9 steps to New Years resolutions that last longer than New Years Day

9 steps to New Years resolutions that last longer than New Years Day9 steps to New Years resolutions that last longer than New Years DayThis year I resolve toHold on a second. Lets bedrngnis join the lemmings who screw this up every year.88% of peoplefail to achieve their New Years Resolutions.There is a ton of science on this subject so if we want to do New Years Resolutions, lets do them right.First, stop fantasizingDo fantasies give you the energy to achieve your goals?Nope.Fantasies steal the energy you need to achieve your goalsPositive fantasies allow people to mentally indulge in a desired future. Whereas previous research found thatspontaneously generated positive fantasies about the future predict poor achievementResults indicate that one reason positive fantasies predict poor achievement is because they do not generate energy to pursue the desired future.Youre getting the reward before youve done the work and this kills your motivation. Dont celebrate on mile 3 of the marat hon.Itching to express something about your resolution? No problemWrite your goals down.Writing about goalsmakes you happierand makes youmora likely to follow through with them.Now its time to grit your teeth and get to work? Wrong.Willpower is limitedRelying on self-control only is a suckers bet.Roy Baumeister, author of the bestsellerWillpower Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, explained in ourinterviewWhen we did the laboratory tests, it consistently turned out that after people exerted self-control in one task and then came to a different self-control task, they would do worse on the second one. It really seemed like they had depleted some energy, some kind of resource in the first test, and didnt have as much available for the second one.That has been found over and over again, and indeed lots of different laboratories have now shown similar effects, too.You are not going to muscle through with willpower. You cannot sprint for miles.Change takes planning and strategy.So whats the first step?New Years resolution - singularHow to conserve that limited resource of willpower?Conquer one resolution at a time.This way you exert less willpower and concentrate what you have.Royrecommends this specificallyInstead of making them all at once, make them in sequence and start with the easiest one.If swearing is the easiest, then do that one first because that will strengthen your willpower and increase your capacity when you move onto the harder ones.If you make this resolution and you actually keep it, your body gets used to exerting self-control and it becomes stronger and more ready to take on another challenge.What else works?Making something habitual means you dont have to exert willpower.You spend40% of every day on autopilot, just performing habits and its not exhausting at all.HeresRoy againThe more you follow a routine, plan in advance, or operate on the basis of habit, the less moment-to-moment strain there is, and the less demand for willpower.So h ow do you get the ball rolling when trying to start a new good habit?Minimum viable effortIts okay to be a little lazy at first. Literally, just do the minimum.The key to new good habits is todo the minimum and be consistent.Stanford researcher BJ Fogg calls it Minimum Viable EffortThe first step is crucial - keep it tiny. Do not be ambitious yet. That leads to failure.Consistency is what youre shooting for here so make the hurdleas low as possible.In fact, make it so low youll feel stupid that you were unable to do something that literally would have takenseconds.But what if you want to get rid of abadhabit? Well, thats differentReplace, not killThe secret to breaking bad habits is to not try to eliminate them butto replace them.The first step is awareness.That cigarette doesnt magically appear in your mouth.Noticing yourself acting habituallyis a big first step.Next is find your trigger.What starts you down the road to that habit?I get stressed and then I eat. I get bored and the n I want a cigarette.Next is replace.What are you going to do now when that trigger arises? Establish something new to take the place of the old habit.Sounds challenging, right?What can make this easier?Make a planRichard Wiseman dida study of people who achieved their resolutionsand found thatpeople who succeeded had a plan.He sums up the results in under a minute hereBut planning is hard, you say.Want a powerful but passive way to increase your chance of success? Get ready to move some furniture.Manipulate contextManipulate your environment so as tomake what you should do easy and what you shouldnt do hard.You can resist bad habits byavoiding the triggersthat make you want to do them.Context is key.Change your environment so you dont have to exert self-control.Throw out the donuts. Hide the booze. This has been shownto be very powerful.ViaHabitWhether were talking about college students or people in the community,45% of the behaviors participants listed in their diaries tended to be repeated in the same schauplatz almost every day.If you can make good habits take 20 seconds less time to perform and bad habits 20 seconds longer,youll likely see big changes in your behavior.Adding things to your environment can be a big help tooReminders to do the right thing (likesignsor eventext messages) work.SuperfriendsContext isnt just inanimate objects.Friends areone of our biggest influencesand can bea potent tool for habit change.Via100 Simple Secrets of Happy FamiliesStudies of people trying to change their lives, for example by losing weight, found thatthey are 22 percent more likely to be successful in their efforts if they are open with their family from the start about what they are trying to do.From Charles Duhiggs excellent bookThe Power of Habit Why We Do What We Do in Life and BusinessWhen people join groups where change seems possible, the potential for that change to occur becomes more real. For most people who overhaul their lives, there are no seminal mom ents or life-altering disasters. There are simply communities- sometimes of just one other person- who make change believable.But how do we sustain all this?It aint over til its overIronically, studies show saying Ill never do that againmakes you even more likely to do that again.Expect to fumble.Its okay. In Richard Wisemansstudy of people who achieved their goalshe realized we shouldExpect to revert to your old habits from time to time. Treat any failure as a temporary set-back rather than a reason to give up altogether.So you say youre not going to eat cookies. Then you accidentally eat a cookie. Thats not when the diet is blown.The diet is blown when you eat the one cookie and say So much for that resolution - and then devour the rest of the bag.Dont get discouraged.There are so many tools to help you. (If-then scenarios areone of the most powerful toolsfor resisting triggers.Commitment Deviceswork too.)Overall, usebaby steps, focus onconsistencyabove all else andrewardyoursel f for small wins.This post is over but the challenge isnt.IfCookie Monster can improve his habits, so can we.Join more than 320,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related postsHow To Get People To Like You 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior ExpertNew Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You HappyNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulThis article first appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.More from Ladders5 scientific secrets to handling a narcissistThe best answer when an interviewer asks what animal are you?6 reasons recruiters say theyll toss your resume in the trash

The Pros and Cons of a Virtual Résumé

The Pros and Cons of a Virtual RsumThe Pros and Cons of a Virtual RsumI thought I welches posting a good rsum on normal job board sites, relates Kevin Amarose, but all I got were lots of pitches from sketchy multilevel marketing companies wanting me to pay them money for a shot at making money.Amarose was like most people who think that theyre doing things right, but due to their inexperience, they arent really aya what right looks like.Rsum writing can be a daunting task. If youve been in the workforce for a long time, how do you compress an entire career into a page or two? If youre just finishing school and launching a career, what more is there to say than just listing your degree?Amarose joined a growing number of job hunters who turn to online sites that assist with creating a virtual rsum, as well as other aspects of the job hunt. These sites can help people create an alternative to the standard word-processed document, and each has its own feature set VisualCV, XING and Resum eBucket are just a few options. Many people view LinkedIn profiles as a variant of the virtual rsum, but they really can be much more than that. All unterstellung sites allow for pictures and some form of sharing to specific jobs or other social sites. ResumeSocial, as its name suggests, transforms the solitary task of rsum writing into a social activity so that your peers can critique your rsum and make suggestions for improvement throughout the process.Amarose experienced quick success when he came upon Purzue.com, a startup site that guides the job seeker in building and posting a virtual media-rich rsum. The site prompted Amarose with questions, some of which made no sense at the time. But in retrospect, Amarose credited the information that the questions elicited to his success. He applied to four positions posted on Purzue, got interviews for two, and was hired by Josh Nadel, owner of a New Jersey-based company called Advantage Restaurant Equipment.For his part, Nadel was tire d of being inundated by rsums when he posted positions on major job boards and Craigslist. He was persuaded to post on Purzue and relates, I got far fewer rsum submissions from Purzue, but the overall candidate pool was of a much higher relevance to my needs. Though the rsums were longer than typical, there was a lot more information, and it was easy to go through them.Using Purzue, he was able to see Amaroses communications skills in action, which convinced Nadel that Amarose would be a great hire.Nadel continues I felt I knew more of what each candidate had to offer by reading a virtual rsum rather than a traditional word-processed one.If youre thinking about creating your own virtual rsum, consider these advantages1. Online rsums are not constrained in length by the standard one or two pages.2. Online rsums can often have embedded video, images, audio and portfolio presentations. This can work to your advantage if the media you offer is relevant to the jobs for which youre applyi ng.3. Just as the media-rich virtual rsum is still in what may be a first wave of adopters, it may be particularly fruitful for people in non-standard careers, or the creative arts with visual and/or audio work product to demonstrate.At the same time, beware of these potential pitfalls1. Online rsums cant be tailored for each company. You may wind up becoming too general to give the specifics necessary for any given job, and you may not get to reorder or tweak the rsum to respond to specific opportunities.2. If youre going to include video, make certain that its very high quality in both form and content. Keep your messages brief, under two minutes. Otherwise you will be seen as a rank amateur and do yourself more harm than good.3. Many employers are reticent to even open rsums with candidate pictures as this can impinge on their efforts to document non-bias for all the various protected classes- race, sex, age, etc. Sites will often offer the employer the option to remove such iden tifying characteristics from rsums before theyre delivered.4. Online rsums are great bait for identity thieves or those seeking to do other kinds of harm. Beware of providing contact information that can aid them. Dont provide your physical mailing address. You might create a unique email account for use with your online rsums, and keep all other communications away from that account.To paraphrase the late great movie critic Roger Ebert, Ill see you online.Happy huntingArnie Fertig is the head coach of JOBHUNTERCOACH.COM, where he utilizes his extensive hintergrund in HR Staffing and as owner of a recruiting company to help mid-career job-hunters land their next job. Arnie provides one-to-one coaching services to individuals throughout the U.S. in all aspects of the job hunt, including resume writing, personal branding, utilizing social media, enhancing networking skills, preparing for interviews, and negotiating compensation.

You Might Be a Conference Call Etiquette Offender If

You Might Be a Conference Call Etiquette Offender If You Might Be a Conference Call Etiquette Offender If Most of us participate in meetings via the phone at work all the time, but that doesnt mean everyones got conference call etiquette down pat. Are you making these mistakes? You may think you can get away with bad behavior on conference calls because no one can see you, but Im here to set things straight.Here are some signs you might be a conference call etiquette offenderThe host is already on slide 5 of the deck when you arrive. On many conference call systems, you hear a beep when someone joins. Its amazing how distracting that little sound can be to participants. Plus, if youre in the middle of talking, it can throw you off your train of thought. The moral of the story? Just dial in on time. Everyone can hear your dog Marty barking. People dont want to get an earful of whats going on around you, whether its the barista frothing milk on your cappuccino or your cubemates gossipi ng. And then there are those loud/heavy breathers among us that always make things awkward. The mute button is your friend. Youre eating a sandwich with one hand and checking email with the other. Normally Id commend you for your agility, but multitasking rarely works on conference calls. To fully participate in the conversation, eliminate all potential distractions. Theres nothing worse than being called on and having no idea what someones talking about because you were busier focusing on your cold cuts than the discussion.Youre talking, but no one can hear you. Usually this happens when you forget to unmute yourself, but sound issues can also occur when youre on a cell phone with spotty reception. Another of my favorites is the person who somehow brings an echo into the conversation when using their speaker or forgetting to turn off the sound on their computer.You put the call on hold and prompt elevator music. Many phone systems are set up to play music when a line is put on hold . bedrngnis only is it hard for conference call attendees to talk over a Kenny G song, but youll really have to face the music when they figure out youre the culprit.You wont let anyone get a word in edgewise. Its great if youve got tons of ideas you want to share, but dont make it the insert your name here show. Leave room for others to weigh in. According to an OfficeTeam survey, workers said multiple people talking at the same time is the most distracting thing on conference calls. Since sometimes there are audio delays on the phone, pause a second before speaking so you dont interrupt anyone. No one even knows youre on the line. Introduce yourself when joining a call and also when speaking. Otherwise, if they havent heard from you the whole time, everyone will be a little startled if you suddenly chime in.Everything you have to say is totally irrelevant. Dont be that guy or girl who talks just for the sake of talking. Going off on tangents wastes valuable time and raises eyebrow s. Keep your comments on targetCheck out the videos below to see how conference call etiquette mistakes can look in real life.Whats the most annoying behavior youve ever experienced on a conference call?Related Articles7 Tips for Running Effective MeetingsSmile, Youre On Camera 7 Tips for Mastering Video Conference Etiquette

How to budget for a wedding

How to budget for a weddingHow to budget for a weddingCongratulations - youre engaged While the media might lead you to believe that wedding planning is stressful, overwhelming, and expensive, it certainly doesnt have to be. In this article, youll find the best tips and tactics for planning a wedding on a budget you can afford all without the stress and overwhelmFollow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThere are more resources than ever out there to help you plan a wedding. There are so many books, websites, and apps to check out that you may feel inundated by the abundance of information and unsure where to start. This is before you even start to consider the unsolicited wedding advice from family and friends How do you sift through the sea of wedding resources to find the best stress-free wedding planning secrets?To help you get started along your wedding planning journey, just follow the list of tips below. This simple 6 step process will ensure you get from engagement to the altar in a clear and organized manner while also sticking to your budgetGetting StartedFirst things first, youll want to get yourself organized. This is likely the first time youve planned such a big event, so having a handy wedding planning guide book is key to tackling everything on the to-do list. Make sure to pick up a goodwedding planner bookto keep yourself on track.The best wedding planners and organizers typically include things like a wedding planning timeline and checklist, an outline of tasks to be completed or questions to ask vendors. This is especially important because they often incorporate a task list that you need to tackle month-by-month throughout your engagement. Knowing what you need to do and when is half the battle when it comes to making a planTry to find a book that has room enough for you to make notes, fill in worksheets, or record your findings. If you cant fin d anything at the bookstore you love, consider making your own. You can easily create your own DIYwedding planning binderusing a 3-ring binder that you can add to throughout the process. There are lots of great printable wedding planning templates online that you can download and use for freeThe important thing is to find a system that works for you Your wedding organizer should be a place where you can keep all the various information associated with your wedding plans for easy and convenient access.Defining Your Wedding VisionAfter youve gotten started with your wedding organizational system, its time to figure out what font of wedding you want. Sit down with your partner and discuss the who, what, where, when, why, and how of weddings.WhoDiscuss a potential guest list and try to come up with a rough figure of the number of people youd like to attend.WhatDiscuss what type of wedding you want to have. Formal or casual? Rustic or modern?WhereDiscuss the location of your ideal weddin g. Would it be in the town where you currently live or a destination wedding? Or maybe youd like to be married at a specific place that has special meaning to you? Would you prefer an indoor or outdoor event?WhenConsider what might be the ideal time of year for you to get married. Do you have a favorite season? Is there a special date on which youd like to plan to tie the knot?WhyAsk each other why throwing a wedding is important to you. Why are you going through the effort of planning an event to celebrate your marriage?HowChat about how you want to feel on your wedding day. Excited and energetic with a large raucous dance party? Or sentimental and romantic with a calm and intimate dinner party?And then the final how How are we going to pay for this thing?Calculate a Realistic Wedding BudgetSetting a wedding budgetbefore you begin officially planning is key if you want to have a wedding you can actually afford. Though major media reports might share supposed average wedding costs t hroughout the country, dont let those numbers sway you.Its important to calculate an appropriate wedding budget based on your personal financial situation. Focus on figuring out the amount that feels most comfortable, practical and achievable for you and your partner, so you can plan a wedding that is authentic to who you are and what you value as a couple.Consider all the different people who may be contributing, as well as what you can save to add to the wedding fund over the course of your engagement. Add in any personal savings youre willing to donate to the cause. This should give you a good foundation for your total wedding budget as you begin to get quotes and make plans for the big day. If anything, you may want to determine a maximum figure that youre absolutely not willing to go over under any circumstances.If for some reason your final figure doesnt measure up to the type of wedding you want to have, then you may need to consider a longer engagement in order to save up. I ts all about determining what matters most to you and your partner, which leads to the next point.Decide on Your Wedding PrioritiesOnce youve got a rough budget set, a great way to plan for how to allocate those funds is to outline your top priorities for the event. Consider what matters most to you and your partner, and distribute your budget accordingly.Basically, its likely that youll spend more of your budget on the areas that matter most to you, and less on the areas you find of less importance. Its important to consider guest experience when outlining your priorities as well. While you may want your dream designer wedding dress, its a better idea to put those funds towards something that impacts your guests, such as a comfortable and enjoyable venue.If you and your partner are foodies but dont care for cake, you may opt to splurge on catering from one of your favorite restaurants and serve inexpensive doughnuts from Krispy Kreme in lieu of a tiered wedding cake. Or if youre th e party-all-night types, you may choose to spend a large portion of your budget on the wedding entertainment and less on the floral decor.Each couples priorities are unique, so be sure to discuss with your partner. An easy way to do this is to each decide your top 3 priorities and then compare them. Budgeting for your wedding is a great first exercise in marital compromise See where you overlap, and be willing to negotiate on dividing the budget to satisfy both sides.Book the Big Things FirstTypically, youll end up booking high-priority items first, such as your wedding venue and the photographer. Other common early bookings include entertainment and catering. Each of unterstellung items contributes to the experience of the day, so they should be higher up on the to-do list.Its also true that good quality vendors tend to book up well in advance. Save yourself from wedding disappointments and distress by booking your priority vendors early in the process. Knowing youve gotten your to p choices secured in advance will give you a sense of peace and calm, and allow you to tackle the lower priority items at a more leisurely pace.Getting your bigger investments taken care of upfront will also give you the opportunity to get creative, do DIY projects, or seek out alternatives to keep the rest of your items in plan and on budget.Get Creative to Cut CostsOne great way to cut costs for your wedding is to do some DIY (do-it-yourself) projects. Whether thats going full-on Martha Stewart and DIYing your wedding flowers or just a simple project like creating your own reception playlist, taking these tasks on yourself will reduce the number of professionals you need to hire and pay for.There are many ways tosave moneyon your wedding beyond just DIY. From strategically choosing an off-peak wedding date to selecting in-season flowers for your bouquets and centerpieces, there are many money-saving wedding hacks to take advantage of even if youre not the crafty type.Another great way to save on wedding reception costs is to limit your bar choices to just wine and beer rather than hosting a full open bar. Finding a venue that will let you BYOB is also a huge help to the budget since youll have more control over the cost, quality, and quantities of your beverages.Some other creative cost-saving strategies are to consider renting items for your wedding vs buying new. Theres also a growing trend of brides purchasingused wedding dressesonlinefrom former brides online which comes at a savings of over 50%No matter your priorities or your budget amount, you can find ways to cut back with the help of these small switches and substitutes. The great thing is that these low-priority items arent as important to you, so theyre definitely not worth stressing overFail to Plan, or you Plan to FailIn closing, the best way to avoid wedding planning overwhelms and stress is to have a fully outlined plan. Get yourself organized, put a plan in place, and stick to the plan. This plan works if you work it Happy wedding planningThis article originally appeared onThe Money Mix.

The Honest to Goodness Truth on Homemaker Resume

The Honest to Goodness Truth on Homemaker Resume The Basic Facts of Homemaker Resume You do what you should do to complete work on time whilst exceeding expectations. Dont despair if change career resume examples appear to be not working as it is quite possible that youll need some expert assistance whos a specialist in the area. Lastly, write alongside all the months and years of experience youve got for every one of the skills you have listed. For more ideas on the best way to strengthen your program, have a look at our education and teaching resumes. Employers need to draw dedicated, highly skilled individuals, but a firms survival often depends upon quick and decisive productivity. You might not think you have what it requires to come back to the workforce. Skills section is an essential area of the caregiver resume. Caregivers are well-known for their dedication to do the job. In the Summary of Qualifications section, you concentrate on your qualifications and skills applicable to the job youre applying for. Experience within the field is important, particularly for high-profile jobs. Skills arent an independent portion of the resume, but may be understood via the applicants academic and professional qualifications, along with experience and references. Employers seek employees that are successful. Your resume should demonstrate a prospective employer you have the skills needed for the job. A prospective employer may want to hire you due to your work-related abilities, but if youre not an amazing person to work with, he can think more than once about hiring you. By carefully targeting resumes for certain jobs and situations, it is possible to greatly enhance your odds of getting noticed in the work marketplace. If moms received a yearly salary for all their responsibilities, theyd earn an estimated $78,185. Reply to a particular job ad Homemaker providers take away troublesome tasks and enable you to continue doing what you can at home while you handle the remainder of your life. Homemakers should also shop for food to make sure that everyone in the house becomes proper nutrition. Displaced homemakers are people who have worked in the house for a range of years and suddenly distitelblatt they are the main supply of household income. Youve moved to another location every 18 months to a couple of years. Working with children is not a simple feat. Thus, stay at home mom, if and when you choose to go into the job force dont feel insecure you took a number of ages out. Moms who opt to stay home with their children for lots of years usually never regret that choice. Our resume examples offer inspiration, but more importantly guidance on the way to structure and compose the elements. The majority of them have an extremely brief attention span. There are specific elements which should be included in every resume and you will need to ensure you do that. There are even different manners of resumes Check and doub le check your contact information is accurate. You dont require constant reminders to acquire your work done. Your resume can continue to be riveting. Keep in mind that your resume is supposed to highlight the best of you. A resume objective serves a fantastic purpose and thats to set the path that the remainder of the resume will tread on. Bear in mind, the aim of the resume is to find the interview. Whats more, it promotes holistic therapy of the person and aids specify certain aims for that individual. Besides the 3 suggestions above, whatever you can do in order to help give you a bit of sort of marketable skills will go a very long way to assisting you to locate a job. Only try whatever youre able to to be able to concentrate on your demands and expect them as best as you discover that its feasible to. Utilize your cover letter to briefly explain your latest gap, but emphasize that youve kept your skills updated and are energized to go back to the workforce. If you ne ed assistance figuring out the best way to do so, take a look at our office worker resume samples and expert writing tips.

100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings Book Review

100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings Book Review 100 Tricks To Appear Smart in Meetings Book ReviewPosted September 21, 2016, by Zahra Campbell-Avenell The Cooper Review blog, brainchild of ex-Googler and viral sensation Sarah Cooper, has done for us cubicle drones what The Office did for comedy shone a light on the often lacklustre, awkward nature of office life in the 21st century. With thousands of shares on each post (some with as many as half a million), its clear that the comedian has captured the corporate culture zeitgeist and the imagination of 20- and 30-somethings pretending to work while surfing the internet in team pods everywhere. The tagline Funny because its true is the perfect way to describe how close her cartoons hit to home. From providing appropriate nodding techniques to a people-pleasers guide to pleasing people or my personal favourite the non-threatening leadership strategies for women, Cooper has her finger on the pulse of every possible office situati on youve encountered The coworker whos always freezing Everyones love/hate relationship with open-plan offices The people pleasers predicament Our generations frightening propensity to let Future You deal with everything That coworker we all have, reimagined as a rapper If you enjoyed the seminal 10 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings, your life is about to get 900% better (yes, I did the math on that and the internet assures me this is the correct number). In her new book 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings,Cooper satirises corporate culture as we know it, with a particular emphasis on meetings the necessary evil where people go to demonstrate how much they love the sound of their own voice, plan what to stream on Netflix that night, and allow the boss to see what a big-picture-thinker they are. Having worked for companies like Google and Yahoo for over 15 years, Cooper knows exactly where its at. Part humour, part anthropology, her book is uncannily bang-on at re presenting every meeting weve all begrudgingly gone to from offsite team building exercises to networking events, one-on-ones and conference calls. As Cooper says, Like everyone, appearing smart in meetings is my top priority. Sometimes this can be difficult if you start daydreaming about your next vacation, your next nap, or bacon. When this happens, its good to have some fallback tricks to fall back on. In her book, you will learn the tricks of the trade used by savvy businesspeople in meetings everywhere how to look like youre paying closer attention than anyone else by asking the presenter to go back a slide making obvious, irrefutable statements like, It is what it is, We need to be smart about this or We should focus on the priorities and even where to sit (next to the person leading the meeting, if youre curious this will make everyone think that youre co-leading the meeting). It contains best practice for using buzzwords like best practice and if that isnt worth the st icker price, I dont know what is. Cooper dives deep, deeper than any deep dive you could imagine, and in doing so, takes the lid off the artifices your coworkers use to dominate discussions, deflect from their ignorance, or look like theyre adding value. The book is hilarious theres no question about that. But as you get deeper into it, you start to vacillate between laughing out loud and having flashbacks of coworkers youve had in the past. Youll remember every death-by-PowerPoint meeting you were forced to endure where the facilitator put a single word on each slide, trying to seem profound, or where they said Thats a great question after every question without ever giving any answers. Full of comical illustrations, real-life examples and cheat sheets, Sarah Coopers 100 Tricks to Appear Smarter in Meetings will help you master the subtle art of pretending to listen while you think about how much your boss reminds you of that cartoon you saw in her book. Suffice it to say if y ou dont love this book, here is the only thing I think youd be capable of enjoying. ResourcesMy first resumeCover letter for my first jobCareer Insider StoriesShelley Lask - Body Positive Health & FitnessInterested in becoming a?menschenfreundlich Resources OfficerGeneral ManagerBusiness ManagerAccountantOffice AdministratorPopular Career Searcheseffective oral and written communication skillsattention to detail skillsdefine communication skills11 top tips for effective time managementhow to demonstrate high literacy and numeracy skills CoursesBachelor of Social WorkEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Health AdministrationEnquire Online Enquire OnlineBachelor of Criminal JusticeEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Allied Health AssistanceEnquire Online Enquire Online Zahra Campbell-AvenellZahra started writing at the age of 6, and hasnt stopped since. When shes not creating content about careers, learning and personal development, you can find her researching her next travel adventure, bingeing on Netflix or shopping online.Related ArticlesBrowse moreMeet an Anzac Gallipoli tour leaderId been living in Turkey for a number of years and, as an Australian, it was inevitable that I ended up working with Australians coming over to Gallipoli for Anzac day.Working in AustraliaIDP grenzberschreitend Student Exhibition - life in the land down underLife as an international student in Australia can be daunting. Some of the tricky questions faced by international students will be addressed in Sydney this month at the International Student Exhibition.WORKFORCE TRENDSNew graduates struggling to land jobsStudy, graduate, get a good job. You could be forgiven for thinking that this is how your career will gloriously begin. But you could well be wrong.

Follow NASAs Lead Team Building

Follow NASAs Lead Team Building Follow NASAs Lead Team Building Charlie Pellerin knows team-building. He was NASAs director for astrophysics and led the team that built and later repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. Now he is president of his own consulting firm and teaches innovative team-building strategies based on his own experiences with mora than 1,000 NASA project, engineering, and management teams.NASA teams, like all project teams, need two complementary abilities, says Pellerin. They generally know they must have hard-side technical knowledge and use project processes. They must also attend, perhaps equally, to the soft-side aspects of efficient teamworkwhich is not so obvious to them.In fact, this soft side can be downright uncomfortable for engineersborderline touchy-feely.Charlie Pellerin led the team that built and later repaired the Hubble Space Telecope.For this reason many engineers avoid the emotional side of team building. Pellerin insists, however, that the most i mportant determinant of team wertmiger zuwachs is managing a social or emotional force he calls team social context and that the individual abilities team members worked so hard to master are absolutely secondary.Social context drives performance 75 percent of the time, says Pellerin. Combined individual factors such as knowledge, skills, capacity, and motivation have only about a 25 percent influence on performance.Understanding Social ContextPellerin has learned that engineers are more willing to explore the social/emotional component when it can be presented using technical metaphors. For example, social context drives peoples collective behaviors as surely as bar magnets align iron filings, says Pellerin. Technical people understand coordinate ordnungsprinzips, so we use what we call the 4-D Organizing System to reveal and manage social context.To understand how social context influences behavior, consider the following scenarios Making or receiving a marriage proposal Mak ing your first briefing to top management Having dinner for the first time with the family of your spouse-to-be Being at your bachelor or bachelorette partyEach of these represents a social context. Would someone only observing your behavior easily determine which of these contexts you were experiencing? Absolutely.If your behavior is not appropriate to the context, would others sanction you? says Pellerin. Would you receive a kick under the table from your spouse-to-be if you behaved inappropriately? Context can be extremely powerful in shaping human behavior.The 4-D SystemTo manage social context and its impact on teams, Pellerin defined the four key dimensions or mindsets that high-performance teams and effective leaders must address to achieve success cultivating, including, visioning, and directing. These align with core human needs. He then identified the following eight key behaviors that occur within this coordinate system of four dimensions that can be developed to im prove team social context Express authentic appreciation Address shared interests Appropriately include others Keep all agreements Express reality-based optimism Live 100-percent committed Avoid blaming or complaining Clarify roles, accountability, and authorityThe interplay between behaviors and contexts is critical for team development. Take expressing authentic appreciation, for example. Enhancing this behavior sustains a context of mutual respect and enjoyable work, says Pellerin. People solve difficult problems more easily when they are enjoying their work. This improved context, which influences everyone who interacts with the team, makes it easier to express authentic appreciation, creating a feedback loopbehavior changes the context and modified context enhances the behavior. This can be applied to all behaviors and associated contexts.A dozen distinguished technical team leaders from NASA and industry worked with Pellerin over the past decade to opti mize the 4-D System, an integrated suite of processes that include online developmental (assessment) tools, workshops, and context-shifting worksheets. All processes are designed to enhance the same eight behaviors and are effective for both team and individual development. Team performance generally improves about 5 percent with each 15-minute online session.Managing team social context is the most powerful team and leader development method in the world because it develops everybody simultaneously, says Pellerin. Our goal is to improve peoples lives, especially during inevitable periods of change, by enhancing performance for teams worldwide.Mark Crawford is an independent writer.Social context drives team performance 75 percent of the time combined individual factors such as knowledge, skills, capacity, and motivation have only about a 25 percent influence on performance.Charlie Pellerin, author of How NASA Builds Teams

How to Find the Right Mentor to Advance Your Career

How to Find the Right Mentor to Advance Your CareerHow to Find the Right Mentor to Advance Your CareerThe right mentor can take your career to new heights. Heres how to find the right one for you.The right mentor can be a powerful tool in your career arsenal, whether youre new to the working world or already well-established in your industry. In fact, Sheila Wellington, former president of Catalyst Foundation and author of Be Your Own Mentor, believes its one of the main reasons why men tend to rise higher than women in the workplace men are mora likely to find career mentorship throughout their careers than women.Mentors can propel your career in innumerable ways. They can help shape your professional skills, teach you the ins and outs of your industry, help you navigate corporate politics, overcome adversity, and introduce you to the right people and resources to advance your career. Check out unterstellung five different types of mentorship below to find out how you can reap the benefits of professional guidance throughout your entire career.Seek a SenseiSome of you may think youve outgrown the need for a mentor, but that simply isnt true. As your career evolves, so will your requirements for a mentor. Consider what type of guidance youre looking for, given what stage you are at in your career. Do you want a veteran of your industry to help you clarify your career path, or are you looking for a leader to help you tackle the challenges you face in upper management?Look to senior executives in your company whom you admire, or well-known industry leaders who inspire you. Youll uncover a number of potential role models by getting involved in relevant professional associations. These groups provide countless development and networking opportunities for professionals of all ages and stages of their careers. Take a look at WEDDLEs Association Directory to find the right association for you.Enlist an Entrepreneur ExpertMentors arent reserved for your typical corpor ate professional. If youre an aspiring entrepreneur, there are many organizations designed with your needs in mind. From building business plans to raising capital, these groups provide mentorship opportunities to help you become a successful business owner.If you want to start your own business, get a mentor who understands your specific challenges. Check out MicroMentor, a group whichspecializes in pairing entrepreneurs with business mentors for free. Additionally, the organization Krash aims to help founders, entrepreneurs and innovators rapidly build the supportive rolleal and professional networks they need to be successful.Partner with a Peer MentorBefore you reach out to a senior colleague, consider the benefits of a peer mentor. These relationships work especially well when youre joining a new company, or if youre considering a career transition. In both cases, identify someone at the same career stage as you who knows the lay of the land and can get you up to speed quickly. Peer mentors can be especially helpful when youre looking for a job. Approach a fellow job seeker whos in the same line of work and join forces. By checking in with one another on a weekly basis and sharing information, youre automatically doubling your job-search efforts and resources. Concerned about the competition? Its unlikely that both of you will have identical goals and be perfect for the exact same job.Procure a ProtgYou dont have to be the mentee in the relationship to reap the benefits of a mentorship. If youre looking to gain management experience before your first management job, mentoring others is a great place to start. Find out if there are opportunities to mentor your organizations interns or approach a more junior colleague and show him the ropes.The perks of mentorships only grow as your career progresses. Not only do many find the experience rewarding, but chances are, youll also learn a thing or two from your mentees. These relationships come in handy later in your career, too. Should you decide to look for a new opportunity, your former apprentices are great resources for job leads and likely to be enthusiastic advocates.Tap into Non-Traditional TeachersIt takes time to find the right person to be your mentor, and even more time to build a meaningful connection with that person. But that doesnt mean you need to wait to cash in on valuable guidance There are a number of alternative ways you can get advice to advance your career. Pick up a copy of Steven Coveys book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, or one of John C. Maxwells books such as The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership , and start reading.Use your laptop or mobile device to watch a TED Talk, a session of Levo Leagues Office Hours, or one of Lean Ins online lectures to continue learning while on the go.Mentors come in all shapes and sizes, each offering different types and levels of support throughout your career. Consider the mentors in your life to be your own personal bo ard of directors, helping you learn and make the best decisions when it comes to your job search and professional development. Remember, mentorship isnt handed to you you have to ask for what you need. Dont be afraid to approach someone you meet and ask the questions you really want to know youll be amazed at what may happen

How to Handle Gaps in Your Employment History on a Resume

How to Handle Gaps in Your Employment History on a ResumeHow to Handle Gaps in Your Employment History on a ResumeHow to Handle Gaps in Your Employment HistorySmooth out a bumpy employment history with these tried-and-true resume tips.Not everyone is blessed with a picture-perfect employment history that matches their career goals. With a less-than-stellar economy over the past decade, many professionals find themselves with substantial employment gaps or a string of short-term or unrelated gigs dominating their resumes. Still, others are battling the saatkorn gaps because they took time off to raise their families, care for an ailing relative, or overcome a health condition of their own.If any of these situations apply to you, keep reading. Below are some ways you can pump up your professional resume and supplement your work experience to make a better case for your candidacy.Highlight unpaid employment historyIf you volunteered for a role or took on an unpaid internship that allowe d you to build relevant skills or gain industry experience, then these positions deserve a place on your resume employment history. Treat each opportunity as you would a paid job by describing your role and highlighting your major contributions and accomplishments on your resume.If you stayed at home to raise your children, dont discount the valuable experience you gained while managing the household and caring for your family. Take a look at this piece I wrote for Ladders that explains how you can highlight the core competencies you developed as a stay-at-home parent.If youre looking for opportunities to help fill your current employment gap, check out resources like Catchafire and Hands On Network for volunteer work and FlexJobs for flexible and telecommuting internships.Group freelance work togetherIf you freelanced for a number of different clients over a period of time, consider grouping these experiences together under one position and then combining the dates. When breaking d own the position, use the role description section to describe your expertise (i.e. the services you offered). Then, focus each bullet to highlight the work you did for a particular client and the results you achieved. This will give your resume a cleaner look and make you appear less like a job hopper and more like a committed consultant.If you held a series of temp jobs that were similar in nature, you can apply this same technique to make your resume look less cluttered.Remove a positionIn some instances, it may be best to omit full-time gigs with incredibly short tenures from your resume altogether. The general rule of thumb is to remove full-time jobs from your resume employment history if they lasted less than three months. If youre concerned about deleting the work experience entirely, you have the option to briefly mention this position in a CAREER notenzeichen at the end of your work history section. Click on the following link to learn more about using career notes on your professional resume.Invest in professional developmentIf your recent work experience has little to do with your current job goals, look for opportunities to bolster the skill sets your target employers care about. If youre unsure which of your skills need an extra boost, search your network for individuals who work in the field youre pursuing and ask them. Its amazing how many insights and resume tips you can gain over a lunch or coffee date.There are many free and low-cost training opportunities available online and in person. Take a look at SkillShare, edX, Coursera, Lynda.com, and CourseHorse, to name a few. Also, use sites like 10times.com to find conferences related to your target field. In addition to being networking goldmines, these types of events often offer certification programs onsite. If youre considering a major career change, you may need to go back to school for more extensive training.RelatedThe Top Skills Employers Are Looking ForConsider using a different resume formatIf its impossible for you to make your skills and experience shine with the standard resume format, you do have the option to use a functional resume. A functional resume is a different approach to a resume which focuses more on skills than professional experience, which can be helpful for someone who has gaps in their career history.Proceed with caution though This type of resume should only be used as a last resort. Recruiters and hiring managers generally dislike the functional resume because of the way it strays from the traditional layout. It can also give the impression that you are attempting to hide something. Perhaps most importantly, applicant tracking systems (ATS) cannot read this type of resume properly, taking you out of the running for many jobs before youve even had your chance. Though a functional resume may seem like a good option, you should only use a one when youve already circumvented the initial gatekeepers at a company.Keep your employment history cons istentA word to the wise However you decide to modify your resume, dont forget to edit your LinkedIn profile to match. 93 percent of employers will review your social media profiles before contacting you for a job interview. Make sure the person they see online matches the one they read about on your resume.Click on the following link for more resume advice.How are you handling employment gaps on your resume? Get a free resume critique to find out.Recommended ReadingAsk Amanda How Do I List Self-Employment on a Resume?Make a Great Resume With No Work ExperienceResume Tips for Freelancers