Poll Of The Week #1 How to answer, what is your biggest weakness

Poll Of The Week #1 How to answer, what is your biggest weakness 0 Flares 0 Flares Wonderful, the results are in!   Thanks to those for voting on  our very first Poll of the Week!   COTJ fans were given three incredibly exciting topics and needed to pick which one they most wanted to learn about.    In the end, our results went like this: First Place:    64%   How to answer the question,  What is your biggest weakness? Tie for Second Place: 18%   Resume Tips and Using Twitter as a job search tool. Thanks, again for voting.   The other two topics will be covered at another point in time, or thrown back into a Poll of the Week in the future.   OK, moving along to what youre waiting for, this weeks answer! First, I must say that this question is absolutely awful.    Appears like Im not alone in this belief, because recruiters/interviewers are finally taking this question out.   In my opinion, using this old school interview question is quite lazy.  The purpose of this question is to see if any of the skills or behaviors that are critical to the position are on the candidates weak list.   In my opinion, other interview techniques are much better at determining this, specifically Behavioral Interviewing is the best at doing this.   To read up on Behavioral Interviewing click here.  Along with being useful, this is also a question that many  candidates expect and practice for, and now job seekers have a new weaponme!   Here is our Do and Dont list  for answering a question regarding your biggest weakness. The Dont List Do not answer with one of those popular canned  responses youve heard before like, I work too hard, or Sometimes, I care too much about my projects.   Experienced interviewers (hopefully arent asking the question) have heard it all, and your answer will do nothing to make you stand out. Do not say, I dont have any weaknesses.   No ones perfect, we all have weaknesses.   Successful people pick careers where their weaknesses wont come into play. Do not lie and make up a fake weakness.  You may say something that triggers another question on that weakness, and then your caught in a run down.   I only suggest lying to those incredibly experienced liars, con artists, or the man Leonardo DiCaprio played in Catch Me If You Can.  Do you concur? The Do List Do answer this question honestly.  Before your interview spend time thinking about areas that you need to work on.  Possibly you have an area that you can work on easily, that will be perfect to bring up in the interview.  If one of your weak areas is public speaking, start taking public speaking classes, or even start small and give presentations to friends.  You can also sign up for a project or committee at work that gives you the opportunity to talk to small groups.  Then not only have you worked on your weak area, you can also bring this up on an interview when asked about it. Do review the job description before your interview.  This gives you a chance to see which skill sets are needed.  If more than a few of your weak areas show up, then Im not too sure why youve applied in the first place.  This also gives you a chance to think of your weak areas that do not show up on the job description.  Talk about one of those weaknesses, and again show how you are looking to improve on it.  The recruiter or interviewer will take note of it, but wont cross you off the list since your weakness is not a critical skill set for the position. We can only hope that as another decade passes, questions like these will be replaced with better interviewing techniques.  For now, use these tips above and your weakness will pass with flying colors.  Do you concur?  I love that movie.

Leadership darwinism - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Leadership darwinism - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog In the case where a board cant figure out to depose self-obsessed, autocratic and power-hungry managers, well probably se in the future that these leaders will in principle be deposed by their own employees, who will leave for better workplaces with better leaders and leadership values, that create a better space for the employees personal goals and life visions to unfold. This will leave the managers who use hierarchical leadership, control systems and autocratic leadership values without significant access to getting employees. Ie. a leadership with no followers, which is both pathetic and useless. Alfred Josefsen, CEO of Irma Right on, Alfred you tellem :o) There will be two kinds of darwinism operating against bad managers: 1) Employee selection: Employees will leave bad managers behind and gravitate towards better leaders. 2) Marketplace selection: Companies with autocratic old-school management are less efficient, and will loose market share to better-run organizations. In the end theyll die out altogether. If I had stock in a company, and wanted to make money out of those stocks, Id ask the board of directors two questions: 1) What are you doing to make the people in the organization happy? 2) How are you training leaders to make themselves and others happy? 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

Focus on YOUR Career Journey - Hallie Crawford

Focus on YOUR Career Journey I received this email from a former client this recently and I wanted to share it with you all. It made me want to remind you that this process can take time AND everyone’s process looks different. You have to be careful when comparing yourself to others. When you do this you can lose focus on your specific situation and needs. All this does it distracts you, and wastes your time and energy. Hi Hallie, Its Stacy. I was in your group career coaching sessions last year.. or was it the year before last.. Oh my.. I think last year. Anyways, I wanted to update you that I changed jobs. Im actually working for the same company just in a new position. I remember while I was in your group that most people dont make a drastic career change just a slight change. I had discovered in your sessions that I wanted to do international marketing. I was a Marketing graduate and working at an advertising agency. We actually rented a portion of our office to a market research firm. Both companies are owned by the same parent company. I would overhear the market research sides conversations and think how serious their business sounded and they were always traveling and working with elite businesses. Well I just started talking to one manager at a time and eventually was connected to the right person on their side. Last fall they started inviting me to help on their projects and this year I got an offer to work for them FT. Im a Junior market researcher…Its a lot more work and traveling sounds glamorous but its more work than play. Theres enough time to enjoy nice meals and see a museum or two and thats pretty cool to me. I really respect the intelligence level of my coworkers, and I was missing just being around smart people. Its still early, but I did it! Thanks for your help.. Im sure Ill need your help again down the road. All the Best, Stacy What first steps are you going to take to find your dream job? Remember that it can take time! If you need help contact us for a complimentary consultation. Have a great weekend! Atlanta Career Coach

If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This Report on Creative Writing Resume Summary Examples

If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This Report on Creative Writing Resume Summary Examples Creative Writing Resume Summary Examples Secrets That No One Else Knows About Writing a resume summary statement could be new to you if it's been a while as you have updated your resume. To put it simply, resume summaries are the absolute most efficient way to begin a resume. The resume summary section isn't something which you're able to sit down and begin writing. Resume summaries are a breeze to write. The Secret to Creative Writing Resume Summary Examples Second, almost half of all employers will just reject your very first job resume whether a cover letter doesn't arrive with that. Some folks utilize many resumes to make an application for the exact same job at distinct businesses. A true estate resume is your private brand. There's more to a true estate resume than just your understanding and degree of education. The Creative Writing Resume Summary Examples Pitfall Keep read ing your skills cvs are getting to be the brief description of your private statement is a thought of your own personal statement. When writing your statement, it is necessary to think about where you're in your professional progression. Fluency in another language can make all of the difference to a hiring manager. In developing a personal statement or private statement on an approach. The Dirty Facts About Creative Writing Resume Summary Examples A professional resume doesn't need to be complicated. If you're, then you simply require an extremely basic resume to start. If you would like to find creative, you'll find some pretty amazing examples on CV Parade. Inexperienced writers want to find creative when preparing clips. To make your work easier, and provide you an idea about what a professional resume example appears like, below are samples that you are able to download for use and inspiration. When don't have any experience whatsoever, add your volunteer work inside your primary work history section. Luckily, there's nothing like a small bit of inspiration to receive your creative juices flowing.

5 Ways To Attract (And Keep!) The Best Employees - Work It Daily

5 Ways To Attract (And Keep!) The Best Employees - Work It Daily On average, there are 250 resumes submitted to every open job listing that's posted online. With so many prospective candidates swimming in the job pool, it can be very difficult for any employer to sort through them all and find the best people to join their expanding staff. Related: Why You Should Hire For Personality, Not Just Experience Businesses invest a lot of time and to recruit, hire, and train each new employee, but there are several steps and tips that can be followed to attract the very best candidates and convince them to stay put once they have signed on. Here are five ways to attract (and keep!) the best employees: 1. Let The World Know You're Hiring If you want to attract a maximum number of prospects, you must find an effective and efficient way to expose your available job opportunities to the masses. One study showed that nearly 90% of businesses made plans in 2011 to use social media platforms to recruit qualified candidates. Currently, nearly 70% of employers use Facebook to garner information about their prospective candidates, according to RecruiterBox.com. To reach a maximum number of people in a minimum amount of time, post your job listing online through job boards, career websites, and social media profiles. 2. Proceed With Caution When Recruiting As mentioned earlier, hundreds of applications and resumes are submitted to employers who are hiring. Proceed with a careful and watchful eye to find qualified candidates for the interview process. One study calculates that the average employer will only spend a maximum of seven seconds on a single resume before moving on to the next, according to Be Hiring. Spend more time to get all of the information that you need from a candidate’s resume or application to determine whether or not they are the type of high-quality employee you want to hire. Remember, if you want superior employees to put in the time and do the work necessary to make your company successful, then you will need to put in the time and do the work necessary to find them. 3. Always Focus On The Power Of The Team Only hire team players that are passionate about their work and excited about being able to contribute to your team. Hire employees who have the talent and skills required to get the job done but who also have the exemplary attitudes and personalities that make them pleasant to be around as they work. Remember, the positivity of your employees will infectiously spread throughout the workplace, encouraging even your weakest links to become more engaged and excited about their jobs. If they express even the smallest degree of negativity, you need to strongly consider cutting ties with them during the recruitment process. Don’t hire an employee who is placing too much of the spotlight on himself because this is the type of person who will quickly jump ship as soon as another opportunity comes along. On the other hand, find team players who are going to stick with you through thick and thin because of the commitment they made to themselves and to their teammates. 4. Discover What Excites Your Employees Now that you’ve taken the steps required to attract and recruit all-star employees, there are several points that need to be considered to keep them on the payroll. First, find out what excites and motivates them. Many employers make the mistake of thinking that all of their employees are excited by money, but this isn’t the case. Studies have confirmed that quite a few loyal employees are actually more excited about advancement opportunities, promotions, and other non-monetary incentives, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. After you discover what excites them, use this bait to keep your employees hooked. 5. Give Your Employees Regular Pay Raises Regardless of how much fun your employees have when they clock in every day, if you were to stop paying them today, most of them would leave you tomorrow. At the end of the day, salaries mean a great deal to employees and to their families. Always make room in your company’s budget to give your employees regular pay raises. A series of studies confirmed that more than 50% of men and 42% of women claimed they would leave their jobs without any hesitation if another company offered more money, according to Catalyst.org. Even if you have to cut other overhead expenses, keep in mind that you will be investing in the life force and future health of your company. From an outside perspective, it may seem easy to attract and retain employees. With the increasing unemployment rates within the United States, many employers make the mistake of believing that they don’t have to do very much to keep their employees on the payroll. The bottom line is that your employees can come and go as they please, but by following these steps, you will be able to find effective ways to hire great employees and make them want to stay. This post was originally published at an earlier date. Related Posts How To Improve Employee Morale In The Workplace Conducting Effective Career Discussions With Employees Why Improving Your Employees = Improving Your Company Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!

Want a Job Ignore These Outdating Job Hunting Beliefs

Want a Job Ignore These Outdating Job Hunting BeliefsDespite a wealth of great job-hunting advice, many prospective job seekers are still clinging to outdated job-hunting and resume writing guidelines that hinder their search for a job. If youve been sending your same old resume from 10 years ago with a Dear Sir or Madam, then youve probably learned that these methods have become obsolete.If any of the following job hunting problems match you, then you need to implement corrective measures as soon as possible if you want to achieve success in 20111. Not studying your competitionCandidates fail to check out their competition when they start their job search. They reason that their generalized resume worked in the past and that it will continue to work in the future, but that just is not the case any longer. You resume will be stacked against incredibly high skilled competition who probably have seen and done things that you present as standout attributes on your resume.If you have a diverse set of skills, youll need to go the extra mile to get into your chosen career. Youll need to establish connections and contacts with people in the industry to help fill in any career gaps you have and to boost your education and work experience. And youll need a compelling resume that clearly develops a connection to your prospective employer.2. Not caring about your online identitySocial media is the way of the world now, and like it or not, its not going anywhere and people pay a lot of attention to it. Who do you think an employer is going to choose, the guy with the drunken Facebook profile picture or the geschftlicher umgang professional LinkedIn page? 10 years ago no one thought about having themselves Googled, no one really even knew what Google welches but now you have to have an online profile to get noticed. You have to make yourself an online brand and highlight yourself above the pack.3. Disregarding trends in resumesIf you cant get past the old resume template with your list of qualifications, then you are going to find the job market in 2011 to be very harsh. Companies receive hundreds of resumes a day, so it becomes critical for potential employees to document the impact of their work and to back up their accomplishments through quantitative means. For a business to hire you they want to make sure that you are going to positively impact their business, and that means on the bottom line, are you going to make their business more profitable.You have to have something on your resume that shows how you have positively impacted growth in one way or another. For executives or senior-level employees, personal branding has become the newest trend in the job hunt. This is a delicate process and you will need someone who understands developing a branded persona. You have to become the expert in your field.Hopefully these tips will help you get past anything that was holding you back and put you on the road to new employmentGuest Post by Erin Kennedy, CPRW, CERW, BS/HR, is a Certified Professional Executive Resume Writer/Career Consultant and President of Professional Resume Services, Inc. She is a nationally published writer and contributor of 9+ best-selling career books. She has achieved international recognition following yearly nominations of the prestigious T.O.R.I. (Toast of the Resume Industry) Award. Erin has written thousands of resumes for executives and professionals. As a proud member of PARW, CDI, AORCP, Erin also sits on CDIs Credentialing Committee for new certification candidates and serves as a berater for CDIs Member Mentoring Committee. She also is a featured blogger on several well-known career sites http//exclusive-executive-resumes.com.For additional tips and advice on resumes and cover letters, follow us on Twitter GreatResume or visit our blog.

This Photo of Beyonce and Ed Sheeran is Proof of Inequality in Pop Music, Says Twitter

This Photo of Beyonce and Ed Sheeran is Proof of Inequality in Pop Music, Says Twitter Therbeie are few names in pop music as big as Beyonce and Ed Sheeran. When the two stars came together to record Perfect (the duet), it was the answer to many music fans pop music prayers. Who wouldve thought the croony ballad would cause controversy about gender equality?Over the weekend, Beyonce and Ed Performed at the Global Citizen festival in Johannesburg, South Africa.The concert honored the late Nelson Mandela and raised money for Global Citizen, an organization with the mission to end global poverty.And while that sounds like all rainbows and sunshine, the contrast between Beyonce and Ed Sheerans outfits raised some serious questions ansprechbar about gender equality.On stage, Beyonce wore an epic pink ball gown a la the most beautiful flamingo at the zoo. But Ed showed up in black jeans and a t-shirt. People began to question the amount of effort we expect women to put into their appearanc es, versus the men in their life. Especially famous women.Source TwitterEd Sheeran is a 27 year old man. The fact weve enabled him to feel its ok to dress like this at all, let alone next to Beyonc really boils my p***, shonfaye said in a viral tweet that started this whole thing.No shade but actual shade Ed and Beyonc together look like roughly 75% of heterosexual couples, one Elle article read.However, some people arent so sure this contrast is because of gender. They attribute it to personal brand and personal brand only.When youre as talented as Ed or Bey, you can get away with any dresscode, beewol wrote. Oh and you set the trend, you dont follow it.Beyonce has always been going and Ed has always been laid back, its_okaytho wrote. This has nothing to do with the standards of men and women. Its rather just a personal choice a singer makes.Yes, these outfits align with the respective artists brands.But some Twitter users are pointing out that their brands being so different in th e same genre of music is a direct reflection of the differing expectations we have for male and female artists.Think about the amount of effort Beyonce must put into her concerts to be considered on the top of her game, while Ed Sheeran stands still with his guitar. Think of the constant red carpet looks Beyonce must invest her hard earned (albeit, billions of) dollars into. Think of the production and the hard-thought lyrics Beyonce has to put out to be considered an icon. Ed Sheerans biggest song of last year was a song originally penned for Rihanna.This photo is v v v v representative of what we expect from men and women at the top of their game, isnt it?, sillyolddaniel asked.I get this. Even tho I appreciate good musicians in normal clothes, the double standard is ridiculous, garlicmeg wrote.Source TwitterI think garlicmeg makes a good point. This discussion isnt about Ed Sheerans talent. That man has sold millions of records. Hes irrevocably talented.But this conversation isnt really about Beyonce and Ed at all. Its about something bigger how to we qualify and quantify womens art? No one is asking Ed Sheerans success to be collateral damage in this discussion.Dont miss out on articles like these. community.