Ask James Should I tailor my CV

Ask James Should I tailor my CV by James Reed Not sure whether you should tailor your CV?In his monthly column, career coach and Chairman of reed.co.uk, James Reed, shares his expert advice to help you tackle your biggest career concerns.In this month’s column, James gives his top tips on tailoring your CV…The Question:Dear James,I have been applying for lots of jobs recently with no luck. I have been sending the same CV to each job role and some of my friends have said that I should tailor it to each application, do you advise this too? I look forward to hearing your tips, Thank you,Not so funemployedThe Answer:Dear ‘Not so funemployed’,This may not be the answer that you want to hear but I do advise that you have more than one CV. Writing a CV is no mean feat and it takes some time, so I understand that you are questioning putting yet more effort into tailoring it to each application. It does take more time but consider this: it’s far more productive to put an extra hour or two in to sending out three CVs that win you an interview than in to 10 that go straight to the delete folder.I recently wrote a book titled ‘The Seven Second CV’ off the back of some research confirming that seven seconds is all the time a recruiter will give your CV before it goes into the ‘interview’ or ‘reject’ pile. You need to capture their attention quickly and tailoring is an effective way to do just that. You don’t need to write an entirely fresh CV each time, you only need to tweak it.The best CV elements to tailor are your personal statement, work history, skills, work-related qualifications and training. It is a simple two step process:Research the company and the job, so you know exactly what they’re looking for in a candidate.Adapt your CV to show why you’re the right fit for the specific role on offer.When researching the company make sure you take a look at the job advert, and the full job description if you have one (if not, call the company’s HR department and ask i f it’s available it often is). Read things carefully and highlight the words and phrases that seem important. You’ll want to concentrate on the job factors that are mentioned more than once, or that stand out to you.What skills and experience are they after? What does the job entail? Put these in your list. Then, do a matching exercise, take a piece of paper and on the left-hand side list the skills and experience you’ve identified as key from the job advert, or job description that you’re interested in.On the right hand side, list your own skills and experience, including soft, hard and transferable skills. Then draw a line from each job requirement to one or more of your own skills and experience. You’ll notice some of the latter have more than one line ending up at them and others none at all.The ones with lots of lines are the ones you want to highlight on your CV.I hope this helps. If you want any more CV advice or more information on how to tailor your CV then let m e know and I will send you my book, ‘The Seven Second CV’.Good luck in your job hunt.All the best,JamesTailoring your CV: What you need to knowIf you’d like James to answer your career query, tweet your question to  @James_A_ReedLooking for more CV advice?  Download ‘The 7 Second CV’ nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Uncategorized

Fostering Teamwork Mis-Understood By Most Small Business Owners - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Fostering Teamwork Mis-Understood By Most Small Business Owners - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career While having lunch with the CEO of a small not-for-profit organization looking for my help to improve their operation I was told improvement was needed in the area of teamwork. She told me, we need to get people working together more like a team. Right now everyone just works in their own silos. I was familiar with the term silos as it relates to large organizations that have multiple departments and divisions with a lot of employees in each area, but had not yet heard it in the context of a small business like this. So, I asked, how many people are you talking about that are working in silos. She said, we have six total employees, in addition to me and my CFO. Six! Six? I was flabbergasted that six people in one small office working towards a common mission for a regional not-for-profit organization were self-selecting to work in silos. So, I asked this small business CEO, how do you promote and reinforce teamwork? Is it a part of the performance expectations you set and do you monitor it, give people feedback about it and make it part of their annual performance review? She looked at me like a dear caught in headlights, and said, should I? She is not alone. Small business CEOs often expect teamwork just to happen.? The thinking is were a small organization and have limited resources so we all need to work together. For two reasons this thinking IS the problem. First, the small business owner preaches incessantly about it so employees begin to tune it out with the voice of authority turning into the voice of the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons wah wah wah wah. Secondly, planting the belief in limited resources creates a mindset of scarcity, causing employees to want to keep those resources for themselves, and it develops a belief that if someone else has success it will come at my expense. In addition to asking my lunch partner whether she included teamwork in her employees performance expectations and reviews, I also asked what incentives were in place that fostered teamwork. She had none. The reason teamwork works on the athletic field, in addition to the fact that most roles on a team are extremely interrelated (although there are plenty of examples of selfish, individualistic focused athletes on team sports), is that the rewards are the same for all. In both athletics and business, athletes and employees will be earning different salaries, but the ends rewards when team success is achieved (e.g, the team makes the post season playoffs, or wins the championship) are identical for all teammates. Teammates on championship teams earn the same three primary rewards: An equal dollar figure from the playoff pool share awarded to the championship team (this is regardless of players salaries, for example a veteran athlete earning $5 million a year and a rookie earning $500,000 a year, will get the same playoff pool share bonus, if their time on the roster was equal for the season). The championship ring as the memento of the accomplishment. The label of a champion each athlete can use to leverage their value in future contract negotiations. This small business CEO did not have the two key ingredients in place for teamwork to manifest in her workplace: an expectation of contributing to teamwork in the employees performance requirements, and incentives rewarding everyone equally for team/group success. As a small business owner desiring teamwork from employees those two ingredients must be present. Are they? If not, dont expect teamwork to manifest.

Tips for Customer Building Communication - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Tips for Customer Building Communication - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Improve Your Brand With Customer-Centric Relationships Online communication with your brand’s customers is not about just sharing information, but rather personal interaction with them, otherwise known as customer-centric marketing. In order to establish trust and build relationships it’s important to respond to the needs of your connections. How can your personal brand connect with customers on social media? A tried and true method that is often used is face to face interactions, which can now be replaced with a personalized response online. This has become a lost art so to speak in the world of marketing today. The new method of personal branding is a humanized approach with the use of tools that help your business understand the needs of your target market. When you respond to their questions and solve problems this in turn builds trust that can be long lasting and bring about word-of-mouth referrals. Effective customer-centric communication with your brand starts with the individuals you serve Begin these steps today to make lasting and fruitful connections: • Be quick to respond How do you stay on top of inquiries and purchases? Use tracking software to learn more about what others are saying about your personal brand. Not only does this go beyond the ‘buy’ button, but shows that your company cares about its customers. • Not all social networks are alike Social media is the place where people will follow and connect with your brand, but the way that you share information and respond may differ on each network. Learn how others in your niche are posting in places like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, and follow the successful examples. • Go the extra mile with mobile This technology is on the rise with many more people interacting and purchasing with their smart phones and tablets. Your personal brand can benefit by making their experience simple, easy to use, and hassle-free as you respond quickly to your customers’ needs. As the customer-centric trend evolves into a more social media and mobile driven world, it is important for your personal brand to connect the dots with individual attention in addition to quick and efficient responses to questions and problems. Pay attention to the needs of your customers, and you will attract more leads and establish a trusted reputation.

Penelope Trunks 18 Best Posts of 2008

Penelope Trunks 18 Best Posts of 2008 The process of picking the best posts of 2008 is actually very subjective. But I do think that year-end lists are a good way to look at the conversations we have had this year, and how our thinking has changed both personally and collectively. Posts about my divorce werent my most popular, but I learned the most from them: A Case Study in Staying Resilient: My Divorce Feb. 2008 (131) I was scared to post an announcement about my divorce because I was in the middle of raising our first round of funding, and I thought Id freak out investors. But I was more scared that if I stopped posting about myself Id ruin the blog and my desire to write it. So I followed this post five seconds later with one about me being on CNN in an effort to distract investors. It turned out that investors were much more interested in divorce than CNN, and I realized that I was being rewarded by investors for being true to myself. Bonus: We raised $700,000 in funding. Keeping an Eye on My Career While I go through a Divorce May 2008 (95) The New York Times wrote about my divorce and questioned whether I should be blogging about it. My divorce lawyer told me I was going to jeopardize my settlement by blogging. You look reckless, he told me. I decided that I was willing to lose money in the settlement to be able to keep writing about my life. Addendum: My almost-ex-husband never complained about the blog. Posts about the farmer were also not my most popular. But they were the most exciting for me to write. Its been a year full of soul-searching about a lot of things in my life, including this blog. I knew I didnt want to 500 posts on how to write a good resume. But I knew I wanted to still write about the intersection of work and life. The farmer gave me the opportunity to try something new. And these posts ended up opening a larger conversation among you guys about what I should be writing on the blog input and insight that I really appreciate. A New Way to Measure Blog ROI June 2008 (112) How I Started Taming My Workaholic Tendencies June 2008 (136) Vulnerability is the Key to Likability at Work (and on the Farm) Aug. 2008 (104) Self-Sabotage is Never Limited to Just One Area of Your Life Oct. 2008 (47) How to Go to a Meeting When You Want to Sit Home and Cry Nov. 2008 (103) This is the list you were probably expecting. Before I got sidetracked: Subjectively popular posts of 2008 The Hardest Part of My Job is that Everyone Lies about Parenting June 2008 (161) Plastic Surgery is the Next Must-Have Career Tool, Maybe May 2008 (126) Advice from the Top: Marry a Stay-at-Home Spouse or Buy the Equivalent May 2008 (168) 7 Reasons Why Graduate School is Outdated June 2008 (135) Living Up to Your Potential is BS June 2008 (202) My Annual Rant about Christmas at Work Dec. 2008 (187) Post that generated the most thank-you notes: How to Answer the Toughest Interview Question Feb. 2008 (117) Post that I cried the most while I wrote: The Part of Postpartum Depression that No one Talks About Feb. 2008 (102) Post with the most diatribes in the comments section: Writing Without Typos is Totally Outdated May 2008 (151) Post that generated the most interviews from mainstream media: Give Thanks that there is No Job Shortage for Young People Nov. 2008 (115) Most popular guest post: Twentysomething: Why My Generation is More Productive than Yours Sept. 2008 (140) Thank you so much for all your comments and emails. The blog continues to be my favorite part of my job. And maybe my favorite job that Ive ever had.

Juergen Maier how Im running one of the most disruptive companies in the world

Juergen Maier how Im running one of the most disruptive companies in the world Having been at the forefront of the engineering and technology services sectors for more than 170 years, Siemens is a company not to be ignored. Its history speaks for itself; and we were lucky enough to have Siemens UK CEO,  Juergen Maier, visit Debut HQ to chat with our own CEO, Charlie Taylor, plus take part in a DebutLive. Naturally, we had plenty of questions for Juergen, but one of the most burning for us was just how has the company managed to stay so relevant in what is a constantly evolving and ever more competitive market. And, more specifically, his insight into what its like to run one of the most disruptive companies in the world. You can check out a short clip from Juergens DebutLive below, or watch the full stream via the app: Of course you were all really interested to learn more from Juergen, and unfortunately he didnt manage to answer all your questions during the stream. Thankfully, he found the time to provide the below insights for our eager Debutants: If youre not a technology or engineering graduate, are there still ways for you to join and use your other skills in companies such as Siemens? Of course! We offer commercial graduate schemes in areas such as Finance, Procurement and Project Management, and offer soft skills development in a range of areas as part of our Graduate Development Programme (GDP). We place just as much importance on commercial skills as we do technical skills; we are a business after all, and we wouldn’t be successful without the fantastic people who are in these roles. The only thing that is useful is that in all our roles you must be passionate about what we do for our customers and society. Innovation and engineering lies at the heart of that. What should a graduate be focusing on in the first few years of their career? There are lots of things, from enhancing their expertise, building their network and building softer skills etc. Our Graduate Development Programme (GDP) provides the perfect opportunity to make all of this happen. One piece of advice I always give is use our GDP to learn as much as possible about the broad activities in Siemens, and at the same time focus on one area where you can specialise and focus to drive value; maybe become an expert in a new technology or develop a new commercial process that drives productivity. Beyond the hard skills required to successfully perform this job, what soft skills would serve the company and position best? We typically look for people who are inquisitive, good at problem solving, collaborative and who demonstrate the ability to learn and adapt. When you join Siemens you will join our Graduate Development Programme where you will learn soft skills such as Project Management fundamentals, Career Planning, Team Building, Business Influencing and Customer Communication. What would be your best advice for your assessment centres? There’s lots of advice we could give, but there are a few key tips to help you perform at your best at your assessment centre: Read up about Siemens and learn who we are and what we do. Check the location ahead of the day and make sure you know where you’re going and be on time! There’s no need to rush your interview carefully consider your responses and take time to answer any questions. Also make sure you use it as an opportunity to find out as much about us as possible! Be enthusiastic â€" we love enthusiasm, so make contributions that spur new thinking, ideas and conversations. We know it can be difficult, but the day is about you getting to know us as much as us getting to know you, so try to enjoy it and have fun! What is the communication like between people working at Siemens? Is it a very interactive company, or is information sharing based on ‘need to know’ basis? We have an internal social network which allows us to interact with our colleagues across the globe. We utilise the platform to ask questions, share ideas and learn from each other, but also to meet new colleagues from around the world. Since we’ve introduced this we’ve definitely become more interactive. We also have something called Coffee Roulette, where each month you’re paired up with someone you don’t know at your site and you arrange a time to get to know each other â€" this encourages us to get to know people we may not have had the chance to meet before. What qualities do successful employees at Siemens possess, and how do you see and reward growth and professional development? The key quality would be ownership culture, something we thrive upon! There are no closed doors here, we invite everyone to work collaboratively and act as if Siemens were their own company. We encourage people to try new things, not always wait for instruction, have their own thoughts about what they’d do differently as this ultimately shapes the future. In line with this, we support all our employees to take ownership for their development and drive their own careers â€" of course we provide support and motivation along the way, but ultimately it’s up to you â€" you can achieve anything. What are the greatest challenges facing Siemens right now? The pace of change we need to adopt to be and remain a leader in the new Digital world of Industry. We call this the new Digital Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, and it presents a massive opportunity for Siemens and our customers. But we all need to get up to speed with Digital Skills and through that better understand and develop new business opportunities arising from this revolution. What makes Siemens’ culture so unique? That we have been in business for 170 years and constantly innovate and re-invent ourselves to stay ahead of new technologies that generate value for our customers and society. And that we stay true to the values of our founders, the Siemens Family. We are all about innovation and ingenuity, we are always responsible in the way we transact business, and towards the environment and society, and we always strive to be excellent at what we do. Through that we put our customers first and create value for them. Are there initiatives at Siemens that help young children get into technology from an early age, such as learning to code? Absolutely! Through Siemens Education we have developed a unique way of bringing science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) to life in the classroom. We have a huge range of free-to-use online resources for young people (and their teachers), covering everything from autonomous vehicles to rollercoasters, where we hope to inspire the next generation of engineers. How do you support women in STEM backgrounds to secure roles in senior positions in the company? We’ve developed a programme and approach targeted towards women called “Women into Leadership”, which focuses on developing them into senior management roles. This programme provides training and development, networking and mentoring, as well as both group and individual coaching. One of the groups even took over one of our board meetings and made a huge impact with our senior management team. Overall, the approach gives groups a safe environment where women can share experiences, their hopes and their fears about their future career. It is a real strengths-based approach, ensuring a focus on an individual’s strengths to help them really grow. Women themselves are now much more passionate about spreading further culture change within the organisation. We also support a number of national Women in Engineering initiatives, like WISE. Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

Step Up Your Job Search During the Holiday Season

Step Up Your Job Search During the Holiday Season When I counsel clients on their job search during the holiday season, they often tell me that they plan to put their search on hold because they think that everyone is out of town and no one is hiring during this season.Actually, December can be a great time to step up your search campaign because so many applicants believe this misperception of the market. When people drop out of the job market during the holiday season, theres an opportunity for you to accelerate your search in a climate with decreased competition. Below are four ways to increase your visibility in 2007 to prepare for a more robust search in 2008.Informational InterviewsSavvy job seekers know that the more visible they are, the greater the chances of meeting the person that can connect them with a viable job opportunity. This concept may be even more important when you are searching during the holiday season. Some job seekers make the mistake of taking a break from their search during December because they assume t hat no one is in the hiring mode. The reality is that holiday networking may be more productive than networking during other times of the year. Decision makers schedules are not as tight and they may be more generous with their time. By establishing relationships with the key players now, you are more likely to be remembered when the hiring picks up.Family and Community PartiesFamilies and friends tend to make more of an effort to get together during the holiday season. Family and community gatherings are excellent opportunities to reconnect with old friends and hook up with new contacts. Schools, religious groups, health clubs, and support groups are just of few of the communities where holiday activities may be taking place. There is always a chance to share information relevant to these communities as well as information relevant to your personal and professional life at these events.Business FunctionsMost companies and professional associations host a holiday party in December. By attending a spouses company party or an event hosted by a professional organization, you can build powerful business connections in a relaxed and festive environment.Holiday CardsHoliday cards provide a natural touch point or opportunity to reconnect with friends, family, and colleagues. Reach out to your network now with some best wishes and holiday cheer and you will have a natural entrée into a job-related conversation in the New Year.By establishing relationships during the holiday season, you increase the likelihood of making inroads with decision makers who may be hiring in the New Year. Hiring managers may be more accessible, more relaxed, and in a better frame of mind during the winter holiday season. Create a networking plan now to take advantage of the unique networking opportunities available during the month of December.

How to Create Your Perfect Suny Oneonta Resume?

How to Create Your Perfect Suny Oneonta Resume?Suny Oneonta resume writing service and corporate companies have been in the industry for more than twenty years. So you can rest assured that their resumes are in line with the highest standards of professionalism. Many of their clients' trust them enough to hire them again after they have built a good rapport with their clients.These days it is very easy to create your own resume. This makes it easier for people to get a job even if they don't have any prior experience in the field. It is better to go for a Professional Suny Oneonta resume writing service and let them do the hard work for you. The professionals know exactly what needs to be done for you to land a job.You can also use the employment database at the Suny Oneonta employment website. They offer a quick search tool that will give you the top ten candidates in no time. They will provide a list of jobs that match your qualifications and interests.Of course, it is not necessar y that you pay an additional amount of money to use their services. The price is very reasonable, the quality of the services and the fact that they are second to none. They can help you create your perfect resume that will land you the job.The BBB and the UL should be contacted so you can be sure that you are dealing with a reliable company. The Company's Consumer Review is another important source for information on this. This will also serve as a reference when dealing with employers.The quality of the employees at the Suny Oneonta resume writing service is very high. It is important to ensure that you are dealing with a company that has been in the industry for years. You want to be sure that you are dealing with someone who is qualified to handle any task that you have.Nowadays, the competition between companies and job applicants is getting tough. That is why it is imperative that you take all the necessary steps in order to land a job. Remember that you can always get hired i f you are qualified and if you have a proven track record.If you have written a resume before, you may want to review it again and create a different one. This way you will have the opportunity to improve it and become more professional. There are certain things that you need to remember and write down as well.