4 Tips for Achieving Your Professional New Years Resolutions

4 Tips for Achieving Your Professional New Years Resolutions Although many resolutions are focused on personal developmentâ€"like losing weight or quitting smokingâ€"many of them are catered toward professional development, such as getting a promotion or finding a better job. Since New Years resolutions are notorious for being abandoned by February, its important to approach your professional goals with a concrete plan within your reach. To discover some helpful tips on reaching your own New Years resolution, consider these. Resolution #1: Get a promotion Almost every working professional believes he or she should have a promotion, but a much smaller portion is actually working toward making this wish a reality. To get that coveted promotion, you have to put yourself in a position where you truly deserve it. This means working harder, investing more time and effort in your company by submitting ideas for improvement, and furthering your education to qualify for higher positions. The latter approach can be one of the best ways to show your boss you are a true go-getter. Although you may put your heart and soul into your work, you can still take advantage of educational opportunities by considering online alternatives to further your degree. Resolution #2: Quit your job Quitting your job puts you in a slightly less favorable position than the one presented above, but it doesnt necessarily have to be a negative or dramatic step. New years are about new beginnings: out with the old and in with the new. If youve been slaving away at an unfulfilling job with little sign of advancement or improvement, quitting may be a pragmatic decision. However, if you truly believe your decision is reasonable, then be reasonable in your approach. Submit a formal letter of resignation that respectfully discusses your decision with your boss and co-workers and gives the company adequate time to find a replacement and tie up loose ends. Leaving on good terms not only benefits the company, but also benefits you when searching for a new job. Further reading at So You Want to Leave a Job You Hate. Resolution #3: Find a job Following resolution number two, finding a job can be one of the most difficult resolutions to achieve when the economic odds are against you. However, remaining diligent and assertive throughout your search will generally pay off in the end. The first thing you should do is use every resource possible to help you find a job. This could include connecting with the career services department at your alma mater, industry associations, networking groups, and former professors and peers to discover new job leads. All of these resources can put you in the right place to land the job youve been searching for. Resolution #4: Improve your professional appeal Improving your professional appeal usually goes hand in hand with any other professional goal or resolution you may have this year. To improve your professional appeal, and to avoid getting into a monotonous routine at work, you can work on your professional development by taking advantage of a number of opportunities. Education should be a number one focus, since it usually has the biggest impact on an employers opinion of you. Consider going back to school either in a traditional setting or online to enhance your degree. You can also take training courses relevant to your profession to obtain specialist certifications and give yourself extra credibility. If youre not finding any luck in the job market, consider trying out internships to gain experience and develop connections with other professionals in your industry. Making resolutions is easy, but keeping them is tough. Commit to following each step that gets you closer to a new job, and you might be celebrating next year with a better job and a promising career. Further reading at 7 Little Known Ways to Jump Start Your Career this year. Author: Jesse Langley lives near Chicago. He divides his time among work, writing and family life. He writes on behalf of coloradotech.edu  and has a keen interest in business blogging and social media.

What to Look For in a Professional Resume Writing Service

What to Look For in a Professional Resume Writing ServiceIf you are in need of a professional as resume writing service, you will have to be careful when selecting a company to help you. You should avoid companies that only advertise themselves as freelance writers. This is because most of these services are not designed for people who are struggling to get a job.There are plenty of companies that claim they are writers. However, you should be wary of anyone who offers to send your resume to numerous employers for free. They should also not be able to claim that they have information on many employers in the field. Once you are able to speak with someone from these companies, you will have no trouble seeing how this is possible.If you are lucky enough to find a professional as resume writing service that has experience, you should not have to worry about them trying to scam you. Some companies that say they can write resumes are going to try to charge you hundreds of dollars. A good company will not do this. You should be able to speak with someone in the office and find out their payment methods.Do not be afraid to ask how long it takes for them to complete a resume. Also, make sure that you do not have to pay them any money up front. The best thing you can do is to talk to a few different people that work for them. Ask them how long it takes for them to write your resume and to get it to you.If you want a set resume writing service that is reliable, you should find one that is able to provide you with information about their experience. They should also provide testimonials from previous clients. It is best to check references of these types of companies before making your decision.A professional as resume writing service will not be able to produce your resume by simply sitting in front of a computer. They will have to have a list of the different jobs that you will apply for. They will also have to use their knowledge to determine if you would be a good can didate for the job that you are applying for. Once this is done, they can write a resume that is very competitive.You should also get a free sample of their work before you hire them. This way, you can check them out and decide if you want to sign up for their services. You should also ask if they offer free samples. This will save you from having to pay for them.Before hiring a ses resume writing service, make sure that you are aware of their limitations. Most of these services will not be able to provide you with a great resume. However, if you find one that is able to help you get the job you need, you will find that it is worth every penny you paid.

How to Budget Your Time for the Self-Care You Need

How to Budget Your Time for the Self-Care You Need Balancing a busy career with your own personal life is an ongoing challenge, and the pressure to perform at your best, take on big projects, and increase your productivity at work can leave you feeling drained once you’re home. The problem is, with the way that today’s world sees being constantly busy as a positive trait, there’s little time to invest in self-care. But when you’re constantly going at full speed without giving yourself time to recover, you’re setting yourself up for burnout. It’s impossible to do your best work and tackle big projects well when you’re stressed, exhausted, and mentally drained. If you want to invest in your professional career, fitting self-care into your busy schedule is one of the best ways to ensure you can keep performing at the top of your game. Recognize Stress To manage and implement self-care techniques, you need to start paying attention to what’s going on with your body, both mentally and physically. Recognizing when you’re feeling unusually stressed or are experiencing a high degree of anxiety can help you understand the factors in your life that may be making you feel that way. If you know you get anxious when you have looming deadlines at work, then it’s important to schedule some self-care even though you may be feeling overwhelmed. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA This can be one of the most difficult ideas to master when it comes to scheduling self-care. Naturally, when things are chaotic at work and you have a big project due, you’d want to buckle down and even work overtime so that you get ahead on that project and take some of the pressure off. But doing this again and again only adds to your anxiety, and when you’re anxious, it’s less easy to focus and you’re more likely to make mistakes. Instead, resolve that even when you’re at your busiest, you’ll make time for self-care. Maybe this isn’t the time to take off to a three-day retreat, but you can still budget some time for a daily walk, playtime with your kids, or a coffee with friends. Remember that taking this little break for yourself will allow you to return to work refreshed, and that will pay off in increased productivity. Schedule Vacation Do you have vacation days that went unused last year? You’re not alone. In 2017, Americans accumulated a staggering 705 million vacation days that went unused, and 52% of employees reported that they had unused vacation time at the end of 2017. By the end of 2017, Americans forfeited 212 million unused vacation days. It can be difficult to schedule a vacation, but it’s something that you should prioritize for your health’s sake. Going on vacation has many positive health benefits, including reducing your risk of a heart attack, boosting your immune system, and reducing the chances that you’ll suffer from anxiety, stress, or depression. If you needed another reason to justify taking a vacation, traveling can boost your creativity because it allows you to see new things and new locations. So yes, that vacation could help you to be more creative at work when you return. As part of your self-care routine, make sure that you take a vacation at least once each year. When you do head away, disconnect from your work life. Try to travel without relying on your phone and laptop, and get someone to cover for you at work so you truly don’t have to worry about any work commitments. Plan your vacation well in advance so that you can avoid any scheduling issues at work that might conflict with your travel plans. Then, enjoy your time away. Create Health Goals Budgeting time for self-care is tricky. It’s easy to make a commitment to taking more time for yourself now, but when life gets busy, that commitment tends to slip away. Setting concrete goals, especially when it comes to your health, can help you stick to those commitments that you decided to make. When you make goals for your mental and physical health, write them down and include lots of detail. If you want to improve your mental health by reducing your stress, decide how you’ll do it and how often. Write down a goal such as, “I will spend at least one hour four days a week doing a relaxing activity I enjoy, like yoga or going for a walk.” You can set similar goals for your physical health, such as deciding that you’ll exercise for an hour on four days a week, or that you’ll train for and run a 5K by the end of the fall. Knowing how important self-care is for your health, it’s time to make self-care a priority. Remind yourself that keeping yourself mentally and physically healthy is truly an investment in your career. Budget time out in your calendar and be firm about the time that you’ve set aside. That scheduled time is important for your health, and it’s what will allow you to continue to do quality work in the future. This guest post was authored by Brooke Faulkner Brooke Faulkner is a writer, mom and adventurer in the Pacific Northwest.  She spends her days pondering what makes a good leader.   And then dreaming up ways to teach these virtues to her sons, without getting groans and eye rolls in response.

Longer Tweets Could Mean More Content for Personal Brands - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Longer Tweets Could Mean More Content for Personal Brands - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Twitter has been the main source of micro-blogging communication for brands, their customers and followers. People use the powerful network to leave feedback, send information, images, and updates. New changes to the character count could allow for more room to share content and opinions. Not everyone is embracing the idea of longer tweets on Twitter with many users accustomed to making quick updates. Here’s what you can expect from the company’s proposed change, which is still in the works: 1. Longer comments including usernames and links. After the recent change to longer DM’s (direct messages) in Twitter a similar approach would apply to the character count in links. This would allow for longer sentences that would include hyperlinks and usernames. Brands could benefit from this change as they share their content and respond to customers. 2. Retweet with comments. Back in April Twitter made this change official. Now users and brands can share other tweets and add their own comments while keeping the original information in tact. 3. Reach a wider audience. The proposed character limit extension on Twitter may help the company and brands reach more followers. The change is intended to make tweets more attractive and encourage retweets. 4. Build and encourage engagement. With more variety that would be offered in longer tweets brands can mix up their content more and make these stand out to their followers with the use of videos or images. A story can be more easily conveyed in an extended format. While everyone is watching and waiting for this anticipated change brands for now should be trying out the new retweet feature on Twitter and planning ahead for the expected changes. Longer tweets could provide a better way to convey a message; however, it is still too soon to tell whether users will embrace the new concept.

The Three Important Things to Keep in Mind When Writing Your Resume

The Three Important Things to Keep in Mind When Writing Your ResumeHayden International (HIG) is a nationwide company that offers resume writing services to large businesses and small businesses. Many HIG graduates have gone on to build their own resume writing business. Here are three things you should keep in mind when creating your resume:Have you ever seen a resume for a young person? The last thing you see is that person's picture on the cover page. Your resume is your cover letter. It can change the entire way you perform once you have that cover letter. Make sure that you address this in your resume.Are you aware of the employer's needs when considering your resume? Not all job postings require the same information. It is in your best interest to research your specific company and be certain that they are requiring the type of information that you are looking for.Most companies do not accept applications until the time frame for the hiring process has passed. This usually give s you an opportunity to craft a cover letter that will put your resume at the top of the pile. Make certain that you let the hiring manager know what the opening is about. You can also tell them about your experience, education, or career goals.Many graduates of Hayden International seek out web design jobs. They use their resume cover letters as proof of their skills, but you may want to think about putting together a resume from scratch. Do not forget that you can use your resume in conjunction with your previous resume cover letter. The cover letter is very similar to the resume that is in a resume.The cover letter should include important information and contact information that will bring the reader closer to completing the task at hand. The information must give the potential employer the benefit of furthering the task. This will increase the chance of hiring you.Do not copy another resume cover letter. This is one of the biggest mistakes made by new resume writers. It does no t matter if it was your first attempt at a resume cover letter. Copy an old resume cover letter and do not take the original to heart. Use your mistakes as inspiration for improving your current cover letter.Resume writing services are designed to help you present yourself in the best possible light. Your resume is the face of your career. It should include the necessary details for the job opening. Also, write to the potential employer in the best way that you can so that your resume can stand out from the rest.

Twitter Help and Strategies for Executive Job Search and Personal Branding - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Twitter Help and Strategies for Executive Job Search and Personal Branding   Thinking about diving into Twitter, but you dont think you have the time, or you dont think its worth spending any time on? Maybe youre a little afraid of it, if youre not at all social media savvy. You certainly dont need to spend a lot of time on Twitter to gain benefits, and, once you get the hang of it, its not difficult to use. I love Twitter. I took to it from the very start, and especially like the way it helps me gain more exposure for my blog posts and extends my brand and ROI value across multiple channels. Ive written several posts about Twitter here on Executive Career Brand and my other blog, Executive Resume Branding, since I started tweeting about two years ago. Here are some that should be helpful: Twitter Turbocharges Executive Job Search and Personal Brand Visibility A fairly thorough how-to guide, written before the new Twitter came out, but still very useful. Twitter Personal Branding Strategy â€" The Beauty of a Re-Tweet A number of good tips, some not widely used,  on retweeting well. Does Your Twitter Bio Pack an Executive Brand Punch? Twitter allows you just 160 characters in your bio to tell the world who you are. How to carefully craft what you put there to resonate with the people you want to attract. Twitter Personal Branding and Executive Job Search Guide A long list of good blog posts about using Twitter for job search, who to follow, how to get started, Twitter etiquette and other things by a number of experts. 10 Ways I Use Twitter to Build My Personal Brand The strategies I use are ones  I advise my c-level executive clients will also work for their job-hunting and career management efforts. 14 Reasons I Won’t Follow You On Twitter An extremely popular post, with more than  60 comments  and 350 retweets, its been neat watching the sudden surge of retweets that seem to come every month or so, with people passing it around to each other, and adding comments. 14 Reasons I Won’t Follow You On Twitter [Revisited] My follow-up to the original, four months later, with some new thoughts on my ever-changing who to follow strategy. This one has become almost as popular as the first one. Blogging and Twitter: How Tweet It Is! If you’re blogging â€" on your own blog and/or guest blogging elsewhere â€" you really should tweet your blog posts. This post covers some of the ways I integrate tweets with blogging. 5 Ways Twitter-savvy CEOs Build Brand Evangelism One of the 5 things the best CEO tweeters embrace, according to a Mashable post by Bruce Philip â€" they don’t sell â€" they share: Twitter isn’t advertising, it’s a conversation. CEOs should engage and ignite conversation, sharing things about their company’s corporate culture, their own leadership values, and the team of people who make the company great. Each tweet should be a window into the life of the company behind the marketing, which will make the marketing stronger as a result. From Twitter-Resistant to Instantly Hooked The very first one I wrote, after I’d been tweeting for a few months. 00 0

Contemporary Advice To Improve Your Career

Contemporary Advice To Improve Your Career Quotes from Great Thinkers and Leaders Quotes from Great Thinkers and Leaders Toto, Ive a feeling were not in Kansas anymore.   Dorothy Gale Neither you nor Dorothy are in Kansas anymore. The workplace has drastically changed and many of the rules of engagement have changed. If you are new to the workforce or are changing jobs, now would be a really good time to get up to speed on what it really takes to survive! Collaboration is More Than Just Being A Team Member True collaboration means that you have a vested interest in the success of your partners, whether internally or externally. It means you dont withhold or protect important information, you share and build upon it. It means you go out of your way to help them get their work done.  This is no longer a dog-eat-dog workplace. It is one of mutual respect, playing fairly and transparently. “As we think of power in the 21st century, we want to get away from the idea that power’s always zero sum â€" my gain is your loss and vice versa. Power can also be positive sum, where your gain can be my gain.” â€" Joseph Nye You may not know who Joseph Nye is. Neither did I before today. But his message is great and it fits! You can watch his TedX talk here. Sales Is NOT A Dirty Word “The purpose of the pitch isn’t necessarily to move others immediately to adopt your idea. The purpose is to offer something so compelling that it begins a conversation, brings the other person in as a participant and eventually arrives at an outcome that appeals to both of you. In a world where buyers have ample information and an array of choices â€" the pitch is often the first word but it is rarely the last”  â€" Daniel H. Pink, To Sell Is Human Im reading To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others and I highly recommend you do too! Yes, we are all in sales as Pink defines it means today. From job search to talking with your manager about your workload or ideas, sales is the answer! Better start building those skills yesterday. Want More? If you like where I am going here you can read more quotes and contemporary workplace ideas on my US News World Report post today.

Grown Up Gigs Elaine Huang, Music Enthusiast + Brand Consultant + Dream Builder at Neon Owl - When I Grow Up

Grown Up Gigs Elaine Huang, Music Enthusiast + Brand Consultant + Dream Builder at Neon Owl - When I Grow Up Yay!  Elaine Huang  is my guest for Episode 25 of Grown Up Gigs! Michelle Ward Creative Career Coach WhenIGrowUpCoach.com Elaine Huang Music Enthusiast + Brand Consultant + Dream Builder NeonOwl.co Back in February, I got an email from Elaine of Neon Owl. I didnt know her, but she pulled me in right away with her second paragraph: I was recently VP at my last company making great money, feeling a sense of void. It hit me that I really wanted to create something out of all the things I love. Shortly after figuring that out, I resigned, packed up my bags on a cross country road trip and move from SF to NYC, while starting Neon Owl. Neon Owl is a media company that creates positive, inspirational content in the EDM industry, with a focus on helping charities around the globe. We feature up close and personal interviews with artists, influencers and organizations within the music industry to dig into their journey, struggles, motivation, and vision behind why they do what they do. Through this we tell the stories that are not often told, and hope to slowly but sure change how music media is generated and consumed. As you can imagine, she got my attention. Not only did I share her Indiegogo campaign (which was the reason why she got in touch), but I asked if shed be a Grown Up Gigs guest and did the happy dance when she agreed. I finally got to talk to Elaine last month, and her story, knowledge, passion, determination and journey didnt disappoint! Elaine co-founded Neon Owl because she wanted to do something in the music industry where I can give back, create, and inspire others to be bold and be free. Hear how that translated to a successful business in under a year! on Episode 25 of Grown Up Gigs right here! Show Notes: Find Neon Owl on their website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Soundcloud and Twitter. You can watch their interviews and shop, too! You can also find Elaine on her Facebook page Jason Bay at Gen Y Success, and my episode on his podcast College Works EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and EDC  (Electric Daisy Carnival) Lewis Howes and The School of Greatness Join me for my free webinar early next month, 3 Mindset Shifts for a Successful Career Change, by registering here This podcast is sponsored by branded.me, a platform for professionals to have a professional blog in minutes. Make sure you hit Subscribe so youll be first to know about Episode 26 on April 14th, featuring Megan Gebhardt of 52 Cups of Coffee.