Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom How to Sustain the Benefits of Corporate Training After the Course is Over

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom How to Sustain the Benefits of Corporate Training After the Course is Over In my experience as a workforce author and consultant, I’ve observed that organizations tend to invest more in their employees during good economic times, and pull back development efforts when their businesses are feeling the pinch. Let’s recall what we learned from our earliest years in school. Our teachers encouraged us to master material through repetition. We’d be introduced to a concept in class, practice it via homework, be quizzed on it by the teacher, and be tested on it again much later on a final exam. In other words, learning was an extended, ongoing process. If you want to sustain the benefits of your corporate training long after your employees have completed it, you might consider incorporating this advice into your regimen. Communicate the Big Picture While they are still in the main training event, explain why it’s in employees’ best interests to apply the skills they’ve learned. How will using these new concepts help them do their jobs more effectively? Why will they now be able to add greater value to the organization? How will further mastery of the skills drive their careers forward overall? Emphasize Concrete Actions As part of any training, crystallize exactly what employees should do as part of their everyday responsibilities so skills are continuously re-emphasized. Decide on a cadence of activities to ensure that self-study and on-the-job practice are occurring on at least a monthly basis, and clearly communicate your expectations. Ideally, these tasks are mandatory. Gain On-the-Spot Commitment Before they leave a workshop, employees might write down what they have learned that is most relevant to their current roles, and specific actions they will take to apply those ideas in the next 30-60 days. If they can add results they intend to achieve by way of implementing the course learnings, so much the better. Participants can either take these goal statements with them when they leave the training, or the trainer may collect them and return them to employees at a later date. For more tips, read the rest of the post at the DeVryWORKS site.

2014 The Year of Increased Recruiting Activity

2014 The Year of Increased Recruiting Activity New Year, New You! That’s the motto. With a new year upon us it’s time for a quick burst in gym membership, healthy food purchases and for exercise equipment sales to double.  That is, of course, until March roles around and everyone gets back to their normal schedules. Personally, I do not subscribe to the New Year’s fad. However, if you do fall victim to this, then good for you! Any work out is better than no work out at all!  This, however, is not a fitness blog (well remembered Chadd! Editor), but the same principals apply here. In 2014, it is time to take a look at our activity. The beginning of a new year is a good time to take a look back on the previous one and see what went right and what went wrong. And I think there is something, regardless of our experience in this industry, that we can all agree on: activity is key. From how many calls you make, how many meetings you attend, how many interviews you conduct to ultimately the number of placements you make. So I propose this for 2016: let’s make this the year that we increase our productivity. Personally I am a proponent of making sure if it is important, to write it down somewhere and keep it relatively close by. If you look at my desk you will see my yearly and weekly goals, daily schedule and other important information. As the old saying goes; what gets measured gets done. So now let us take a look at how making minor changes can have a large impact overall in 2014 1. Client meetings: Last year did you average 10 client meetings per week? Add 2 more during the week and you are seeing 104 more people this year  compared to last! 2. Phone calls: Make 3 more calls before you leave the office each day and you just added 780 more calls to your yearly production. READ MORE:  Are Recruiters  Hiding  Behind  Social Media? 3. Candidate interviews: Depending on your field, the number of placements you make will vary. Technical recruiting could be anywhere from 1-3 per month, non-technical is the same amount, but per week. So let’s just take a round number of 5 per month. Interview 2 more candidates per placement and you are looking at having 500+ candidates in your pipeline for this year. RELATED:  13  Interview  Questions You Should Be Asking Finance  Candidates 4.  Marketing calls: One popular activity in the agency world is to call companies with active openings with a blind resume of a candidate you are working with. While some people may look down on this process, it is an activity that produces results. For every candidate you work with you should be sending their resume to at least one client or company who would benefit from their employment. Assuming you interview 5 candidates per placement and taking from the numbers listed in point 3, if you do this per candidate you will have 1,000+ calls a year. Even if only a small percentage of those calls turn into placements you just added a significant increase into your yearly earnings. These numbers and metrics aren’t to be used as an exact road map for 2014. But ultimately it is important that we increase our activity. And that doesn’t require a seismic shift in your work ethic or daily schedule. All it takes is making that little bit of effort on a daily basis that in the long run will add to much greater success at the end of the year.

Find Your Dream Job Develop Rare and Valuable Skills! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Find Your Dream Job Develop Rare and Valuable Skills! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career What does it really mean to find ones dream job or ones dream school or dream anything? I would like to explore this topic for the sake of redefining dreams as they relate to our career choices and to consider how managing our notion of dreams correspond to ones happiness. Dreams are by definition a cherished aspiration, an unrealistic fantasy and something typically thats beyond our reach!  Although they can be lofty; most dreams are intangible, idealistic thoughts that are not necessarily good for us. There are many examples of people who have followed their dreams and done so successfully.  The most sensible way to pursue ones dreams, is to have a back up plan incase your dream doesnt become an actuality. Plan for the worst and hope for the best strategy.  One of my closest childhood friends, Lisa, has two sons, Simon and Julian, who started a rock band a few years ago while in Orlando Florida.  Now at age 22 and 19 they  practice day and night, record their music, promote and sell it online and while performing at live concerts. They have negotiated contracts with agents and booked shows in a wide array of venues across the U.S. These young musicians/entrepreneurs have developed a small but distinct cult following for their growing brand described as garage meets punk with a 1960s twist. Despite the fact that they have been well received by a broad age group and by people whose music tastes cross a wide spectrum of musical genres, there are still those skeptics who shun their entrepreneurial endeavor and say theyre wasting their time as the music industry is extremely competitive and the chance of them making it big is slim to none. My advice to these young rockers is to ignore the naysayers who have tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to discourage them and heres why.  From a purely practical standpoint, both of these guys are enrolled in a community college pursuing a degree in business management.  The real world experience theyre gaining from building a rock band is significant and valuable: They developed a strong brand name for their group by aggressively and effectively promoting their group on and off-line. They have successfully booked over 0 performances across the eastern seaboard from Orlando to New York and negotiated contracts with music producers and agents to get their foot in the door at a few major concert halls and a variety of boutique clubs where they performed before live audiences both large and small.  In short, Simon and Julian acquired valuable skills as young entrepreneurs while building their music repertoire and a loyal fan base. These real world experiences are impossible to learn stri ctly from a text-book! I liken their work in the music industry to a paid internship!   They are learning a broad range of transferable, real world skills that could benefit them in the workplace whether or not their band becomes a huge success. Further, these guys will never have regrets for not trying to pursue their dream of becoming professional musicians because they at least tried, put all their energy into building their dream and did it when they were young enough that the  risks involved were relatively low.  If you combine both practical concerns (eg. this example where the brothers are both studying business while working to promote their dream career as professional musicians), you can have your cake and eat it too!  Pursuing your dreams and being an idealist is not categorically a good or bad thing;  It all depends on how you mange the pursuit of your dream career.  It can lead to a happy future if you infuse realistic data points along the way in making your choice. So what about the rest of us who dont even have something were  passionate about?  How do we find our dream job?  For those of you who fall in this category, theres no need to despair. Take some comfort in knowing that you are among the vast majority of people who start working after college and dont know what theyre passionate about; I suggest you dont invest your energy into pursuing a passion as the pursuit of finding ones passion can result in undue stress and anxiety;  In fact, theres no research to support that people who know their passion from an early age are happier than those who discovered it much later in life. In order to find satisfaction in life, I recommend that you engage in some introspection and research on what a day in the life of someone is truly like in the job and in the city you esteem. I also urge you to consider what author, Cal Newport says about following your passions.  Passion is elusive… in the stories of people who end up loving their work: after they develop  rare and valuable skills  they then use these skills as leverage to take control of their career path, often veering far off the standard trajectory. This act of leverage requires courage, but can return great rewards… Work is hard. Not every day is fun. Building the skills that ultimately lead to a compelling career can take  years of effort. If youre seeking a dream job, youll end up disappointed, again and again. I think dreams and passions are close cousins and need to be tempered by a dose of reality; make it a top priority to build skills that will ultimately lead to a compelling career!  Do an assessment of your personal needs, skills, and interests and then research how they match to a sustainable industry.  Once you find a job that will afford you opportunities to develop and hone your skills, strive to become a giver in your field.  Become that go-to person who is known for accommodating the needs of the group and filling needs that havent been met!  The career you end up with will likely be satisfying and realsomething worth dreaming about. Your acquired competency may lead you to having more autonomy at work, which in itself has a strong link to happiness. Dont become overly concerned if you are not working in the exact right field.  Just be sure to develop skills that you can leverage both within your current company and elsewhere if you need to move. Dont set out to discover passion. Instead, set out to develop it! This path might be longer and more complicated than what most upbeat career guides might preach, but its a path much more likely to lead you somewhere worth going.  I agree with Cals observation that people who end up loving their work rarely have definite pre-existing passions. Surprisingly, studies also show that  having too much autonomy or wealth tends to increase stress and decrease well-being.  That is, once a persons basic necessities are covered, having more wealth and freedom does not correlate to increased happiness.  In fact, trying to keep up with others is shown to cause unneeded anxiety and stress.  Psychological studies also support that happiness is a direct outcome of  having the respect of your co-workers and a few meaningful relationships in your life. Take time to nurture close relationships with friends and family. So the question still remains:  How do you choose a career that will make you happy if you dont have a specific passion that drives you? I suggest that your first step should be, getting to know yourself: What are your strengths, abilities, interests and personal needs?  What can you bring to the table?  What motivates you?  Step two:  Narrow down your choice of career to an industry and the place that will be most suitable for you to live.  Do your investigative research about sustainable industries in sustainable places. Get information from the companies websites, glassdoor.com and employees who work there about the corporate culture of the perspective companies. Review the career path and the lifestyle associated with the job that most appeals to you (via informational interviews) and start building your network in that industry by joining related professional associations. The more information you have about the actual steps it takes to reach your dream job the closer it will be to a good match and the less likely your dream job will end up being your worst nightmare! Planning ahead in this way will insure that your choices are based upon well-reasoned criteria that will  guide you to make a realistic, achievable choice and reduce your chances of having angst in your future. You may find that your dream job is ultimately the one you carefully selected based on a thoughtful analysis of your abilities, personal needs and ambitions matched to the needs of a sustainable industry that fits your criteria. It will also come after many years of hard work whereby you’ve developed skills that are needed and valued in your industry. (You can find more about how to arrange an informational interview, industry trends, sustainable industries and sustainable places to live in my book, From Diploma to Dream job: 5 Overlooked Steps to a Successful Career). Author: Beth is Founder and President of Get Hired, LLC.   She advises students on how to bridge the gap from school to career.  Beth is the co-author of  From Diploma to Dream Job: Five Overlooked Steps to a Successful Career  (available on Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/dp/14687082) Her coaching assists students to successfully match their needs, interests, passions, skills, and personal goals with the needs of a sustainable industry in a sustainable location.  Beth is also a resource for print and online media and offers workshops for University Career Service Departments, Executive Recruiters, Outplacement Services, College Guidance Counselors and College Alumni Associations. See website for more details about Beth’s services  www.fromdiploma2dreamjob.com  You can follow Beth on twitter @BethKuhel

6 Career Lessons You Learn from Yoga

6 Career Lessons You Learn from Yoga Flexibility is not the only attribute valued by employers and yogis alike! Here’s how to be your own personal guru in the workplace: Self-improvement is more important than trying to beat everyone else.  Ever walked into a “beginners” yoga class and panicked as everyone else folded themselves into pretzels while you could barely touch your toes? It’s natural to want to be better than everyone else around you, but being the best at everything is impossible, and constantly measuring yourself against your colleagues will only result in disappointment and frustration. Instead, focus on being the best that you can be. Identify your strengths and weaknesses and make a conscious effort to work on the latter. Ask for feedback on your work from peers and managers and put good suggestions into practice. People will take notice your self-improvement and be impressed.   Making things look effortless takes a lot of hard work.  Like most yoga positions, it can be incredibly demoralising if you embark upon a new job or project and find yourself floundering while everyone else seems to just ‘get’ it. Try to keep things in perspective. Malcolm Gladwell’s famous theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert is embedded in the idea that learning to be good at anything takes a considerable amount of time and effort. If you know you’re trying your hardest, don’t sweat it if you’re not perfect just yet. And ask for help when you need it! Most people are happy to offer advice and guidance when approached.     Your mind and body are intrinsically interlinked. Yoga is as much about mediation as exercise because practitioners understand that you cannot give something your all without using your mind and body together. So if you want to give 100% at work, look after your health. Those yoga classes aren’t just a source of career inspiration: regular exercise makes you better at your job. And while we all know that eating well brings all sorts of physical benefits, putting down the biscuits improves your job performance and productivity too. The third important factor is getting enough sleep each night. Nobody works at their best when they’re tired.  So if you find yourself regularly staying up late to finish reports you may actually be harming your efficiency.   Every day, push yourself that little bit further.  We should all have goals â€" they keep us constantly growing and learning. But whether it’s performing a perfect yoga handstand or becoming CEO, we often focus only on the end result and forget to plan the steps to get us there. The task then seems so enormously impossible that we don’t know where to start and give up. Break up each goal into small, manageable tasks. Start with something so easy it seems foolish not to do it, and every day challenge yourself to achieve that little bit more. Keep your expectations realistic and you’ll keep yourself motivated. Regularly take stock of your progress. Little things add up, and soon you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come!   It’s okay to take a rest when needed. There’s a good reason why the first position you learn in yoga is Childs Pose, the rest position. Working hard is great â€" but you have to know where your limits are or you’ll overstretch yourself. Just like our muscles, the human brain isn’t designed to work continually.    After just 45 minutes of taking in information, it starts to lose its ability to focus, and your productivity plummets. When you take regular breaks, however, you give your brain a chance to reset itself, and that increases your focus, creativity, and productivity.   Attitude is everything.  Having a positive attitude makes everything seem… well, more positive! Approaching complex tasks with a can-do outlook makes them seem more manageable.  Positive thinking also opens our mind to new possibilities and makes it easier to learn new skills. One of the most important attitude changes you should make? Stop seeing mistakes as failures, and start seeing them as learning experiences. Forgive yourself when things don’t go right, and create a plan to ensure that next time around you won’t repeat the mistake. Show appreciation for others by praising them when they do a good job â€" and show appreciation for yourself too! Too many of us are intensely self-critical.  But if you learn to commend yourself for things you do well, you’ll feel empowered. Welcome to Beth Leslie as our newest columnist!  Beth writes  graduate careers advice  for Inspiring Interns, a graduate recruitment agency specialising in matching candidates to their dream  internship. Check them out if you’re looking to  hire an intern  or interested in  graduate jobs London. Images:  Main     Yoga Pose    Advanced Pose

Paris de-throned as the best city for students to live in - Debut

Paris de-throned as the best city for students to live in - Debut Paris may have held the key to students hearts for a while (shout-out to the Anastasia movie), but they hold the throne no longer. A new contender for the best city for students to live in crown has emerged. Coincidentally, its a city with French roots as well. Thats right, its Montréal A QS Top Universities study has revealed that Montréal has leapt an amazing six places to top their list of the best student cities for 2017, wrestling away the top spot from Paris like Trumps hand in Justin Trudeaus iron grip. The city, known as the cultural capital of Canada, is home to several of the nationss highest ranking institutions. This includes McGill University ranked 1st in Canada and 30th in the world, the Université de Montréal and many more. Montréal itself is world-renowned for its diversity, inclusiveness, affordability, creativity and gorgeous cityscapes. Its various artistic and cultural performances and great nightlife are a hit with students the world over. This lead to it being ranked 5th worldwide in QSs Student Experience index, behind fellow Canadian city Ottawa in 1st place. On top of all that, it was named the Intelligent Community of the Year for 2016. This comes hot on the heels of news that Canada has become the most attractive English-speaking destination for international students. With the revelation that Montréal has become the best city for students to live in, Canada has pretty much been confirmed as a utopia for people looking to study abroad. So Paris, je taime. Dont get me wrong. But its time for the city that brought us Céline Dion, poutine and Arcade Fire to take its rightful place at the top of the mountain. Feature image via Artur Staszewski (Flickr). Download the Debut app and get Talent-Spotted by amazing graduate employers! Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter

Set Your Own Goals, Not Those of Others - Jane Jackson Career

Set Your Own Goals, Not Those of Others - Jane Jackson Career What is your reality?   So often we think that we know our own reality when in fact we are following what is a reality for others.   Over the years in my coaching practice, I have found many clients who have followed the passions of their parents in order to please them, or the desires of friends that influence them in an attempt to emulate their success.   They have been frustrated and not as successful or as happy as they had thought they would be.If someone tells you that something is not right for you, it doesnt mean that they are right.   By responding and reacting to the opinions of everyone around you you will lose your direction in your own life.   You will end up following the direction of THEIR dreams and let them set the course for YOUR life. Of course you can listen to their experiences, however, they see the world through their own filters, their own experiences.   You see the world through your experiences and they are completely different.Are you ready to take a stand and tell yourself that is is OK to think for yourself and decide for yourself what YOU want.   By taking control of your life, you will achieve more   than you ever believed possible.And the magic will be that you will be following your passion which of course leads to fulfillment and happiness!

How a Resume Should Look

How a Resume Should LookWhen a new job seeker makes the decision to apply for an opening in their industry, they are faced with the decision of how a resume should look and what information should be included. Many people have been turned down or invited for an interview because of poor or incomplete resumes.Resumes should be drafted with care and with enough attention to detail to create a positive impression. Writing a resume that reflects the highest standards of professionalism is a great way to impress the hiring manager or recruiter. The guidelines below will help make a resume the best possible representation of one's ability.First, the general layout of the resume should reflect the needs of the employer. It is important to ensure that the resume reflects the needs of the company. If the company is looking for someone who can handle a wide variety of responsibilities, for example, it should provide the type of resume that is appropriate. A well-designed resume should provide sufficient information to inform the employer of the qualifications and skills that the person possesses.The resume should also reflect the specific goals of the company. The company must be aware of the reasons why the position was created. The job seeker must also provide all of the pertinent and up-to-date details that are necessary to clearly express the needs of the job.The resume should also be organized in a way that allows for easy access to information. For example, the job seeker may wish to provide an updated list of references and contact information at the end of the resume. The format should allow for all of the necessary information to be easily accessed and understood. Resumes should also be able to be printed in a convenient format.When providing specific details of a resume, ensure that the person who is doing the writing is able to express what the person is trying to convey. When the writer is not able to correctly convey the intended message, the entire presenta tion may be misleading. The resume should be written in a clear and concise manner. This means that any grammatical errors should be corrected before the resume is sent out.In order to better understand the reason why a particular company is hiring, one should read through the entire application. The applicant should learn about the person they are applying to hire and the types of positions that the company is looking for. When filling out the application, the applicant should read each section carefully and make sure that they understand the details.Finally, the applicant should learn as much as possible about the potential employer before making an appointment to meet with them. The more the applicant knows about the job in question, the better chance they will have of being hired. A basic knowledge of the position that the company is seeking can help when filling out the required details on the application.