Having something to earn for livelihood
Catch up on news you can use for job search and your career! This collection of articles includes how-tos and information you need to help with your job search. This summary is a look at the past two weeks of excellent and informative information to help you with your job search and understand today’s workplace […]
The post Summary Sunday: Issue #480 appeared first on Career Sherpa.
You’re looking for a career boost. You’re possibly past your first-year mark at work. You’ve learned the ropes of your position, but you feel like you’re slowing down. What are some ways you can get ahead at work?
There are many positive things you can do that can help you get ahead at work. In fact, the value of these tasks is they make you more motivatedâtherefore, giving you the career boost you need.
I know. How can you ever feel enthusiastic about work, especially when you already feel sluggish with the same work after a few years? It is precisely this reason I ask you to be enthusiastic. To be enthusiastic at work is about a mental state. You need to make the decision to be enthusiastic. Start by saying, “I will be an eager participant in this project or task.”
Attack your task with energy. Do not drag your feet. The more you tell yourself, “This is so boring,” or whatever the excuse may be, the worse you will feel. Get interested in the work, and the energy will come naturally. Then, decide to be eagerly involved. You cannot get ahead at work without energy.
Strive to be the most efficient worker on your team. According to Webster’s Universal College Dictionary, to be efficient means “performing or functioning effectively with the least waste of time and effort.” When you are effective, you’re producing the intended result. When you are efficient, you do it with the least waste of time and effort. That means you are capable and competent.
If you constantly strive to be the most efficient worker, then you will eventually get ahead in your career. You will get a career boost because you are the most capable and competent on the team.
Of the five things you can do to get ahead in the workplace, this one probably calls for you to give yourself some pressure. A little pressure is good since it makes you push yourself harder. Strive for excellence in everything you do. Do not be content with good. Go for great.
Exceed expectations by knowing good is sometimes not good enough. Give everything your utmost best. You will naturally see how this becomes your career booster. When you strive for excellence in everything you do, you naturally surpass others in your work.
Have you ever thought that showing up to work early can get you ahead at work? It can, especially when your workplace practices flextime. Many people take flextime for granted. They stroll in and out at their own pace, not knowing they have probably wasted productive time.
Start early at work. Some of my most productive days are those I start early before the phone rings and before my staff walks in with questions. Clear your emails from last night and craft that important email when there are no disturbances.
Make every effort to be the easiest person to work with in the office. Now, I am not saying compromise your need for excellence. For example, this means don’t complain and grumble each time there is a team meeting. No one likes to work with someone who nags all the time.
When you are easy to work with, you make working enjoyable for your co-workers too. An upbeat workplace is welcomed everywhere, and you give yourself a competitive edge. That competitive edge is your career booster.
Want to know how your interact with your co-workers, and how it impacts your work? This FREE quiz will tell you your workplace strengths and how to use them to your advantage.
There is no need for complicated plans to get a career boost. Doing these simple things can help you get you ahead at work.
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To get good at it, our answer is yes…
Updated this article to include design principles and other elements, as CDOs and CDAOs continue to prove the value of data analytics to COOs and CEOs. The path to the C-suite is in proving the ROI of data analytics, setting up the tests, and providing the evidence.
As an analytics practitioner and leader, I have always stressed the need to create a predictable, repeatable, stable process for analytical data innovation. A data innovation process would help the firm monetize its critical data assets. A monetization capability has applications for several marketing and business domains such as campaign management, customer experience, product development, customer and prospect segmentation, and more (risk, etc.). A good data monetization process has at its core the ability to generate pilots every quarter to facilitate more significant tests and learning. Analytical data innovation has a direct impact on customer satisfaction and retention.
This article was written a few years back initially; however, at that time, the only thing we seemed to hear about was quick wins and not about setting up monetization and test and learn as a process. I posit that the continued focus on quick wins only and not creating a process for learning may be hindering analytical adoption and moving data analytics maturity to the next level. There are good quick wins and bad quick wins depending on whether they are measurable and scalable. It might now be time to suggest a more defined team and process be stood up within the CDAO and design worlds to hit the accelerator on monetizations. In some firms, particularly in Fintech, design practices joined at the hip with CDAOs are beginning to create such a process. My updates to the process are below.
The challenges in developing the analytical data innovation process include:
For each pilot, a monetization process needs to be followed, starting with defining the business case and vetting it with business partners and executives. Is the business willing to make changes and deploy the learnings? After gaining concurrence from the business partners, assemble the right team to keep the monetization effort on track, including executive sponsors, consultants/analytics experts, academics, design practice experts, prototyping firms, line of business sponsors, and IT.
To create the proper pilot development process, you can borrow from both Agile and SDLC, which ensures the formulation of the appropriate business and data requirements. Take the best elements from different project management methods to create the criteria. For example, a development process method can ensure success measures are established for the project.
The following steps are to perform feasibility analysis, create a prototype, and validate the pilot. For most analytical pilots, this involved creating test segmentations or models which can then be deployed in the market so one can read and validate the results. Some of the steps I have gone through in validating pilots included ensuring that we had actual data and systems to deploy the analytic solution. For example, some models require unique data sources to be able to score and implement them at their point of use.
The final step is to determine how far along the monetization cycle you will take an analytical pilot. For example, many times in segmentation, you may find a profitable segment but the segment cannot quickly grow or scale. On the other hand, a pilot that goes into implementation will require execution support and the establishment of success metrics. One new comment on this is that the pilot should have a definition of done and clear success metrics that the CEO and COO are aware of and endorses so that when the pilot is a success, it can be rolled out and celebrated.
My philosophy is to maintain a pipeline of analytical pilots, knowing that only 10%-20% will be fully monetized. This is the central premise behind the test that learns and fails fast and cheaply. Design practices can now help expand the number of pilots that are monetized. See Randy Bean’s book Fail Fast Learn Faster for perspectives on this.
Ideally, there is enough diversity of pilots in the queue to generate new analytical products quarterly. This process is iterative as the pilots should be viewed as living solutions, and permanent departments, squads, and tribes should be set up to perpetuate this model.
Given that many CDAOs are still struggling with tenure and investment and proving the ROI, I want your thoughts on how this process can help and what you think is the state of the state is on test and learn and monetization. Are quick wins still quick, or does this process need to usurp quick wins?
If you’ve become a victim of retaliation in the workplace, you’re not alone. In fact, around 45% of all complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) involve workplace retaliation. Workplace retaliation is an insidious form of discrimination, and it is unlawful. Suppose your employer punishes you for taking action against them by intimidating […]
The post 4 Ways to Handle Retaliation at Work appeared first on Jobacle.com.
Following the 2020-2021 global pandemic, the benefits of online educational programs can not be understated. While thousands of colleges and universities were forced to adapt their doctoral programs to accommodate online options in the past few years, more students than ever before are choosing to complete their graduate studies online. Many online programs were available […]
The post 5 Impressive Advantages of Online Graduate Programs appeared first on Jobacle.com.
Creating your resume, but stumped for ideas beyond your job titles, places of employment, and education? Getting employers to pick up the phone requires a much stronger brand message!
If you haven’t focused on your ROIâthe benefit companies get when hiring youâyour job search can go on indefinitely. You might believe that recruiters or hiring managers will “get” this message from reading about your past jobs or span of authority. But guess what? With plenty of resumes to review, most hiring managers won’t take the time to connect the dots in your background.
Therefore, if you’ve made a significant difference at past employers, but your resume doesn’t provide this evidence, you’ll lose your shot at landing an interview (while employers hire your competition instead).
So, as you write your resume, consider adding these quantifiable measures of your performance to emphasize your ROI and stand out to hiring managers.
Do you wear many hats at your current job? Employees who can perform more than one job simultaneously are often credited with improving the company’s bottom line. On your resume, you’ll be able to show the savings gained by helping your employer avoid the need to hire or train an additional staff member, as in these examples:
ROI can also be demonstrated by comparing your work to others on your team, or to a predecessor who held the same role prior to your tenure. You may be more efficient or better able to understand customer needsâsaving your employer additional effort (such as multiple sales calls or additional work on technical problems)âthan your counterparts. If so, put these savings into a dollar figure by calculating the cost of rework for use on your resume.
Remember: the key to demonstrating your ROI is by listing quantifiable information on your resume. This means adding numbers to each bullet point under your job titles.
Will anything get an employer’s attention faster than telling them you’ll bring sizeable profits? Probably not. However, unless you’re in a sales role (or another revenue-specific job), you might find this exercise difficult. After all, how does a project manager or operations director make money for the company?
The secret to pulling out a revenue or profit figure (when your job isn’t tied directly to money) is to look higher in the company for the impact of your work. This means taking into account the value of the project to your employer (a new service line that will create revenue opportunities), or the impact of the new equipment you implemented (improving production and fulfilling more orders). As in this example of a resume statement, your work as part of a larger effort can be conveyed in the impact of the entire project:
If your job involves technology, consider the monetary value of the improvements gained with a new solution you implemented. Once you put the emphasis on your work at a company or department level, the revenue or profit equation can make sense. Of course, you’ll need to share the credit for increasing profits with your team or colleagues, but it’s an important measure of your benefit to a new employer.
Cost savings are a high-priority area for many companies, especially those in industries directly affected by the pandemic. Of course, showing your impact on expenses is easy if you’re the one negotiating new vendor contracts or preparing a budget. Even if your responsibilities don’t seem related to costs, think about your ability to produce work faster or with less resourcesâthen add the costs associated with this acceleration into your resume.
For example, an office manager who arranges shifts to cover the phone (without hiring an additional employee) is directly saving significant payroll and training costs. An IT director might be able to point out the projects completed in less time due to a newly acquired software tool, with related opportunity costs allowing the team to take on other projects. These examples show different ways to state cost savings on your resume:
Perhaps you’ve monitored expenses within your team, and figured out ways to generate the same amount of revenue with less overhead. These figures can be estimated, or specified in percentages of savings, to show your impact on costs.
The bottom line? Your employment automatically comes at a cost to your employer. If you can demonstrate a substantial ROI over the expense of hiring you, companies will be eager to bring you on boardâeven with a raise in salaryâdespite a competitive job market.
Need more help demonstrating your ROI on your resume? We’re here for you!
We’d love it if you joined our FREE community. Itâs a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. More importantly, we have tons of resources inside our community that can help you write your resumeâthe right way.
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While it’s not so difficult to add a connection on LinkedIn when you already know the person, approaching someone you don’t know, like a hiring manager, recruiter, the head of the department you want to work for, or a contact that can help get you through to the decision-maker is a different story.
Here are five tips on how to approach people you don’t know, or don’t know very well, and what you can say to get them to connect with you on LinkedIn:
Don’t send a blank (or default) invitation to connect. It’s unlikely that the person you’re trying to connect with will accept it.
If it’s a hiring manager who interviewed you, but you didn’t get the job, it may still be a relationship worth maintaining. Your message could say, “Thank you for the interview opportunity. I would love to be considered for future positions that come up and have you as a professional connection no matter where we may possibly cross paths again.”
The act of simply taking the time to write a personal message with your invitation makes you worthy of consideration.
In your LinkedIn connection request, find ways to form an instant bond by sharing what you have in common. For example, when you’re both a member of the same group, club, or volunteer organization, it’s easier to approach the individual.
People also want to know or be reminded of how you know them or found them. So you can say something like, “I’m also a member of XYZ on LinkedIn. I noticed you’re the head of the marketing department at 123 Company, and I was hoping you could share some advice on how you got started in your career because I’m looking to pursue a similar path.”
This approach is less likely to come off like a cold call. If there are other things you have in common, like a similar education or background, share that as well.
Whenever possible, it’s easier to start an introduction with the help of a mutual acquaintance. After the help of an introduction, it’s up to you to build rapport.
If you connect with someone who works for a company you want to work for, you may consider a message like, “I’m a former colleague of John Smith, who’s told me a lot about you and your work. I’m considering a position at 123 Company. Would you mind if I ask you some questions related to your experience with the application and interview process?”
The saying, “It’s not what you know. It’s who you know,” has never been truer. Take advantage of your current connections and use them to expand your professional network today.
Avoid sending your resume on first contact, or asking if your new connection knows of any job openings at their company. Your first message to a new connection should focus on starting a conversation, and you can effectively do that by asking for general advice rather than inquiring about a job.
Also, remember to keep questions open-ended so you can build conversation, not end it.
Who doesn’t like to be greeted with a nice word of recognition like “Congratulations on the recent award!” or “Great article! I found it really insightful”? It informs the individual you admire their work, making it easier to get their attention and find a reason to connect with you.
If you’re already connected, giving kudos to this person will strengthen your relationship and make them more willing to help you in your career.
Having a good network of connections is NOT about quantity but the quality of the people and the strength of the relationships. Take the time to really evaluate who is worth connecting with, and when you do try, have a compelling reason why you want to connect with them so they will sincerely consider your request.
Need help optimizing your LinkedIn profile?
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If you are going to an interview, there are many things you will want to consider. Many people think that knowing how to accurately answer the questions is the only thing that needs to be practiced. In reality, you also need to master your nonverbal communication to demonstrate your best attributes to the interviewer.
There are a few things you will need to think about. Your nonverbal communication is one of the most important aspects of an interview. This includes factors such as your gestures, body language, facial expressions, and more. These communication signals are important because they send a multitude of messages to the interviewer. Many times, nonverbal communication is subconscious, but it is still something that people will notice. Just as you will control what you verbally say, you will want to control what you communicate nonverbally, too.
It is a good idea to have your verbal match your nonverbal communication. This means if you say you are confident that you can give the business what it needs because you have years of experience, you do not want to come off as timid, shy, and unsure of yourself. Instead, you want to exude confidence.
Here are a few interview tips for nonverbal communication in an interview:
One of the best things you can do is to practice your interview ahead of time. You can do this by yourself, though you will want to have a mirror or video recording so you can evaluate your communication signals, or with a friend via a mock interview. When practicing for a job interview, you should think about the things you appear to be saying nonverbally and think about how you can change them to give the impression you are looking for.
You should be aware of how you are communicating during the interview, but be sure not to overthink and become distracted from the interview questions. For example, if you want to demonstrate your confidence, then you need to think about having excellent posture, keeping eye contact with your interviewer, and making sure to keep a calm demeanor.
A big issue many people face when they are in an interview is that they do not know what to do with their hands. Individuals should avoid fidgeting and touching their hair and face because the interviewer can read these communication signals negatively. These nervous movements and fidgets may be a sign of anything from uncertainty in your qualifications to lying about something.
It is also important to give the interviewer an open body position without crossing your arms, which shows that you are comfortable and open to discussion. By crossing your arms, you are sending the message that you are closed off, which makes an interviewer think you may have something to hide or feel negatively about the interview. You can keep your arms at your side or on your lap. Using your hands when you explain something is fine as well, and it is seen as a very open gesture to show your palms to the other individual while explaining.
While thinking about the right thing to say both verbally and nonverbally, you need to think about the message you are getting from the interviewer. For instance, if you see them lean back or look uncomfortable, you may be in their personal space. If the interviewer seems impatient or uncomfortable, you may want to try to explain yourself better or offer shorter and more concise answers.
There are many different aspects to think about with nonverbal communication and what it means in the business world. If you are finding that you are not having the success you want with an interview, you may find it helpful to take a class on nonverbal communication so you can achieve the results you are looking for.
Or you could join our FREE community. Itâs a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. More importantly, we have tons of resources inside our community that can help you prepare for your next job interview.
It’s time to find work that makes you feel happy, satisfied, and fulfilled. Join our FREE community today to finally become an empowered business-of-one!
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One of the most daunting tasks (in the USA and globally) that is not discussed in commercial research circles very often is the challenge data scientists have getting their data into the cloud AND convincing information security to configure cloud-based tools to allow access to critical data.
We all know the benefits of the cloud are many, including less expensive ways to store data, the scalability of big data platforms, and an advanced tool kit with many AI and machine learning tools (data and machine learning operations.) Risk and information security professionals still have many concerns about cloud data security, including adequate staffing and configuration expertise to make broad-scale use of cloud data a reality. There is often confusion about the current software stack and the scope of their cloud capabilities (on-prem versus cloud), further complicating the maze of issues surrounding using data in the cloud.
Chief data officers should be joined at the hip with chief technology officers and information security professionals to allow the migration of analytics data to the cloud and provide configuration of access tools (i.e. MS, Azure, or AWS).
I hope this post helps frame some of the issues and recommended solutions. I look forward to your thoughts and any additions you might have.
What should you do when you and another co-worker like each other? Worse yet, what happens if you have a crush on your boss, or that most terrible of taboos, on your secretary?
Rather than ignore the problem or act on your instincts, you should learn how to stop being attracted to someone at work. Here are 10 tips for handling the lust genie and putting her back in the bottle where she belongs:
The first step in dealing with attraction at work is to acknowledge the problem. In all likelihood, you have pushed these feelings to the side of your mind. Unfortunately, they are sitting there fermenting and probably deepening.
Bringing your feelings to the top of your to-do list will help you logically deal with them. In cases of workplace attraction, you are going to need every ounce of Dr. Spock you can muster.
You should absolutely talk to a friend about your work crush, preferably to someone who is not employed by the same company, your spouse, or the target of your attraction.
Talking about your feelings is another way of acknowledging the problem. In addition, you will acquire an ally who will help you cope with the issue.
Reading the black and white company policy about what can happen if you act on your attraction is sometimes enough to change those feelings of amore into slight sickness whenever you see the person.
In the world of business, there are many ways to get ahead. Some people have learned that ignoring office etiquette and company rules about relationships is a quick way to gain a competitive edge. It’s very difficult, but try to realistically evaluate the skills of the other person.
Have they earned their position through brilliance, dedication, and hard work? Or did they just sort of miraculously appear?
Maybe your home life isn’t as blissful as it could be. This doesn’t mean that acting on your instincts with the person at work is going to be the dream relationship.
That possible relationship might be better, but in all likelihood you will be exchanging one set of problems for another.
In love with your boss? Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome? People in positions of power are often attractive even if they are absolutely horrible.
Romance at work (even between consenting single adults) often translates into negative repercussions. It can create sordid rumors and much worse.
If you truly have found the love of your life, get proactive about moving jobs or changing departments so you can continue your romance without worry.
Not willing to do that? Maybe this isn’t the “one.”
This will make coping much easier. Social decorum dictates that most intimacy doesn’t occur in the presence of others. Design strategies that remove direct and private contact with the person.
Whenever possible, interact with the person only when there are other people around. This will prevent intimacy and, with luck, the workplace crush will fade.
So many of us get absolutely absorbed in work. It is our lives. When this is the case, it is perfectly natural to look for affection and intimacy at work. Make your social life outside of work a priority.
Once other people enter your life, the attraction for that colleague often disappears.
This approach rarely leads to a happy ending.
First, if the attraction is mutual, the crush will likely escalate into a full-blown affair. Second, if the attraction is not mutual, you face rejection and possibly a sexual harassment lawsuit.
We are all human and human interaction is sexual. Having a crush or being attracted to a co-worker is natural. But natural doesn’t necessarily make it good for you!
Use these 10 tips to fight attraction in the workplace, because most of the time it isn’t worth the risk.
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You should be obsessed with whatâs in your closet because thatâs how you create an image that gets you noticedâin a good way. When was the last time you looked at every single article of clothing and each accessory in your closet to determine if you love and wear it? Letâs be honest. Itâs probably been a while.
A recent study showed women wear 20-30% of their clothes. So, for every 10 pieces of clothing in a womanâs closet, sheâs only wearing two or three pieces. Thatâs crazy! Especially when we look at that closet full of clothes and think, âI have nothing to wear.â Itâs probably time for a closet audit to see what you own and what type of use youâre getting out of it.
I highly recommend going through that exercise. Do it yourself or work with a personal stylist. Youâve probably heard the saying that if you havenât worn something in the past year, get rid of it. Iâm not completely stuck on that rule, especially with the pandemic. We werenât going anywhere for a time but thatâs no reason to get rid of your entire wardrobe. You may have been wearing the comfy uniform (sweatpants and a t-shirt) but now are getting back in the public eye and need to dust off the pants and blouses.
Going through your closet and determining what you want to keep should be easy. Discard things you are not wearing. Again, that wonât be too hard. Then youâll have things in between. For advice on what to do with those pieces? Well, thatâs what I get paid for.
One question is what to do with clothing and accessories you donât wear anymore. Here are a few options:
Ten million tons of clothing fill landfills every year. Thatâs deplorable. We must stop this and become better stewards of our planet. One out of every two articles of clothing is thrown away. Thereâs no need for that (see above options).
The average woman spends $960 annually on new clothes. (Depending on who you are, that may be a shocking statistic. Frankly, I wish I could get it down that low. Iâm sure my husband does too). Where is she going to put them? She needs to have a closet audit and throw out the old so she can bring in the new.
A great time to do a closet audit is the change of seasons, spring and fall. Before you pack away the previous seasonâs wardrobe, make sure itâs all worth keeping. As a personal stylist, I help people with this process, organize their closets, and show them how to rotate their clothes so they never have to do another audit. Itâs very liberating, by the way.
That takes me to another point of an efficient closet. ORGANIZATION. How can you responsibly dress if you donât even know what you have? Categorize clothing. For example, all coats should be together as well as footwear like boots and sandals. It will help you get ready faster and become very clear on what youâre not wearing.
Donât just stop at your closet. Go through drawers and sweater bins. You also need to do this process with jewelry boxes and armoires. There are vendors that travel the country buying metals like gold and silver. A friend recently brought old gold jewelry to one and got about $400 in cash. Pretty nice for less than an hourâs work.
Sustainability is really coming to the forefront in the fashion industry, and Iâm glad to see it. Be part of the solution and not the problem.
Carla Biasi (@carla.hammack) ⢠Instagram photos and videos
Recently, the top 10 most overused words on LinkedIn profiles were announced. And I’m not shocked to see that all 10 words break the basic rule of personal branding: stay objective.
The 10 most overused words on LinkedIn are subjective. Meaning that if you use them, you are stating an opinion of yourself. Take a look:
The problem with using these words is that, while you think itâs okay to talk about yourself in this way, the reader of your profile (aka a recruiter or hiring manager) gets the mistaken impression that you think you are âall that and a bag of chips.â
The solution is to test your profile and then take out any words that arenât fact. Hereâs how you test it: simply read each sentence on your profile and then ask yourself, âSays who?â If you canât validate it within the sentence you are using it in, then it needs to go. I used all 10 of the words on LinkedInâs list below to show you examples of how they get misused.
For all of the above, you canât help but think when you read them, âGeez. Donât you think a lot of yourself!â Or, as I mentioned above, the immediate reaction becomes, âReally? Says who?â
Once you edit your profile, go back through and insert accomplishments that prove what you were trying to say about yourself. These would be examples of better fits:
Notice all of the above bullet points use numbers, percentages, and statistics to prove the skill. This is called quantifying your accomplishments, and it is the most compelling way to validate your experience. When it comes to LinkedIn, facts are always better than fiction!
We know how difficult it can be to optimize your LinkedIn profile so it effectively communicates your personal brand. If you’re still struggling to update your LinkedIn profile, we can help.
We’d love it if you joined our FREE community. Itâs a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. More importantly, we have tons of resources inside our community that can help you update your LinkedIn profileâthe right way.
It’s time to find work that makes you feel happy, satisfied, and fulfilled. Join our FREE community today to finally become an empowered business-of-one!
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