Why a Dodgy Social Media Profile is Better than None

Why a Dodgy Social Media Profile is Better than None Everyone knows by now that drunken party pics, profane posts and inappropriate Tweets can cost you a job or a job offer. But did you know that having no social media presence at all can be just as damaging? If youve honed your resume to a point of razor sharpness, thats great. But in 2015, it likely wont be enough to land you the job or promotion youre after. This is particularly true in high tech industries, PR and marketing fields and for any industry or company thats particularly social media savvy. The more senior the role youre applying for or the more outward-facing role, the more important it is that you not only have a social media presence, but a sophisticated and active one. And, no matter the level or type of job youre seeking, having no social media presence is a red flag that can fast-track your resume to the “no” pile. Here are three conclusions a hiring manager or recruiter may draw from you pulling an invisible man act on social media. 1)  Youve got no tech savvy: In the new Millennia, lack of technical skills makes you an employment pariah. Having zero social media presence can indicate that youre inept when it comes to the interwebs. At a minimum, you should have a robust LinkedIn profile with lots of connections and some meaningful endorsements about your job and interpersonal skills. Increasingly, having active and savvy Facebook and Twitter profiles are also preferable to most employers. If you dont have these social media skills, it can be a red flag that youre inept, lazy or worse. According to Forbes, two of the key personality traits employers look for are intellectual curiosity and self-monitoring. Nearly 60% of employers are looking for these traits that are readily demonstrated by a discerning social media presence. Kathy Harris of search firm Harris Allied says employers are attracted to those with “the ability to problem solve and the ongoing dedication to learning new technologies or solutions that will continue to advance in the changing workplace.” For professionals at any stage of their career, this means embracing trending tech which, at the moment, clearly includes social media. Otherwise, you can look like youre refusing to upgrade your skills and no employer wants to hire someone who cant â€" or wont â€" evolve. 2)  Youve done a panic dump: If you have no social media profiles, but theres evidence that you once existed on Facebook or Twitter, this is a red flag that youve done a dump for some reason. If your social media profiles were a scrapbook of your bad decisions and you did delete them all prior to job searching, you should know that you cant erase your online shenanigans. Even if you delete the profiles themselves, there will be a digital footprint left behind that will raise question marks about your employability and exactly what youre trying to hide. Photos you were tagged in wont go away and tweets are archived digitally by a number of websites. If it looks like you did a panic delete, an intrepid recruiter may dig deeper looking for dirt. Instead of trying to erase your social media faux pas, clean them up. Make sure your profile pics are work appropriate, update your settings to private, delete old photos that are dodgy and check to see what photos youre tagged in and ask your Facebook friends to untag you or take down any youre not comfortable with. Take the time to assess and refine your profiles and feeds even if youre not actively job hunting. You never know when a potential employer may be checking you out online and not having clean and compelling social media profiles may cost you an opportunity. 3) You have nothing to offer: If your LinkedIn profile is simply a digital resume, its not going to be impressive to a potential employer and can look like you are two-dimensional and have less to offer than other candidates. And if you have no LinkedIn or other profiles, it leaves a void that can be a red flag that you have nothing to offer. Employers want employees that dont just show up â€" they want people that are thinkers and innovators. Active social media profiles can demonstrate these desired traits if leveraged wisely. On LinkedIn, participating in groups, sharing content and your informed opinions on trending topics shows that youre a thought leader. This is particularly important for those in leadership positions. On Twitter, sharing links on your industry and trends shows that youre curious and a thinker, not just someone who uses social media for minutiae. Avoid being flippant, overly political or critical. Instead, show off your analytical skills and insight to make an impression. You may think no one is looking at your feeds and web presence, but thats not so. Even if youre not seeing likes or shares, that doesnt mean eyes arent on it. A few posts a week, cross-promoted across your platforms will establish a meaningful digital footprint that can make you more appealing to potential employers. Establish or enhance your social media footprint: Digital evolution has brought us to the point that your social media presence is an inherent â€" and significant â€" facet of your professional persona. If your online social presence is non-existent, youre less than you could be in the eyes of potential employers and recruiters. More than 90% of recruiters now include a social media search as part of their pre-screen and employers regularly scope out their employees online as well. If you raise any of these red flags, you could be passed over for an opportunity or promotion. So get off the social media sofa â€" establish profiles if you have none, clean them up if youve been sloppy and enhance them with quality interactions that show youre a person of substance both offline and online. Author:  Rachel Rowan is the lead marketing writer for Hloom.com, a provider of free high-quality resume templates. She has been a freelance writer for more than seven years in the field of HR, finance and tech and has blogged extensively for attorneys, tech companies and professional service firms.

Home Design How To Make Your Home Easier to Clean - Classy Career Girl

Home Design How To Make Your Home Easier to Clean Who doesnt dream of a home that is aesthetically designed and clean all the time.   A beautiful home is no easy task but it can be achievable. Home Design: How To Make Your Home Easier to Clean 1. The Floors   The floor is the most used and often the dirtiest too. Fortunately, there are plenty of choices, but nothing matches the impervious abilities of stained concrete with a protective sealer. It is easy to mop and sweep. Other options include hardwood floors and luxury vinyl tile or laminates. 2. The Upholstery An easy to clean stain resistant upholstery is what you need. The  majority of us prefer leather because of kids running around. Though I have nothing against it except for just one concern the color choices people usually make. Who says charcoal gray, taupe, black, brandy or chocolate colors aren’t dandy. Well, they add a bit of jazz and drama like no else. Just remember, ivory and white may suffice your taste, but they do get dirty very easily. Or go for vinyl upholstery!  It has come a long way since its inception; from its plastic look to the upscale exterior it has now. Designer brands too can be great if your budget allows. You can find some great options like leather or textures that imitate fabrics. 3.The Tiles The wide array of variety available will make you fall in love with the carpet tiles. Youll find that they are easy to vacuum just like the other options but do you know whats best about  carpet tiles? You can take out a single tile and clean it so that its good as new! [RELATED: 5 Inspiring Home Office Decor Ideas] 4. The Walls Invest in scrubbable wall paint. This applies to homes with teenagers and adults and not just homes with kids. Paint gets dirty over time. A dirty looking wall paint is as embarrassing as a wall art done by your three-year-old on the living room wall. Selecting a good quality scrubbable paint ensures that you can clean it whenever it looks a little spotted. And since it is of good quality, you dont need to consider re-painting  the entire wall very often. 5. The Wall Coverings Another state of the art, high-end option is wall coverings. Well, the older options may be difficult to clean, but the more recent ones like the vinyl coverings are better for cleaning. If you want to give your house a luxurious feel, think beyond vinyl that imitates grass cloth, silk, or linen. Wall coverings are affordable and can be cleaned easily. 6. The Furniture   This is one of the best house cleaning tips that I can give you. Find furniture with casters and use them for your dining table or any other heavy furniture. These will make moving your furniture so much easier when cleaning, mopping and vacuuming the area without  needing to actually move the furniture. The Bottom LineGo for a minimalist home design. A minimalist design is not only an option to save money, but also great for keeping your home clean and decorated all the time. A minimalist design doesnt take much effort or time to vacuum or clean up yourself. So what is your pick? Let us know or if you have any  additional home design ideas!

Networking is Necessary to Support Your Personal Branding - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Networking is Necessary to Support Your Personal Branding - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career In college, it’s called socializing; in business it’s called networking. You do the same thing; it’s just that your clothes aren’t as sexy. One CEO told me, “My wife encourages sleepovers for the kids and sports so that they learn to network from the start.” So a few tips to do daily: -have the goal to get visible to a wider range of people, that’s all -anticipate discomfort â€" they feel it too â€" so push those silly feelings aside and be the one that makes them feel comfortable -take four minutes out of your day to initiate a call, write a note, forward a link, pick up the phone to follow-up, congratulate, inquire, or whatever That’s it. Once a day. In a year (giving yourself time off for holidays) you’ll have over 300 engagements that you initiated. That’s like 265 more than you did last year, right!? CEOs have told me this about their networking activity: -“One of my biggest regrets is the contacts I’ve let drop over time.” (Mine too!) -“My rule is to follow-up four times with one individual. Nothing ever happens with just one contact.” -“Maybe someone accuses me of schmoozing, I just view it as being accessible, professional, and confident.” -And my favorite, “You’re only one phone call away from changing your life.” Whether you like it or not, you’re building a reputation the day you start your career. Everything you do stays with you forever in some person’s mind â€" and it’s within your control if you take the initiative.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Are You Offering Too Much -- or Too Little -- Praise to Your Team

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Are You Offering Too Much -- or Too Little -- Praise to Your Team There has been a lot written about the Millennial generation that grew uphearing good job!for nearly every achievement in their lives, whether it was coloring within the lines or winning a Nobel prize. The result is that many of us pepper our speech with good job! at work, feeling that as a leader we must continually offer affirmation to everyone we see in a day. While we may believe that this is much better than being stingy with praise, the result is often the same: Workers are not motivated. The key, experts say, is thinking about how and when is the best time to give praise. Time it right, they say, and youll reap the rewards of a more productive and engaged workforce. Do it wrong, and you could eventually drive team members into looking for another job. Specifically, research results from more than 200,000 participants used in The Carrot Principle found that managers who were seen as givingeffective recognitionhad lower turnover, achieved better organizational results and were seen as stronger in goal setting and accountability. Further, employees who worked for managers they believed gave them the proper recognition had better morale than those who didnt give their managers such high marks. Dale Carnegie Trainingsuggests that the praise must be genuine in order to be effective. As a leader you have to stop and ask yourself if its really worth making a big deal out of someone simply completing a task or is offering praise simply a way for you to tick it off your to-do list? At the same time, offering praise that is too generalized can backfire, and may even seem insulting to the employee because you dont seem to truly notice what he does.Avoid saying good jobin passing and instead offer something like, Thank you for helping us out; you were a major factor in the success of this ______, the training center suggests. In The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, authors Gary Chapman and Paul White say there are different ways that people feel appreciated, such as: Words of affirmation.Employees who value such words feel on top of the world when they are verbally praised for an achievement or accomplishment. The more you can catch a staff person doing a task in the way you want and you call attention to that specific task or behavior, the more likely that behavior is going to occur again, the authors write. They also explain that you can focus on positive personality traits that will help such workers play to their strengths. One of the things I admire about you is that youre always optimistic, is a way to show appreciation to an employee. Quality time.These employees feel the most appreciated when you stop by and say, Tell me how things are going. While some managers (read more here)

How to Dress For a Job Interview

How to Dress For a Job Interview Now that you’ve tossed the graduation cap into the air and the diplomas have been collected, it’s time to face the job hunt.After all the preparation you’ve put in Job hunting is hard, and it can be a painful process. However, your outfit should reflect just how qualified you are for the position. Brooke Jaffe, the senior vice president at a personal styling and closet organizing company, believes the candidates should, “dress for the job Here are some examples of interview outfits for men. For a professional job interview, men can always default to wearing a suit. Nonetheless, all clothes should fit you well and shouldn’t have visible stains or wrinkles.Without further ado, here are some fundamental items men could wear during a professional interview:Suit Here are some fundamental building blocks of what women could wear to a professional interview:Suit â€" if it includes a skirt, make sure the skirt is long enough so you can sit down comfortably.Comfortable blouse.Wear m akeup and jewelry that’s appropriate for the industry.Neutral stockings and/or pantyhose.Clean nails.A briefcase and/or portfolio.Avoid wearing lots of perfume as some people are allergicLess Formal AttireWhen the work environment is less formal, the dress code may be as well. If this is the case and you aren’t sure what to wear, it’s never a bad idea to check with the person scheduling the interview.However, it’s still important not to dress like you’re going to a concert. Here are some alternatives:Business Casual: This sounds like a breeze â€" no more worries about what to wear to work, right? Not exactly.evalAs a matter of fact, this dress code guideline is a frequent source of confusion for most employees; and it’s not their fault since there really isn’t a clear and standardized definition.One thing is clear: dressing in shorts, T-shirt, sunglasses, and sandals is too casual. So if you’re unsure about the dress code, it’s better to err on the side of dressing too formal, than too casual.What to wear when there’s no dress code: The work industry isn’t what it was 20 years ago. Now more than ever, company culture is slowly shifting towards allowing employees more flexibility in terms of when they work, where they work, and what they wear to work.In some ways, this can be a perk. Forget the expensive suits, the dry cleaning bills, the high heels, and tight collars.Nevertheless, more freedom can also make it more difficult to get dressed before the interview.When there’s no company dress code, what do you wear to work? How casual is too casual? Will you look out of the place if you showed up in a dress? Are sandals acceptable? What about sweatpants during those cold winter days?The best thing to do in this case is wear clothing items you feel comfortable in Thanks for the read! Did I miss anything? What are some other fashion options candidates should know about before a job interview? Feel free to leave a comment below.

How to Secure that Corporate Role - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

How to Secure that Corporate Role The best jobs out there require the successful candidate to, not only stand out from the crowd, to have the appropriate qualifications and/ or experience, but to also have that wow factor. Most interviewers know whether or not they want you within the first five minutes of the interview, so you have to ooze professionalism, integrity, intelligence, and display the ability to work within the company hierarchy. You have to be able to listen and show you are able to take views and opinions onboard, while at the same time keeping your own. It is not an easy feat and the competition is tough. Moreover, with these sorts of roles, the first three months into the job are treated as an extended part of the interview process. Generally you are on probation, and if you don’t continue to come across as the diligent etc. person you were on the interview day, you could be saying sayonara. With all that in mind here are some tips and advice on securing that role, and easing your way into a corporate future. Create a personal brand You need a professional image. Who are you? Who do you want to be? The moment you enter that interview room you are the public relations person for your own personal brand. First off, you need to look the part, every detail catered for. Suit, hair, face, cleans hands and nails, breath, voice, handshake, eye contact, the way you walk and hold yourself etc. You need to be confident not arrogant.   Then you need to be able to live up to the expectations that your brand image creates, and further still you need to be able to maintain it. So, the image can be in part an act, but you need to be able to pull it off into the office. In essence the act becomes you. You are the person you want to be. It may be worth your while investing in STL training to develop your professionalism. You can’t over prepare for interviews and the first few weeks on the job, if of course it is something you really want. What position do you want? This goes hand in hand with creating your own personal brand because you will adjust your branding for what you want. Remember, although it’s about the company liking you, you need to like the company too, or you will not be fulfilled within the role. Get your head down and think about what you are looking for in a company and a role, and how you can go about achieving it. Also, think about what are your key strengths and skills, what tasks you excel in and ones not so much. Once you know what you want the whole process seems to take on a life of its own. Momentum builds and you will find it easier. Creating lists in this sort of vein is a good thing to do in preparation for an interview anyway, as most interviewers ask these sorts of questions, and you will be forearmed. Network and build relationships You are going to need allies at work. So, be talk to people, be friendly with them, be polite and courteous. When it comes to redundancies etc. personal relationships go a long way in keeping you safe. In addition, find out who in the company knows what specific task. If you are struggling with something work-related, you will be able to go straight to the person in the know and finish the project sooner. You can find out more about the company by networking and building ties, and this will help you progress. Be proactive Understand the business and processes. You will be able to identify issues before they become a problem and highlight them to your manager. This will make you both look good and so your manager will value you. Ask questions When you first start a job there is so much to learn. Do not be overconfident and think you know it all, as this is a surefire way to make mistakes, you need to ask questions. If you have been instructed to perform some task and are not entirely sure of the process, ask. This is far better than doing it wrong. You may feel as if you are supposed to already know it all as a new start, but this is not that case. A lot of people actually enjoy giving pearls of wisdom to newbies, so definitely ask questions. But at the same time don’t ask too many, or the same question over and over.

What You Should Know About Hiring a Professional Resume Writer

What You Should Know About Hiring a Professional Resume Writer Crafting a perfect resume is a skill most people don’t have, and that’s okay! It’s never a bad thing to try to put together your resume yourself, but where most people go wrong is by not seeking out second opinions on their resume’s quality. Writing an effective resume takes time and precision, so if you don’t have those luxuries, hiring a professional resume writer may be your best option. However, before you do so, make sure you keep these points in mind so you aren’t disappointed when you speak with a professional resume writer. Determine Whether You Really Need a Professional Resume Writer You’ll have many factors to consider when it comes to hiring a professional resume writing service. If you don’t have a clear sense of what position you want next, even the best writer won’t be able to craft your resume to perfection. Get really clear on exactly what you want to do. A professional resume writer is good at highlighting your current skills and applying them to the type of job you’re seeking. Our writers work at creating your “story” what you’ve done in your career and how you can do this for them. To do this effectively, you will need to gather as much information from your past that will be relevant to the next role. How Professional Resume Writers Can Help Professional resume writers will craft resumes that get you hired in just about any industry you’re skilled in. With that said, if you’re well established in your industry and are looking for a pay raise, increased responsibilities or other promotions, you’ll definitely benefit from a professional writing your resume because they can help you seamlessly transition your experience into the next role. Even the smallest mistake in your resume could be detrimental to your chances of being hired because of the competition you face. Know What You’re Getting Into You can’t just go to a professional resume writing service without any information and expect them to work magic for you. The best thing you can do is write your own resume first and submit it for review and feedback. Most services will be honest with you because they don’t want to waste their time if you don’t need their expertise. If they do recommend you hire them, it probably won’t be cheap. Depending on the type of resume you want to create, it could cost several hundred dollars or more. You just have to ask yourself whether it’s worth it to you if it helps you get the job you want. Most of the time, the answer is yes. There are many keys to writing an effective resume, and even one little mistake could send your resume off the tracks with a potential employer.