Do you struggle in order to email people in your own network (especially around the particular holidays)? Or are a person struggling to grow your current network overall? Even along with your current strategy?
The holidays could be a wonderful time of 12 months for many people. It is a great time to relax, reconnect with whomever you choose, and commemorate! You''re likely to become seeing people who an individual haven''t spoken with within quite a while.
That will being said, this enables anyone the PERFECT opportunity to be able to improve on your social networking skills and reconnect together with these individuals PLUS other people!
With this coaching, you''ll learn how for you to:
- Start networking with the individuals around you AND create new connections
- Pinpoint the different methods when you can obtain started with your network strategy
- Set up meaningful relationships that will certainly help you advance the job search
Join our own CEO, J. T. O'Donnell, and Director to teach Development & Coaching, Christina Burgio, for this reside event on Wednesday, Nov 9th at 12 evening ET.
CAN'T ATTEND RESIDE? That's alright. You will have access to typically the recording and the workbook after the session!
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Sending a thank-you note to the hiring manager after a job interview is not only a kind thing to do but also a job search best practice. However, what you write in your thank-you note can significantly impact your chances of moving on in the hiring process.
If you make common thank-you note mistakes, the hiring manager might note consider you for the job. And there is one job interview thank-you note mistake that you should avoid at all costs…
#1 Thank-You Note Mistake: Recapping The Interview & Trying To Resell Yourself
@j.t.odonnell No. 1 Job Interview THANK YOU NOTE Mistake #thankyounote #thankyou #jobinterviewthankyounote #jobinterview #jobinterviewtips #interviewtips #interview #interviewtipsandtricks #mistake #mistakesweremade ⬠original sound – J.T. O’Donnell
The number one mistake that people make when writing a thank-you note is recapping everything they talked about in the interview and trying to resell themselves to the hiring manager.
In your thank-you note, you do not write an epic novel. You don’t tell them why you think you’re the best candidate for the job. And you definitely don’t mention something you forgot to talk about in the job interview.
A thank-you note is to do one thing: give thanks.
Here’s the simple thank-you note formula you should use after every job interview:
Dear [hiring manager’s name],
Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you about the XYZ position. I really enjoyed talking with you about [something you specifically talked about]. If there’s anything else I can provide to further my candidacy, please let me know because I would love to work with you.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
That’s it. Three sentences.
And just in case you’re wondering, send a thank-you note to everybody that you met with during the job interview.
Since your thank-you note is only three sentences long, you have the time and the ability to personalize that second line where you talk about what you enjoyed speaking with them about. If you met with three people, send three thank-you notes that are short and sweet, like the example above. You are showing your follow-through and your consistency, but also respect for the fact that your time to sell yourself was in the interview.
Your thank-you note is for showing appreciation. Don’t make the mistake of recapping the interview and trying to resell yourself. If you follow the formula above, you’ll write a thank-you note that will surely get you bonus points during the interview process.
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Bill Gates has a lot to answer for. Every office computer has a spreadsheet application on it. Any task involving numbers is done on a spreadsheet.
Selling contact center technology, I am frequently told, âNo problem, theyâre only using spreadsheets.â
A professional colleague told me that when people replace existing technology, either they are looking for a solution that does more for the same price that they are already paying, or for something that does the same as their current solution, but for a lower price.
Since everybodyâs computer already has a spreadsheet application on it, they see it as a zero-cost application.
How do you compete against a zero-cost application?
Know Your Enemy
Sun Tzu wrote: âIf you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of 100 battles.â
Now weâve identified spreadsheets as our âenemy,â what are their strengths and what are their weaknesses?
The Strengths Of Spreadsheets
Their greatest strength is that they are essentially free. Even if a company does buy your solution, they are not going to give up their spreadsheet licenses. They use spreadsheets for so many other parts of the business, so there is no saving by adopting your product.
Spreadsheets are the legacy solution. People have designed and amended their files over the years to meet their needs exactly. People feel as comfortable using spreadsheets as they would wearing their favorite pair of slippers.
The final strength of spreadsheets is their flexibility. The average Excel user regularly uses about 5% of its full functionality. Spreadsheetsâ formulae address all aspects of mathematics and contain many tools for analyzing and processing data. Most software cannot emulate all the different functions that spreadsheets have to offer.
The Holes In The Spreadsheetsâ Armor
Spreadsheets were originally designed to make calculations and save them in files. These calculations could be shared by sharing the file.
More than one person can work on a spreadsheet at the same time, but it has its challenges. The key challenge is that the number of users working on a spreadsheet at any one time is limited for practical purposes, to two or three. If you create a database table in Excel, itâs not possible to have 100 users making real-time changes to it simultaneously.
Security is another headache. Spreadsheets can be password protected, but that password protection cannot be integrated into an identity and access management (IAM) tool. The password is unique to the spreadsheet and not to the user If 100 users use the same spreadsheet, then 100 users know the same password. Alternatively, each user can use their own spreadsheet and then regularly merge the files. This requires a lot of manual work, which is prone to error.
Automation is possible within spreadsheets, but itâs complicated. Not many people know how to write macros in VBA. If your product has a functionality that would need a macro to replicate it, then itâs unlikely that your customerâs organization will have someone who can write that macro. On the other hand, if your customerâs spreadsheets use macros to perform certain functions, itâs pretty unlikely that your product will perform the same function as the macro. I have often worked with customers using spreadsheets with macros. When I ask how they work, they will tell me that the person who wrote the spreadsheet has moved on. No one in their company knows how it works, but they have to keep using it.
Replacing Spreadsheets â Including The Value In (Return On Investments) ROI Calculations
As discussed, people look for solutions that do more for the same price that they are already paying, or for solutions that do the same as their current solutions, but for a lower price.
The trick is to understand what are the units of work being done on the spreadsheet and to attribute a financial value to them based on the manual labor. This is usually based on the time it takes to do the work. If you can show that your product can do the same units of work in a shorter period of time, or with the reduced attention of a human worker, then you can estimate a cost saving.
This manual work can include the costs of someone checking the work, and also the costs of rework to rectify mistakes.
The second way to calculate the ROI is to look at the consequences of non-compliance. Keeping customer data on a spreadsheet is not very secure for the reasons mentioned above. It is likely to violate data protection laws. You can also factor the likely penalties, fines, and legal costs into the ROI.
The wrap-up
If youâre selling to small and medium-sized customers, spreadsheets can be a fearsome incumbent to beat. You need to reveal the effect of the spreadsheetâs weaknesses on the business while being ready to handle objections based on the spreadsheetâs strengths.
Are you competing against spreadsheets? Why are your customers considering replacing them? How are spreadsheets holding them back? What do they hope that your product can do that spreadsheets canât? How does the value your product creates compare to the value spreadsheets generate?
Does your help desk support team feel like itâs âGroundhog Dayâ and theyâre answering the same questions over and over again? Yes, thatâs what they do, but is there a way to make this process more efficient? What if we enable the end user to be more self-sufficient which will make them more efficient? This will also reduce the number of âbasicâ tickets so the help desk team can focus on the âcomplexâ tickets and do more proactive tasks.
How To Make Your Help Desk More Efficient
The process starts with the end users so give them the information they need to be more efficient and self-sufficient, which will help them resolve their âbasicâ issues faster. Here are four things you can do:
1. Create a knowledge base of common issues with resolutions so the end user can try to troubleshoot and resolve basic issues themselves.
2. Give end users the ability to reset their own password once authenticated. There are tools to do this such as the self-service password feature within Microsoft 365.
3. Teach end users how to submit a âgoodâ ticket, which details important information such as specific error messages, providing screen prints, etc. This information helps the help desk team troubleshoot more efficiently, which translates to a faster resolution.
4. Make it easy for end users to submit issues/problems:
- Give the end users different ways to submit an issue such as via a phone call or a portal to the ticketing system.
- Create and distribute a small handy card that describes the different ways they can submit an issue and also includes the link to the ticketing system as well as the phone number of the help desk team (including hours).
- If the end user calls the help desk team with an issue, have the help desk member enter a ticket on behalf of the end user. Itâs important to always create a ticket so that you can track the activity and mine the data.
When end users are experiencing a problem, they may already be stressed. So, itâs important to make it easy for them to use the ticketing system. It has to be easy to get the data entered (correctly) so that the issue can be resolved as quickly as possible.
1. Default certain fields within the ticket (since the end user is logged in and you know who they are) such as date opened, end userâs name, title, department, location, phone number, etc. Not only will this save time, but this reduces typos.
2. Can default the issueâs criticality (typically high, medium, and low) to medium and the end user can change if needed.
3. Set up the ticketing system so that it sends out automated emails to the end user when the ticket is opened, a technician is assigned, the technician updates the ticket, and the ticket is completed/closed. Keep the end user updated with the statusâthey will appreciate this.
4. Give the end user the ability to look up their tickets (both open and closed).
- Let them look up their open ticket(s) to see what the current status is.
- Let them provide updates to their open ticket(s). For example, if the help desk team requested additional information, the end user can provide an update directly into the ticket. Or maybe the end user was able to fix the issue so let them close the ticket (noting the resolution).
Benefits To Having All Ticket Information In One Location
There are multiple benefits to having all of the ticketing information in one central location. One key benefit is the ability to mine the data. Export and analyze the data and turn it into meaningful information! Share the information with the end users to help them be more self-sufficient.
1. Look for trends and try to determine recurring issues. For example, one specific printer that has been repaired three times in the last five months. Or you notice several password resets on Monday mornings.
2. Have the help desk team proactively take that extra step for common process errors. For that problematic printer, figure out if itâs more cost-effective to replace versus continually paying repair bills.
3. Post tips/FAQs on the intranet. List the password conventions for the different systems, which will make it easier for end users when they need to change their passwords. Also, since most systems warn end users that their password is going to expire in x days, have a tip that says try not to change their password on Fridays. This should help reduce the number of end users calling on Monday that they forgot their password.
Making the end users more self-sufficient regarding âbasicâ issues not only makes them more efficient but also allows the help desk team to focus on more âcomplexâ tasks. Itâs a win-win for both sides.
For more information on creating an efficient help desk ticket process, follow me on LinkedIn!
I have had moments in my schooling that shine brightlyâplaying a card game in Mr. Ritter’s 8th grade social studies class with the true purpose being to show just how difficult it was to survive the Holocaust as well as having an opportunity to create our own country using the same economic, social, and political characteristics that define authentic nation states. I also remember Ms. Ziemba’s 9th grade English class where she would routinely pause our reading of fiction to allow us to predict what would happen next as well as my foreign language classes with Mrs. Kaneâ”Madame”âand Mr. Tellis where we would act out every day conversational scenarios using tone, props, and facial expressions.
While the content we were covering differed in each class, there was one commonalityâan emphasis on student engagement. Today, I try to pay forward the appreciation that I feel for my teachers, for making learning engaging, by mentoring new teachers on how best to engage their students through similar learner-centered practices. Educators are so much more than content specialists; they help shape the whole person. Educators facilitate the growth of student self-awareness, they flame the sparks of curiosity, and they can make connections between learning theory and real-world application.
Involving students in class is not just a feel-good practice; student engagement results in better student attention with attention leading to higher rates of student achievement. Here are eight considerations to keep in mind to not only make student engagement possible in a distracted and complex world but that also will, hopefully, bring you joy as an educator when you see your students light up like a sports stadium.
Plan Lessons Around The Learning Objective And Not The Engagement Strategy
As a teaching coach, I often see well-meaning teachers planning a lesson around a fun student activity. I love that these teachers are keeping student interest front and center, but we canât forget that time with our students is limited, and we need to ensure that students are meeting certain content and skill-based standards. Instead, step one should be to develop your lesson objective and then consider how you will assess student learning outcomes in this lesson. After this, choose a student activity/task that will help students practice the learning outcome. Many students are driven by personal success; they will appreciate completing tasks and engaging in activities that they know will help them reach a defined goal.
Tip: Connect that learning goal to real-world relevance through articles, podcasts, videos, etc. Let students know how/where they might use this learning. How does this learning help explain the world around us?
Plan Activities That Are Cognitively Rigorous
How does the saying go? Idle hands are the devilâs workshop. So are idle minds. Bored students are the kiss of death when it comes to classroom management. If we do not engage students productively and consistently throughout a lesson, they will find ways through which to amuse themselves even if inappropriate.
Write learning objectives where students are consistently asked to stretch and expand their thinking. Then, plan activities, aligned to the learning objective, that will require students to assess, evaluate, synthesize, and create information. Plan activities that move beyond students recalling and reproducing information and place emphasis on student strategic thinking. One lesson planning tool that I always recommend teachers have by their side is the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix for writing/speaking and/or math/science as it combines both the cognitive rigor models of Bloomâs Taxonomy and Webbâs Depth of Knowledge (DOK) construct.
Vary The Learning Modalities In Your Teaching Practice
How many of you remember the 1980s movie Ferris Buellerâs Day Off? In that movie, Ferrisâ teacher drones on and on while students sleep, doodle, blow bubble gum bubbles, and even drool. Funny, yes. However, itâs sad to say but some teachers in 2022 still turn their students into hostages during never-ending lectures. Even I, as a teaching coach, sometimes get bored when observing teachers talk incessantly but at least I have the option of leaving and visiting another teacherâs class. Students do not have this option.
Alternate how you teach. Whole class instruction has its merits/roleâparticularly when introducing a topic and conducting a BRIEF mini-lecture on that topicâbut release students to practice learning both independently AND in small peer groups, during each lesson, before regrouping as a whole class during the lesson summary.
Student Activities And Assessment Can Be One In The Same
Assessment is not just formal paper and pencil tests. While tests are an important indicator of how much students have learned AFTER instruction, teachers can use cold calling, polling (i.e., Kahoot games), and choral response DURING learning to determine if students are learning material or if they must pivot their instruction for better student understanding. These informal assessment strategies can both be fun and produce assessment data.
Also, we educators can do a better job in assessing our students through more authentic assessments such as project-based learning, case studies, and scenarios as well as through student portfolio assessment. So many careers these days require collaboration. So, why then are we still often assessing in isolation?
Involve Students In Self- And Peer Assessment
Above, I mention portfolio assessment as both a great student engagement and assessment strategy. There also are additional less-involved ways through which to engage students in analyzing their academic growth and achievement daily. For example, students can self- and then peer assess essays using a performance rubric. Students can critique their and peer contributions to group work. Students can also shout out positive peer contributions during lesson summary activities. These strategies not only engage students but foster social-emotional competency as well.
Engage Students Through Personalization
I was lucky to be able to enroll in Ms. Firestoneâs ELA/visual and performing arts âhouseâ in a high school that was otherwise dominated by achievement in sports. However, while it is wonderful when districts do provide students with opportunities to learn through cross-disciplinary and theme-based learning approaches, all teachers can engage students through personalization of the learning experience.
Conduct a survey/inventory of student interests. How do you build these interests into your lesson plans? Consider the cultural backgrounds of your students. How might you bring in learning materials and/or teach content through situations with which your students already may have community knowledge? Also, students who are below academic proficiency may become frustrated and disengage while students who are above proficiency may also check out if not provided with an appropriate level of challenge. How do you use common diagnostic assessment at the beginning, middle, and end of the year to determine how many instructional groups you have in your class? What scaffolds and/or extensions might you provide your students so that they do not become frustrated or bored?
Know Which Engagement Strategy To Use When
If a typical lesson is 45 to 50 minutes, and we are following a gradual release model, this means that we have approximately five minutes for an introductory activity, 10 minutes for a mini-lecture (I and we do), 20 to 25 minutes for student practice (you do), and five to 10 minutes for summation of the lesson. Therefore, our engagement activities need to be concise during a lessonâs introduction, the mini-lecture, and the summation of a lesson and can be extended/deeper process when students are practicing their learning. In other words, donât try to do an inside-outside circle activity during the mini-lecture when a quick turn and talk is more appropriate. Save the inside-outside circle activity for student practice time.
Also, have a ready bank of four to five student discussion strategies that you can swap in and out during student practice time each lesson. However, a word of caution. Donât push back against collaborative learning if you fear the loss of classroom control. It is not the discussion strategy that is faulty but how well the teacher implements it and sets classroom expectations. Students may still need the teacher to instruct them on how to engage in a discussion as well as both discussion stems and guiding questions.
Let Students Own The Learning
Provide students with SOME choice when it comes to how they will learn content/skills and how they will demonstrate mastery. Allow students who like to move/dance an opportunity to demonstrate their learning through a role play. Perhaps students who like to draw might demonstrate learning through the creation of a poster. Still, others may want to write and/or produce a podcast. Our students are digital natives. Donât fight technology; embrace it. Regardless, make sure students are being evaluated similarly/on meeting the learning objective and not on other extraneous skills used to produce their product.
If you would like additional ideas on how to impact student lives without sacrificing your own, and have a life teaching, check out my quick hack teaching courses, including on student engagement, here. You can also reach me on LinkedIn.