Career Planning | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

How to Take Your Project Management Career to the Next Level

April 3, 2020 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Project management is a field where professional and interpersonal skills hold equal relevance, so if you want to take your career to the next level, there are many different paths you can follow to distinguish yourself in the job market.

After making an honest assessment of your current skills and achievements, you can establish a good strategy for the future. Here are my recommendations for the steps most likely to take you closer to your ideal role in project management.

Get Professional Certification

If you’ve stumbled into project management by chance but feel limited by your current options, perhaps it’s time to demonstrate your skills with an official certification. Obtaining a professional project management certification is an intense and challenging process, which is why employers put great value on it.

Some roles specifically demand PMP qualifications. To make yourself a viable candidate for a wider range of positions, inform yourself about pmp requirements and determine whether you have what it takes to earn the certification. Adding it to your resume will make it easier to prove that you have all the skills and knowledge required to advance to a better role.

Have an Online Presence

The Internet has changed how employees and companies connect. If they wanted to make themselves more attractive to potential employers, people had to take the active role and send resumes, hoping to spark a recruiter’s interest. Nowadays, however, the roles are not as clearly defined. Recruiters can find you through a networking website like LinkedIn without you actively seeking them out.

Besides growing into a popular hiring tool, LinkedIn is a place where professionals can make a profile that goes beyond listing skills and achievements. You can write articles and case studies and connect with colleagues, employers or companies. By keeping an updated profile and having online activity in a place with a wide audience, you can happen upon new career opportunities.

Refine Your Soft Skills

A project manager must possess strong soft skills and be able to display and utilize them accordingly first at interviews and networking events, then daily in the workplace. Being able to forge meaningful and productive relationships with people is essential in project management. If you are not confident in your interpersonal skills or you haven’t reached your full potential yet, make a list of the areas you need to focus on.

If you don’t know where to start, look at key areas such as leadership, coaching, communication, problem-solving, organization, conflict management and teamwork. You can attend online and offline courses, participate in workshops and training, volunteer in projects or you can develop your personal learning strategy to work on these skills. In fact, every situation that takes you out of your comfort zone will hone your soft skills.

If you’re a committed and motivated person, you will find plenty of opportunities for career progression in project management. By applying the strategies presented above, you will get closer to your career goals and move into a rewarding role where you can make success happen for people and businesses.

Top 3 Benefits of Remote Work

February 10, 2020 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Some decades ago, no one thought about the concept of remote work. By the end of 2018, there were already 57 million Americans working remotely, and that is about 35% of the US workforce.

75% of companies worldwide have already adopted flexible work policies, and over 61% of business owners have reported an increase in their company’s profit after following this trend.

In case you are still struggling to understand why remote work has become so crucial to the workplace, the following points should help clear up your doubts.

Increases Employee Productivity

Remote work allows employees to have flexible working hours and choose the place where they will work. That means that employees can work when they feel they are most productive.

That is not the case with 9-to-5 jobs where employees are expected to arrive at work at a specific time and work for eight hours, even if they are not at their peak productivity.

US employers lose $1.8 trillion annually due to the lack of productivity caused by employee health problems, distractions, etc. In the case of remote work, over 83% of employers and employees have confirmed that flexible working hours boosted their productivity.

Saves Money

Remote work is an excellent way for companies to cut costs of office space, supplies, equipment, etc.

If employees telecommuted for just half of the time, an average business could save around $11,000 every year.

A typical example is American Express that saved up to $15 million annually by introducing telecommuting. Aetna, a health insurance company, also achieved similar results by reducing its total office space by 2.7 million square feet and saving up to $78 million.

Gives Employers Access to a Wide Range of Talent in the Industry

Remote work helps break down talent barriers and attract people from different locations. The continuous advancement of technology has made communication from any part of the world cheap and effective.

For this reason, employers can conveniently reach out to more talented individuals or agencies in the industry, regardless of their location.

Check out the infographics that follow to discover more benefits of remote work.

How to Include Travel on Your Résumé

January 19, 2020 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

With an increasing number of companies globalizing to reach new markets, we see a rise in demand for certain skills like cross-cultural communication, effective leadership with clients and teams abroad, and the ability to thrive in different work environments. If you’ve recently taken a gap year to travel, studied abroad or volunteered in a foreign country, your experiences might be a great asset to include in your résumé.

Knowing how to categorize and describe meaningful travel experiences on your résumé can not only help you stand out from the rest of the applicants but explain any long gaps in your career. To help you categorize your travels, make them relevant to your career and learn how to best highlight the skills your potential employer might be interested in, I thought I’d share this guide from Car Rentals. In addition to the guide, they include tips and examples on how to word your travels, skills you gained and accomplishments.

Whether you’re considering taking a gap year, currently traveling or ready to head back to work, by following these tips and best practices you’ll be ready to turn your travels into an asset for your future employer.

5 Reasons Why You Should Go Minimalist at Home

January 19, 2020 by Tess Cain Leave a Comment

The minimalist lifestyle is much more than you might think. What comes to your mind first when you hear the word ‘minimalism’? Most of us think of an empty white-walled room with a desk and a chair. Well, what if we told you that the minimalist lifestyle is actually a choice that you can make to better your life?

The saying ‘Less is more’ is older than the minimalist revolution, but it only proves that this mindset has always been present, even amongst our ancestors.

So what does it mean to be a minimalist?

It means letting go of things, emotions, and people that you don’t need in your life to allow those that you do need to enter. It’s as simple as that.

With that said, this lifestyle is different for everyone, because not everyone wants to invest their time in the same things. But no matter what you choose to keep or get rid of, reasons to become a minimalist remain the same.

Your home may be the most important place to go minimalist, and we’ll give you five reasons why. Here they are:

You will spend less time cleaning

Minimalism means getting rid of stuff you don’t need or no longer use. With less stuff in your way, you will spend less time cleaning up and more time doing something that you actually enjoy.

While you might enjoy treating yourself during Black Friday sales, chances are high that you can live without all those things. Usually, people tend to pile up clothes, shoes, jackets, and similar items, so they eventually get stuck in their own clutter. But you can easily avoid this situation. Minimalists are not victims of consumerism; they buy what they need and when they need it. If you want your home to become a minimalist paradise, you should start small.

When you buy one thing, make it a rule to get rid of two things. Instead of throwing away your belongings, you could organize a yard sale, donate or sell your used furniture online.

It’s easy and eventually, your house will be cleaner and clutter-free. Tidying up will not last as long and you’ll have more free time for yourself.

And just imagine the feeling of knowing where everything is at all times!

You will love every single thing that you own

Do you have a favorite piece of clothing? Lucky you! Then you know how great it feels when you wear it. Well, what if we told you that minimalists feel that way about all their belongings? It’s true.

People tend to buy a bunch of unnecessary things that they liked at one point because they were on sale or looked beautiful in the store or somebody else bought it. Minimalists think carefully about every single thing that they buy, so when they do buy it, they rarely regret it!

Your home should be a place filled with things that make you feel good! Comfortable furniture that you enjoy, where you like to spend time, read a book or watch TV. Clothes that fit you now, at that given moment, not clothes that will suit you when you lose weight. Not clothes that fit you when you were younger.

On your journey to a minimalist lifestyle, you will gain more clarity of who you are, of what you love and enjoy. Your home will become more spacious, and at the same time it will become a place for things you truly adore.

You’ll have more focus

A cluttered home can make a mess in your mind, but with that out of your way, you’ll have a chance to relax and focus. A clean house with a lot of space and natural light is the biggest energizer there is. It’s a place where you can rest but also create.

If you give your house a minimalist makeover, it will impact your quality of life too. You will take your focus and mindset with you wherever you go. You’ll even be tempted to create a more productive space for yourself at work. Your focus will be on creating a calming environment, decluttering your office desk, and removing the negatives altogether from all aspects of your life.

You will have more money

One of the biggest reasons to go minimalist is that you get to save a lot of money. Once you realize how much you spend on unnecessary things, you’ll quickly make it a habit to buy the essentials only. And when you do buy new stuff, you will think it through, check your budget and choose quality over quantity.

You’ll see that with time, you’ll also develop a habit of saving money. Minimalists choose experiences over things, so if you join this movement, your budget won’t be wasted on house décor, but on travel and quality time with your loved ones.

You will have a lower impact on the environment

Minimalism promotes buying less stuff and stopping consumerism, so naturally, this means less negative impact on our surroundings. Our planet is continuously suffering the consequences of our daily actions, which is why we have to become more conscious about it. If you become a minimalist, you will reduce your impact on the environment because you’ll be consuming less stuff and as a result there will be less pollution… it’s as simple as that.

This lifestyle has plenty of advantages, but with no doubt, the most important one is that you get to impact the planet’s well-being. And at the same time, you get to create a better life for yourself.

Final thoughts

Becoming a minimalist will make you appreciate your home even more. It will become your safe space, the place where you can relax and enjoy the company of those that you love the most.

Don’t fall into the trap of overwhelming yourself by trying to completely change your lifestyle overnight, rather you are going to want to take it one step at a time… this will ensure that you will actually integrate and make this new way of life a permanent change, rather than a fad that you only do for a little while.

Eventually as time passes you will realize that there are a lot more deeper aspects to minimalism than first meets the eye! More time, more love, more appreciation, more gratitude, more experience, and more freedom.

Five Benefits of Working Late Hours

January 8, 2020 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

If your boss told you to work late night hours, most people would decline the offer and prefer to work during the day. It’s really common because people would much prefer to be working when the sun is out as opposed to when it’s dark all over. However, there are a couple of unique advantages to working late-night hours that most people don’t realize.

The pay is fantastic for a night shift

A lot of people overlook the fact that night shifts pay really well. This is usually because most people don’t enjoy working night shifts, so they need to incentivize it by increasing the salary or hourly pay.

You won’t be groggy when the family is around

An underestimated benefit of working night shifts is being able to sleep while your kids are at school. Your children will be full of energy even when they come home, so if you time your sleep schedule to wake up when they return, you won’t be groggy and tired when you play with them and help them with their homework.

You get more job opportunities

Taking on a night shift opens you up to new employment opportunities that wouldn’t be available if you limited yourself to regular working hours.

It’s a good idea to remember that working late hours can be taxing on the body, especially if you aren’t used to it yet. So to help you out, we’ve included an infographic below that will teach you all about working night shifts.

Image Source: Infographic