From Learning to Doing Quantity vs. Quality

From Learning to Doing Quantity vs. Quality Im finishing up SPIN Selling, a great book on sales techniques, and at the end the author talks about implementing the stuff you learn. He compares implementing what the book talks about with learning a new language.  He says in the past, language courses focuses on the quality of learning, but when they switched the model to the quantity (talking more, writing more, and worrying about fixing errors later) the learning happened at 5 times the rate. This makes a lot of sense to me since 6th grade I was in Spanish classes and have lived in Spanish-speaking areas for 6 years.  I love Spanish and I learned to speak/read it really well. I think that if my first 4 years of Spanish would have been different focusing on the quantity instead of fixing every tiny little error, that I would have been conversational a lot quicker. This is how babies learn to talk.  There are *some* similarities between this and the Suzuki music method (I know, I know, they focus a lot on quality). How does this relate to your job search? Perhaps you are not doing things as you focus on quality issues sometimes you need to just DO THE THING. Pick up the phone, even if you arent positive what youll say. Go to the networking event, even if you dont have a business card. Say your 30 second elevator commercial, even thought it is not perfected. Send out your resume, even if you havent gotten feedback from your 20 friends yet. DO THINGS. As you do them you can improve.  You can constantly get better.  But focusing on perfect, which can be a grand deterrent to actually doing the thing, will leave you behind. Not to say that quality isnt important, but if you arent doing anything because you are worried about quality then you need to adjust. (similar concept: what is the difference between good enough and perfect?) From Learning to Doing Quantity vs. Quality Im finishing up SPIN Selling, a great book on sales techniques, and at the end the author talks about implementing the stuff you learn. He compares implementing what the book talks about with learning a new language.  He says in the past, language courses focuses on the quality of learning, but when they switched the model to the quantity (talking more, writing more, and worrying about fixing errors later) the learning happened at 5 times the rate. This makes a lot of sense to me since 6th grade I was in Spanish classes and have lived in Spanish-speaking areas for 6 years.  I love Spanish and I learned to speak/read it really well. I think that if my first 4 years of Spanish would have been different focusing on the quantity instead of fixing every tiny little error, that I would have been conversational a lot quicker. This is how babies learn to talk.  There are *some* similarities between this and the Suzuki music method (I know, I know, they focus a lot on quality). How does this relate to your job search? Perhaps you are not doing things as you focus on quality issues sometimes you need to just DO THE THING. Pick up the phone, even if you arent positive what youll say. Go to the networking event, even if you dont have a business card. Say your 30 second elevator commercial, even thought it is not perfected. Send out your resume, even if you havent gotten feedback from your 20 friends yet. DO THINGS. As you do them you can improve.  You can constantly get better.  But focusing on perfect, which can be a grand deterrent to actually doing the thing, will leave you behind. Not to say that quality isnt important, but if you arent doing anything because you are worried about quality then you need to adjust. (similar concept: what is the difference between good enough and perfect?)

Do you have a story to tell Can you help the University attract quality students University of Manchester Careers Blog

Do you have a story to tell Can you help the University attract quality students University of Manchester Careers Blog The International Office are looking for students to be profiled across their digital channels. The University needs students who are involved in lots of extracurricular activities, enjoy student life and are willing to participate in marketing videos. Sound like you?   The following nationalities are of specific interest: Korean, Ecuadorian, Indonesian   The following languages are of specific interest: Chinese, Bahasa Indonesian, Korean, Arabic   If you want to take part please send us a copy of your CV, that way we will have all your contact details. We need roughly 2 hours of your time in total.   Students who are selected will be invited to an informal session so the team can learn more about them.  The project will take place towards the end of April and the closing date for applications is Wednesday 13th April. Please apply as soon as possible.   If you have any questions about the project then please contact Tracey Campbell Monks on 0161 275 8269 or studentmarketing@manchester.ac.uk All International international students media student profiles

6 Ways Youll Suffer from Leaving Stuff to the Last Minute

6 Ways Youll Suffer from Leaving Stuff to the Last Minute Dont leave it to the last minute. I appreciate this is one of those easier-said-than-done things, but  nothing rewarding or precious is ever really easy to attain, so moot point. Everyone studying or in the workforce has some kind of  to do list each day. Some people wont look to theirs as a burden; others will despise the very pen with which it is written. Either way, there are always going to be things that need to get done by certain times. End of. Particularly in industries dictated by strict deadlines, its easy to let the day drive you. Its easy to become a passive passenger in your career car, merely facilitating  the ride by completing tasks when theyre due. Not enough time tho.I had almost a month and left it to the last minute ???? (@jr_salgadoo) April 1, 2016 I had a lightbulb moment recently where I realised that by completing things  on time, I was actually taking the power out of my hands. I can imagine that seems confusing, but stay with me. See I realised the real power lies within completing  things before theyre due, and giving myself breathing room. Early is the new on time (Me, 2016) Living close to the edge can be  great sometimes. When it comes to travelling and being social, its good to keep things alive by being spontaneous, risky  and daring. But day-to-day, theres just no room for dangerous living. It only leads to stress and a lower quality of work. Ive come to realise that for anyone susceptible to stressing under pressure, doing things in advance is the best remedy out there, and an absolute game-changer. Heres  how you and your work will suffer from  leaving things to the 11th hour: 1.  Mistakes galore When I feel like I have no time to spare and my feet arent touching the ground,  I can become  a scatterbrain. So much so, my mum even used to call me Missy Scrattle; a very affectionate,  endearing take on  the not-so-positive  tendency to become scattered when I have to speed through tasks at an unnatural pace. By working close to deadlines, there is no room for error and no flexibility to spend more time on things that really need more attention than youd accounted for.  Things can be missed; things  slip through the cracks; errors arent filtered out. Fixing mistakes costs  you extra time, so there is a lot to be said for doing things right the first time. Theres no logic in working fast, and making mistakes. Kay Marie (@Luxurii) January 7, 2016 2. Lowering the bar If you are working down to the wire, the main objective quickly becomes just getting the job done, as opposed to doing the job well. If double-checking, proofreading or peer editing is the difference between you meeting deadline or not, chances are youll rock and roll with out those quality control tools.  Work becomes sloppy when its churned out quickly with no real soul. Lowering the bar at work will have knock on effects too, and youll probably start to feel bad about yourself and your abilities, because youre becoming a tad sub par. Lift your game, and give yourself the chance to make sure everything you do is at the standard that makes you proud. 3. Stressful disposition Recent studies have confirmed links between being stressed and making more mistakes, using doctors as the prime example. We know that  reducing stress is conducive with maximising productivity and effectiveness at work; thats why were always being told to de-stress, for our own sake and our employers. People do react to high-pressure situations differently some thrive under stress. Horses for courses, Ive found I work best when I feel cool, calm and collected.  Creating as much as a buffer as possible allows me relax.  Its comforting knowing that if something goes wrong, Im not up Sh*t Creek without a paddle. And if something actually does go wrong, well, I  have time to deal with it and fix things. No stress here. Win win. https://twitter.com/becka_hill/status/727839755942166528?lang=en-gb 4.  Lack of control There is a lot of talk about how humans have an innate need to have  a sense of control. I couldnt agree more when I feel in control, I feel ready and empowered to crack on.  Being able to manage my own time and my own agenda allows me to complete things when  it feels right to do so, and act on certain things when the need arises. If someone else is dictating when I have to do stuff, I quickly feel like I have let go of the reins. If I feel like my voice is not being heard, or I have little say over things, I feel disheartened and unenthused. This is why setting my own agenda, which includes getting things done ahead of schedule (where possible) allows me to work to my own diary, to some extent, and control my own fate at work. 95% of my friends hate their jobs, or hate the lack of control over their time. Yet theyll be at work tomorrow at 8. Gucci Dadi #BluHueWorks (@kentejames) March 22, 2015 5.  Time-poor, all the time When we do stuff in advance, we feel like we have time to play with, because we do.  Then we use that extra time weve created for ourself to get ahead on the next task we have to do, and so on and so forth. In actual fact, you are still spending the same amount of time doing tasks you have to do one way or another, but the difference is, you are always one step ahead of yourself. Leaving stuff to the last minute means if a free ticket to the Beyonce concert comes available because youre friend is unwell (bless her), you can drop everything and go, because youre already prepared for the next day, and you can fit it in.  Working on things at the very time they need to be completed means there is absolutely no flexibility to just GO WITH THE FLOW and live your life. https://twitter.com/amyBgonzales5/status/729730241300566016?lang=en-gb 6.  Rush through your life I stumbled upon a  clip (below)  the other day that really got me thinking! So much of our time is spent doing, as opposed to being. Ive done this, done that, done this, done that, still have to do this, have to do that. Its quite a sad thought really, isnt it? Ive found that the more I can stay ahead of the curve and get things done in advance, the more I can focus on where I am and what I am doing at any given moment. Instead of worrying about completing something that absolutely has to be done in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hours time, I can relax instead, knowing Im on top of things. Images: Shutterstock

11 Résumé Truths That Will Brand You A Winner! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

11 Résumé ‘Truths’ That Will Brand You A Winner! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Funny thing about a résumé . . . no one has ever hired a résumé, but very few people can get hired without one. And in today’s challenging job market, where the typical “headhunter,” hiring manager and Human Resources professional is inundated daily with dozens, if not hundreds of résumés (I receive between 300 and 500 résumés a week!), it had better be a good one. What defines a “good” résumé? It is one that gives the recipient what I refer to as “cause for pause,” one that catches the recipient’s attention within about 30 seconds and makes him or her continue reading it. If your résumé doesn’t meet this minimum standard, it’s likely it will either be quickly and completely eliminated or, at best, be added to the burgeoning stack of résumés already received, perhaps never to see the light of day again. The résumé truths With this in mind, then, through years of professional experience and extensive research, I have come up with what I call the 11 “truths” that go into creating a good résumé, a job-winning résumé. If you will follow these “truths,” and incorporate them into your résumé, it will immediately brand you as a potential winner and move your candidacy forward! RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #1 It must be visually appealing.   Plenty of “white space.” Use of bullet points to highlight quantifiable accomplishments and achievements. No long rambling paragraphs. I don’t care how good you are, long blocks of text simply will not be read and you will be eliminated from further consideration. Use Times New Roman or Arial type faces. Nothing smaller than 11 point. Careful use of bold face type and italics. (Just last week I received a resume from a chemist. The entire resume was in bold face italics. When everything is emphasized, nothing is emphasized except your lack of understanding of accepted business writing practices! Wouldn’t you agree that this very bullet point is becoming hard to read?) RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #2 A résumé is a “movie trailer,” not the entire movie! Today people are busy and harried. No one has time to read a lengthy document. We are in a “Twitter” and text messaging world limited to 140 characters. Mark Twain once said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter so I wrote a lengthy one instead.” Mull that over for a moment. Length? Two pages. No more! RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #3 â€" No “Career Objective.” But how will a potential employer know what kind of a job I want? The brutal truth is this: When companies are initially sifting through an inbox full of résumés, they don’t really care what you want. They only care what they want. What you want only becomes relevant whenâ€"and if!â€"you make it to the offer stage and they are then trying to woo you. RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #4 â€" Work experience in Reverse Chronological order only. You get hired when your experience is current and relevant. If you don’t do what a company needs you to do, you get hit with the “DELETE” key. The “Functional Résumé is generally deleted. (And yes, hiring managers tell me the same thing.) The “hybrid”? Maybe. If all of the other résumé “truths” are adhered to, the hybrid may pass the initial screen and you might move to the “maybe” folder. RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #5  Include one or two sentences on what each employer does. The readers of your résumé don’t have the time (or the patience) to “guess” what the companies you have worked for actually do. If, for example, they are looking for a sales manager with experience in industrial filtration, they want to know you have that experience. Example: National Filtration Systems, Inc. Vice President of Sales and Marketing What does this company do? Provide water filters for the home? Make filters for cigarettes? Neither! It is “A $60 million design build engineering firm of industrial filtration units for natural gas and oil.” By including that one sentence, you have just branded yourself as a potential candidate and made it easy for the person reviewing your résumé to say “yes” to your candidacy. RÉSUMÉ TRUTH # 6 â€" Include numbers, numbers and more numbersâ€"and throw in a few percentages for good measure! Brand yourself a winner by using quantitative measurements to demonstrate results. Example: Quality Manager Responsible for improving  processes and reducing defects. Improved revenue by  increasing production. (Hit with the DELETE key!) Versus: Quality Manager Reduced equipment failure  rate by 89% in first year. Increased  production by 15%, resulting in an annual revenue increase of $12.5  million. (She got the job!) RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #7 â€" Eliminate personal and family information Example: “Excellent health, happily married with two children.” Result: Résumé DELETED! What?! Why?! As crazy as it may seem, this simple statement actually puts the company in an EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) quandary. There have been situations where, for example, a single person was hired. Later the “married person with children” found out and the resultâ€"a lawsuit. “I was unfairly discriminated against because I am married and have a family. The company just didn’t want to add my family and me to its group health insurance plan.” Or, what if the hiring manager just got divorced? Happily married? Who needs that? DELETE! (Yes, it happens.) RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #8 â€" When all else fails, tell the truth. Never resort to a “liar, liar pants on fire” résumé. In this brutal economy, many résumés are inflated (some estimates go as high as 40%). Companies are on the look-out. Today, background checks are extremely thorough. When (not if) you are found out, you will be eliminated from further consideration. If you have already been hired, chances are you will be fired. RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #9 â€" Eliminate the “pyrotechnics” and other “razzle-dazzle.” Unless you want to be branded as an amateur: Don’t’  use yellow highlighting, colored words, background colors, etc. Don’t use colored paper. Don’t change fonts. Sparingly change type sizes. The main sections  of your résumé can be in larger size, but not words within a  sentence. RÉSUMÉ TRUTH # â€" Eliminate “References Available Upon Request.” It is a given that a pro will have them. Keep the résumé short and succinct. RÉSUMÉ TRUTH #11 â€" To include or not include dates of graduation? There are professionals who will adamantly tell you to leave dates of graduation out. Since we are dealing with “truths” here, the truth is there isn’t a right answer. You see, it has been found that 30% of people who don’t have a date of graduation on their résumé have left this information off because they never graduated! They only attended. Others leave it out because they are trying to disguise their age. What I do know is this: the more quantifiable and relevant your accomplishments and achievements, the far less important this whole issue becomes. Adhere to these “truths” when you craft your résumé and you definitely will brand yourself as a winner, someone who deserves an interview. Author: Skip Freeman is the author of “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and RD professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

A Career One Resume Writing Review

A Career One Resume Writing ReviewIn this Career One Resume Writing Review, I will discuss the three basic resume requirements of a job. All employers, regardless of where they are located, seek resumes that are both professional and polished.Quality is very important when it comes to a resume. Although you may have a standard resume template that you use, it will not be effective if it does not showcase your skills, knowledge, and abilities. To make a resume effective, it should highlight your talents, abilities, and accomplishments.There are two approaches when it comes to writing a resume. The first approach is to have the resume templates that you buy and use as an example. This is a great option if you are just beginning to prepare a resume for yourself. It is also a great option if you already have several resumes.This approach works well for those people who do not have a lot of experience or they do not have the time to create a professional resume template. They can follow t he examples that they have found on the internet and customize the rest of the template that they create from scratch.The second approach is to write your own resume. If you have many experiences and skills, then you can simply add your name, address, and phone number on the front page of the resume and call it a day. You will then submit your resume as part of the regular process of filling out job applications.However, if you have created an individual resume, you will need to be creative when it comes to creating a unique cover letter and resume. If you are using the templates available online, then you can use them as a template and then customize the remainder of the resume and cover letter to fit your qualifications and experience. But, even if you are creating your own resume, you should make sure that it is unique so that it stands out from the others.When writing a professional resume, you should write a description that is easy to read and complete. This will make it easie r for an employer to find your resume in the future. You should also make sure that you have completed the required elements of the application properly to get a proper job interview.Most importantly, the resume that you create should be organized so that it makes sense. Do not allow filler words to appear in your resume that may be distracting to an employer. To create a professional resume, follow these tips from a Career One Resume Writing Review:

5 Top Tips for an Authentic and Powerful Personal Brand - Jane Jackson Career

5 Top Tips for an Authentic and Powerful Personal Brand - Jane Jackson Career Whats authentic personal branding all about?Have you ever met someone for the first time and instinctively felt uncomfortable as something didn’t quite ring true? Authenticity is of vital importance when it comes to creating a positive, professional and authentic personal brand.Without authenticity then all your efforts to ‘brand’ yourself will come to nothing. Do you project a professional image that reflects who you are? How do you know if you’re being authentic?With social media playing such a huge part in our personal and professional life, it is easy to slip into thinking that what you see on social media is what you’ll get. But that ‘image’ you’ve become used seeing to online might be all smoke and mirrors and isnt it a disappointment when you discover that someone who projects a strong brand just doesnt live up to expectations when you meet them?Most personal branding articles suggest that  you focus on these areas: · Building your reputation online through so cial media and a website · Identifying your unique strengths · Owning your space in your niche by becoming the expert in your field · Sharing your thought leadership · Projecting your own style · Identifying your values and priorities · Crafting your brand personaAll of the above are important however, as a qualified Image Consultant and Career Management Coach, I know that BEFORE you work on your brand, you must consider the following 5 KEY ASPECTS of your personal and professional image. When these are congruent then you will know that you are projecting an authentic brand.The 5 Essential Aspects of Your Personal Brand1. Your Hidden ImageThis is what others cannot see. It’s what makes your personal brand uniquely yours.2. Your Assumed ImageWhat do people expect even before they meet you?3. Your Visual ImageDo you look the part? Have you dressed appropriately for the occasion?4. Your  Experienced ImageWhat is it like to be in your presence?5. Your Proven ImageOver time, do you say what you mean and mean what you say?Managing the 5 aspects of your image is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to personal branding.   There is SO much more to do it right. And its important to get it right or you could do your career and opportunities a lot of damage.Do you want to learn how to build a powerful and authentic personal brand?   I got into greater depth in my FREE masterclass 3 SECRETS TO PERSONAL BRANDING FOR CAREER SUCCESS!   Click the image below to sign up now and make sure YOU are noticed for the right reasons!When it comes to your personal brand, its worth 45 minutes of your time and its FREE because I want you to be successful in your career, attract the job opportunities you desire, and secure that promotion you keep missing out on because your brand doesnt sell you as effectively as it could!   Take action today and become the top dog at work! ??To book Jane to speak on Polishing Your Professional Image at your next event, contact jane@janeja cksoncoach.com

People loved our 2017 conference - and 2018 will be EVEN BETTER - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

People loved our 2017 conference - and 2018 will be EVEN BETTER - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Here an awesome writeup from a participant at our 2017 conference on happiness at work. I especially liked this part: The Conference has two traditions: perfect, sunny weather and energetic and ambitious participants. Luckily, this time it was no different And this one: We left with new knowledge about happiness at work and we were given precise tools we can use right away to make Tooploox employees happier. AWESOME! We do the conference to give people around the world the knowledge and tools they need to create happier and more successful workplaces, so we were really happy to read this. And our 2018 conference will be even better.?See the full program here. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related