How to Spend Your First and Last Moments at Work

How to Spend Your First and Last Moments at Work How important is the first 20 minutes of your work day? How you begin and end each work day actually has a lot of leverage on your productivity levels and performance in the office. Entrepreneurs and business professionals can benefit from starting and ending their work day in a certain way to increase their productivity. Simple tasks such as outlining your daily goals and accomplishing your biggest projects first will allow you to accomplish more than you thought possible. Making subtle changes to your office arrival can also have a positive impact on your work day. For example, did you know that simply staying hydrated has been shown to increase productivity by 14%, but most professionals are not drinking enough water? Taking the initiative to set yourself up for success in the office will not only make you a better employee but also increase your work satisfaction. When you start your work day, take a few minutes to settle in and focus on the tasks at hand. Meditate for a few moments to allow your brain to shift into work mode. Instead of downing a latte or cup of coffee, make an effort to drink more water so you’re hydrated and focused. Create a checklist of all the things you need to accomplish and tackle your biggest projects first. Write encouraging notes on your checklist so you stay motivated throughout the day. How you leave the office is just as important as how you enter it. Save administrative tasks for the end of the day, such as checking emails and sending memos. This will allow you to get your top priorities accomplished before accepting requests from others. Avoid diving into large projects at the end of the day so you leave work with a list full of to-dos in your head. Disable alerts and notifications once you step outside of the office. Allow yourself to disconnect and either pursue passions outside of work or focus on the people you care about most. Fundera has created this helpful infographic detailing 10 ways to spend the first and last minutes of your work day in order to increase your overall performance and satisfaction in the workplace. First 15 Minutes: Prioritize with a list of tasks for the day in order of importance Take a step back to think about the big picture Drink a glass of water in order to stay hydrated Check in with your team with some encouraging words Start attacking your biggest challenges first while your mind is still fresh Last 15 Minutes: Wrap up small projects like sending emails and other administrative tasks Organize your supplies for a fresh start so you can arrive at a clean desk tomorrow Do a brain dump by making notes of things you wish to accomplish the next day Check in with yourself by assessing your high and low moment of the day Disconnect for the evening by muting work-related chats and emails Check out the full infographic here and kickstart your workplace productivity: About the author: Meredith is Editor-in-Chief at Fundera. Specializing in financial advice for small business owners, Meredith is a current and past contributor to Yahoo!, Amex OPEN Forum, Fox Business, SCORE, AllBusiness and more.

Personal Branding Author Interview James Marshall Reilly - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Author Interview James Marshall Reilly - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to James Marshall Reilly who is the author of Shake The World: It’s Not About Finding a Job, It’s About Creating a Life and the founder of Guild Agency Speakers Bureau Intellectual Talent Management. Reilly was honored at the White House as one of the Top 100 entrepreneurs in the U.S. age 30 or under. In this interview Reilly shares an aggregate of stories from leaders in humanitarian and corporate ventures, what success looks like, the role personal branding plays today, and much more. What inspired you to write Shake The World? I left a job and (like many people) didn’t know what I wanted to do next but I knew I wanted it to be something different, something productive and meaningful in more than just a financial way. That got me thinking about the amazing people that were doing things to change the world (e.g. building schools, reducing malnutrition, leading multi-million dollar companies). This book was a way to showcase the stories of the ones we often don’t hear about. You interviewed inspired leaders and entrepreneurs, is there a common thread they all share? Let me share that Reilly interviewed humanitarians to corporate leaders including Scott Harrison, founder and CEO of charity: water to Cameron Herold, former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, Inc. and Blake Mycoskie of TOMS. There were several common threads, which is ultimately the underlying argument of the book. The core set of commonalities and the biggest, most important is to “act as a disruptive force” whether that’s within an industry or your own life. This action will lead to the greatest result. Tony Hsieh disrupted the shoe industry with Zappos and the industry, consumers and his company are all in a better place. Shawn Fanning created disruption in the music industry and while he got in trouble, 10 years later, we’re able to consume music better and easier and record labels are paid for it. What does success look like? Each person defines success different, for one it may be donating 65MM shoes and for another it may be personal happiness. For most of these leaders success is when daily life+work intersect in a way that Sunday and Wednesday are interchangeable. Take Ellen Gustafson who was working at the UN shortly after being inspired, in a nearly obsessive way, by food and healthy eating, during a ski trip. While partnering on a project with Lauren Bush they developed the original FEED bag to address global hunger and malnutrition. After the UN declined the project and several other groups and companies passed on them, they opened their own company. By 2010 the GAP was selling their FEED handbags and products. Half a million bag sales later, fifty-five million children have been fed and their little company has generated millions in sales too. This is just a sample of the type of story you’ll find in Shake The World, and how anyone can turn their passion into a business. How relevant is personal branding, for anyone, including job seekers today? Personal branding is incredibly important whether you’re Tony Hsieh or Joe the Job Seeker. We all have a personal brand. Take any of these rising companies (e.g. TOMS Shoes, Zappos) and there are strong leaders in front of the brand. We all know the CEO and feel like we know the CEO personally; look at the impact when Steve Jobs was lost. We all felt as if we know him. When we like the company or brand’s leader, their businesses do well. The same goes for a job seeker or employee. If I’m an intern at a company and I post a bunch of pictures on my Facebook account, that’s my personal brand. If I tweet a bunch of socially relevant things, that’s also my personal brand. The most important part of anyone’s brand is authenticity. People respond to authenticity. What one piece of advice do you want to convey about Shake The World? Avoid settling. Don’t be afraid to fail. Take small risks when you feel it’s worth taking them and know that it may not be that you’re going to start a business but that half-baked idea you have today may turn into something big in 3 years. Keep an open mind and pursue your own interests. Shake The World was released with Penguin Books in late December, 2011 and can be found at Amazon.com, your local bookstore or on your Kindle.   After reading it myself Id say its definitely worth $20. If youre not inspired to start your own business, these are stories of great leaders you want to know of, about and get connected to. Who knows, maybe theyre building companies youll be part of someday soon. Author: Adriana Llames is a master career coach and acclaimed author of “Career Sudoku: 9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game”, released with top book seller Amazon.com. She is the chief engagement officer at adrianallames communications and a highly sought after keynote speaker motivating and inspiring audiences with her high energy, focused programs on personal branding, social media and networking. For more information, visit www.adrianallames.com.

Proper Branding on Twitter Creates Revenue - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Proper Branding on Twitter Creates Revenue - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Don’t you find using Twitter to be a great waste of time?” Upon hearing that question, I offer a resounding reply of, “No!” In fact, Twitter is my all-time favorite business tool. In addition to having made many wonderful friends on Twitter, due to the visibility there, I was able to attract incredible opportunities that would not otherwise have been offered. In my experience, it is well worth the time to learn the success strategies that quickly enable the building of relationships and business. As tweeting becomes a part of your daily branding effort, you become very noticeable. Tweeting correctly makes the difference. Offering your insights is equal to marketing samples serving to increase revenue. In 140 character spaces or less this may all be accomplished, making it the most efficient business-building tool I have ever encountered. The better techniques outlined below are offered to help you to attract your preferred audience and enjoy an improved outcome. On other sites you may have concerns about connecting with some individuals, Twitter announces everyone’s brand to the world revealing upfront whether the connection will be a good match. Consider your brand. How you communicate and what you choose to say and re-state will be noticed by others. Your choices reflect the person you truly are. Therefore, be selective. Consistency in tweeting is another key element for developing your following. Twitter is an excellent training ground for succinctly saying what we are thinking. Twitter allows 140 character spaces in each message. However a sales motto is, “Make it easy for the other party to say Yes!” In this case, you want to make it easy for others to re-tweet you. To do so, use less than 140 spaces. For example: @smoothsale is my handle. For someone to re-tweet me giving appropriate credit could look like this: RT @smoothsale Address objections or limitations upfront prior to attempting to sell. For more advice visit: http://www.smoothsale.net/blog/ From this example, you can see that the RT @smoothsale “ requires 15 character spaces. Therefore, in order to make it easy for someone to re-tweet me, I may only use a maximum of 125 spaces. Do the math to encourage re-tweets of your quotes. Reciprocity goes a long way in anything you do. On your home page of Twitter, you will see a timeline. Next to your handle there will be @mentions. Press that link to see who has been re-tweeting or mentioning you. Thank each person for having mentioned you. Next, press their link to see what they have tweeted. If they have messaged thoughts with which you resonate, by all means re-tweet them. In this case, you might also take the time to see who they follow and who follows them for possible new connections. As you select new people to follow, check they tweet frequently and offer tweets that speak 100% to your belief system. Are they offering value to the audience or simply making requests? Does the person have a close range of followers versus following? This reflects a willingness to reciprocate. Thank everyone who either re-Tweets you or who includes you in a mention. Showing appreciation leads to building relationships, friendships and business. Daily attention to building your Twitter account will bring about greater awareness of your personal brand, business and leads to increasing your revenue. Used properly, it all becomes a very Smooth Sale! Author: Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results” and “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”. Elinor is available for consultation and greatly enjoys delivering inspirational keynotes at conferences.

6 Ways You Fail to Show Personality on Your Resume

6 Ways You Fail to Show Personality on Your Resume When you’re a recruiter, sometimes you cannot but marvel at the uniformity of most candidates’ resumes. In most cases, you can tell one from another only by a name at the top. For some reason, most candidates write generic resumes even if they themselves aren’t generic people. Sure, it’s only natural that everybody wants to be the right fit for the company they’re approaching. Unfortunately, most candidates try to achieve this by erasing their personality entirely. In the end, you could hardly find a surer way to make your resume end up in the bin. This is not to say that you shouldn’t present yourself in a way that fits the company’s needs. You should. The main challenge lies in striking a balance between fitting in and standing out at the same time. It takes a bit of an effort to successfully walk the thin line between the two and you’re going to fail before you make it work. These are the 6 mistakes you probably make: 1. You write in third person. Never underestimate the power of “I”. There’s no easier way to show your personality on a resume than to write it in first person. Don’t listen to those who tell you otherwise. After all, your resume is your main career branding document. It’s meant to be about you presenting yourself! What better place to use the word “I” then? Ultimately, the main purpose of a resume is to help you stand out from other candidates and get invited to an interview. You could hardly find a better way to do this than giving your resume a friendly voice. When you write a resume in first person, it’s as if you were speaking to the hiring manager directly. In other words, you stop being just another faceless (voiceless) applicant. 2. You use buzzwords and jargon. If you want to show your personality on a resume, you need to give it a unique voice. Yet, that’s impossible to do if you’ve just packed your resume with meaningless phrases like “Results-Oriented Professional” or “Motivated Self-Starter”. Would you use these words to describe yourself to someone in a conversation? Of course not, that would be silly. Moreover, these done-to-death buzzwords are anything but informative. What does “Results-Oriented Professional” even mean? Not much when every other candidate in your pile of job applications claims to be one. You have a voice of your own. Don’t be afraid to pack your resume with words of your own. It’s the best thing you can do to connect with the person who wants to hire you. 3. You don’t tell stories of your accomplishments. Many candidates make the mistake of saying too little when describing their previous jobs. Nevertheless, to make your personality shine through on a resume, you need to go into detail. First, you should never list your past responsibilities instead of actual accomplishments. If you do this, you end up repeating the job description. What’s unique about that? Everybody with the same job title is going write the same thing. On the other hand, when you describe your past accomplishments instead, you show contributions that were uniquely your own. Second, remember to provide context for each accomplishment. Don’t simply tell what you did, explain how you did it and why. In other words, tell stories about the problems you had to face and the ways you solved them. In the end, it’s their stories that make people memorable and unique. 4. You apply for jobs using automated recruiting websites. If you manage to write a resume that oozes with personality, don’t pitch it into automated recruiting websites. After all, there’s no point in showing a personality if there’s no one on the other end to appreciate it. Applicant Tracking Systems is where personable resumes go to die. Sure, you can optimize your resume for ATS to slightly increase your chances. Still, all they can do is to scan your resume for keywords. At the end of the day, mainly the candidates who approach hiring managers directly get to the last round of interviews. Remember to show personality in the way you submit your resume too. 5. You don’t care how your resume looks. Don’t underestimate the visual side of your resume. All resumes created in MS Word look almost the same. If you want to stand out, pick a sleek template to accentuate the contents of your resume. At the end of the day, humans are visual beings first and foremost. For this reason, content and form need to go in hand if you want to make an unforgettable impression. Even if your skills in graphical design leave much to be desired, your resume doesn’t have to be boring. A number of resume builders like Kickresume or ResumeGenius allow you to choose from a wide range of professional resume templates. Just make sure to pick one that fits the position you’re approaching. 6. You overshare personal information. Lastly, be careful not to overshare on your resume. For instance, if you decide to include your hobbies, only list the ones that might be relevant for the job. Also, don’t share anything that might be too personal or intimate. Yes, it’s great to make your personality show on a resume. just make sure you stay professional. Rememberâ€"you’re looking for a job, not a friend.

Microservices Resume

Microservices ResumeMicroservices Resume? Microservices resume is a document that describes the design of a service as part of a larger system. The service may be part of a larger web services system, a specialized web application or a general server solution.Microservices resume may also describe the services that are being offered and how the system is integrated with other systems. The word microservices is derived from the Latin phrase, 'Minime services' which means 'minimal work'. It does not refer to small parts of a larger system. Rather, it refers to the minimum of work needed to maintain and create a system.Microservices are meant to remove the headaches of designing a system and testing it. There is no need to have everything done by the same people. You can run your system independently and concentrate on other aspects of your business. The point of microservices is to save time and money.Microservices are a relatively new concept. They were first introduced in 1998, when Microsoft presented a technology called SOLID. Microsoft uses the concept of microservices to create a scalable architecture that scales up with the needs of its customers. As the needs of the customer increase, the system is scaled accordingly.Businesses should be able to determine how they will deliver a system and how it will work together with other systems. Some examples of these are services, microservices and architectures. Businesses are faced with the problem of producing a system that will work well together with the rest of the system. This can be difficult to do unless you have a systematic plan for creating a system.There are two different stages of a system. The first stage is designed and tested, and the second stage is used. However, many organizations have problems in realizing the second stage and therefore cannot use the system to its full capacity.Microservices resume provides information on the system, such as information about the product, a technical descripti on, and problems, resolutions, and features. It also includes a table of contents. The company should consider including a table of contents in its resume. If the solution team does not write resumes, then an applicant for the job should write one.Services often change. The purpose of the microservices resume is to provide a summary of the system and to include the changes made. A common misconception is that microservices have less complexity than a monolithic system, but this is not true.

Is Your Resume Getting Results

Is Your Resume Getting Results Is Your Resume Getting Results? Is Your Resume Getting Results? May 4, 2010 by Career Coach Sherri Thomas Leave a Comment Take a look at your resume. Is it getting you results? Todays job market is extremely competitive having a good resume isnt good enough. Many clients bring me their resumes complaining about not getting interviews and about how there just arent enough jobs out there. In reality, millions of people will get new jobs this year. So, why arent you one of them? The answer may be because your resume is not sending the right message. Your resume must prove you are a clear, focused and results-driven individual who can provide the value the company needs. Employers or new clients want to see the value and the results you provided in your last work environment, so state your accomplishments in terms of dollars, percentages and numbers. How have you impacted the bottom line? Highlighting your skills is critical, but stating specific results of your accomplishments will get you the job interview. To ensure your resume is giving the right message, I encourage you to have it professionally written, or at a minimum, professionally critiqued. The result can not only give you the edge for getting an interview, but it can help you get a higher starting salary. This can mean tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your career! A resume coach may also provide great insight about the skills and qualifications valued within the industry.

5 Ways Treasure Hunts Help Improve Workplace Teams - CareerAlley

5 Ways Treasure Hunts Help Improve Workplace Teams - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. A great job is one where the company you work for values every person who works for it; one where the employer does all they can to encourage a happy workplace and facilitate career development. One way they can do this is to arrange workplace team building activities, and theres a wide range to choose from, from drawing sessions to wine tasting and drumming lessons. One of the best team building exercises of them all, however, is a treasure hunt, and here are five ways that they can lead to a more positive and productive working environment. 1. Letting Off Steam In todays ever more competitive business world, its important that every worker in a company operates to their full capability, but that can lead to fatigue or stress. Taking your workers out of the workplace can help them leave behind work-related worries so that they can relax and have fun free from the normal constraints of working life. London treasure hunts take place in a variety of locations across the city, but they all place an emphasis on fun and team building, bringing benefits for employees and employer alike. Effective teamwork is both profoundly simple and difficult at the same time. This is why so many teams struggle to get the relationships, the interaction, and the task execution right. Their success depends on these factors. thebalancecareers.com 2. Different Departments Working Together If a workplace has many different departments or employees whose jobs are specialist and compartmentalized, then many workers may say little to those in other departments other than hello and goodbye, which is why it makes sense to ensure that treasure hunt teams each comprise a mix of people from different departments. In this way, lifelong friendships can be forged that can pay dividends for the company as a whole. Photo by Pavan Trikutam on Unsplash 3. Encouraging Communication There is one commodity that every business needs if its going to be successful: excellent communication. Workers can often retreat into their shell while at work, too engrossed in their own job to take an interest in the wider performance of the business that employs them, and this can mean that they fail to make what could be valuable contributions to team meetings and brainstorming sessions. Treasure hunts are so much fun that even the most reserved employee soon finds themselves joining in, and once theyve found their voice out of work they often carry the confidence back into the workplace. source 4. True Teamwork Similarly, there are often divisions in a work based upon position and seniority, with managers forming friendships with managers, and non-management staff also forming alliances. Breaking these barriers down can bring great advantages, so once again its important that treasure hunt teams contain both management and non-management personnel. The true teamwork utilized during the treasure hunt challenge can come in just as useful in a normal working day. Some enjoy working in a team and others thrive in the outdoors; everybody has their own unique preference when it comes to their style of working. Tweet This 5. Supporting Great Causes Consumers love businesses that support good causes, and its also been shown that workers whose employers support charities feel more motivated. London treasure hunts can be tailored to meet particular needs and team sizes, but as well as being a lot of fun they can also help a great cause by being linked to a charitable cause. Publicizing this fund-raising activity on a website or social media platform can create a good news story for the business in question, as well as encouraging further donations to the charity in question. These are just some of the ways in which a professionally organized treasure hunt can help the business you own or work for, gain a competitive edge over corporate rivals. They encourage honest and open communication and team building skills and reward problem-solving ability, which is always a useful asset in the workplace. Just as importantly, theyre lots of fun too, and can leave participants feeling refreshed, energized, and ready to take on the world. What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to find the opportunities that help you grow your best career. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search