on the facts.
You can get hired with your current qualifications. Have faith! There is a job somewhere out there for you. However, it may not be as grand a role as you'd like if you haven't earned your stripes in the trenches yet.
It's important to know your genuine strengths and to leverage them accordingly. It's your job to sell yourself to potential employers in your resume and in your job interview. You're a business-of-one, after all. Lying about qualifications to get ahead faster, though, will only put you in harm's way.
Employers won't always know if you've lied on your resume or are faking your way through a new job. But if they figure it out, you are back to square one. And you've been fired.
One TV broadcaster in Toronto, Canada, for example, was fired over 10 years after he was hired purely for lying about completing his education. Marilee Jones was an ambitious academic administrator who attained the position of Dean of Admissions at MIT on the false claim of an undergraduate degree that had never been completed. She was promptly fired after the information was discovered. Some companies will go ahead with verifying your employment, find out you've lied, and never tell you. They just won't hire you—and they'll flag you as "Do Not Hire"...ever. Let's avoid that.
So, what can you do if you've lied on your job application or your resume?
Do you try to bluff your way through for 10 years or more? On the job application form, did you tell them about your misdemeanor felony conviction—if not, then when? How can you handle this without losing out on the job?
This is your safest option. Simply call and say you are "withdrawing your application at this time." If asked for a reason, tell them you've "reconsidered your application."
That's the truth.
They may assume the timing, title, or money isn't right or that you have another job offer or you heard something that makes you think it's not the right company for you. That's all okay.
In this case, you can tell them you "noticed some errors" and "want to correct them." Note that this won't work if you've created jobs or performance claims that were exaggerated. However, you can truthfully state that you want to be "more exact," if you wish. They may assume you had someone else write your resume and the errors were theirs.
That said, this isn't always going to work.
This may mean you lose out on the job opportunity, but sometimes people have big hearts. There's a good chance they are going to find out about the lie(s) anyway through reference checks or your own social media presence (like LinkedIn).
Provide a corrected resume or job application and tell them the truth. In life, we need to own up to our mistakes and learn from them. Tell them that, too—that you made a mistake and you want to make it right. It's a sign of good character to do that. People make mistakes, especially under pressure (and needing a job is a lot of pressure).
It's best not to end up in this position, but if the deed is done, these are the top three ways of fixing the problem...
You can explain job gaps and sudden departures from school or a former job in the interview. If you have a criminal record, and that would include any DUIs, be upfront about it or call immediately to tell them you neglected to mention it and would like to "set the record straight."
Some things are not automatic barriers to employment—but lying about them may be.
Now is the time to change your resume and social media profiles, such as LinkedIn, so you never have to worry about this again. Do it today so if your dream job opens up tomorrow, you are polished and ready to stand out to employers on your own merit.
Wearing many different hats on event production, as well as lots of time on TV, commercials, and movie sets has allowed me to make certain observations around TRUST.
When looking for a creative partner to deliver on your vision, in my opinion, TRUST is everything.
Establishing TRUST and having fantastic collaboration require specific skills and qualities. You must be honest, consistent, competent, respectful, and accountable to establish TRUST. When selecting a creative partner, look for people with a shared vision, complementary skills, good chemistry, and reliability.
For all the reasons I listed above, I love working with the folks at Wray Ward Advertising of Charlotte and the Tampa Bay production team led by freelance producer Danielle Galalla. Together, over two years and many jobs, we have developed genuine TRUST and all that goes with it. This team excels at maximizing content assets by doing the work of prepping, shooting, and editing—with every production phase feeding the next.
The production process is full of idioms that sometimes seem trite but make sense when we see them in action. Expressions have true meanings. For example:
In summary, you can build strong relationships, create exceptional work, and achieve more when you have TRUST.
So, if you are planning your next production and want it to be great, reach out and let’s talk. Let me walk you through what you might be missing. TRUST me, please.
And THAT, my friends, is a wrap!
When you have an employer calling and saying they want to schedule a phone interview with you, that means you look good on paper and they now want to see if you are all that you say you are. The phone screen is a critical stage in the job search process because how well you communicate and perform will pave the way to the big opportunity of a meeting at their office with the decision makers.
In most instances, the phone screen is conducted by someone from HR. They'll primarily review your professionalism and communication skills to see if you are articulate, knowledgeable, and have the right experience and skills for the job.
The ultimate mission is to screen out candidates so that the ones who are invited for an in-person interview are the best in the bunch. So, here's how you can ace the phone screen:
Your intonation and body language account for 90% of the effectiveness of your communications. If you are on the phone with no video, your intonation is all you have so be enthusiastic and try to build rapport as people hire people they like.
At this point in the process, the screener is also looking to clear up any questions or hesitation they may have about you from reviewing your resume. Be aware of anything on your resume that may be a red flag and prepare to respond to it without coming off as defensive.
You want to be honest and address any concerns, but also know how to steer the response to something more positive that brings back the message of "this is what I have to offer that you need."
Are you struggling with confidence before your phone screen? Wear your favorite interview outfit. The one you know you look good in. You'll feel confident and professional.
Also, today's "phone screens" don't necessarily mean just voice. Many employers may request a virtual interview, so be prepared to not only talk the part but dress the part too.
How you look and sound leaves an impression, just like it would from an in-person meeting. Express energy and enthusiasm in your tone.
Employers asking about your past experience aren't looking for a description of your job. If you want to impress, you need to speak of accomplishments and success and how those experiences have prepared you to contribute and bring success to future employers.
Quantify your experience. Do your research and talk to the need that the job posting highlights and then talk about how you've been there, done that, and can directly contribute to the employer's needs.
Some phone screens have standard questions directed toward your experience and skills, but there are also employers who may put you on the spot with a scenario to see how you react and respond.
The important thing is to not let these types of questions rattle or stump you. Keep a can-do attitude. Make sure you know your experiences, accomplishments, skills, and strengths like the back of your hand. Also, know how you can help the company reach its goals. It'll be hard to stump you when you've done your research.
You will be asked this to see if you are in their salary range. This can be tricky because if you present a number below what the employer has budgeted, you lose any chance of securing a higher salary, one the employer may (or would) have considered. And if you present a number that is too high, the employer may decide to dismiss your application and resume even before you have had the chance to make your case in an interview.
The best way to respond to a question about salary during a phone screen is to say, "Although the job and the challenge are most important to me, you should know that I am considering a salary in the XX to YY range." If you make it through the interview process to the last round of interviews, you'll also want to hone your salary negotiation skills.
Each employer will have a different method of screening applicants over the phone. But with these tips, you'll be prepared for whatever comes your way.
You haven't heard back from a recruiter about a job you're interested in. What should you say in your follow-up email?
When you're following up with a recruiter on a job where you feel like they've ghosted you or you simply haven't heard from them in a while, I know that you want to email them and say, "I'm just following up to see where you are in the hiring process."
Don't do that.
Never use the word "just" or the phrase "I'm just following up." It sounds passive-aggressive. It's a real turnoff. And I know you're thinking, "But they're the one who blew me off." They might be, but they're also the customer in this scenario. You want their job. They're trying to decide whether to hire you, aka pay you (a business-of-one) to provide a service for the company. They're the customer. We're never rude to the customer.
So, here's what you send instead...
@j.t.odonnell What to email when a recruiter doesn't follow up. #careertok #jobsearch #learntok #jobs ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
Example of a follow-up email to a recruiter:
Dear recruiter,
I wanted to be proactive and see if there's anything else I can do to further my candidacy for the XYZ job. I'm really interested.
Sincerely,
Your name
That's it. By wording your follow-up email this way, you're being polite, not calling them out, and keeping it short. And that's exactly what recruiters are looking for.
Does this email get you a response every time? No. But it certainly increases the chances that a recruiter will respond and let you know where everything's at in the hiring process.
I was recently working with a midsize business owner/CEO who wanted to know if I thought we were headed to a recession or if what he was hearing on his favorite news show was true about how it wasn’t true and I said...
“TIME OUT."
They looked at me and it was silent for a few seconds, and I said, would you be open to a discussion about something? They said of course! I said, “What really is the #1 thing on your mind that we should be really talking about?” The person looked away, took a deep breath, and said, “I am really stuck trying to decide where to prioritize my organization given all the uncertainty I am hearing about.” They then rattled off several ideas that all sounded like great ideas to pursue to grow and the individual was very excited and passionate about all of them. They then shared all the risks of changing but they know they need to.
Sound familiar? It led us down a whole different path that ultimately uncovered what so many leaders struggle with when there is so much uncertainty.
When it comes to small to midsized business owners/CEOs, there are typically three reasons I see that lead to them stalling out in their growth.
A. They are paralyzed and work to rationalize why they have not changed anything they are doing, knowing that they need to. I hear things like, “I am too busy,” “Do you know how hard it is to find good help,” “I am still working on sizing the market,” “I think this or that,” “Do I invest, retrench, and just ride it out and hope for the best?”
B. They don’t know where/how to begin, or stick to what they know. This often explains why they use the phrases above as excuses for not moving forward.
C. FOMO (fear of missing out). If they were to prioritize they could miss out on something else so they keep all options open and see what happens.
The problem with all three reasons above is they risk creating financial, operational, and emotional issues that ultimately could take the company down—and result in employees losing jobs.
When CEOs fail to address their reasons for getting stuck, A LOT can go wrong. Financially and operationally, there are potential revenue and profit declines, market share losses, and higher costs. Emotionally there will be decreased morale, increased stress, decreased trust, and anxiety without a clear vision and an effective communication plan.
FACT: The #1 mistake that small and midsize business owners make during uncertain times is failing to adapt quickly enough to changes in the market or consumer behavior.
This can manifest in a few different ways:
Sticking with the status quo: Some business owners may be reluctant to change their business models or processes, even when it becomes clear that the old way of doing things is no longer effective.
Clinging to familiar methods or routines: Usually, out of fear of the unknown, even as the business suffers.
Cutting too many corners: Conversely, other business owners may panic and overreact to uncertain conditions by making drastic cuts across the board.
Trying to save money in the wrong places: They may lay off too many employees, reduce marketing and advertising budgets, or stop investing in new products or services altogether.
Failing to communicate effectively: During times of uncertainty, it's crucial for business owners to communicate clearly and frequently with employees, customers, and other stakeholders.
Hesitating to share bad news or admit to uncertainty: Holding back on the truth can lead to confusion, mistrust, and frustration.
Over-communicating: Sharing too much or too vaguely may also create confusion and uncertainty.
The decisions above may provide some immediate relief, but they can hurt the long-term health of the business.
Here are ideas on how to assess the various opportunities and challenges you are facing:
In summary, having a solid business foundation is crucial for a CEO before pursuing new products or services because it ensures they have a clear understanding of the market, and provides financial stability, operational efficiency, risk management, and strategic planning abilities.
Overall, prioritization is essential for small/midsize business owners to effectively manage their workload and achieve their goals. It's important to identify any barriers to prioritization and work to overcome them to ensure that tasks are completed in a timely and efficient manner.
If you want to connect with me to discuss further or provide other insights please let me know at mike.thorne@vistagechair.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
I recently worked with an accidental CEO early in her career. She took over a business upon the sudden death of the previous owner. She stepped in as the interim president, not knowing that she was walking into a situation that would ultimately be a turn-around or shut-down situation. Or, that this would become her new career.
Not only did she succeed in turning the business around, she now leads a larger and very successful business, less than 10 years later, and is now looking to acquire a company in order to expand.
As a small business CEO, if you are not thinking of M&A as part of your strategic growth in your 3-to-5-year plan, you are potentially ignoring the largest opportunities for growth. If you are waiting until the economy stabilizes, you are missing an opportunity. As you consider acquisitions, there are five things you should contemplate:
1. Is your house in order? Do a self-audit or at least look in the mirror before starting down the road of a transaction. Do you have the right players, in the right seats, and is everything running smoothly? Understand where you will be stretched during a transaction and where you will pull from to meet the needs.
2. Understand your risk tolerance. Identify the risk you can tolerate if things don’t go according to plan with either your organic business or the slowing economy. Do you have your reserves and contingency plans? Thorough due diligence should be expected; small and mid-sized acquisitions by small and mid-sized companies often mean more detailed due diligence because of the catastrophic impact a failed deal could have on a business. Involve your team members in the diligence as practicable; besides becoming invested in the success of the transaction and post-integration, they become better leaders as a result.
3. What’s the growth opportunity? Specifically, what’s the strategic growth opportunity? M&A can drive growth, especially during slower economic times when organic growth may be lagging.
4. What’s the culture like? Culture is often neglected, especially in small deals, even though people and culture are a significant part of how the small business became successful. Culture diligence is as important as financial and operational diligence. A culture clash can kill a deal or cause a post-deal integration failure.
5. Are you being bold enough? Through exponential growth, a small business can disrupt an industry and become the industry leader. Acquire one business a year and you can be positioned to be that industry leader. In short, don’t miss an opportunity by waiting for a stable economy; a good deal in tough times is a good deal.
Finally, if you are struggling to contemplate these on your own, seek some help. Smart small business owners know they should work with mentors and coaches to help them navigate the expansion of their business. You are heading into unfamiliar territory. It only makes sense to have someone who’s been there to help you navigate the process and help you take advantage of the M&A opportunities in your industry and business model.
As a Vistage Chair, I work with high-performing CEOs like you who are committed to what we call “a life of climb”—continuously working together to be better leaders who enjoy better outcomes for their companies. If this article resonates with you, I invite you to connect with me by email at Nora.Taylor@vistagechair.com, or on LinkedIn.
Although we shoot for perfection and success at work, we all experience failure at some point in our careers. Failure can be difficult to handle in a professional setting. Executives and other leaders in the workplace—our mentors, the ones we look up to at work—have all failed. Not only that, but they've recovered from failure and found success in the process.
We recently asked our successful executives how they recover from a failure at work.
When I worked at The Disney Channel, one of my jobs was to proof ads. I was the last sign-off before the ad went to press. It was an exciting time as we launched a new campaign in support of a new series. It was quickly dampened when I learned that the ad, which had gone live that morning, had a glaring error I’d missed.
The most forward-thinking companies embrace risk-taking and the possibility of failure. What's wonderful about failure is the learning you receive from it. You learn substantially more from failures than successes. Failures should push you to bounce back and work harder to achieve your goals, making you stronger. Here are three things you should model as a leader within your organization:
1. Lead by Example: Management should share past examples of company failures, suggest new solutions that might work, and receive ideas from others without judgment.
2. Provide a Solution: While failing is okay, managers need to encourage employees to provide solutions to problems and propose an action plan for the next steps. Managers can then review and provide guidance on how best to proceed.
3. Don't Repeat Failures: The key here is to learn from your mistakes, document the learning, establish a process that ensures these failures won't happen again, and share these learnings throughout the organization.
The best advice I received is that failure is a success if we learn from it.
As a lover of the outdoors and living within driving distance of Oregon’s Mt. Hood, I was drawn to skiing. I volunteered as a cross-country instructor for an alpine club, then taught for a ski resort, secretly motivated by free lift tickets so I could get better at skiing downhill. Initially, I was afraid of failure and intimidated so when venturing onto harder runs it was natural to lean into the mountain. Yet I quickly learned that when I leaned out, though counterintuitive, I fell less, and I became a better skier.
As an executive, I see leaning out as risking to attempt something new and being aggressive to grow, learn, and accomplish greater things, knowing that along the way I will probably break some stuff. In my mind, as long as I learn from it and bring future success out of it, it has value.
After I launched my first company, leaning out manifested a failure as I negotiated a supply chain partnership to source products globally vs. just domestically. It represented a huge opportunity for my business, but in doing so, I failed to dig deeply into the relationship, the financial chain of custody, and the quality assurance process with each of the individual factories. As a result, my orders experienced missed lead times and material defects that were costly and embarrassing, and I later learned there was another party between my contractual partner and the factories who failed to perform.
This taught me to take full ownership of every aspect of my business and prompted me to implement a four-point policy that helped me select, negotiate, and manage all future partnerships successfully.
Here are some of my learnings about failing in business, recovering from it, and using it to propel our careers:
When I think about recovering from a failure at work, I always have to ask/think about the context of the culture and psychological safety of the team, the business segment, and the organization where the failure happens.
As leaders or people managers, we play a critical role in how our team members perceive and react to failure when it happens; creating the necessary psychological safety and culture of learning is key to this.
Promoting a growth mindset for our people calibrates how they interpret failure in a completely different way than people with a fixed mindset. Folks with a growth mindset see failure as a signal that they need to put in more effort, try different strategies, or seek feedback and guidance. They use failure as a motivation to improve and grow, rather than as a reason to give up or feel ashamed.
Some examples of how people with a growth mindset view failure include:
However, having/exercising a growth mindset is not always easy or simple. It requires practice, persistence, and support from your leader/manager.
Bouncing back from failure at work can be hard, but it’s not impossible. There are some steps we can all take to recover from a setback and move forward with confidence.
Some of the steps you/we can take are:
Using failure as an opportunity to improve your skill set and potentially become a better leader.
These steps can help you bounce back from failure at work and show that you are resilient, adaptable, and committed to your goals.
Successful executives get used to failure because it provides so much growth and opportunity to learn. Creating a culture of celebrating failure is important and that starts with humility in the workplace.
While I worked for Spotify, Dawn Ostroff, a C-suite executive at Spotify, would share failures, break them down, and celebrate in our town halls (in front of 3000 employees) where we could learn as a team from the mistakes. I remember seeing the title for her presentation and I was so intrigued and teams across the company were inspired. We took notes on how to not repeat those mistakes, lean into them, and forward progression for new strategies.
When a failure occurs:
I believe developing your skills in the practice of losing and accepting is a huge educational opportunity, so your skill set includes being put in uncomfortable positions, so that you can get good at rejection. I believe that people are too addicted to positive reinforcement and we could all grow from learning how not to repeat the failure where the next project benefits from the previous failure.
No one begins a journey with failure as part of their plan. Caution might lurk, but turning back is not an option.
As executives and leaders, we know that failure is part of success. The real work for leaders begins when you must figure out what works and what doesn’t.
The first step is to own the failure. Don’t blame anyone or anything else. Take full responsibility for the failure and the action needed to correct it.
Find the fix, and understand what went wrong.
Test the solution from beginning to end to ensure everything works as planned.
Meet with your team to outline what failed. Inform everyone what was done to solve the problem. And share with the team the new protocols going forward.
In summary, everyone on the team must communicate a breakdown or failed system. Leaders can’t effectively lead with missing information. Leaders need to lead teams that are invested in the end product.
I like to conduct after-action reviews—or AARs—after failures on the job.
The AAR process is as follows:
What I like about the AAR process is that it is not just about identifying a problem but highlighting solutions/next steps which hold me (and others) accountable for change. This works for project-based failures.
When it comes to leadership failures that are often surfaced in 360-degree/other performance reviews, I like to find mentors/resources in that area and discern what is and what is not in my power to address/change.
John Schembari is a current K-12 teacher/school leader academic improvement coach and former school building and district administrator. He loves to draw, travel, swing dance, and read nonfiction.
Being a creative producer in the film and live experiential event industry requires handling setbacks, challenges, and adverse conditions. Therefore, the skill of dealing with failure, or redefining it as setbacks on the job, is crucial for success.
To excel as a creative producer, it's essential to understand the primary responsibility of bringing a TV or live event concept to life:
Maintaining a positive attitude and staying focused on finding solutions is essential, and identifying pitfalls and solving problems is a superpower honed from years of experience. Setbacks can be turned into opportunities for growth and success, but this requires clear communication of expectations to stakeholders and realistic goals.
Instead, by approaching setbacks as opportunities for growth and focusing on finding solutions, creative producers can overcome challenges and succeed in bringing innovative and creative concepts to life.
With experience and agility, you learn to expect the unexpected because failure is not an option for a creative producer.
How do you recover from a failure at work? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily's Executive Program.
It's easy to think that taking a lower-level position means putting the brakes on your career track or even taking a step back. But in fact, there can be a lot to gain with such a decision.
Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to take a step forward in your career. There are a number of practical reasons why taking a lower-level position makes sense.
A large percentage of professionals making a career change will face the need to start near the beginning with entry-level workers. If you make a drastic career change, such as going from ER nursing to accounting on the CPA track, you can't expect an opportunity to jump right to the top until you have honed skills and subject matter expertise.
Of course, if you have transferable skills from a previous career that may help to secure an opportunity above entry-level.
There are many people who choose to stay in their profession, but make a change in their field of practice. For example, you may have started your career in marketing for the travel industry, but decided to switch to the pharmaceutical industry.
A lateral move may not always be possible because, like the career changer, you may not have the industry knowledge needed in the field, especially if it is a highly specialized sector. For instance, the technical language used to market pharmaceuticals in the United States follows strict guidelines approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The approaches taken to marketing may be drastically different between the two fields.
Job changers include individuals who want to make a switch in the type of company or organization they work for. Certainly, working for a non-profit is not the same as corporate, and going from an agency to an in-house position has its differences. So while you may take a lower-level position, the title and associated responsibilities may vary widely between employers—and it is important to consider the experiences and opportunities available with the open position.
For instance, you may go from an agency to an in-house position at a lower level. Expectations for formal promotions also may vary given the different corporate cultures involved. Essentially, you may start off in what is perceived as a lower-level position, but wind up with far more advanced experiences than you might otherwise have.
Times of economic uncertainty typically result in a large pool of unemployed professionals who are well-educated and qualified for positions. Under such circumstances, it's not rare for job seekers to be unemployed for six months or longer. There are simply more qualified candidates than job openings available. So, it may come to a point where you have to make the decision to take a lower-level position in order to:
Regardless of the situation, here are four key questions you should ask yourself to help decide whether taking a lower-level position is the right move for you and your career:
If you answered "yes" to the questions above and can put your ego aside, making the decision to take a lower-level position can be a rational move to help move your career forward. You can expect to be happier with life and your career. However, after taking a lower-level position, you need to maintain perspective on your reasons for the decision. It is easy to let pride get in the way of things. Remember this decision is based on a long-term plan, not a short-term plan for your career.
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Finding a job can be a long process. You apply for a job, maybe hear back, and a month later you go in for an interview. The worst part? There's no guarantee any opportunity will pan out. So, how do you stay positive when you're going through so much job search stress?
It can be easy to lose confidence in yourself as time passes and you're still without a promising job lead. But losing confidence will only make it worse.
Here are a few things you should tell yourself when the job search gets tough:
When you don't get offered the job even though you aced the interview and did everything right, there's a good chance you did do everything right.
The hiring process is complicated. The employer might've had another person in mind even before they began to interview for the open position. Or, it was a toss-up between you and another candidate, and the other candidate just so happened to be the one to get a phone call.
You will never be able to know what a potential employer is thinking. If you don't get offered the job, don't think of it as a loss or missed opportunity. Think of it in positive terms. You got more interview experience, you met new people, and you're one step closer to finding the right job for you.
And remember, a "no" doesn't mean "never." It simply means "not now."
If you're putting your best foot forward during the hiring process and you're actively learning from your mistakes, you'll find the right job for you. But that requires patience and perseverance.
The key to keeping your confidence up is believing the right job for you is out there. When you remind yourself of your end goal, it puts the job search process in perspective. You walk into every interview believing this job could be the one—but if it isn't, that's okay too. You will try your best, of course, but also accept that you can't control everything in the hiring process. It will take some of the pressure off.
Take responsibility for the things you can control and accept the things you can't. Acceptance is the key to maintaining your confidence.
When all else fails, sometimes the best thing to tell yourself after not getting a job offer is that the job simply wasn't meant for you. If you don't believe this right away, chances are you will later on.
As you move on to the next interview and apply for more and more jobs, you start to feel better about the initial rejection. You realize that new opportunities are popping up every day and it really isn't the end of the world after all.
If you still feel uncertain, that's okay. Staying positive during a long job search isn't easy. Just know that your mom is right: all good things take time!
Below, Don Gilbert answers some questions about his career field and explains why he joined (and continues to participate in) the Work It Daily community.
@workitdaily Thank you Fatima for being the first to join our @tiktok social media campaign♥️♥️♥️@fatimalhusseiny We can't wait to share your story with the world! Check out our campaign to learn more! @workitdaily #workitdaily #WhyIWorkItDaily #careertiktok #careertok #jobtok #edutok #mywhy #purpose #passion #worktolive #live #life #love ♬ Epic Music(863502) - Draganov89
My roots as an Illustrator/Designer were already on display when, as a youth in suburban Chicago, I would bus to the big city to sketch as large a sample of the world around me as the afternoon allowed. I realize now that doing this not only helped to expand my creative horizons but also helped me to develop a broader perspective and appreciation of the richly diverse culture that a big city offers.
In today’s competitive job market, finding satisfying employment can often be more challenging than finding creative inspiration. This is why knowing the latest hiring trends is as important to me as knowing the latest technology trends. Being a part of Work It Daily, with a wealth of useful information from its members and staff, including J.T., Christina, and the coaching staff, prepares me to meet such challenges head-on.
Simply put, the benefits are appreciated each time I create work that meets my client’s expectations by using the knowledge, skills, and tools that I so greatly enjoy.
I personally believe that nothing is as important as your health. Fresh air, exercise, diet, meditation, rest, and a happy social life are all equally vital to reducing stress and maximizing productivity. This is why I take cues from my body (and from my Pomodoro timer) to make sure that balance is kept.
One reason is that I love finding solutions and fixing problems, especially of a creative or technical nature. Another is that I get to meet and/or collaborate with bright and talented industry professionals.
Keep your mind open, explore areas beyond your perceived limitations, and seek out empathy and understanding of those around you.
We hope you enjoyed hearing from Don about his career and experiences inside the Work It Daily community.
Do you want to become a Workplace Renegade?
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Even at work, you have a personal brand. What are people saying about you when you're not in the room? Are you giving off the right vibe to your colleagues and conveying the brand you want to convey at work?
Developing your personal brand is essential for the advancement of your career. It is what makes you special, and how you'll become more valuable to an organization.
Here are a few tips on how to develop your personal brand:
To become respected in your company or industry, you need to be very clear on what unique value you provide and how to connect that to your company's mission.
Most people—and I see it all the time with my interview coaching clients—are not that clear on what makes them different from others. This is the reason they don't get the jobs or promotions they are after!
Your brand should be authentic to you so notice your emotions when performing certain tasks and activities. If it is something you have passion and energy for, it should become part of your personal brand.
Spend some time thinking about what makes you different from your peers—your strengths, your passions, and your goals.
What do you want others to experience about you?
You might want to write down 3-5 things you'd want others to experience when interacting with you and then ask a close friend or a trusted colleague to do the same. Are the answers similar? If so, well done. If not—you have some work to do in terms of branding yourself the right way.
It is important to understand how others perceive you as this will enable you to start sending the right messages to your audience. And having a personal brand is definitely a requirement for leadership positions and will enable you to create more impact.
Everything you do or post on social media ultimately contributes to your personal brand. Once you're clear on your personal brand, make sure that the way you dress, the emails you write, your body language, and so on are consistent with your brand message.
Platforms like WordPress make it easier than ever to promote yourself to your target audience. I blog weekly, and I'd recommend that you post a couple of times a week on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter on topics that your audience will find educational (and will also highlight your experience).
Here is a quick guide on how you can position yourself as an expert so that you get the best opportunities in your business or career.
Utilizing social media to build your personal brand is great, but make sure you promote your brand in person, too. Whether it is participating in industry groups, giving talks, or offering to lead a project that highlights your talents, what can you do to promote your brand offline?
If you want to be successful, creating a personal brand isn't just an option; it's a necessity. Whether you aspire to get that promotion or land your dream job, creating a compelling and consistent brand will help you meet your goals.
Need more help building your personal brand?
Join our community to learn how to create a personal brand and UNLEASH your true potential to get what you want from work!
Is it spring yet? Just observe any school hallway to figure this out. Each spring, there is usually a flurry of activity among school administrators as they hurriedly shuffle from one classroom to the next desperately trying to record/file all their required observations by their state deadline.
In New Jersey public district schools, for example, untenured teachers are evaluated formally at least three times a year with tenured teachers being observed at least once each year. This is a similar practice in other states as well.
So, what can you as a teacher do to prepare for formal observations besides downing an entire bottle of Maalox antacid tablets?
If the observation is announced in advance, teachers can sit down with their evaluator to discuss the upcoming observation and review both their upcoming lesson plan as well as any student assessment data that will impact the amount of student differentiation and/or scaffolding of learning. Whether announced or unannounced, teachers should also be provided the opportunity to debrief their observations afterward so as to improve teaching practice moving forward.
The process for conducting announced observations is straightforward and often provides teachers with an opportunity to prepare a lesson to the best of their ability—i.e., “the dog and pony show”—since they know when their administrator will be coming to observe and might also know what the observer wants to see.
However, it also is important for administrators to assess the quality of everyday teaching and learning; hence why many observations of teacher practice are unannounced. While unannounced observations preclude the opportunity to discuss evaluator expectations for the lesson upfront, teachers need not lose sleep over not knowing what to expect in terms of administrator expectations.
As a former administrator who regularly evaluated teaching practice, here are six things that I looked for when observing teaching practice and that you might keep in mind when preparing for an unannounced classroom observation:
I can tell you that one of my biggest pet peeves when observing instruction was lost instructional time. I hate when students enter a classroom where there is no introductory task posted on the board (The Do Now); I also become frustrated when class ends early and students are milling around waiting for the end bell to ring. This lost instructional time compounds when added up across classrooms/periods each day.
Instead, plan with timing and transitions in mind. Have students enter and complete an introductory task (5 minutes). Then, engage in a mini-lecture—usually the new information and/or directions for the upcoming student activity (no more than 10-15 minutes). After this, allow the bulk of class time to be used for student practice/peer discussion (20-25 minutes) and then follow up with a culminating/summary activity (10 minutes). To help yourself, set a timer for each section and consider posting the agenda/flow for the class from section to section on the board. Before long, students will come to recognize where they should be within the flow of the lesson and, often, will let you know if you are running behind.
Every teacher and student action within the lesson should be driven by the learning objective—i.e., what we want students to know and be able to do at the end of the lesson. This needs to be made clear to students at the beginning of the lesson. Have the learning objective posted on the board when students enter. Discuss the learning objective with students at the beginning of the lesson. Also, consider having students reflect on whether the objective was met during the lesson summary/closure such as by engaging in a brief popcorn discussion and/or in writing through an exit ticket activity.
Even when teachers are mindful in posting and discussing learning objectives, they might not consider the cognitive lift in which they are asking students to engage. Consider using the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix when designing learning objectives/activities that have students both deepening their depth of knowledge as well as synthesizing, evaluating, and creating knowledge as opposed to merely identifying it; Bloom’s Taxonomy meets Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Theory.
For students not academically ready to meet the demands of such a heavy cognitive ask, do not “dumb down” the expectation for these students. Instead, provide scaffolds and supports so students can meet the expectation.
Assessment is much more than quizzes and tests that come at the end of learning. Show your administrator that you are constantly taking the pulse of student retention of learning using ongoing checks on student understanding—i.e., cold calling, signaling, and/or choral response. Equally important, when students demonstrate a lack of understanding, do not charge on with the delivery of instruction. Stop. Reteach that point. In other words, show your administrator that you can pivot in the moment to meet immediate student needs.
Anticipate what you will do when students fail these checks on understanding. Again, do not just push on. Instead, ask a few students until you get the correct response and then have those who did not know the answer repeat the response of peers who did. Have confused students “call on a friend” to help them respond. Checks on understanding are particularly important to implement before students are released to practice their new learning—in other words, during the introduction as well as the mini-lecture phase of a lesson.
Too often, teachers do not plan, in advance, the questions that they will ask students and, as a result, questions rarely require students to engage in heavy cognitive lift. Administrators observing your lessons will want to see that you prepared your student-facing questions to engage students in both discussion and/or debate as well as to assess overall student learning. During the introductory and/or mini-lecture portion of a lesson, it is acceptable that questions be more factual and/or convergent as these types of questions will help teachers to ascertain student basic knowledge and understanding of key concepts and task directions. Once students are released to practice/engage in their learning, however, teachers will want students to reflect upon more divergent and/or evaluative type questions.
Another way that teachers can get into trouble with questioning is not allowing students enough “think time” to ponder the questions being asked of them before answering the questions themselves on behalf of the students. Embed “wait time” of 3-5 seconds after asking students a question so that students can reflect more deeply upon what is being asked of them. This should improve the quality of student responses. Also, allow wait time after a student speaks and before a follow-up question is asked.
As an administrator observing teachers, another area of concern for me was when teachers never released students to practice their learning and, instead, held students hostage to a never-ending whole class mini-lecture. If I was bored, I could leave. Students, however, could not. Another missed opportunity for student engagement that I have seen repeated is when teachers release students to independently complete worksheets, during the student practice phase of a lesson, which are then reviewed as a whole class with the teacher leading the discussion one problem/question at a time.
There indeed are times when students will need to learn independently before engaging with peers. However, administrators observing lessons also will want to see how teachers have planned out student pair and small group work as a means through which students can discuss learning collaboratively. I often suggest to teachers that they adapt the National School Reform Faculty Protocols, meant for teacher collaboration, to be student facing. As students work in pairs or small groups, the teacher can/should be walking around the classroom addressing any misconceptions and taking anecdotal notes that the teacher might then want to address with students after the pair or group activity concludes. Administrators also would be excited to see how teachers have planned out student rotation work.
During the observed lesson, teachers may notice administrators asking students about what they are doing. Administrators are doing this to gain a sense of how well teachers have used student achievement data to place students in groups and how the learning process, product, and/or content is being adjusted, or differentiated, for students with different needs.
Teachers often get scared when they hear the word “differentiation” because they think this means that they need to show their administrator a separate instructional plan for each student in their class. This is not the case. Rather, most administrators observing instruction are looking to see if teachers have considered the needs of the different instructional GROUPINGS in the classroom—i.e., those below readiness, at readiness, and above readiness to meet the posted lesson objective and/or unit of study standards. This last sentence is important—per posted lesson learning objective and/or unit standards. Administrators want to see that you are routinely considering the needs/supports required by students and then equally considering when students no longer need those supports.
If your school is not already using some sort of formal common diagnostic assessment, such as i-Ready or NWEA MAP, you can determine if your students are ready to meet the learning objective and/or unit standards by giving a brief pre-assessment before the lesson or the unit of study. Then, use that pre-assessment data to place students within their appropriate group and determine how you will adjust content, process, and /or product for each group of learners. At the end of the lesson/unit, you can then reassess students—conduct a post-assessment which can be as simple as an exit ticket—to see if and how instructional groupings have shifted; hopefully, there will be increased student growth and achievement after the lesson.
If teachers really want to impress administrators observing their classroom instruction, consider placing copies of your lesson plans in a folder attached to the wall outside/just inside your classroom that the administrator can pick up without disturbing you/your instruction. Administrators also like to see the literacy connections that students are making, across content areas, as well as how teachers are considering student cultural and background knowledge in their lesson planning. I enjoyed seeing/hearing when teachers were able to make real-world connections in what students were learning.
John Schembari is a school improvement coach. If you would like additional ideas on how to impact student lives without sacrificing your own, and have a life teaching, check out his quick hack teaching courses here. You can also reach out to him on LinkedIn.
If you've ever been employed at a typical company in corporate America, you know that layoffs are a common phenomenon. How does a company decide who stays and who goes? How do you know if you're going to get laid off or not? These are important questions you should be asking as an employee, and I can answer them.
@j.t.odonnell How To Tell If You Are Going To Get Laid Off... #jobtok #careertok #job #jobs #career #learntok #edutok #jobtips ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
When a company is restructuring, they're given an amount of money to cut. And one of the easiest and fastest ways to do that is to decrease the number of employees at the company.
The company figures out the value of each employee, the return on investment (ROI), and decides to lay off the employees who don't provide the most value, who don't give the company a desirable ROI.
For example, if a company pays you $10 an hour, it actually costs them $13 to $14 an hour to employ you because there are taxes and other things they have to pay on top of your salary. Then, they ask, "Who is saving or making us more than enough money to justify their cost?"
Now, in a situation where there are multiple employees creating the same value, they ask, "Who is the easiest to get along with?" Personality starts to play a role in the decision, but also aptitude. "Who's going to be able to adapt when we have less staff and we have to do more with less?"
ROI, personality, and aptitude are considered when a company is deciding who to lay off.
If you want to avoid being cut, you first have to get clear on your value. Can you articulate how you are saving and making your employer enough money to justify the cost of employing you?
Sit down and have a conversation with your boss about it. See what you can do to make sure that you're creating that value and if you can create additional value on the job.
Sometimes people will come to me and say, "I've had perfect performance reviews year after year and got laid off." Yes, because it's not about your past performance. It's about the value you're creating and where they can make cuts. It always comes down to your current value as an employee. If you want to avoid getting laid off, remember this simple fact.
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What would we do with more time in the day? Most of us probably think we'd be more productive. But if there's one thing we want more of but can't control, it's time. The secret to being more productive is not more time, but better time management. This is especially true at work.
The most successful professionals have exceptional time management skills. If you don't have strong time management skills, that's okay. Like any skill, time management skills can be developed.
We recently asked our leading executives about their best time management hacks.
You've probably heard of "time hacks" by now if you're a video creator, a YouTube manager, or just someone who needs to maximize their time while working.
Time-saving techniques are basically ways to be more productive at work and do more tasks faster.
You can utilize a few different tactics to make the most of your time. I do the following things, to name a few.
The first thing I do is make a schedule I can follow. I know I'll be able to focus and make the most of the time I have if I have a plan of action for each day and know what needs to be done and when.
Over the entire month, I aim to develop and batch my stuff, having enough for LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube long form, and YouTube shorts.
I divide my tasks into manageable portions and complete each one one at a time. This is another crucial time-saving technique.
This enables me to concentrate on each activity and complete it more quickly. I discovered various apps, like Notion, to keep track of what needs to be done so that you don't forget anything.
Limiting distractions is a third time-saving trick. I mute my phone, turn off notifications, even if I find this to be a challenge, and concentrate on the task at hand. That way, I won't be seduced by diversions all the time and can accomplish more in less time.
I try to take breaks throughout the day. This helps my mind recharge and I’m able to continue with the task I set out to do.
By creating a schedule, breaking out each task into smaller chunks, limiting distractions, and taking breaks throughout the day, I’m able to get more done in less time and be more productive.
I thought I was a great multi-tasker as a businesswoman until I saw a video on Nick Cannon and Amber Grimes when I saw how they both work in the music industry. They are on time, work like no other, efficiently work, treating the housekeeping staff the same as a client. Always having a positive attitude and always showing up. I borrowed a life hack from Nick, where he has a daily list of his to-dos, but always adds the last item where he makes time to do at least one favor a day for someone. This is one of my favorite topics: how do we share our experiences and mold and guide the next generation?
I value sharing my perspective with Gen Z and millennials about the music industry and how staff should be treated. I have many students and industry folks that reach out to me to ask questions about the industry in LA and connecting with these requests is important to me.
My favorite time-saving hack is to follow the Nick Cannon style of working and do favors and serve others. But because there are so many requests, I had to come up with an organizational plan.
I reserve 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm every single Friday to allow for time in my calendar to serve others and share what I know about the music industry. I schedule 30-minute calls, back to back, for anyone who wants to chat on music, needs advice, needs to connect, or is looking for resources. This helps me to plan ahead and group requests together.
I'm a big believer in paying it forward as so many people, especially women, kicked down so many doors for me.
Self-prioritisation. Identify the current “axis of power” in your work and align what you are doing with that.
For example, I gave an update every Monday to the CEO on the status of a number of projects that had previously been languishing.
I knew the CEO’s expectations: 1) that everyone involved in the projects was working well together, and 2) that what we said was going to be done was actually being addressed in a timely and accurate manner.
I spent a good amount of my week getting status updates, fact-checking, and thinking ahead for possible questions. I blended these into a truth-based, expectation-meeting story by the time Monday’s meeting arrived.
This is where the “axis of power” comes in. If the CEO thought I was getting things done and doing a good job, it didn’t matter what anyone else thought—and I lived to fight another day...
Delegation! As an executive, we are charged with hiring a highly competent team. Use the highly motivated in your group to assist with tasks and responsibilities. This also helps acclimate them to different skills, and you have the opportunity to discover hidden talents in your staff. Your employees will love the collaborative environment!
Carla Biasi is a personal stylist living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She currently has her own business and works part-time at an upscale women's boutique and as a virtual and kit stylist for a women’s specialty brand.
What's the best time management hack you use on the job? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily's Executive Program.
Scoring a job interview can be hard work, so you don't want to waste the opportunity. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, sometimes the interview can go off track and before you know it, things didn't go as well as you had hoped.
It doesn't have to be this way! Sometimes there are subtle signs during the job interview that things aren't going well that you can pick up in time to potentially turn things around.
Here are some of the signs you should look for...
Have you ever heard the expression, "An interview is about you trying to get to know the company just as much as they're trying to get to know you"? It's true. You should be evaluating the company as they're evaluating your experience and skills.
But, if you're doing this and the interviewer isn't working hard to sell you on the company's good traits, it's probably not a good sign.
Companies want their chosen candidate to accept the job offer, so for their top picks, they'll typically try to mention job perks, company culture, opportunities for growth, and other positives.
This may seem counterintuitive. After all, if the company likes you, why would they ask you challenging questions? But interviewers ask tough questions to candidates they're considering because they want to see how they think on their feet and will react to tough job situations.
If they aren't actually considering you, they'll stick with the easiest questions to answer.
When interviewers are interested in a candidate, they will attempt to get to know them on a deeper level than questions like "What are your strengths?" can accomplish. They will often engage in chit-chat to make sure you'd be a good culture fit and to make sure your personality will mesh well with other team members.
If questions stay surface-level, there aren't follow-up questions based on your answers, and the interviewer is cut and dried instead of diving into more personal questions, you're probably not a top candidate.
Typically, at some point in the second half of the interview, the hiring manager will bring up salary expectations, references, or follow-up interviews. Even if they don't do this, they'll at least tell you at what point you should hear back about moving forward with your candidacy, or the estimated time by which they're trying to fill the position.
But if an interview ends without a discussion about what the next steps in the process are, it probably means there won't be any.
So, what can you do if you start seeing some of these signs throughout the interview? There's a chance that you may not be able to turn it around if the interviewer has already made up their mind—but there are a few tactics you can employ to give yourself the best shot.
Stay positive - Remember that there's a good chance the interviewer is having a busy day, has a million other things on their mind, or just doesn't have a very friendly or engaging personality. By projecting confidence and positivity, you have a chance to turn around their first impression.
Ask great questions - This approach has two potential benefits. One is that you can ask the interviewer outright if they think you'd be a good fit for the role—that way, if they bring up a specific concern they have with you or your experience, you have the chance to address it. Second, many recruiters and interviewers find that the type of questions a candidate asks says a lot about them. By asking insightful, thought-provoking questions, you may be able to increase the interviewer's positive perception of you.
Think of it as practice - Even if you feel pretty confident that you won't get the job based on these signs, you can at least view the interview as good practice for a job that's a better fit for you. Try your best, and make a mental note of what you can improve next time.
Interviews are difficult, and no one likes knowing that their conversation isn't going as well as they'd like. But by employing these tactics, you can have a better sense of what your interviewer is thinking and attempt to course-correct to get the job.
Marketers today are constantly trying to stay ahead of the curve with their brands in this fast-paced world, maintaining a sense of relevance with their audience. As a result, it’s critical to build competitive marketing strategies.
Here are five brand marketing trends that marketing leaders must incorporate into their strategies to drive results.
Short-form video is a popular and highly effective marketing tool that is here to stay due to its virality. Of all the video formats, short-form has the highest ROI and is also #1 for lead generation and engagement. Source. With constrained budgets, short-form videos can be produced quickly, easily repurposed into other content, and cost-effective. This format is a great way to grab people’s short attention spans and communicate your message quickly. Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight, and Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram Stories prioritize short-form content in their algorithms, making it easier for brands to reach a wider audience.
In addition, the global live stream market will reach more than $247 billion by 2027. Source. Live streaming is gaining significant traction and gives brands unique opportunities to engage with their audiences in real time. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok have integrated live streaming into their platforms, allowing brands to reach their followers easily. Additionally, live streams can be recorded and shared after the fact, allowing brands to continue to reach new audiences even after the live stream has ended.
Here are several short-form videos and live-stream options to grow your business:
Over four billion people are using social media, which is expected to increase to six billion by 2027. People spend more than 2 ½ hours per day on social media. This should be a key part of your marketing strategy as it allows you to connect with your audience on a personal level authentically. Many people, especially Gen Z, use social media for everything from connecting with family and friends, filling their spare time, learning something, getting advice, seeing what’s trending, searching for jobs, finding what to buy, and answering life’s big questions. Source. Social media platforms allow brands to reach consumers in the medium of their choice. Here are three ways to use social media:
Every year, $1.6 trillion is lost in the U.S. due to consumers switching brands after receiving lousy customer service. Over a third of customers say they will leave a brand they love after one unpleasant encounter, while 92% will walk away after two to three negative interactions. And 76% of customers expect consistent interactions across departments they interact with; however, 54% say it feels like sales, service, and marketing teams don’t share information. The great news is that increasing customer retention by 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%.
Here are several trends to consider for your customer experience strategy:
Artificial Intelligence means a machine to accomplish any task that requires “intelligence.” Today, AIs are just statistical models that make good predictions using probabilities and math. ChatGPT and Bing AI are the latest in the line of AI technology blowing up in the news lately.
ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, was thrust into the news recently with Microsoft’s announcement of its multibillion-dollar investment in the company. Microsoft then unveiled a new version, Bing AI, that ChatGPT powers. It works by typing in a question, and it will respond, laying out the answer and providing context. It is simple to use and provides results in an instant that look like a human produced them. It has its shortcomings. It’s still learning, which means it can give wrong answers, is not a human expert, and has its bias, to name a few. You need to understand the limitations and use it as a co-editing tool, helping to train it while fact-checking your work. Here are seven ways you can incorporate ChatGPT and Bing AI into your business:
Consumers today are loyal to brands that practice social responsibility. As a result, 90% of shoppers worldwide will likely switch to brands supporting a good cause. Social responsibility is no longer an option but a commitment, and that’s why businesses are shifting the way they think about marketing (89% of marketers in 2023 plan to invest in social responsibility content vs. 45% in 2022). It’s not about generating leads; it’s about building trust with consumers so that they feel comfortable supporting your brand. Here are key trends that have emerged:
The key is staying on top of these trends, being flexible, and being open to change so your business doesn’t become a dinosaur. Start building your brand leadership today. You’ve got this.