Job Search Program What a Job Search Strategy Looks Like (Part 4 Presenting Yourself) #favoriteFriday

Job Search Program What a Job Search Strategy Looks Like (Part 4 Presenting Yourself) #favoriteFriday The next in Hannah Morgans Job Search Success program is on presenting yourself. This is such a critical part of your job search and career management, and I dont want you to mess it up! I talk about presenting yourself in written and verbal forms, and having a marketing plan. Read the post here: Job Search Strategy: Presenting Yourself (3) Job Search Program What a Job Search Strategy Looks Like (Part 4 Presenting Yourself) #favoriteFriday The next in Hannah Morgans Job Search Success program is on presenting yourself. This is such a critical part of your job search and career management, and I dont want you to mess it up! I talk about presenting yourself in written and verbal forms, and having a marketing plan. Read the post here: Job Search Strategy: Presenting Yourself (3)

Are You Condoning Illegal Recruitment Bias

Are You Condoning Illegal Recruitment Bias In response to a global shift emphasising the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the workplace, many employers are looking inward to assess their own limiting prejudices in the hiring process, and turning to big data for solutions.   Over the past few years, researchers have conducted a large number of studies in an attempt to illustrate the ongoing presence of discriminatory tendencies in recruiting and hiring practices across the globe. Indeed, most of the data suggests that in spite of our best efforts, unconscious bias is still alive and well in the modern workplace. What’s in a name? Perhaps the most widely cited report is a 2008-2009 experiment conducted by the National Centre for Social Research. Researchers sent out three, nearly identical applications to 1,000+ job postings in major cities across the UK. Each application was attributed to a fictional candidate with an “ethnically-identifiable” name in order to determine whether or not this would have any impact on call-back rates.  The results demonstrated a clear disparity in hiring practices: “black-sounding” applicants received a positive response from employers approximately 39% of the time, compared to a 68% positive response rate for the applications with “white-sounding” names. More than five years later, you’d think the world might have become a bit more adept at dealing with these kinds of issues, but unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case.  Researchers in Paris conducted a similar study last year, in which six fictional CVs were sent out to real job offers from French companies, as Forbes reports. Two were given traditional “French-sounding” names, two had names of North African origin and two, names that sounded “vaguely foreign.” The results? The “French” applicants received 70% more callbacks than their ethnically diverse, yet otherwise identical counterparts. HR biases The initial screening stage is far from being the only area within the hiring cycle that’s vulnerable. Unconscious bias can creep in and rear its ugly head at nearly any point throughout the entire process. According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, about one in five employers unknowingly asked unethical, and potentially illegal questions during the interview stage, referring to race, age, disability, marital status, and plans of starting a family.  Aside from the obvious ethical implications, unconscious biases can also prevent employers from getting the intellectual and creative diversity they need to thrive. Many employers report anecdotal evidence of a marked disinclination to hire candidates who seem to have more experience or intellectual curiosity than current employees.  This seems totally counterproductive, as a 2015 survey conducted by the Korn Ferry Institute found that 62% of respondents complained that their organisations were lacking in experiential and intellectual depth. D is for data (and for diversity) Today, a growing number of HR professionals are looking to automation and big data for help. They have discovered that by using innovative new technologies in an attempt to level the playing field between candidates, it can help to take the human error out of human resources.  HR big data firm eQuest went so far as to call it “an unprecedented opportunityto make the most rigorously evidence-based” choices possible, stressing speed, accuracy and cost-reduction. Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced an agreement between a number of public and private employers, including HSBC, Virgin Money and KPMG to remove the names of job applicants from their initial applications to avoid potential ethnic biases. Deloitte plans to go a step further, and has committed to university-blind admissions, in hopes of preventing bias against applicants from non-elite backgrounds, and has emphasised the importance of a “talent pool [that] reflects the make-up of today’s society.” To that end, Deloitte’s UK business (along with nearly twenty other firms) has announced that in addition to making its hiring process “university-blind”, it will start using Rare, a new recruitment software platform that measures an applicant’s performance within his or her school, relative to their peers, in order to gain a better, more contextualised understanding of each individual candidate, as the Washington Post reports.  â€œIt’s man-plus-machine,” says Ali Behnam according to Mashable, a managing partner at Riviera Partners. Behnam and others stress the importance of finding the right balance and making the data “tell a story” about potential new hires. Sociologists and business psychologists are also starting to hone in on the ways that life experiences impact decision-making skills. “We should pay more attention to context,” says Richard Nisbett, of the University of Michigan, as reported in the Guardian. “In particular, attention to context increases the likelihood that we’ll recognise social influences that may be operating.” The point is, by adopting a more systematic and contextual approach to hiring, companies can dramatically reduce the potential for unconscious biases to enter into the recruitment equation, thereby bolstering cultural and intellectual diversity within their organisation. When you consider the fact that companies with solid diversity and inclusivity strategies are approximately 45% more likely to improve their market share and 70% more likely to capture a new market, according to a recent Center for Talent Innovation study, it’s clear that this is no longer just a conversation about right vs. wrong, according to Inc. â€" there’s a measurable, commercial benefit to having a diverse team. About the author: Kirstie Kelly is a writer at Launchpad, makers of video led HR software. She has many years of  experience  within recruitment and is passionate about promoting diverse and inclusive  workplaces. Image: Shutterstock

March Personal Brand Madness - Davis Delivers, Barnes Bewilders - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

March Personal Brand Madness - Davis Delivers, Barnes Bewilders - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career March is one of the most exciting months of the year all because of March Madness. College basketball passion sweeps the nation producing Cinderella stories and glimpses at the poise of future NBA stars. With a TV deal worth $10.8B over the next 14 years and all games being broadcast in full, the stage is set for many college men to propel themselves, and their brands, into the spotlight. Today, kids as young as high school are all too aware that self-promotion opens doors, and college athletes know this even more so. With a stage like the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament, not taking advantage of the spotlight opportunity would be unwise. To pretend that many athletes playing in the tournament don’t think this way would be naive as it is simply a different world we are in today. Anthony Davis To give you an example, Anthony Davis, AP College Player of the Year and projected top pick in the upcoming NBA draft, already has 93,500 twitter followers and someone managing his Facebook page. His signature unibrow (which is also on twitter) has been in, and on the cover of, multiple magazines. I use the benchmark of 100,000 twitter followers for when one’s brand is a major influencer. Anthony will most likely break that barrier before he sets foot on an NBA basketball court. The key to his popularity and brand growth stems from the level of skill and leadership he has showcased, as well as, his role in Kentucky’s success. Anthony Davis during a press conference At his age, one does not exist without the other. Davis has done it the right way. He has focused on his sport first and foremost, but has realized that there are thousands of fans out there that want to know more about him. Participating in social media in the right form has allowed his to give his fans what they are asking for, while promoting himself, his team, and his school. Harrison Barnes Harrison Barnes, on the other hand has not. Jay Caspian Kang wrote an interesting article for Grantland.com, where he highlights that Barnes was all too aware that he was a brand. “Its crazy that Barnes was thinking about his brand before he played a minute of college basketball. Its crazy that when Barnes struggled mightily during his freshman year, he was still thinking about that brand. And its crazy that before the NCAA tournament, Barnes felt the need to broadcast his brand through a national magazine by talking, of course, about his brand. The all-business rationale falls apart when the business is purely speculative. After two disastrous games in the NCAA tournament and a largely disappointing sophomore season, what, exactly, is the Harrison Barnes brand? What endorsement opportunities does he have right now?” Endorsement opportunities are only one example of the benefits of a strong personal brand for an athlete. I am not sure Barnes thinks this way,otherwise, he would manage his brand in a different manner. Focusing on an athlete’s personal brand also provides benefits such as: increased impact in the charitable world, achieving one’s vision for themself, showcasing core values, leaving a legacy one is proud of both within and outside their sport, business ventures, community relations, post sports career career, etc. The list goes on and on. Even college athletes that don’t go pro can benefit from a focus on their personal brand while in school and in a spotlight. The drive, dedication and leadership skills possessed by athletes at their level are attributes that are advantages in the corporate world. Simply stated, colleges should institute mandatory media training, social media training, and personal brand development seminars for their athletes. Doing so would not just be in the interest of those that go pro, but all athletes in general. Education, after all, is the reason that colleges exist, and for student athletes this is the type of education they will use with immediate benefit. Author: Katie Marston is a partner in VMGelement , a personal brand development company focusing on professional athletes. Follow her on Twitter at @ktmarston

How to Get More Subscribers to Your Vlog

How to Get More Subscribers to Your Vlog In previous times the success of your business was measured solely by the profit and loss metric. Currently, the goalpost has slightly shifted. How? Today’s generation determines your brand’s success by how visible you are on the social media scene. Their determination of how “cool” you are will help them decide whether to purchase your products. Nevertheless, don’t be fooled sales still rule but they could dwindle if you don’t have visibility on the social media scene. One of the best ways to showcase your products is through video content simply known as a Vlog. With video content, you’re able to showcase how your product is used. Video content giant YouTube is the perfect place to showcase your content like mum mum tv nursery rhymes have done. The more subscribers to your channel the more visibility you acquire. Here’s how to acquire more subscribers; Content As the old saying goes content is key. The more high-quality content you churn out the more subscribers you’re likely to garner. In addition to that, try to create videos that are likely to go viral. Such videos are mostly funny while still delivering the core message. For instance, this channel for kids keeps outdoing themselves by delivering catchy well-crafted songs that a child cannot help but listen to. It’s estimated 60% of internet users watch a video before reading any content.  This goes to show the power of videos as a tool for users. Sharing As illustrated above content is key. However, great content paired with an ability to share will move mountains for your business. The first reaction most people have now once they see an interesting video is to share it with their friends and family. Having buttons after your video that allows for sharing will allow viewers to attract new subscribers to your channel. Statistics show having share buttons strategically placed on your website will boost sharing close to 22%.  With a share button, you don’t have to spend money on marketing your products to prospective users. Offer prizes You should try to run contests or raffles on your site so as to boost subscribers. In this scenario, you’ll simply ask viewers to give their views on a particular subject. As a bonus, whoever’s comment becomes top-ranked gets a prize. Viewers will outdo each other trying to get the top prize while drawing attention to your channel. As a result of the publicity, there will be more subscribers to your channel. A word of caution should be however given that ensure you give out the prize or you face the prospect of losing all users garnered currently and previously. Guest posts Try and incorporate posts from guests so as to pull in more viewers and subscribers to your channel. In addition to that, have the guest hype up his appearance to his viewers and subscribers. That way, you get to capture his audience while drawing in a new world. Wrap-up These are some of the great ways to pull new users and subscribers to your channel. Smart and careful adherence to them will have you reeling in new subscribers by the boatload.

Custom Resume Writing Service

Custom Resume Writing ServiceCustom resume writing service in USYD is a must if you want to land that job interview. Most of the hiring managers prefer the resumes written by professionals and not those that are printed out from your school or university's library. You will be surprised how many people put the information that they have from the Internet to the college's library or their own file cabinet when preparing their resumes. But these files and libraries cannot handle the job of looking over and scrutinizing each document.So what do you do to prepare a document that stands out in a good position? A resume that is tailored for the hiring manager is always better than one that is designed for the candidate himself. In a perfect world, all applicants would be interviewed. This is the best way to find out what the requirements are of the job that you are applying for.Custom resume writing services have a team of professionals who can write your resume using a format that will no t only ensure that it is both appealing and professional but also make it professional looking. These services also specialize in the areas of business and corporate hiring. Their approach is tailor-made to meet the requirement of the hiring manager. This allows you to tailor your resume to fit their particular hiring process. The idea of custom resume writing is to ensure that you are able to get your resume reviewed in a prompt manner without missing a beat.You have a good chance of getting a job interview by presenting a resume that is written by professionals. Your resume is the first thing the hiring manager will see and they often focus on this aspect. You want your resume to get a quick review because this can be a determining factor on whether or not you get the interview. Therefore, a well-written resume can give you the advantage.The selection committee is impressed with resumes that are written by professionals because it shows that theperson has the know-how to create a good resume. These professionals are often times very busy and cannot devote time to custom resume writing. This is why you can take advantage of them by offering them a copy of your resume. If you get them an outline of your resume then it is a simple matter to get their review.The structure of a professional resume is very important. This is because your career should stand out above all the others. The length of your resume is very important as well. There is a limit to how long you can afford to be on a hiring committee's docket so keep this in mind.If you are unsure how to organize your resume and then submit it, you can contact a custom resume writing service. You can talk to the staff about what the best structure for your resume should be. A very good idea would be to use bullet points that are formatted to look professional.The final piece of advice for writing a professional resume in USYD is to make sure that your resume is easy to read and understand. Do not have it look like an encyclopedia. It will surely get lost in the sea of paper that you put together and then thrown away afterwards.

5 tips for better lunch breaks

5 tips for better lunch breaks 5 tips for better lunch breaks “Wanna grab lunch?” Do you dread or covet this invitation during your busy workweek? Are you a stoic solo luncher? Do you plow through the midday meal? Now, put down your microwaved chicken and broccoli casserole and consider this: You’re not alone. A recent Accountemps survey found that while employees prefer to break from work with a colleague, they more commonly have lunch alone. Or fail to take a break at all. Really. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can become a lunch-break aficionado. It’s possible to unwind a bit, tease out workplace matters with a colleague, go the gym, nap for 20 minutes, clear your head, digest your meal â€" all with the goal of coming back to work recharged, better connected and with a boost in your productivity. To delve into the matter, I spoke with Bill Driscoll, district president of Accountemps, an expert on global staffing, recruiting, hiring, and other workplace issues. Following are his five tips for better lunch breaks: 1. Be with colleagues Nearly half of accounting and finance professionals surveyed said they typically spend their lunch break eating alone. Yet almost as many said they would rather have a coworker join them for the meal. Ask a coworker to join you on your break and reap the rewards of companionship and communication. After all, you’re probably both thinking the same thing. 2. Pause and refresh About 37 percent of those interviewed said they would like to exercise on their lunch breaks, but only 10 percent actually do. Survey respondents more frequently run errands, check personal email and surf the Internet during their break. Buck the trend. Use that company gym perk, or take a 15-minute power walk across campus. Under no circumstances should you stay tethered to your workstation during your break. “Even with demanding workloads, you should periodically step away from your desk during the workday,” Driscoll advised. 3. Exchange ideas Lunching with colleagues can provide an opportunity to brainstorm and inspire new ideas. You can discuss the latest office technology or ways tasks are completed in other departments. Driscoll said, “Sharing a meal with coworkers not only strengthens business relationships, but creates a more relaxed environment for collaboration and the exchange of ideas.” 4. Clear your head and boost creativity “The simple act of taking a break â€" even for a few minutes â€" can help clear your mind and broaden your perspective, especially when facing challenging business problems,” Driscoll noted. Discuss things on your break other than work to boost your energy and elevate your mood. The brief interruption will help you regain focus and may even lead to new solutions to problems or tasks. 5. Make a plan Don’t rush from lunch into a power meeting. When possible, schedule your more demanding conversations 30 minutes or more after you’ve taken your break. As reported in a Scientific American article, a rested mind is a more productive mind. In addition, a study published in the journal Cognition highlights another upside to sporadic breaks that we rarely consider: goal reactivation. So take that break and enjoy your respite. It’s benefiting not only you but also your company and colleagues.

Top 5 reasons we should play more at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Top 5 reasons we should play more at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Jane works in HR in a large Danish organization where I was giving a speech about happiness at work. I talked to her in preparation for the speech to learn about their situation and challenges, and she told me the she and some co-workers wanted to do something fun for Halloween a few years back, so they carved pumpkins and put up decorations in hallways, meeting rooms, and offices. The reaction from some co-workers was immediately dismissive and they were told in no uncertain terms that ?this is a workplace, not a kindergarten.? They have not since attempted anything like that. Pretty surprising considering Denmark was named the happiest country in the world in 2011 by a UN backed survey, right? To most people, work and play are mutually exclusive. Work is serious, play is frivolous. Work is something you have to do, play is something you want to do. Work is hard, play is fun. But does it really have to be that way? What would happen if we played more at work? A while back, I asked the readers of this blog how they play at work and here are just a few examples. Three great ways to play at work How about introducing play into brainstorming: When brainstorming for new ideas we wanted to exclude critical thinking and encourage divergent thinking. Rather than having a facilitator policing the workshops we introduced water pistols. Any mistimed critical thinking led to a soaking. The pistols did not however become a distraction, they raised the energy levels massively and resulted in great, off the wall, ideas being proposed. Even the house ?Mr Negative? could not resist and started to come up with great ideas?.after shooting himself several times as he realised that he was being negative before ideas had properly emerged. Why not simply play a game on break time: On Fridays, it?s not unusual for a game of darts to break out. We have a dart board in our office and it serves as a great way to take a break (a game usually lasts less than half an hour), build a little camaraderie, and get our minds off of work a bit. I have found that it?s a great team building activity and it actually makes work time more effective and productive. Oh, and it?s fun, too. One company even uses play in hiring: Where I work, we do our best to weed out the unhappy and cynical employees before they even get hired. After each candidate goes through his/her well-rehearsed and pre-meditated interviews with HR and management, the entire engineering team (it?s a small company) comes into the room, closes the door, and starts a game of Jenga like it?s no big deal. Meanwhile, we strike up a casual conversation with the candidate and insist he or she play with us. Without fail, the candidates true colors are almost immediately revealed. Candidate scoffs at the idea of playing a game in an interview? Obviously too uptight for our group and not capable of handling rapidly changing situations. Focusing on Jenga also takes the candidate?s mind off of all of the pre-meditated answers and pages of ?interview tips? articles that we?ve all read at one point or another. Works every time. We end up with engineers who are laid back and easygoing, but who know their stuff, and can think on their feet. I have heard countless other great examples of workplaces making themselves more like playgrounds ? and this is also good for business. Here are the top 5 reasons why it?s a good idea to mix work and play. 1: You relax and de-stress A play-break is a great way to laugh and focus on something besides work, emails, meetings, deadlines and clients. That break gives us a chance to relax during an otherwise busy work day and makes us less stressed. 2: We build relationships In play you can be yourself and so can your co-workers ? as in the Jenga-hiring-game above that brought out an applicant?s true self. Playing, especially together is a great way to build better relationships with your co-workers. 3: It broadens your mind Play stretches the mind and makes us more creative. More and better ideas come to you when you?re in a playful state of mind than when you?re being serious and professional. 4: We take work less seriously To many people, work is life and death, forever locked in a bloodthirsty, winner-take-all battle to end. No surprise that this attitude tends to make people cramp up mentally. Introducing play in the workplace gives us a break from this mentality and a chance to take ourselves less seriously. 5: We become happier at work But most of all, playing at work would serve to make a workplace happier ? and we know from many studies, that a happy workplace is a profitable one! The upshot There is a great case to be made for playing way more at work. And what?s more, introducing play can be fun and easy. It?s not without its challenges, and as we saw from the example above, some workplaces have an anti-play brigade that insists on keeping any and all aspects of fun and playfulness far away from the workplace. Well nuts to them, I say ? let?s do it anyway! I suggest we make the new battle cry in the workplace ?Wanna play?? Your take How do you play at work? Does your workplace even allow that kind of thing? What would happen if you made work a little more like play? Write a comment, Id love to hear your take. Related posts Fun with whiteboards Your resume looks great but hows your Jenga game? Dont let the cult of overwork ruin your life 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