The truth is, breaking into sales nowadays isn’t for the faint of heart. Between endless applicants and cutthroat competition, it’s a jungle out there. As a sales pro, you gotta find a way to stand out and get noticed by the top dogs at companies, or you don’t stand a chance. That’s why your resume […]
The post Succeeding in the Competitive Sales Job Market: Crafting an Impactful Resume appeared first on Jobacle.com.
Finding information to help with your job search isn’t the problem. The challenge you face is finding good/accurate/reliable/trustworthy job search advice and information. Do yourself a favor and focus on information from those who know what they are talking about. In this week’s Summary, I’ve collected articles on: Please follow these authors or subscribe to […]
The post Summary Sunday: Issue #542 appeared first on Career Sherpa.
You’ve been applying for jobs every day, but you feel stuck. Your job search isn’t going anywhere. You submit job applications but never hear back from employers. Why aren’t you getting interviews? What are you doing wrong? Is it your resume?
Chances are, your resume is to blame.
It’s very easy for job seekers to make common mistakes on their resume, unknowingly making it harder for them to get their job application in front of the hiring manager. Can your resume get past the ATS? Will your resume stand out to hiring managers in those first few seconds?
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to prevent your resume from getting tossed. Here are three reasons why your resume isn’t working, and how to fix them:
Most companies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to sort through all of the resumes they receive for their job postings. One of the ways they determine which job candidates are qualified for a specific job is by looking at the keywords they’ve included on their resume.
How many keywords on your resume match the keywords in the job description? If you don’t have enough of the right keywords on your resume, you’ll get screened out of the hiring process by the ATS. This means your resume will get tossed without it ever crossing the hiring manager’s desk.
If you’re not getting contacted by employers, not having enough keywords (or the right keywords) on your resume could be the reason why.
The Solution: Include keywords from the job description on your resume. What skills, technologies, and experience are employers looking for? How many of these skills do you possess? Are you familiar with any of the technologies/software you’d be using on the job? Do you have the right kind of experience?
Once you identify what you need for the position you want to apply for, make sure you customize your resume for that specific job so you give yourself the best possible chance to get past the ATS and impress hiring managers. List relevant skills in the top fold of your resume (avoid keyword stuffing) and be sure to use the terms mentioned in the job description on your resume, if applicable.
Another reason why your resume might not be working is because you’re using an outdated resume format. Similar to the first reason, your resume format could be preventing the ATS from effectively reviewing the information on your resume. But if your resume does get past the ATS with an outdated format, hiring managers could still take a look at your resume, see that it’s outdated and hard to read, and then decide to toss your resume because you didn’t make it easy for them to get the information they need about you.
With an outdated resume format, you also run the risk of looking old and out of touch, which won’t help your case if you’re already worried about age discrimination.
If your resume isn’t easy to read and it doesn’t stand out to hiring managers in the first few seconds it’s getting reviewed, you won’t get contacted. Employers simply won’t be able to determine whether you’re qualified for the job or not because you didn’t make it easy for them to find that information.
The Solution: To ensure your resume gets past the ATS and stands out to hiring managers, use an updated resume format. Pay attention to how you’re formatting each section of your resume and make sure the formatting is consistent throughout the document. Focus on using bullet points in your “Work History” section, delete lengthy paragraphs, and don’t force your resume onto one page. This will help you make sure there’s enough white space on your resume so it’s easier to read.
When in doubt, a simple, clean resume format is the best option.
Let’s assume you had enough keywords on your resume that it got past the ATS. Let’s also assume you used an updated resume format. Now that your resume is in the hiring manager’s hands, and all the information on it is easy to read, how are you standing out from the competition? Does your work experience prove that you’d be a valuable employee? What is the service you provide as a business-of-one? What is your specialty? Do you get results? What have you accomplished?
If you’re not quantifying your work experience on your resume, you’re going to have a harder time impressing hiring managers. Quantifiable information allows hiring managers to measure the degree of knowledge and skills you have to offer. It’s a way to inform them about what and how much you can bring to the table.
The Solution: Learn how to quantify your work experience on your resume. Think about what you’ve accomplished in your career. Look at the bullet points in the “Work History” section of your resume and try to include at least one number for each.
Including numbers on your resume not only shows hiring managers what you can do, but they also help your resume stand out since numbers break up text and grab peoples’ attention. If you can’t quantify something, it doesn’t belong on your resume.
As a job seeker, nothing is more frustrating than spending hours applying for jobs only to never hear back from employers. If your resume isn’t working, it’s probably due to one (or more) of the reasons above. Follow our tips so you can avoid these resume mistakes and finally land the job you want!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
The concept of sustainability has become an imperative consideration for businesses of all sizesâin every industry. CEOs are now tasked with the critical responsibility of not only driving short-term profits but also ensuring the long-term viability and success of their companies. Lack of planning from CEOs can significantly impact their companies’ future success and resilience in an increasingly competitive market.
In this article, Work It DAILY experts from Vistage discuss how not planning risks missing opportunities for growth and innovation, failing to mitigate potential risks, and jeopardizing the future of the company. Read on to learn about the importance of planning for business sustainability and how to start a long-term plan for your organization today.
Our world is moving so fast. Business opportunities are near infinite. Your company can possibly survive without planning, but it will most likely never become sustainable. There is nothing wrong with an unsustainable business. I know many CEOs who have these types of businesses, run by their sheer tenacity. They provide a decent living and pride of ownership.
However, if you want to go beyond this, and create an ever-growing sustainable business, planning is mandatory. In the beginning, planning can be just in your head. But as the number of employees grows, getting your thoughts, and your plans, down on paper must happen.
Owners are bombarded on a daily basis with threats and opportunities. Without plans, decisions can and will be haphazard. Haphazard decision-making is not sustainable. As you grow, your employees will be faced with issues that they need to resolve in real time: an upset customer, a quality control problem, or on the exciting side, a prospective sale. Written plans that staff are intimately familiar with allow them to make the decision and know that the decision is aligned with the company goals, the company plans.
The most important and longest-term planning starts with your core values. These should be the one foundation in planning that rarely, if ever, changes. Core values define behaviors, behaviors that are aspirational and sometimes not possible to achieve. For example, my company’s core values were honesty, home/life balance, and relentless improvement. Honesty is one of those values that is aspirational and unachievable in its purest sense, but that is not an excuse to stop striving to be 100%.
The next level of planning is the more traditional concept of long-term goals. Those goals can range from five years to 20 years or even to 100 years. These goals help the CEO avoid the shiny object syndrome. Visionary CEOs see opportunities as often as they get up in the morning. Long-term goals are especially effective at providing bumpers and guide rails to new initiatives.
Core values and long-term goals help keep you focused and help keep the team focused. Focus happens when you know when to say âyesâ and, even more important, when to say âno.â With focus comes sustainability. Sustainability is good.
Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.
Do you have a plan? Or do you have a strategy?
You need both! And you need to know the difference.
Too often companies and leaders are lulled into a big board room with coffee and snacks and a whiteboard and Post-it notes⦠and engage in âstrategic planning.â
Iâve done this myself!
What I want to be clear on is this. A strategy is not a plan. A plan is not a strategy. And yet, you must develop both or your company is doomed.
You control a plan. A plan is safe. A plan has to do with your resources, your people, your costs. You build a building. You train, hire, and fire. You launch a new product.
You do not control strategy. It is a set of interrelated decisions that you make.
You have what they call a “theory.” A hypothesis of how to WIN at your business.
You canât show it on a balance sheet. But you BELIEVE that if you play on THAT playing field or in THAT sandbox you will outperform your competitors. It is in that field you will âwinâ⦠revenue, market share, or sales.
Conversely, the plan consists of the tactics or set of activities to deploy your resources in service to the strategy.
Where I have seen companies succeed and struggle are two key areas. First, how simply can they distill the strategy to every employee? Second, how frequently do they revisit the strategy and test their theory against relevant information?
“If you donât know where you are going, any road will get you there.” âCheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland.
Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.
In thinking about why this matters to SMB owners, I am reminded of Elon Muskâs recent quote, âDonât go top speed into uncertainty,â when discussing his recent plant expansion.
Electric cars are a great example of this (GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc.). Planning for this is daunting yet crucial to get it right for their success.
For consumers even, think about this: When you own a gas-powered vehicle you have a high level of confidence because the infrastructure and service model is clear, consistent, and reliable. When we move into electric vehicles, consumers have to plan and need to have a strategy or they will be stranded. My brother-in-law experienced this recently on a trip with his new Tesla driving from Florida to Maine.
Our business owners have a similar situation: their business certainty isnât what it was and now it is time to stop and say, âI HAVE TIME to slow down and think about the landscape in front of me.” Warren Buffett says, âIn the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.â
Scenario planning. Prepare for possibilities and probabilities. Learn to shrink the gap between success and failure and minimize riskânot eliminate it. SBAâ50% fail in the first five years. The primary reason is lack of financial planning and management.
Be able to weather economic ups and downsâinvest in growth and secure capital are at risk. The National Center for Middle Market found there is a 32% decline in growth compared to those with a plan. Sustained success requires rigor and discipline around planning strategically.
Consider the following as you work towards this: understand drivers of costs, growth, and performance, know mission/behaviors/consequences (right jobs/right roles/right people/right time), and assess the current playing field. Who is changing the landscape? What are we doing? What are we worried about? What are the big movers? How do we drive consumption and repeat business?
Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.
How has a lack of planning hurt your company? Join the conversation inside Work It DAILY’s Elite Program.
Organizations have a plethora of data and need to collect and transform it into information and actionable reporting. The business wants relevant, accurate, and timely information for decision-making, problem-solving, and continuous improvements.
For example, information may show trends or identify issues that need improvement or attention to improve performance. And when there is a continuous feedback mechanism, the information can be used to measure the effectiveness of improvement efforts and make data-driven adjustments as needed to achieve better outcomes.
Some organizations are taking it one step further and using artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT and Bard for additional insights. Organizations have been using chatbots for customer service inquiries and are automating tasks and generating various types of content saving time. Organizations are also using data to analyze performance metrics, identify areas of inefficiency, and even analyze historical data to make predictions about future trends.
AI models can utilize historical data to make predictions, providing valuable insights. Make sure you have a corporate governance policy for AI for responsible and ethical use and minimizing risks. This includes items such as use cases of what it can (and canât) be used for, where (public AI v. private instance), data confidentiality, etc.
As a result, data quality has become more important than ever. Making sure your data is as clean as possible is a critical step! Some signs you have dirty data are:
For AI, if your data is inaccurate, incomplete, or contains errors, the output may be misleading. Good data quality contributes to the model’s ability to handle various inputs and scenarios effectively. Also, ensuring that your data is diverse and free from biases is essential to creating AI solutions that are fair and inclusive. Otherwise, you may introduce bias resulting in unfair or unintended results.
How do you know you may have a problem? If you get comments from end users that the data seems incomplete or outdated (lagging), you should investigate. Or if you get complaints from external customers about their account information. Collaborate with the data owners or subject matter experts (SMEs) to help identify discrepancies/anomalies and how to correct the data both present and ongoing.
Also, if your organization is the victim of a security breach or unauthorized access, make sure the data hasnât been changed, corrupted, or contaminated. Take the time to ensure the data is still accurate and reliable.
It starts by having a comprehensive data governance framework and should be an ongoing process because data quality is not âone and done.â This includes, but is not limited to:
Otherwise, you may be a victim of the expression âgarbage in, garbage outâ which will affect your reporting. You want to make sure your information is relevant, accurate, and timely so that the business has actionable reporting that is reliable and can be trusted.
For more information on the importance of good quality data for actionable reporting and AI, follow me on LinkedIn!
Nursing is one of the most demanding careers to go into, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. It’s also a career that’s expected to see a lot of growth by 2032, which means more nursing jobs will be created to meet the increase in demand.
In addition to having solid health care skills, those who succeed in the nursing profession possess unique qualities of character and spirit.
These are nine personal attributes every nurse needs to provide the best possible patient care:
A nurse must be drawn to caring for the sick and injured. This includes having empathy for the pain and suffering of patients, as well as a strong desire to make the hospital experience as positive as possible.
Since a nurse is often a patient’s advocate as well as a link between family members and hospital staff, the ability to effectively speak and listen is critically important. Nurses in the research and education sectors also must be able to communicate and collaborate effectively.
A nurse needs a solid framework of ethics that will guide personal and professional conduct. This framework should include a commitment to humanitarian service and concern for the dignity of all patients.
Nurses are faced with important choices on a daily basis and must be able to use critical thinking to aid in decision-making. Furthermore, nurses who are involved in policy-making need critical thinking in order to successfully improve health care for all members of society.
A nurse’s actions on the job can have far-reaching consequences. Whether you’re a family nurse practitioner or nurse midwife, even the smallest mistake may have tragic results. Therefore, strict attention to detail must be second nature for a nurse.
Nurses must be confident they have the skills and knowledge to provide the best possible care. They must be able to work independently with little supervision, knowing they will get the job done. Self-doubt can be dangerous when a nurse is faced with a critical situation.
Flexibility and the ability to adapt are especially important for nurses. Like doctors, nurses are often required to work long hours. They must also deal with fluctuating schedules. As a result, the ability to cope with long days becomes paramount.
Nursing is a demanding profession that requires physical, mental, and emotional strength. An effective nurse needs a high energy level and a healthy lifestyle in order to succeed.
Healthcare is a dynamic field. In order to stay current, a successful nurse is dedicated to continuing education and participation in professional organizations.
A nurse must have key skills to be successful on the job. If you have the nine skills mentioned above, it may be time to give a nursing career some serious thought.
For more information on what a day on the job is like for a registered nurse, check out this career interview.
If you’re considering changing your career to nursing, or are thinking about pursuing a job totally different from the one you have, here’s how to get hired when changing careers.
And if you need help with your job search, become a Work It Daily member today!
This article was originally published at an earlier date and was written by Social Media Outreach Coordinator Erica Moss on behalf of Work It DAILY-Approved Partner, 2tor. An education technology company that partners with institutions of higher education such as Georgetown University to deliver their online Masters in Nursing degree. Now you know if you have the essential nursing skills to be a practitioner.
In the dynamic realm of career service professionals, where the line between work and personal life can often blur, finding balance is not just a luxury […]
The post Finding Harmony: Strategies for Career Service Professionals to Balance Work and Life appeared first on Blog Job Hunting Career Management Solutions | CareerShift.
There are a number of interview questions about teamwork that you need to prepare for if youâre applying for a position that involves working with others. This list covers the questions youâre most likely to be asked, and how to answer them. 1. Can you describe a time when you worked on a team and […]
The post 25 Frequent Teamwork Interview Questions & Answers appeared first on Career Sherpa.
The thought of conducting a job search right now is probably very intimidating for most professionalsâand a little frightening. While there are many things that could be scaring you about your job search, you can’t let those fears impact your career, especially when you can easily overcome them with the right tools, tips, and strategies.
If the phrase “looking for a job” strikes fear into your heart, don’t worry. Here’s how to overcome your job search fears this fall, just in time for Halloween!
You’re putting so much time and effort into your job search, but what if employers never call you back? This is a common fear for many professionals, and for good reason.
A lot of job seekers do spend hours a day applying for jobs only to never hear back from employers. There are a few reasons why this might be happening: your resume didn’t make it past the ATS, your cover letter didn’t stand out to hiring managers, and/or you didn’t adequately market your skills and experience to employers or demonstrate your value as a business-of-one.
How To Overcome This Fear:
This is a fear that probably keeps you up at night. You’ve finally found a job you like and landed an interview with the company. But what if you bomb the job interview? What if you ruin your chances of getting a job offer?
Confidence is key in a job interview, and you can’t be confident without proper interview preparation.
How To Overcome This Fear:
If you’ve been looking for a job for a while, you might feel desperate. This puts you in a vulnerable spot, but you should avoid settling for a job if you can.
On the flip side, you might have multiple job offers and need to decide which one is right for you. Do you feel empowered to make the right decision?
How To Overcome This Fear:
By following the tips above, you’ll successfully overcome any job search fears you may have, and you’ll realize the job search isn’t as scary as it seems!
Need more help with your job search?
Become a member to learn how to land a job and UNLEASH your true potential to get what you want from work!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
Your LinkedIn profile and how you use LinkedIn will have a large impact on your job search. That’s why it’s important to make informed and strategic decisions before you make changes to your profile. This is a collection of articles from job search experts, resume writers, and career coaches that address many of the common […]
The post How to Use LinkedIn Effectively During Your Job Search (From the pros) appeared first on Career Sherpa.
According to data, 95% of startups fail. That’s a staggering number. As an entrepreneur, our most valuable asset is time and resources. For those navigating the challenges of a startup environment, the primary objective is to accomplish more with lessâto drive value and growth despite limited manpower, modest budgets, and scarce resources. Startups inherently have an element of chaos, yet within this chaos, only a handful of actions at any given time can have a significant impact. That’s where the Lean Startup Marketing Formula approach comes in. It’s less risky, directing your attention to the right actions at the right time while emphasizing rapid experimentation, solving problems that truly matter to customers, and minimizing waste.
Let’s look into the Lean Startup approach, its significance compared to the traditional approach, the core marketing principles, the role of a Minimum Viable Brand (MVB), the process of integrating these principles into your marketing campaign, the essential tools and technologies for its implementation, and the potential challenges to address.
The Lean Startup approach can be distilled as follows: Imagine youâre constructing a boat while already navigating treacherous waters. Itâs like embarking on a journey with a makeshift raft with the goal of evolving it into a seaworthy ship that can carry you to your destination. In essence, itâs a structured methodology. Itâs all about maintaining business agility, prioritizing swift execution, and fundamentally streamlining operations to make them more cost-effective and efficient.
The Lean Startup method takes the principles of agile project management and extends them to every facet of your business. Notably, Lean Startups often reach the market much faster. Unlike the conventional startup approach, which might spend years attempting to attain perfection and make a grand debut, the Lean Startup thrives on a âbuild, release, learn, and adaptâ philosophy. In essence, it can be boiled down to three essential actions: test, analyze, and decide, which are continually repeated from day one. This approach dramatically reduces the time, effort, expenditure, and resources required before obtaining valuable market feedback. Ultimately, it shifts the focus from perfecting a strategy to swiftly learning from the market, a pivotal aspect for many startups.
The core marketing principles of the Lean Startup approach include:
These principles collectively contribute to the Lean Startup’s success in developing innovative products, scaling efficiently, and responding rapidly to market feedback. They are not limited to marketing alone but guide a Lean Startup’s overall approach and mindset.
A Minimum Viable Brand is a fundamental and essential branding framework every business should establish when entering the market. While it may not encompass the full depth of a comprehensive brand strategy, it provides a foundation for a company to make a meaningful entry into the market and start generating revenue. The key components of a Minimum Viable Brand typically include:
The idea behind a Minimum Viable Brand is to establish a foundational brand identity that allows the business to start marketing and generating revenue. While it may not be the final, comprehensive brand strategy, having these essential elements in place enables the company to differentiate itself from competitors and make a genuine market entry. The intent is to refine the brand strategy further as the business evolves. These initial branding components make it easier to market the business and succeed in the market authentically.
A strategic approach is essential to effectively integrate core principles into a marketing campaign. Hereâs a step-by-step guide on how to do this:
Integrating these core principles into your marketing campaign can create a solid foundation for success. Remember that agility, adaptability, and a focus on delivering value to your audience are paramount in the ever-evolving world of marketing.
When implementing the Lean Startup approach, having the right tools and technology can significantly enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Hereâs a selection of tech tools to consider:
These tools provide a foundation for nurturing and converting leads, automating processes, and efficiently managing customer relationships. They allow you to maximize your resources and maintain a Lean approach while rapidly growing your startup. Each tool can scale with you, so if you need additional functionality, these programs provide everything you need as you grow.
The Lean Startup approach in marketing presents a world of possibilities but comes with its unique set of challenges. Here are three ways to navigate these challenges effectively:
The Lean Startup approach encourages a dynamic and iterative mindset. Itâs about finding the right balance between focus and flexibility, staying attuned to customer feedback, and continually refining your strategies to align with your target audienceâs needs and preferences.
In conclusion, the Lean Startup Marketing Formula approach is a game-changer in the ever-evolving world of marketing. Itâs about doing more with less, staying agile, and focusing on what truly matters. With a strong foundation, a commitment to continuous learning, and the right tools, startups can navigate the challenges of the market effectively. Remember, itâs not about you; itâs about your customers and their needs. Stay agile, stay focused, and keep learning.
For more brand marketing insights, follow Cain Castor and Lisa Perry. For a step-by-step guide on developing a brand strategy, check out How to Develop a Brand Strategy by Lisa Perry.
This article was written by Lisa Perry and Cain Castor.
The most common mistake I see people make after a few weeks or a month of job search is they turn inward. What do I mean by that? Well, the job search already feels really stressful to people, so you muster up the energy, you take time out of your schedule to do something you’re not really excited about, and you start putting yourself out there…only to get nothing back.
You apply for jobs. You don’t hear back. You’re not seeing the traction. So you turn inward. You go, “What’s wrong with me? What am I doing wrong? How can I fix this?”
If you could fix this yourself, you wouldâand you know that.
There’s this internal struggle that go on. There’s a fear. There’s a confusion. We turn inward. It is literally the worst thing you can do. And let me tell you why…
You’re going to keep turning inward, and you’re probably going to do that for another five months. I know this because the natural mark (we have studied this at Work It DAILY) where people finally break down and reach out for help is six months.
It’ll probably take you six months of job search failure before you’ll stop turning inward and having this internal struggle and say to yourself, “I need some help.”
Now, the sad part about this is a lot of people swing completely in the other direction because, for those six months, you were doing it by yourself, so now you think the answer is to have it done for you. Therefore, you might overpay to have your resume or LinkedIn profile written, only for that to not work either.
You see, in order for you to really solve your problem, you’re going to need to learn a few things to get the results you want in your job search, and they’re going to need to be slightly customized for your situation. The better solution is to get some help from a career coach who will do it with you.
A career coach is going to teach you what you need to do in order to land that job. You don’t learn these things in school, so you’re going to want that help. And this is knowledge no one can ever take away from you. As you learn these things, it’ll just make you a better job seeker. And every job is temporary, so you’re probably going have to do this at least one or two more times in your life, so why not learn it now?
Stop turning inward. It’s time to get some help so you don’t waste six months of your life not getting the results you’re looking for.
The number one thing people say to me when they join Work It DAILY is, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” So don’t be one of those people, okay? Get some help. You don’t have to go it alone.
Check out my affordable career coaching options here.
Good luck, and go get ’em!