Why Happy People Get 2nd Interviews

Why Happy People Get 2nd Interviews The average person spends more time working than any other activity. Unfortunately, nearly 2 out of 3 workers surveyed in the US and Canada say they’re not happy at work. The following infographic from our friends at Noomii explains WHY this is happening and what you can do to “turn that frown upside down” at work. Takeaways: Happier people are more likely to get a 2nd interview Cheerful people at age 18 attained more at work and had higher job satisfaction as measured 8 years later Happy people miss fewer work days, they are also less likely to lose their jobs Increase your positivity by writing down 3 good things that happened in your life every day RELATED: How To Stay Happy In Your Job

Why You Need a Sponsor More than a Mentor - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Why You Need a Sponsor More than a Mentor - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career A sponsor is a mentor on steroids. A mentor gives you advice, encouragement and direction. A sponsor advocates for you. Or, to use Sheryl Sandberg’s term â€" your sponsor “leans in” for you. Your sponsor doesn’t just help you the way a mentor would by making a few calls, helping you prepare for a meeting or checking your resume. Your sponsor is more like a linebacker: creating openings, clearing away the competition, and pushing others to help you get ahead. Sponsors are not behind the scenes players. They connect their protégés to the right opportunities and make the case for hiring, promoting or awarding the plum assignments. This of course, means that sponsors â€" who are typically employed at the same company as you or may be on the board or otherwise affiliated with you â€" don’t have a casual relationship with you or your career. You are an investment for a sponsor. You are good for their career, which is why they go out of their way and put their reputation on the line by backing you. Their star rises if you are a star performer. You are like a living legacy or a trust fund that throws off interest to make life better now and in the future. In Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s New York Times article last Sunday, she quotes two executives who speak to what’s at stake and what it takes. Patricia Fili-Krushel, chairwoman of the news group at NBCUniversal: “Sponsorship only works when it’s a two-way street… It can’t be just I need help, I need advice. In other words, you’ve got to prove youll make your sponsor look like a genius. A sponsor will only advocate for you if you have a track record of high achievement that makes you an asset worth investing in. That track record might be in school, in community or philanthropic endeavors or in the workplace. One of my coaching clients got a sponsor by participating in a community foundation project, working alongside some high profile executives who were donating their time. In conversations, he was able to make these executives aware of some of his other achievements. One of the executives helped him get hired and continues to help him get ahead in the company that now employs them both. Kerrie Percaino, global head of talent at American Express says that what’s really on the line is TRUST. “… I need to know I can totally depend on them â€" because they are after all, walking around with my BRAND on.” You’ve got to ask: why would anyone allow you to wear his or her brand and use it as your golden ticket? Consider what it means for a sponsor who has built a stellar personal brand through decades of hard work, accomplishment, relationship building, and communication. Why would someone put all that on the line for you, betting that your future accomplishment would reflect well on his or her personal brand? Over the years I have developed a document that I call: Achievements-In-Brief,  to help me remember and crisply talk about my own accomplishments. It lists the tougher assignments and challenging clients I’ve worked on, the actions I took or directed, and the results from those projects and relationships. My challenge to you is to do the same. Write up your own Achievements-in-Brief: consider your school projects, work, business and outside commitments. Each achievement would have three parts: The challenge you faced The actions you took The result you got If you like, send it to me. I’ll give you some feedback, which might get you ready for attracting a sponsor who can lean in and help you get ahead. Subject line: Achievements-In-Brief, email: Nance@NanceRosen.com. Author: Nance Rosen  is the author of Speak Up! Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen

7 Skills Every Project Manager CV Should Include

7 Skills Every Project Manager CV Should Include Writing your CV as a project manager can be a complex task. As somebody who balances so many tasks across multiple teams and locations, it can be a challenge to get all of your experience down into 2 sheets of A4. A good project manager’s CV should demonstrate the candidate’s ability to lead staff, mitigate risks and deliver the required results. Although every project managers CV will be unique, there are certain skills that every project manager needs to succeed and StandOut CV has provided them in this handy infographic. 1. Scheduling Effective scheduling is crucial to the success of a project, so it’s important to include it in your CV.  Demonstrate your ability to plan and arrange activities to be completed in time with project expectations. Giving solid examples of scheduling project activities for yourself and surrounding teams will give employers confidence that you can deliver projects on time and within budget. 2. Cost control In order for a project to be delivered within budget and keep sponsors happy, cost control is vital. When writing your CV ensure that you include the budgets you manage, optimal allocation of spending and cost effective vendor relationships. Also detail any methods or tools used to manage costs and be sure to highlight any big savings you have realised for employers. 3. Risk management Every project faces risks that have the potential to derail it’s success. A strong project manager’s CV should give solid examples of controlling risk to show project sponsors that you are able limit their effects. The ability to spot potential risks before and deal with them before they become problematic is a highly valued attribute 4. Leadership If you’re going to lead a project through to successful delivery, it stands to reason that you should possess sound leadership skills.  Use your CV to detail the teams you manage and how you drive them towards deliverables. Activities such as running team meetings, staff performance reviews and reward are good signals of strong leadership in project management. 5. Methodologies Methodologies are rigorous systems of methods which are used to keep projects on track and drive them forward. Whether you utilise Prince2, Agile, Waterfall or any other methodology, employers need to know your experience, knowledge and qualifications in those areas. It’s also important to explain how you implement these methodologies into your projects as opposing to simply listing qualifications. 6. Business case writing Justifying project initiation, spending and resource allocation often requires a strong and coherent business case. The ability to write or at lease contribute to a business case is therefore a valuable skill for your CV. In cases where you have been responsible for achieving project milestones or making improvements through effective business case presentation, you should make it clear in your CV. 7. Delivery The ultimate measure of success for a project manager is the results they deliver. Clearly explain the benefits your projects have provided and use figures where possible to quantify your value. Whether you have transformed a finance system across multiple global locations or project manged a large office relocation, be sure to detail your results along with any significant achievements made on the project. In addition to including the essential project management skills above, you should also make sure you include factors that are important to your own industry along with any tools you have experience in using, such as Microsoft Project. Keep the CV to around two pages in length and break up into easily digestible sections so that busy hiring managers can read through it quickly.

Tips For Starting A Beauty Career

Tips For Starting A Beauty Career If you enjoy styling hair or doing makeup, a career in the beauty industry is likely a dream job for you. Maybe you want to do makeup for brides-to-be, or for models about to step on the runway or get their photos taken for magazines. Maybe you prefer styling hair, or maybe you just like talking about all of the great things that people can do with their hair. No matter what type of beauty stylings you are into, there are ways to make a career out of it. Even if you’re simply talented at writing and know a lot about how to make eyes pop or how to design the perfect 80s flashback hair, you can still get into the beauty business. Get Some Training If you want to style hair or do makeup for a living, you need to go to beauty school. You can find schools that allow you to focus on one or the other. You can even go to school to be an esthetician, and help people beautify their skin and keep it clean and healthy. You could also get some less formal training by getting a job at a cosmetics counter in a department store or by working at a store that strictly sells beauty supplies. This gives you the opportunity to do some learning on the job. Start With A Website And A Blog Even if you want to be more than just a beauty blogger or makeup and skincare reviewer, you still need to have a website and blog. Blogging is an excellent way to share all of your tips and tricks with people, and it’s a great way to get on the same level as the people that might hire you to make them look beautiful on their wedding day or prom night. Your website should show people what you’re offering them, whether it’s killer makeup for their special event or simply a site filled with great hairstyles. Then your blog should be filled with tips and trick, like how they can get that “just stepped out of the salon” look the next day, after they’ve slept on and washed out their hair. Your blog could simply be filled with product reviews. Being a beauty blogger that does reviews can make you money in advertising, and you might get a lot of free samples and items from companies all over the world. Pick The Perfect Profession If you don’t like doing perms, you may not want to work in a salon that still does them. You want to make sure that your chosen beauty profession is one that works for you, and what you like to do. You may decide you simply like doing nails and nail art and go to school for that to get a job at a nail salon. Luckily you don’t have to learn all the trades in one single school, you can find school that teach them individually and just learn about the trade that you’ve chosen to pursue. Image Source; Image Source; Image Source

Why should we hire you How to pitch yourself in 60 seconds

Why should we hire you How to pitch yourself in 60 seconds Its almost impossible to predict what questions youre going to get asked during an interview (although you can find some pretty safe bets in our interview questions guide), but one question that crops up time and again in Why should we hire you? Its a tough cookie of a question because its so broad, but the recruiter will be expecting a clear concise answer. Its just like that moment on Dragons Den where the entrepreneur has to pitch their idea in front of a panel of intimidating dragons. The recruiter(s) interviewing you might not be investing money in you, but offering you employment is a risk and investment on behalf of the company, so they need to be sure youre the perfect fit for the job. So where do you begin with this question and how do you prepare? Weve put together this handy guide with an example answer so you can come up with your own cracking answer that will help you land your next role. They need a solution You have to think of every job role as a problem. The company is facing a problem in some way and the person they hire should be the solution to that problem. For example, if theyre struggling to promote their brand to the general public, theyll be looking to hire a marketing team to solve that problem. If theyre wanting to develop a digital product, theyll need a software developer to help them achieve that. So you need to think about the skills and traits you have that make you the perfect solution to that problem. Whats your USP? Imagine you were pitching your product to the Dragons Den team (yes, this analogy again). You would focus on the thing that made your idea special and unique. You have to do the same with yourself. What is that makes you different from all the other candidates? You might think theres nothing particularly special that sets you apart, but only YOU have the unique set of skills and experience youve developed over the years. Its up to you to figure out the best way of pitching these to make you seem more attractive to the recruiter. So how do you find your USP, and how do you present it? Prepare, plan and practice Firstly, brainstorm all the skills, qualification and work experience youve gained over the years. Use your CV as a basis, but go further and think about your personality traits, strengths and abilities too. Next, pick the most relevant. Look through the job description thoroughly and pick the 3-4 skills and assets that best suit what the company are looking for. Think about the problem theyre trying to solve, and how you specifically can help them do that. Finally, practice your socks off. Remember, memorising a whole paragraph of information just to recite at an interview is never a good idea. It looks forced, unnatural and inauthentic. You just need to practice enough times so youre comfortable with what youre saying and youre not going to seize up. Keep it brief In the moment, when you actually get asked the question, you might panic and start to ramble. Its not the end of the world if you do, but try and take a deep breath before you begin and keep it concise one to two minutes max. Keep those three or four key points in mind, and stick to them. Keep it upbeat, confident, and always refer back to the company and job role. Youre not just selling yourself, youre selling yourself to them, so make it specific throughout. Also, dont go too overboard. We all hate those people on The Apprentice who think theyre Gods gift so dont become one learn how to sell yourself while remaining humble. Example answer So its all well and good us telling you how to do it, but what does it look like in practice? Every answer to this question is going to be completely unique to you, but if youre looking for some inspiration, weve put together an example answer for you to use as a base. From what youve said, the role will involve producing creative marketing ideas, and analysing data to track engagement rates, so I think my previous experience working in a content marketing agency has equipped me with the perfect skills for this. I have created and managed tailored marketing campaigns from conception to completion, and worked collaboratively to produce strategies to guide our overall marketing strategy, increasing our organic reach by 20%.   I think XXXX is a really exciting company to work for, being one of the fastest-growing marketing agencies in the UK, and I think I have the drive and creativity to bring fresh ideas to the team. My knowledge of SEO, combined with my hands on experience in content creation and client liaison, make me the perfect candidate to help XXXX expand their commercial efforts and take on more challenging and rewarding projects. Whys it good? This answer works really well as its concise and very much focused on the role and the company. It includes some hard stats to back up claims, and shows a passion for the company and its future. It also very much focuses on the unique combination of skills the candidate has; knowledge of SEO as well as more practical, hands-on experience; something which will help set them apart from other candidates. Theyve also identified the problem (they need to expand the marketing team to take on more challenging projects) and showed how they are the solution. I know its a lot to remember, but if you thoroughly plan and prepare youll be able to whip out an equally cracking answer just when you need it. Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights. Feature image: BBC