Guest Post | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Do You Have A Referral-Generating Recruiting Process?

March 4, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Think back to a bad hire that you’ve made (because let’s face it—we’ve all made bad hires, even if we’re a great judge of a person).

It might be that the individual simply didn’t understand what it took to fill the job. They may not have been a great fit for office culture, or they might have had a life event that made it so they couldn’t keep the job. That’s simply the way things happen.

But as a business person, you understand that losing people or spending time on people who aren’t going to work out is a loss for you on the day-to-day life of your office, and it also makes a negative impact on the bottom line.

That’s why figuring out a better process can save you headache and dollars. And we’ve got a secret: Your employees may be the best source of referrals yet. How so? This graphic explains it.

The Network Effect: Why Referral Networks Are Helping Today’s Businesses Thrive

Infographic by AkkenCloud

Why Crafting A Professional Image is an Important Aspect of Your Career Strategy

February 25, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

The job market is incredibly competitive. In order to successfully land your ideal position, you need to develop a strategy to set you apart from other applicants. This means optimizing your resume around your achievements rather than past job duties, developing a cover letter that showcases your strengths and what you’ll bring to a prospective company, and building your network of connections.

However, there’s an important aspect of your career strategy that you may be overlooking – your professional image. The image you project to others says a lot about the kind of professional you are. When developing a career strategy to land a new position, optimizing your professional image can give you an added edge against competition that may have the same level of experience as you, however don’t come off as polished or as confident as you do.

Here are three reasons your professional image is an important aspect of your career strategy.

Dressing for success manifests achievement

It’s common to judge others based on their clothing choices. However, you may not realize that the same psychology you apply to other people’s clothing is also subconsciously how you judge your own. When we’re dressed for success, we’re more inclined to feel confident and to exude credibility. In simpler terms, when we feel like we ‘look the part’, we’re more confident to act the part.

According to research done by a variety of psychologists, your clothing choices have an effect on your confidence and how you behave in work settings, as well as substantial influence over other people’s perception of your competence. For example, wearing a suit is shown to empower the person wearing it due to the suit-wearer’s internal perception of dominance. Research findings show that the increased level of confidence from wearing a suit resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy of success.

Personal appearance plays into subconscious psychological bias

We all know that looks matter – but we may not realize how much of an implicit effect it can have on the impression we leave among others. In a controlled study of political candidates done by the University of California, the majority favored the candidate with the more attractive appearance despite party affiliations or candidate experience. This same subconscious bias plays out in other social or professional situations, including within your career or job search. This doesn’t mean you need to have model-like looks in order to get ahead, but it does mean that you should invest in your personal appearance.

In order to upgrade your appearance, take into account the areas you’re proud of and where you’d like to see improvement, and structure a routine that addresses both. For example, if you commonly struggle with acne or cold sores during the winter due to the dry air, make sure to address that by incorporating an effective cold sore medication or acne spot treatment into your skincare routine. Overall, improving your appearance long-term requires a good sleep schedule, regular skincare routine, exercise, and consistent attention to grooming.

Gives you an edge in making connections and influencing people

Your demeanor and behavior, while not physical qualities, are still an important aspect of your overall professional image. How you behave and interact with others speaks to your character, and people will generally gravitate towards someone they see as trustworthy, friendly, and kind. Your ability to connect with others is known as your likeability, and it’s incredibly important within the workplace or on the job hunt.

Studies have shown that likeable people are more likely to get job offers, get help at work, and be forgiven for their mistakes on the job. In order to really impress a hiring manager or build your influence at the office, you should make a conscious effort to be friendly and open. In a hiring or interview situation, this means keeping a smile on your face, practicing positive body language, and being actively engaged in the conversation you’re having with the interviewer. At work, you should make the effort to be social with your co-workers and maintain a positive attitude despite what may be going on at home.

Making Vintage Advertising Concepts Work Today

February 20, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

There are a slew of ways to market a product or service, and different industries have different techniques that work best for them specifically. Since the 16th century, advertising has taken on a bunch of different meanings, evolving in conjunction with society and technological advancements. And though the internet of things has propelled us into the digital era, print ads and direct mail still prove powerful in capturing consumers’ interests. Some tried and true methods of advertising are passed down from successful vintage marketing campaigns.

Invaluable created an insightful infographic that highlights vintage advertising techniques coupled with successful campaigns of the past to show that these methods really work. By combining some of these methods with modern advertising techniques, you’re well on your way to a successful campaign. Draw inspiration from the vibrancy of old Coca-Cola ads to Cadillac’s copy-heavy ads, outlined below.

Why Are Your Employees Quitting and How Can You Retain Them?

January 28, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Employee turnover is a major global epidemic that is plaguing companies. The workspace is not what it used to be and has changed for good.

In the olden days, there were fewer options compared to the ocean of opportunities today.

Employees often flit from one job to another as soon as they get a better opportunity. Many feel that Millennials, as a generation, are less stable and not as hardworking as previous generations. But that isn’t true, as the stress levels today are a lot higher than they used to be. There are many more challenges and complications in today’s technologically advanced world than ever before.

An ideal team of employees and management is hard to find these days. Companies are only made of humans and by default, each company has its own unique dysfunction, which the employees learn about sooner or later…often being the trigger that causes them to quit their job.

Dysfunctions can be anything from having inflexible work hours, to a manager who isn’t empathetic, lack of career advancement or promotional opportunity, unchallenging work, lack of opportunity to use their skills and abilities, company politics, overall corporate culture, unhappiness with salary and benefits, etc.

The best way to retain employees is to understand what they’re considering, and what they’re thinking.

Surveys and feedback are one figure it out.

Are they happy with their work? Are their requirements being met? Do they have the correspondence, critical thinking, input, and acknowledgment that they require from their supervisor?

Staying in touch with your employees can help you solve the issues of employee turnover faster than you think.

To know more about it you can go through the detailed infographic below on employee retention, which gives a list of reasons for employee turnover and some great solutions.

4 Tactics for Successful Career Branding

January 28, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

In today’s world, it’s important to develop a personal brand that’s as unique as you are. Whether you’re a recent graduate entering the workforce or an experienced professional looking to move up the corporate ladder, a distinctive personal brand could be the key to setting you apart from the competition.

Crafting a strong personal brand requires time and effort, though, and you need to identify the appropriate tactics for building a brand that will help boost your career. If you are pursuing a career in music or some other form of entertainment for instance, then your personal branding efforts will likely entail custom merchandise that can help you become known offline like enamel badges as well as your online efforts. But if your line of work is mostly digital, then you’ll be looking to leave your imprint in as many places as possible across the world wide web.

There are a plethora of tactics you can you employ to bring your personal brand to life; the key is to finding what works best for you. Be open to trying and testing new tactics to find the ideal branding strategy.

To help you get started, we’ve pulled together four proven tactics for successful career branding.

Define your elevator pitch

Every brand requires a brand statement, and your personal brand is no exception. In order to resonate with your target audiences, you need to identify and define your own personal brand. Be introspective and objectively assess your core strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself the following questions:

In what areas of work do I really excel?
In what areas or topics am I most knowledgeable?
What type of projects do I most enjoy?
What type of projects seem to be most stressful or unenjoyable?
What characteristics do I have that make me good at my job?
In what ways do I differ from my peers?
What type of role or projects would I like to be associated with in the future?

Once you’ve asked yourself these questions, it’s time to develop your elevator pitch. This succinct pitch should sum up who you are and what differentiates you in about 15-30 seconds. While this may seem like a daunting task, remember it’s important to find your niche. Your personal brand, like many corporate brands, will change as you evolve in your career. The best elevator pitch will focus on a specific area and evolve over time.

Establish your expertise

Your personal brand isn’t only a reflection of who are you today, it’s also a roadmap for where you’d like to be in the future. Assess where your current expertise lies and how it relates to the industry or career you’d like to take on next. By doing this, you’ll be also be able to uncover areas where you can improve your knowledge or training.

Take advantage of your current employer’s training resources or research local job career training programmes in your area. Another great option is to participate in trade associations, which can help not only expand your network, but also offer impressive training resources and events.

Create great content

Once you’ve established your area of expertise, it’s time to share and market your knowledge. Consider starting your own blog and commit to regular posting. There are plenty of website builders available that make it easy to build your blog, such as Wix, WordPress and Squarespace. The key here is to focus on quality, rather than quantity. While it’s important to keep your blog up-to-date, you should strive to create content that’s informational, educational, and highlights the depth of your expertise. Offer fresh insights and unique perspective on industry trends that will showcase your expertise. Also, make sure that the content itself is easy to digest and make it simple for readers who enjoy your content to share it via their social channels.

An excellent way to further your reach is by writing guest posts. Identify blogs that align with your area of expertise or industry and offer up your content, free of charge. This is a great way to expand your audience, while also improving the discoverability of your own blog.

Source: Breaking Into Startups Blog

Make the most of your social profiles

Make sure that you’re active on key social channels, such as LinkedIn and Twitter. Hiring managers almost always look at a candidate’s LinkedIn profile, so it’s crucial to ensure that your profile is in order. This also provides a prime opportunity to communicate your personal brand message! Consider sharing your blog posts on your LinkedIn profile and asking former colleagues for a recommendation.

Source: LinkedIn

Pursue public speaking

Public speaking opportunities are a great way to promote your personal brand! Speaking at industry events, local business chapter events or trade shows and expositions allows you to be seen as a subject matter expert and helps boost your personal brand. To maximise your speaking opportunity, consider videoing it to use on your blog, website and to be shared via your social channels. As you build your personal brand, it’s important to realise that it is something that will continue to evolve. While these four tactics are a great place to start, the potential for building your personal brand is limitless. Don’t be afraid to try new things and adjust your career branding strategy as you grow in your career.