Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom The Forgotten Transitions New Managers, New Responsibilities

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom The Forgotten Transitions New Managers, New Responsibilities In an ideal world, every employee would be solidly prepared for a transition involving a promotion or new roles and responsibilities. And yet so often, we leave this to chance. We hope that the person in charge will make sure the employee has all of the right information, tools, and support to perform the new job effectively. Unfortunately, this often doesn’t happen. Employees are expected to figure it out, and many get overwhelmed, burned out, and demotivated in the process. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that â€" due to baby boomer retirement and other workforce demographic shifts â€" rising millennial leaders are being promoted an average of 10 years earlier than prior generations and have a steeper learning curve as a result. Fortunately, providing a high tech, high touch experience for new managers and others transitioning to new roles and responsibilities can be a relatively seamless extension to your existing strategic onboarding activities. Here are a few things to keep in mind. Provide relevant, on-demand learning content in a variety of formats Whether you’ve created online courses in short or long format or have curated resources from other places, use your HRMS to offer employees their choice of training, being as flexible as you can regarding how and where they master the necessary information. Outline essential competencies, track training completion and skill acquisition, and suggest next steps. Match employees with those already doing their new jobs Your HMIS is a great place to pair newbies with seasoned managers or those performing especially well in a job function. Both formal and informal mentorship is useful in helping transitioning employees see a clear path forward and feel comfortable, supported, and confident in their new roles. Document expectations and goals Employees with new roles and responsibilities should understand exactly what they need to accomplish in the context of the larger organization, when specific goals must be achieved, how performance will be measured, and how other people (managers, reports, colleagues, etc.) will be involved. These details, highly customized to each new role, should be proactively communicated and reinforced. Schedule and execute more frequent check-ins to accommodate assimilation Managers of transitioning employees should be prompted to pay extra attention to those ramping up in a new position. This might include weekly in-person or video discussions that address both the personal and professional demands of the new job. Topics might include time management, cross-departmental rapport building, and leader-facing communication. Demonstrate psychological comprehension While there’s no substitute for a leader taking a new manager to lunch with inquiring after her well-being, software can go a long way in illustrating that your organization understands the obstacles and pressures of a new role and wants to be a partner in alleviating them. For instance, an embedded app that serves up a motivational “quote of the day” could set an important tone for an employee’s new journey. Did you miss last week’s webinar on managing effective transitions? Catch the replay here and let us know what you think!

Writing a Career Objective For Resume

Writing a Career Objective For ResumeWriting a career objective for resume is an important part of a resume as it shows the employer what you can bring to the company in terms of experience. It also gives a sense of purpose and direction for a person to go on with their life. People who are now jobless sometimes put an impressive section on their resume that have attached objectives on them. But what should be the objectives to be placed in the resume?A career objective can be described as a statement or a sentence that goes into detail about the nature of the job and the role that is expected of the applicant. There are several job roles which carry specific objectives. So it is important to come up with a way to convey the employment role to the employer. It is the main objective for the applicant, which needs to be seen on the resume of an applicant. If you want to write a career objective for resume then it is essential to make sure that it contains one particular objective.This is very important in order to make it a successful application form for a person to submit. Your resume needs to contain the objective so that the employer may figure out how he would like his applicant to use the skills he has acquired during the course of the job. It also helps in showing the potentials of an applicant if he was really given a chance. So, it is better to get a refresher on how to write a career objective for resume.To write a career objective for resume, there are some certain skills that are required for this. You must know the different types of goals, which are to be written under the context of the resume. Also, there are certain ideas or concepts that can guide you on how to write a career objective for resume.The first thing that needs to be done when writing a career objective for resume is to write it concisely. Your resume will need to contain only a brief statement of the expectations of the employer that you may not be able to provide because of the sho rt content of your resume. So, it is important to write a brief statement of the employee's career objective in a simple way so that the employer may take the description in his stride.After that you need to create a specific objective for the career which needs to be written on the resume. In order to do this, you need to think of all the interesting goals that a person can have. The idea behind writing a career objective for resume is to show the employer how you can use your skills and knowledge in the employment opportunity that he offers.It is always beneficial to keep the style of writing a career objective for resume under control. Your writing should not just be grammatically correct but it should also be impressive and presentable. And above all it should be short yet precise. It should not just contain information, but it should also be written so that it is convincing enough to make the employer understand that you are indeed the person that he needs.Nowadays, there are a lot of tools available online that can help you in writing a career objective for resume. These tools are available at affordable prices and give you a way to express the best part of your personality and skills in your resume.

OMG I just made a HUGE error - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

OMG I just made a HUGE error - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career What do you do when you make a huge mistake at work? Well, just like in your personal life, there are a few tips and tricks and best practices for dealing with errors. But, it really comes down to one thing. Some errors are simple: Calling somebody by the wrong name in front of others. Sending out an email with an incorrect URL or other information. Some errors are a little more complex: When job hunting … accidentally sending a message to the wrong person. At work … sending a message to your boss or a peer that has confidential or compromising information All errors come down to one thing Accountability When you are personally accountable for your errors your integrity immediately gets an uptick in value. People notice. You notice. In order to stand out in your career there are more than a few things you need, but one of the most important is your integrity. Your integrity precedes you in every situation and it also follows you for your entire career. Think for a moment about someone whom you will never do business with again. Why? Was it something they did that compromised their integrity? Maintaining and Extending Your Integrity is Simple The next time you make an error Whether it’s minor or huge. Whether its forced or unforced You need to do one simple thing. Own it!

How to Be More Positive

How to Be More Positive Amy Dix is an international speaker, best-selling author and avid entrepreneur who aims to “inspire others to live life on a different level, rooted in positivity and pure happiness.” She’s committed to spreading both the science and the art of positivity as far as she can through her writing and her company called The Positive Life Company that she co-founded with Joel Pilka, who wants everyone to wear rose-colored glasses. A 2013 survey of Americans by Statista found that only 4 percent owned up to being pessimists. Fifty percent identified as optimists, while 43 percent counted themselves “somewhere in between.” They probably call themselves realists, as well, since humans are hard-wired to fear bad news more than we expect good news. As commentator George Will once put it, “The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.” But the benefits of being positive outweigh the benefits of being right: positive people are usually healthier, happier, and often, more successful than their gloomy counterparts. Amy Dix believes positivity is not something we’re born with; it’s something we choose. She says, “at its core,  positivity is defined by choice. It is a personal decision we make 100 times a day. I believe we can identify when we are or  are not  being positive and change our behavior. Sometimes it is hard work in the moment, for sure, but for me it is a much less stressful, more authentic way of living in the long term.” Her daily practice for creating more positivity includes apace for self-examination, goal setting, and the deliberate practice of choosing to be positive. Those are the inward facing principles that help you pave the way to more positive thinking. Her prescription also includes simple ways to spread positivity within your sphere of influence. She cites research by psychologist Barbara Fredrickson on what she calls “The Golden Ratio,” the 3-to-1 ratio of positive to negative emotions humans need to thrive and experience true happiness. Fortunately, the ability to create positive emotions in ourselves and others is well within our reach â€" many times a day. Dix recommends that we express positive feelings to people around us. Tell a colleague that you value her work. Thank server who gets your coffee for providing a delicious start to your day. Praise your children for doing the right thing. Tell your partner you love them. Call your mom just because. These interactions make both ourselves and others feel good, and they take almost no time at all. Dix also recommends that we take time to commit acts of kindness that make your community a better place. Take a moment to help a stranger with lifting something heavy into their car. Pay for someone’s coffee in the line behind you. Compliment a stranger on their outfit. Bring your neighbor’s garbage can up from the curb. Buy gift cards and hand them to crossing guards or others performing a valuable service for very little thanks. Finally, Dix says, you can take steps to eliminate things that eat into your positivity. She says you have to make room for positive emotions so they can flow in. So eliminate a bad habit (even if it’s just for a day.) Skip the daily candy jar dip at work. Watch an hour less of television. Avoid the toxic coworker who never does anything but complain. Swap out an hour spent on social media for a walk in the fresh air. Amy Dix believes that these small choices, made over and over, will gradually increase your happiness and that of the people you touch every day. The title of her book says it all: If you had just seven more days to live, would you want to feel the way you do today?   If not, you have the ability to choose and change.   In fact, she offers you the 5 Day Positivity Challenge here. Find her book Seven More Days here.

Writing About Yourself in the Resume

Writing About Yourself in the ResumeOne of the reasons why many job seekers are confused about what to write in the resume is because they sometimes overlook to include their writing about themselves in the resume. It's really essential that they consider this point very carefully because it is crucial for them to make a good impression on the company, the recruiters, and the interviewers. The writing about oneself in the resume will become even more important if the company screens or interviews the candidates at the next round of employment.The first thing that you need to be sure of is that you are not self-absorbed. It would do you no good to include a number of personal accomplishments which you might have created only on your own without putting any effort in. Furthermore, you need to make sure that you do not portray a written statement of how hard you worked when it is actually already clear that you didn't put much effort into it. This kind of writing is not something that s hould be included in the resume.Second, do not include your writing about yourself in the resume when you really didn't accomplish anything great in your job or when there were really not that many accomplishments. This kind of attitude does not look professional and it doesn't give a good impression at all. It is best to tell the interviewer that you have experienced a great deal in your career and that you just enjoyed doing a lot of things but you did not gain much success in your career.Third, do not start talking about your past work history in the resume. Instead, do something different like talking about your passion in the job and how it led you to try a new job or that you wanted to change the company because it is what you really want to do. This way, you can show the potential employer that you are sincere about what you are doing and that you don't mind talking about it in your writing about yourself in the resume.Fourth, do not exaggerate the things that you did achieve . On the other hand, do not omit some things that you did not achieve in your career. On the contrary, you can write down about the achievements that you did not obtain in your career in the resume so that the interviewer will have a very accurate picture of your career.Fifth, do not talk about your past life or your personal history in the resume. If you really don't have anything significant to say in this context, don't speak about it. It would be better to leave it alone and to describe your achievements instead.Sixth, do not talk about past life if you really did not experience it. This is because this kind of writing can make the interviewer think that you are an attention seeking person who likes to put different things in your resume because you want to make your career. If you really want to leave a good impression with the potential employer, you shouldn't talk about anything that you had in your past life in the resume.Do not forget these things when you are creating your self-written resume. You don't want to disappoint the potential employer because you made a bad impression because of your writing about yourself in the resume.

Repurpose Your Career - 5 Steps to Your Next Career Pivot - Career Pivot

Repurpose Your Career - 5 Steps to Your Next Career Pivot - Career Pivot Your Next Career Pivot Whether you are a Baby Boomer, Gen Xer, or Millennial, retirement like your parents had is no longer a possibility for most. Just about everyone will have to go through career changesâ€"career pivotsâ€"sometime in their life. It’s time to learn how to repurpose your career. Let me lay out five steps for you to follow that will help you repurpose your career and make a successful career change. Step 1 â€"Know thyself. Take time to understand your core needs, like autonomy, creativity, and your own definition of a good team. Reflect back on your career when you were the happiest. Use my Career Reflection Worksheet to guide you through seven areas of job satisfaction. Many of you have morphed into altered versions of yourselves in order to fit comfortably in corporate America. You may not really know yourself anymore. I use the Birkman Method ® assessment to dissect your personality and find those areas where you are no longer in line with your authentic self. Most of us who have worked over 20 years have done this to ourselves! (More: Career Reflection â€" A Twice a Year Duty ) Step 2 â€"Build your tribe. Who can you count on for help and support during this transition? Who is going to lift your spirits when you slip and fall? Your next career move will almost always come through a relationship! Strategically build relationships within industries and at companies that can help you make your next career pivot. Build a team around you…and keep in touch with them! (More: Strategic Networking â€" Building Your Tribe ) Step 3 â€"Act on facts, not assumptions. We often think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but when we get there, we find out it’s AstroTurf. In 2003, I left the high tech industry to teach high school math. I made two flawed assumptions: Listen to the most recent episode As an engineer who had taught adults all over the world for 20 years, I assumed that school districts would want me to teach math. They did not! They did not want any guy over 40 years of age (likely because we don’t do what we are told)! I would be able to get reasonable health insurance for my wife, son, and myself from the school district. NOPE! My out-of-pocket expenses were double my COBRA payment. I stayed with COBRA until I could find another alternative. You need to turn off assumptions and really research new opportunities. (More: Assumptions â€" Be Careful when making a Career Pivot) Step 4 â€"Learn how to network strategically. By using social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, you can target individuals who you need to meet and develop relationships. Sometimes your best connections will come from people who do not know you from work. When I was looking for a teaching position, my best connector was my chiropractor. She knew a lot of people outside of my normal sphere of contacts. If you have children, your children’s friends’ parents can be a gold mine of connections. When making a career pivot, you will want to be creative in finding new connections. (More: Networking Strategically to Your Next Position) Step 5 â€"Learn to ask for help. Yes, I am a guy. I do not like asking for directions. But you’re heading into new territory and no one succeeds at a career pivot without others’ help. Set aside your claims to status and your pride in order to reach for something new where you may now be the rookie. This is hard at first, but it gets easier. When I went off to teach high school math, I was a total novice. I needed to suck it up, admit that I did not know what I was doing, and ask for help. I found a teacher across the hall who would share her lesson plans with me. For an entire year, I stayed two days behind her teaching schedule. If you follow these five steps, you will have a good chance of being successful when you repurpose your career. (More: The Key to a Successful Career Shift: Asking for Help Special Announcement As part of the 100 Days on Jobs for Career Changers, FlexJobs.com and Career Pivot are excited to host a webinar on “5 Steps to Repurpose Your Career.” If you’re wondering how to transition your ideas for a career change into action, this webinar will be a great resource! For more information and how to register Click Here! This post originally was published on FlexJobs.com. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

Epic buffalo prank at Zappos - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Epic buffalo prank at Zappos - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog We visited Zappos in Las Vegas last week and saw this epic prank video :) Ever done something like that in your workplace? Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Why This Post Isnt About BlogHer

Why This Post Isnt About BlogHer Sun Will Come Out folded card by Everything Little Miss This post was supposed to be about BlogHer. I promised. And Im sorry if you were looking forward to it. I scheduled it into my calendar today, but (a) ran out of time and (b) couldnt wrap my head around it. Right now, I should be making dinner. But I couldnt bring myself to BlogHer or dinner without sitting down and getting this out here, in the open, to you, to me. Long story short? I surrender. I put up my hands. I give up the cape. I wave the white flag. (Insert all other similar analogies here) As it turns out, Im not Superwoman, and it has to be OK right now. I have clients to coach and Spring to co-host and an e-course to launch (in October, we think! stay tuned!) and I. Just. Cant. Do. Everything. Thats not true. I could. I could choose this to keep working this way. That would also be making the choice to be constantly tired, and mostly cranky, and considering a lunch break of more than 30 minutes a rare luxury. And I absolutely, positively go against that choice. Remember when, about 6 weeks ago, I talked all about what was in my head what was making my brain explode how I was totally overwhelmed? After I wrote it I was able to own it, but yet I find myself here. Again. Thank all that is holy that I started working with Thekla again on time management, and really discovering what needs to happen in my business, at this level. Im so, so, so (so! so! so!) very thankful that my client load is at a maximum and the consultation calls continue to roll in, but now comes the part thats even tougher than getting the clients: managing it all. Managing it to my limits, my needs, my energy level,   my expectations what I put on my plate. And the big realization here is that, well, I dont really know what that is. I might think I know, but I dont. And why dont I know? Because Im new here. Its only been 144 days since Ive been a full-time coach, and what I thought I could handle isnt the reality. I am, however, taking notice, am getting a sense now as to how many client sessions I want to conduct each day (3 maximum), and how late is too late for me to coach (9p Eastern), and that I need a Partner in Crime to manage my nudging and billing, which is taking way too much brain power now that Im juggling (heading to spreadsheet, counting, counting, counting) 47 clients. Wait, did I just say 47 clients?! I totally did. Wow. Whoa. And other W words. Yes, Wonderful, too. I honestly didnt realize that, but between my group session clients and my private clients, I have 47 on the current roster. No wonder Im logging about 60-70 hours/week. Ah. And thank the good lord,   Ive already cut off working with new clients til after Labor Day, but maybe I need to extend that date out, too. I promise Ill keep figuring this out, and cluing you guys in, and bringing you along for the ride. The most wonderful piece of all this is knowing that you guys are here for me, supporting me, cheering me on, showing up whether I blog twice a week or two dozen times a week (right?). And dont even think that Ill be neglecting this space at all I love it too, too much. ************************************************************************************************************* Delicious Discount: Get a $25 discount for any $250 purchase from    Tara Sroka all the way through Aug 31st. Affiliate Awesomeness: Khristian A. Howell’s Confessions of a First Timer (get your mind out of the gutter!) is the perfect read for any trade show exhibitor virgin. Get my cult leader Danielle LaPorte’s Digital Firestarter Sessions in your own home, on your own time. Also, Molly Hoyne’s Pay-What-You-Can-Afford Joy Equation is your 30 day guide to Living on Purpose.