She says this question is likely thesingle best opportunity you have to seal the deal in the job interview. “But because it’s so broad, it can also lead you down a slippery slope if you’re not concise.”
When interviewers ask this question, they want you to convince them that you’re the best candidate for the job. To ace the response, you must do your homework on the employer and job description so you can align your skills and experience with their specific needs.
“This is an opportunity to say, ‘You need X, and I am the best person for the job because of Y.’ You want to convey that not only are you a safe choice with minimal risk — but also a greatchoice,” says Taylor.
Before you arrive at the job interview, you should have a general sense of how to communicate this, she suggests. “One useful technique is to have three major points in mind on why you’re an excellent choice. This is a default framework you can come back to in the interview to sell yourself. It will become more refined as the interview proceeds.”
Here are five tips for answering the common “Why should we hire you?” interview question:
1. Listen for real-time cues
“As you hear the finer details of job requirements, jot down some key words from your background that will help you provide a targeted response once the hiring manager asks this question,” Taylor says. “If, for example, organizational skills are paramount, you may jot down certain related software programs you use.” As you make minor notes, still try to maintain good eye contact and stay in an active-listening mode.
“Since you now have more data on the real requirements, it’s time to turn up your pitch a notch,” she says. For instance, know your unique selling proposition. What makes you particularly qualified for the job among your peers? What does the firm present publicly and in the interview? How does your unique background align with their mission?
“If, for example, the company’s advertising tagline is about service excellence, you can address how your customer-service expertise resulted in quantifiable results, such as in expanded business, training you provided, or client recognition you received,” says Taylor.
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2. Focus on key points
Offer the big picture. This is a general overview of the overall match, says Taylor. “You’re setting a general comfort zone here.” For example, you’ll want to talk about how long you’ve been doing X at what types of companies, your applicable specialty areas, technical skills, training, and education. “Maybe you’ve been promoted frequently or have been given increased responsibility or staff — which objectively attest to your big picture value,” says Taylor. “Share that information.”
Discuss your accomplishments. This is your opportunity to talk more specifically about a couple of specific projects that showcase your related skill sets and experience. “Results are what count, however, so be sure to mention how the contributions helped your company, and how your expertise could similarly make a significant impact for them,” says Taylor. But remember to be concise!
Communicate that you have excellent people skills. If you have a few soft-skill attributes that you feel would be an asset to the position (such as team player, motivational leader, strong work ethic, reliable), tell them.
“By addressing the low turnover in your department, for example, you underscore that you have strong management potential,” says Taylor. “Oftentimes, slightly stronger people skills trump minor weaknesses in technical expertise. Unlike technical skills, it’s virtually impossible to teach attitude.”
3. Prove you’d be a great investment
“Every manager wants to be assured that you’d offer a good return on investment,” she says. “They want to mitigate risk and avert being in the hiring doghouse. This is your chance to use bottom-line examples of why the company will benefit from hiring you. What are some specific, applicable accomplishments that illustrate this? Where possible, give dollar percentages or raw numbers (sans inflation).”
For instance, did you:
• reduce expenses by a certain percent or dollar figure?
• streamline certain processes?
• develop new programs that increased revenues?
• reduce turnover?
• secure new accounts or expand on existing business?
“This is not to downplay your overall awards, recognition, kudos, soft skills, and overall success; they still support your market value in a credible way,” says Taylor. “A combination of the two is ideal.”
4. Be enthusiastic
“Once you’ve made a solid argument for your skills being a good match, there’s one more factor needed in the mix,” says Taylor. “Show your excitement and enthusiasm for the position. No matter how good you look on paper or present facts, illustrating that you’re genuinely motivated and want the job is a key contributing factor.”
After all, this is a good reason to hire you, too. Just make sure your zeal doesn’t slip into the category of desperation. You should convey that you want the job, not need it.
5. Be as specific, but brief, as possible
In selling your great attributes for the job, a few words of caution: When given a sweeping question like this, it’s easy to go into long-winded tangents — or wax on about the time that you developed the equivalent of the Internet of Things for your employer. “Be conscious of brevity and don’t exaggerate,” Taylor suggests. “One, it may be highly transparent; two, it may be deflated in a reference check; and three, if not caught (and you’re eventually hired), you could find yourself in over your head.”
By doing your homework, paying close attention to the input you’re given, and conveying confidence in performing to the employer’s expectations or beyond, you’ll likely present a winning case, she concludes.
https://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/work-interview-job.jpg360480First Sun Teamhttps://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpgFirst Sun Team2016-10-13 21:27:292020-09-30 20:50:29Your #Career : What to Say when the Job Interviewer Asks, ‘Why Should we Hire You?’… By Doing your Homework, Paying Close Attention to the Input you’re Given, and Conveying Confidence in Performing to the Employer’s Expectations or Beyond, you’ll Likely Present a Winning Case
It’s notoriously difficult to find out how much other people make for doing the same job as you. Employers generally hold comparative salary information close to the vest, and unless you can tease exact dollar figures out of a colleague to see if your pay is in the same ballpark, you may be left wondering if you’re earning a fair wage for your title and field.
A recent Glassdoor survey found that close to 40% of employees think they aren’t paid what they’re worth, with more women than men feeling this way. But believing you’re underpaid and knowing it are two different things. Here are some convincing signs that suggest you’re not making enough.
Your numbers are below industry norms
While it can be challenging to determine whether you make less than a co-worker in your company due to lack of pay transparency, you can find out average salaries of others who share your title in the industry at large. Several career websites offer salary benchmarking, includingSalary.com, PayScale.com, Glassdoor.com and Indeed.com. These online sites offer resources (many of them free) to help employees research how much they’re worth using tools such as national and regional compensation reports and salary profile databases that are searchable by title, experience level, geographic location and company. Check out the salary bands for your position on several of these different career sites, average the salaries from all of the sources and see if yours ranks near these numbers or falls below the threshold.
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Your salary progression has stalled
If you came on board in your entry-level job at a salary you knew was low (after all, you were a newbie) but haven’t moved up the pay scale much since then, it’s likely you haven’t caught up enough. Once you accept a position that’s below market rate, it can be difficult to prove to subsequent employers what you’re really worth and make up the difference, since hiring managers often base starting salaries on the amount you made previously. Minute raises year over year (in the range of 1 to 3 percent) mean that even those who started at the same level as you may be raking in more by now if they’ve received more substantive annual raises. Think about this point in relation to how much your level of responsibility has changed as well. If you were promoted by being given more tasks or a higher title but your boss has made no mention of a raise, chances are you’re being underpaid for what you’re doing now.
You’ve never asked for more money
Salary negotiation is an important part of making what you’re worth. While many employees balk at the idea of broaching the topic of getting paid more, research has shown that asking for a salary bump often results in receiving one. A 2015 study by PayScale found that 75% of those who requested more money got it. Yet many people never work up the nerve to ask — particularly womenand millennials. This fear of salary negotiation can have very expensive consequences over the lifetime of your career, resulting in potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income.
Being underpaid can be discouraging, but it doesn’t have to be inevitable. If you find out you’re making too little money, be willing to step up to the table and start negotiating — or start seeking a new employer who will pay you as much as you deserve.
https://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/question-mark-post-its-1940x900_35749.jpg450970First Sun Teamhttps://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpgFirst Sun Team2016-10-12 20:26:042020-09-30 20:50:29Your #Career : How to Tell If you’re Underpaid…Employers Generally Hold Comparative Salary Information Close to the Vest, and Unless you can Tease Exact Dollar Figures out of a Colleague to See If your Pay is in the Same Ballpark, you May Be Left Wondering if you’re Earning a Fair Wage for your Title and Field.
After eliminating his rivals in a civil war, general and politician Gaius Julius Caesar began serving as dictator of Rome in 49 BCE. He established a number of political reforms before getting stabbed to death on the Ides of March in 44 BCE.
This sparked yet another civil war that doomed the Roman Republic to mutate into an empire with Caesar’s adopted heir Octavian at the helm.
Today, Caesar is still considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. His name is also synonymous with cults of personality and political strongmen.
So how exactly did the one-time high priest of Jupiter accrue so much power during his lifetime?
Business Insider looked through some of his own writings — as well as the less-reliable but still interesting works of contemporary ancient writers — to get a sense of his leadership style.
Here are the top seven lessons we came up with:
1. Presentation matters
The best leaders don’t just do amazing things — they know how to present a compelling story.
After a relatively brief war with a certain Pharnacles II of Pontus, Caesar had to sit down and write out a report to Rome detailing his conquest. According to both Greek biographer Plutarchand Roman historian Suetonius, the commander didn’t go into too much detail, writing simply: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
The phrase proved so catchy that we still remember it, centuries later.
Caesar could have gone on and on about his military prowess (in fact, he was the author of several long military accounts). Instead, he realized that the simple note would convey the most powerful message.
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2. Take risks
In ancient Rome, crossing the Rubicon River with an army was kind of a big deal. It was tantamount to a declaration of war and could be punishable by death.
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his legion, he put everything on the line. In “The Life of the Deified Julius,” Suetonius writes that Caesar quoted an Athenian playwright as he crossed the river, declaring “the die is cast.”
He risked it all and it paid off (in the short-term, at least).
3. There’s nothing wrong with starting small
Oftentimes, you’ve got to start out as a large fish in a small pond in order to succeed as a leader.
Caesar understood this. He managed to climb back into a position of power, even after losing his inheritance in a coup as a young man.
According to the ancient Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives,” the general also made a rather curious remark while passing through a small village in the Alps: “I assure you I had rather be the first man here than the second man in Rome.”
4. Nothing is set in stone
As a general, Caesar new that circumstances could change in an instant. According to Bill Yonne’s “Julius Caesar: Lessons in Leadership from the Great Conqueror,” Caesar once wrote that “in war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.”
Resting on your laurels is never a good idea — because things can always take a turn for the worst.
5. Never kid yourself
Even if you’re a successful leader, you never want to get to the point where you start to buy your own nonsense.
In his chronicle of the Gallic Wars, Caesar concludes that: “i n most cases men willingly believe what they wish” when describing a tactical mistake on the part of his Gallic enemies.
The best leaders behave rationally and don’t allow their feelings or preconceived notions to dominate their decision-making. Gut calls and instincts are important too, but the best leaders utilize both — not one or the other.
6. Don’t get comfortable
No matter how good things look, the best leaders never fail to anticipate the worst outcomes.
In his “Commentaries on the Gallic Wars,” Caesar writes: “The immortal gods are wont to allow those persons whom they wish to punish for their guilt sometimes a greater prosperity and longer impunity, in order that they may suffer the more severely from a reverse of circumstances.”
Basically, if you’re on a winning streak, watch out. Caesar would have done well to actually follow this advice himself. Instead, he allowed a conspiracy to boil under him once he became dictator, resulting in his famous assassination.
7. Never sell yourself short
In order to lead, you need confidence in your own abilities. This is something that Caesar never seemed to lack.
This is illustrated by one notable incident in the ancient Roman’s life (involving pirates, of all things). In his account of Caesar’s life, Plutarch writes that, as a young man, Julius Caesar was abducted by the pirates that swarmed the Mediterranean Sea.
Livius.org provides a translation of what happened next: “First, when the pirates demanded a ransom of twenty talents, Caesar burst out laughing. They did not know, he said, who it was that they had captured, and he volunteered to pay fifty.”
Caesar went on to promise the pirates that he’d personally kill them once he was free. After he was ransomed, he raised a fleet, hunted them down, and did just that.
Businessinsider.com | October 12, 2016 | Áine Cain
https://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpg00First Sun Teamhttps://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpgFirst Sun Team2016-10-12 16:30:172020-09-30 20:50:29#Leadership : 7 Unforgettable Leadership Lessons from the Ancient Roman Conqueror Julius Caesar…Today, Caesar is still Considered One of the Greatest Military Commanders in History. His Name is also Synonymous with Cults of Personality and Political Strongmen.
Employee compensation can be an emotional subject, especially if you’re the employee. It is often daintily tiptoed around in interviews and loudly complained about in bars. Personally, I’m a firm believer that compensation is a reflection of an employee’s value to a company. As value goes up, so does pay.
When I express these opinions, however, I often get disgruntled rebuttals like, “Yeah, right. Corporations have no concept of loyalty”; “Layoffs are completely arbitrary—it doesn’t matter what you’re worth”; and, “The only way to get a raise is to change jobs!”
Since these complaints are made to me—the CEO of a company that clearly isn’t so callous—it’s obvious that these stereotypes cannot be universal. Putting aside this irony, though, even if every company in the world were as ruthless and coldblooded as some believe, value and compensation would still be inextricably connected. Let’s take a look at why this is the case and how you can increase your value as an employee to get paid what you deserve.
WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Let’s be a fly on the wall in that dim, coffin-shaped room where lanky, black-suited business misers drum their spindly fingers together and cackle over that most evil of subjects: layoffs.
When they discuss the customer support floor, they decide they need to lay off one person, and gradually narrow the options down to two employees:
Option 1: “Bill” is an old-and-true company standby. He’s worked at the company for 20 years and has been completely faithful to his job expectations. He clocks in and out on time and delivers his customer support perfectly on script. As a result, he’s accumulated a number of raises over the years and now makes $20 an hour.
Option 2: “Shelly” has only worked in customer support for five years but has obtained advanced technical certifications, has an excellent interpersonal manner, and routinely turns upset customers into loyal patrons. Clients who get support from her are 30% more likely to purchase additional services and to refer friends.
She talks off script a fair amount but keeps track of what she says and how customers react. As a result, she has submitted many helpful modifications to the basic IT script, resulting in a 10% increase in customer satisfaction for the whole floor. Due to her high performance, Shelly also makes $20 per hour.
Which one gets the boot? It’s Bill without question.
The company is actually losing money on Bill. If they fired him, a new employee would work for only $12/hour and could read the script just as skillfully as Bill does within two weeks.
If Shelly were fired, however, the company would lose out on a major source of sales, referrals, customer satisfaction, and an internal system for improving the whole department—they can’t afford to lose her!
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VALUE IS NOT THE SAME THING AS YEARS ON THE JOB
But what about faithful old Bill? It would be so mean to fire him! Bill’s problem is that he hasn’t really done anything to justify his increased wages. Small raises have accumulated on his paycheck like moss on an old river rock, but his real value is still around $12 an hour.
However, since Bill has been working at the company for so many years, he probably “feels” like he’s worth $20 an hour. Never mind the fact that he couldn’t get paid $20 an hour at a different company, he’s “put in his time,” so he’s worth $20 an hour, right?
Now, I’m not trying to understate the value of experience and wisdom. Good employees learn and grow over time, so they provide more value for their employer. As a reward, they get raises. The problem is, those raises are often based on meeting minimum standards for specified periods of time—not the value an employee brings to the table. As a result, when push comes to shove and a company needs to actually evaluate the worth of an employee, “years on the job” means far less to the business than added value.
BUSINESSES PAY FOR VALUE, AND EMPLOYEES ARE THEIR ASSETS
Many employees are confused about what their salaries pay for. When people first enter the workforce as teenagers, they usually start with an hourly wage. The equation is simple: The more you work, the more money you get. Unfortunately, after a couple of years, many people begin to translate time into money and begin to think, “I’ve put in a lot of time at this job, so it stands to reason that I should be making a lot of money! I need a raise!”
Allow me to burst that bubble. Value isn’t a function of time. There are 24 hours in a day whether a company pays for them or not—it’s what you do with those hours that counts. Even for hourly employees, businesses aren’t paying for time—they’re paying for value. To put it simply, an employee is a company asset, and compensation is an investment in that asset.
Let me explain what I mean: If I were to invest $5,000 in a new asset for my business—say an online marketing account—you might think that I would have to make $5,000 in sales to justify the expense. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work that way. I won’t get too deep into the math of contribution margin, but in short, since my business expenses aren’t just limited to what I spend on marketing, it turns out that the account would have to make me at least three times my investment ($15,000) just to break even.
If the asset started producing four or five times more money than I put into it, then it would really be profitable. In fact, I’d be willing to invest more if I knew my payoff would be that good.
The same goes for employees: If I’m going to invest in people, I need to know that having them around will make my company at least three times what I’m paying them. The more revenue an employee drives for my business, the greater their value and the more I’m happy to pay to have them as an asset. An employee who produces less value, however, loses me money and—unless they can become more productive—I can’t afford to keep them in the long run.
Now, I think we’ve looked at things like a ruthless businessman for long enough to show why companies care about the value their employees bring to the table.
In most real businesses with real, warm-hearted people (like I try to be), the same principles are still at play, but the focus is more on encouraging employees to become more valuable than on eliminating dead weight. In general, this encouragement comes in the form of salary. The more value an employee brings to the table, the more they deserve to be paid. The question then becomes, how do employees increase their value?
There are three basic steps:
Ensure that you’re meeting the basic expectations of your job.
Identify areas where you can add more value.
Create and execute a plan to exceed expectations.
Step 1: Meet expectations. Before you start trying to expand your horizons, it’s a good idea to make sure that you’re at least fulfilling the minimum requirements of your role.
Of course, it can sometimes be hard to figure out what those requirements are. A recent Gallup poll revealed that up to half of employees don’t really understand what is expected of them at work. Many companies have very little in the way of formal job descriptions. Others have long lists of tasks and expectations around hiring time, but when you start the job you find that half the stuff on the list you never do and half the stuff you do isn’t on the list.
So if you’re not sure what your job expectations really are, the easiest way to get that question answered is to talk to your manager. Havea discussion about what workplace success looks like. You might even ask how your position adds value to the company. This gives you a target for increasing your value later on.
If, in this discussion, you discover work expectations that you weren’t aware of or that you haven’t been meeting, your first priority should be to start meeting those expectations. You may also find that, as Gallup’s poll also suggests, somemanagers are just as confused about your role as you are. If this describes your supervisors, then a sit-down conversation is especially important. Defining together what your core responsibilities are will help them to know when you are exceeding expectations.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Related: 5 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Your Annual Performance Review]
Step 2: Find areas in which to excel. As part of your conversation, you should also determine a list of projects that could add extra value to the company that fall within the scope of your job.
It’s important to choose these projects in conjunction with your manager because you need to be sure that when you go above and beyond, it’s in areas that your company finds important. What’s more, you want your extra efforts to be recognized for what they are.
It’s helpful at this stage to come up with a way to document your performance. Remember Shelly—how she increased customer satisfaction by 10% and got 30% more referrals than average? These numbers make her value pretty undeniable, but they wouldn’t exist if she or her managers weren’t keeping track of them.
If you work in an area like sales, it’s pretty easy to document your performance with hard figures, but for many other jobs performance is less easy to quantify. Documentation is still important in these cases, but it may look a little different. For example, this is a scorecard my marketing director and I use to measure his performance each month (shared with his permission):
The first column contains a list of his basic job expectations. If he meets all of these he’s producing enough value to justify his base salary. The other two columns contain things that he can do to go above and beyond his normal duties to provide added value to the company.
This is a very simple documentation system, but it’s surprisingly effective. When it comes time for me to hand out bonuses and raises, I don’t have to wonder whether he’s earned it or not—I just look at the scorecard. If he’s consistently performing above expectations, then he’s adding extra value and he deserves to be rewarded.
Step 3: Make a plan and execute it. Finally, you need to put everything you’ve learned into action. If your goal is to increase your compensation at work, you can start by deciding how much more you would like to be making.
Take your current job expectations and salary as the baseline for what you’re worth to the company. Then realize that for every dollar that you hope to get in increased pay, you need to bring in three to five dollars to the business for your raise to make sense. Pick from your “above and beyond” list some projects that would add this kind of value to the company. Make a plan to complete these goals in addition to your regular tasks and present the plan to your manager.
Trust me, this will go over a lot better than the old, “I’m getting married so I need a raise” conversation. Your manager may not agree with every detail of your plan, but you will definitely come off as a motivated employee who really gets it. And even if your managers don’t buy in right away, it will be a great opportunity to discuss their priorities again and work together to come up with a plan that accomplishes things that really matter.
Don’t skip this important conversation. I’d hate to get a comment on this article saying, “I wasted six months doing what you said only to find out that nobody cared about my contribution.”
If you haven’t figured out by now, communication with your superiors is going to be a critical part of this whole process. Unfortunately, business plans are rarely static and you may have to chase a moving target, but if you’re willing to be flexible, you should be able to keep moving forward toward your goals.
Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “This all sounds great, Jacob, but it also sounds a little too idealistic. It would never work at my business.” Maybe not. I can’t predict every circumstance, and there’s a chance that yours is an exception. But isn’t it worth a try? The relationship between employee value and compensation holds just as true in “big ruthless corporations” as it does in more supportive ones.
For example, one of my employees recently related to me his experience at a prior company. This was one of those more stingy jobs and had a high turnover rate for entry-level employees. However, he applied the principles I’ve described. He developed a number of specialized skills and got deeply involved in some really important projects.
The miserly company was happy to be getting more out of him for the same pay—until the day he started looking at taking his skills elsewhere. His value was so great by then that the company would be set back months or years if he left, so when he suggested that he would need a 40% pay increase to stay, they felt like it was a worthwhile investment.
Despite the money-grubbing attitude of this company, he was providing so much value that he had become an asset they couldn’t afford to lose. As a result, he was able to negotiate a much better situation for himself. The moral of the story? If you feel that you deserve a raise, don’t get drunk and holler about it every Friday night. Take inventory of your worth, talk with your managers, and start working to become a more valuable asset.
https://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpg00First Sun Teamhttps://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpgFirst Sun Team2016-10-12 12:15:592020-09-30 20:50:30Your #Career : I’m A CEO—Here’s How I Decide Whether To Give You A Raise Or Lay You Off… This Exec Reveals the Arithmetic Companies Typically Use to Assess Employees’ Value.
Wherever you are in your professional life, there’s a TED Talk for you. Let the following TED Talks inspire you, challenge your way of thinking, and give you the push you need to take your career to the next level.
“There’s a difference between doing work we love, and doing work that is who we are,” says Ashley Stahl, a career counselor who left a job she thought she loved years ago to pursue a career that she felt was more aligned with who she was. Stahl provides three questions to ask yourself to find your true calling, and reminds us that it’s never too late — or too early — to ask for guidance.
If you ever feel as if your job isn’t good enough or that your career doesn’t measure up, rest assured that you’re not alone. In this revealing TEDTalk, philosopher Alain de Botton tries to pinpoint the reasons so much anxiety exists around our careers and statuses in the world — from career snobbery to materialism to envy — and how these factors skew our idea of success. De Botton makes a compelling case for creating our own definition of success, so that we can let go of anxiety and make room for happiness in our work.
Many people feel stuck in their jobs or careers, but they are afraid to leave for fear that they’ll make the wrong move. This, psychologist Barry Schwartz explains, is called the paradox of choice. In this eye-opening TED Talk, Schwartz discusses the downside of having too many choices and provides some insight into why we can’t seem to move forward — even when nothing stands in our way.
What holds us back from achieving our dreams? Perhaps it’s believing that success will come overnight. Or maybe it’s believing that achieving that dream is the only thing that matters. In this thought-provoking talk, MIT graduate and entrepreneur Bel Pesce looks at the five commonly held beliefs people having about achieving our dreams that actually stand in the way of us doing so.
What leads to success? In this short and sweet presentation, analyst Richard St. John provides thoughts from several fellow TED speakers — including Rupert Murdoch, Goldie Hawn and Bill Gates — on the secrets to achieving success. As it turns out, the “secrets” to success aren’t so secret at all.
Not happy in your job? You’re not alone: An estimated 80% of people don’t enjoy their work, Scott Dinsmore asserts. So what sets the other 20% apart? After years of research, and drawing from personal experience, Dinsmore, the founder of Live Your Legend, thinks he has the answer. In this inspirational talk, Dinsmore provides a framework for finding work we love and pursuing our passions.
Businessinsider.com | October 8, 2016 | Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder
https://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/TED-Talks-for-career-change.png227593First Sun Teamhttps://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpgFirst Sun Team2016-10-11 20:37:562020-09-30 20:50:30Your #Career : 6 TED Talks That Will Boost your Career….Let the following TED Talks Inspire You, Challenge your Way of Thinking, and Give You the Push you Need to Take your Career to the Next Level.
You’ve been applying to jobs for months, and while you’ve gotten an interview or two, nothing has panned out. What’s worse—your annoyance with your current position has reached an all-time high. That, or maybe you’re in between jobs and bills are looming.
Whatever the reason, you need an actual offer—ASAP.
Lengthy job searches can test even the heartiest of souls, but when you mix a tight internal timeline with slow external results, it’s an even greater challenge. You have all the typical highs and lows of applying (waiting to hear back, facing rejection, dusting yourself off and trying again), and the added pressure to land that new role yesterday.
Here are two powerful perspective shifts to help you make it through.
1. TIE DEADLINES TO YOUR EFFORTS (RATHER THAN RESULTS)
Have you ever said something like: “I’ll have a new job before the end of the month?” It’s sounds helpful, but it’s actually not.
That’s because you’re linking your goal to someone else’s behavior (which is outside of your control). When you tie a deadline to something that’s not within your power, you set yourself up to feel defeated if it falls through.
Instead, choose a goal based around something you do control. For example, “I will send out 10 applications by month’s end.” By connecting the deadline to your personal efforts, you give yourself the opportunity to feel successful just by meeting it—and that confidence boost can mean a lot during a tough search.
So, ask yourself, “What measurable action can I take that’ll move me closer to landing a position at my dream company?” Whatever your answer is—stepping up your networking, reaching out to a career coach—tie it to a reasonable deadline. This way, your goals will bring you results and peace of mind.
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Our brains have something called a “built-in negativity bias”, which means our first impression of events is likely to skew negatively. For example, if you face one of the following (common) disappointments, your initial reaction might be to get down on yourself:
Situation: You send out several resumes and don’t get any bites. Thought: “I’m clearly a terrible candidate because no one’s responding.”
Situation: You come in as the second choice candidate for two jobs in a row. Thought: This is too hard. I’m never going to get picked. I’m going to be stuck here forever.
Situation: Despite leaving early for an interview, you hit mega traffic and wind up arriving five minutes late. Thought: “I blew this already.”
When you buy into these knee-jerk interpretations, it’s easy to feel down about the way things are going. So take a beat, and recognize that with a little focused attention you can come up with a more helpful perspective.
Here’s how those same situations could look after an effort to find the silver lining.
Situation: You send out several resumes over the course of a few weeks and don’t get any bites. Thought: “The more ‘at-bats’ I take, the more likely I am to hit something.”
Situation: You come in as the second-choice candidate for two job prospects in a row. Thought: “I must be doing something right to make it so far in the interview process.”
Situation: Despite leaving early for an interview, you hit mega traffic and wind up arriving five minutes late. Thought: “Not the best start, but I can still make a great impression.”
Yes, this is very Pollyanna, and you’ll also want to make time to analyze what you could be doing differently to make sure you aren’t getting in your own way; e.g., Are you blowing your final interview by bringing up salary too soon?.
But don’t skip this pep talk and space to focus on the positive: That’s what’ll keep you motivated to keep trying. Can’t find a sunnier angle? You can always ask a supportive friend, family member, or professional for help. Or, at the very least, be aware when you’re jumping to negative conclusions. Just calling yourself out for that habit is a good reminder that often times, you’re choosing to be pessimistic.
I hated my first job. And I remember vividly how I worried I be stuck there for eternity. In reality, I changed things up to a much better work situation in just a few years.
Things will change, both because of your own efforts and because change is a constant in this world. Maybe the change you want isn’t coming as fast as you like, but it’ll come. Keep your focus on the things you can most influence—your actions and your thoughts. You’ll get a new job eventually. For now you just have to stay strong.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Muse and is reprinted with permission.
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Inside each of us there’s a little efficiency guru who views every single email within a larger matrix of all the stuff we could be focusing on: the big deadline that needs to be met, the presentation that needs to be prepared, the client conflict that needs to be resolved, the errands that need to be run. I call this the “busy bias,” and it colors how much—or how little—attention we are willing to give any one interaction or piece of information.
When everyone is busy, a key part of getting people to pay attention is being respectful of their time. In the context of composing an email this means being clear, concise, and actionable. You can achieve this by sticking to a few simple strategies for structuring the information you need to communicate.
1. LEAD WITH THE ASK
Without being abrupt or pushy, it’s important to put your ask at the top of your email—within the first sentence or two if possible. The goal is to get the reader’s attention and have them understand the action that’s being requested immediately. If you put a lot of rigmarole before your ask, an impatient reader might never get to it. For example, let’s say you’re reaching out to the CEO of a startup you admire to invite her to speak at a conference. You could position the ask like so:
Hi Catherine—This is Mark Holland. I run the popular Firestarters conference, which draws over 5,000 entrepreneurs to the Staples Center in L.A. each year. I’m writing to extend an invitation for you to speak at our event on March 5, 2016.
Catherine may not know what the hell the Firestarters conference is yet, but she does know something important: What this email is about (a speaking invitation). She also now knows the date and location of the event and that it has fairly impressive attendance numbers. Now that the ask is clear and her interest is piqued, Mark can go on to give her some backstory on the event, share more impressive stats, and make his case even stronger.
In a short-attention span world, it’s best to get right to the point immediately and do your explaining later. Think about what will appear in the two-line message preview the recipient will see as she scrolls through her inbox: Will it capture her attention?
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2. ESTABLISH YOUR CREDIBILITY
Why should I care? is the tacit question hovering in most people’s minds as they open an email, especially if it’s from someone they don’t know. This is why establishing your credibility early on in the message is crucial. Tell your reader why you are different, why you are accomplished, or why they should pay attention to you.
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We’re getting closer to the end of the year. It’s been a very exciting year for me achieving most of the goals that I’ve set so far. And of course, it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of some tools that have provided great shortcuts.
The tools shared in this post fall under three categories:
Tools that helped me apply a simple productivity system.
There is a system that I’ve been following for more than a year now that has had a great impact on my business. It’s composed of three simple steps:
Plan the right way.
Start the day right.
Take action with focus.
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Google Docs: A great tool I use to do all the planning for the tasks I want to accomplish.
Wunderlist: Helps me create to-do lists on the go and great for doing tomorrow’s to-do list.
Accomplish: It helps me easily create my schedule for the day. This is my best calendar app that suits all my needs.
Clear focus: Taking action with focus hasn’t been easier with the help of this great tool.
7 Min Workout app: Not only does this app have the normal seven minute exercise, but also it have many different variants with different durations
Headspace: A gem tool that changed my focus throughout the day.
Freedom Journal: One of the best journals. I like their app which reminds me to write in the journal in the morning and at the evening.
Tools that saved me time.
Usually, these are resources where I pay a few dollars to save me time or resources where I could save a few minutes by grouping tasks together.
Upwork (formerly known as Odesk): This is not a tool but it is a great way to get low-value tasks done leaving me time to focus on higher value tasks.
99designs: I’m sure you know how time-consuming design work can be. When redesigning my logo, I spent a ton of time trying to communicate my vision to designers only to receive concepts I wasn’t happy with, which ate into other projects. Using 99designs, I was able to save a lot of time because of the great amount of designs I get. I pick the one I like, ask for reiterations till I like it and then pay.
Thrive content builder: Having a great design that attracts the attention of new readers is very hard. I used to outsource this job, but with this tool, I don’t need to.
There are a few tools which help you increase your business growth without much work on your end. These are the tools that helped me do just that this year:
Thrive Leads: This tools helped collect more emails from my website without spending time messing with the code.
SumoMe: It provides you with a great set of tools. I like to use the share, content analytics and heatmap tools. Did I mention it’s free? I’m doing just fine with the free version.
Active Campaign: Creating automation with ease to convert new subscribers and customers has never been easier. Forget infusionsoft with its complexity and the hefty price you pay initially and monthly. You pay a fraction of that with Active Campaign.
Optimizepress: Started using it lately after all the buzz I heard. It deserves every penny of the $97 I paid for it.
Buzzsumo: Great tool to help me identify popular topics and posts in my “industry +” who are sharing it.
There are many tools out there but these are the ones that had the most impact on my business and my life so far in 2016.
Entrepreneur.com | October 7, 2016 | Ahmed Safwan
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Whether you’re just starting out in your career or making a transition, odds are there’s some part of the job search process that’s at least a little mystifying.
From interviewing to negotiating your salary, there are a lot of factors at play when looking for a new job, and one mistake could put the kibosh on the whole thing.
To master the art of the job search, here are nine books that can guide you through the process:
If you’re only going to read one book on the list, you may want to choose this one. Why? It covers a little about everything when it comes to a job search.
The first half of the book talks about how to create an eye-catching résumé and cover letter, as well as how to improve your networking, interviewing, and negotiating skills, while the second half focuses on how to find your ideal career.
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David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’
Amazon
Great book for: staying organized in your job search
Considering all the moving parts that come with getting a new job, this book is a must-read because it teaches you the basics of time management and organization.
It can also help you through the transition of finding a new job by teaching you how to reassess goals and stay focused.
Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People’
Amazon
Great book for: networking
There are a number of lessons you can learn from Carnegie’s classic that will help you in your personal and professional lives. Importantly, especially when it comes to networking (and also the job interview), you’ll learn how to make people like you and win them over to your side.
Carnegie’s advice focuses on maximizing your interactions with other people, and he instructs readers, for example, to encourage people to talk about themselves, instead of dominating the conversation, emphasizing the things you both agree on.
Don’t let the title of this book deceive you — “Wait, How Do I Write This Email?” is not just about writing professional-sounding emails — though, yes, it does include practical tips for that, too.
The book covers just about any job search situation you can think of that involves a written component, from crafting LinkedIn profiles, résumés, and cover letters to soliciting a referral or career guidance. Even if you’d never written a word in your life, this book could help you pass for the most competent professional out there.
Great book for: editing your cover letter and résumé
One of the biggest faux pas you can make in your job search is sending out a résumé or cover letter rife with grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Strunk and White’s classic grammar book will help anyone drastically improve their mastery of the written word.
From commonly misspelled words to grammar and punctuation, you’ll find all the answers in this concise and entertaining read.
The book offers practical tips for how to wade through the sea of internet job postings.
You’ll learn how to complete three important steps in very little time using Excel, Google, LinkedIn, and alumni databases: Prioritize your target employers, contact them, and recruit people to provide you with internal referrals.
You may not need a whole book to prepare you for the kinds of questions you might hear in a job interview. You can easily check out Glassdoor or articles about interview questions for that.
What’s more important is figuring out how to convey with maximum impact that you’re the best person for the job. This book can help you with that.
According to the author, every interaction is a performance, including the job interview, and as a job seeker, you have to persuade and motivate people to hire you. This book shares practical advice for shining during even the most nerve-wracking interview.
Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton’s ‘Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In’
Amazon
Great book for: getting the job
This 30-year-old book is a great primer for going into any negotiation.
Based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, this classic offers practical steps for negotiating, including key takeaways like understanding your counter-party’s interests well.
The book’s authors, who are salary negotiation experts, offer scripts with the exact words you can use to phrase your request for more than 60 negotiation scenarios, taking much of the pain out of negotiating.
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Recently a friend of mine held a productivity summit with 20 or more experts. The content shared came to more than 20 hours. When he told me about it my eyes glazed over. He noticed. “What’s the problem? I’ve put together the greatest minds on productivity. This information is incredibly valuable,” he argued.
“I have no doubt,” I agreed, “but it feels like common core math to me. You’re taking something extremely simple and making it difficult… on purpose.”
My mind was having a hard time with almost twenty-four hours of varying approaches to getting things done. He asked about my approach and quickly discovered why I wasn’t added to the summit. It’s probably too simple.
Getting more done in less time comes down to three things:
1. Obligation scheduling.
You can’t just mentally plan to get things done. You have to calendar what you are going to do and when you are going to do it. You must make an appointment with yourself and keep it as if it were a dinner with your top client.
Too often we schedule with the mindset of what we want to accomplish rather than what we must accomplish. If we do that our minds see the events as optional rather than mandatory. By shifting to an obligation frame of mind, you give weight to the tasks and that creates greater necessity.
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2 Effective efficiency.
Efficiency means that we do the best job possible in the least amount of time. First, you need to know how long a task will take. Second, you need to determine if you can shrink that time without losing quality.
A colleague of mine, Mike, struggled with servicing current clients and reaching new ones. “I just don’t have enough time to work personally with everyone.”
We did some math. His average client visit was one hour. I asked if he could be just as effective in 45 minutes. He said he could. What about 40 minutes? He said yes to that as well. What about 35 minutes? He didn’t feel that would work. We settled on 40 minutes and he freed 80 minutes each day.
It’s not enough to just schedule, you need to be precise about the amount of time the tasks actually take. Keep track of how long certain actions take and work toward shrinking the time without losing quality.
3. Present focus.
The greatest enemy of productivity is distraction. The ability to stay attentive seems almost impossible in today’s world. You might schedule efficiently and still lose because your mind drifts or call or an email pulls you away. Staying in the “now” and in the present will increase your productivity.
Here are two “tricks” that you’ve heard over and over, but still may not be doing.
First, eliminate anything not related to the task. If your phone, or internet or people are not essential to task completion, then shut them down. Period.
Second, if you have an extra short attention span, then get an egg timer and set it for five or ten minutes as a reminder to stay on point. If you would like to really ramp up your focus by using reminders and timed sessions then consider using The Action Machine.
Personal productivity doesn’t require 20 experts. It just requires that you focus on what you should be doing, when you should be doing it without excuse.
Entrepreneur.com | October 8, 2016 | Paul Evans
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