Tools I Use (part II of II) Hardware

Tools I Use (part II of II) Hardware Heres the other half of the Tools I Use post.   Friday was about the software I use, today is about the hardware.   Again, in no particular order: Split Keyboard: I type so much that I need something ergonomic.   I tried a split keyboard when I worked for the FBI doing a lot of typing and it became a must-have.   I never have pain in my wrists from typing unless I am on my laptop a lot, or have to use someone elses keyboard. USB headset: As mentioned on Friday, I use Skype so this headset is how I answer the phone or make calls out.   I love how it is hands-free so I can be on a call and take notes the entire time. Optical mouse with a scroll wheel: You know the mouse that has that wheel on the top, so you can easily scroll up and down a website?   If I dont have the wheel Im apt to go nutz.   Seriously.   I hate using a mouse that does not have the scroll wheel. UPS: This is that big battery backup that you plug all your stuff into Ive had a few brownouts and my UPS easily keeps my computer up.   Theres nothing fun about an electrical problem that causes your machine to reboot my UPS is awesome. Two monitors: I cannot do it with one monitor anymore I have one that is 19 wide and another that is 22 wide, and I use all of it.   One day Ill have four monitors if you dont think you can use two monitors you simply havent tried.   When Im on the road and have to use just my laptop monitor I really feel the limitation. Palm Treo: This is my phone I dont know if my next one will be an iPhone (sexy but crappy phone service), a BlackBerry (which I can use on my Sprint account), or a Palm Pre but for now this does what I want.   I should note that I DO NOT do email or surf the web on my phone I had to draw the line somewhere and this was it.   I dont want email to get at me 247! Thumb Drives: When Im on the road I rely on my thumb drives to transfer my presentations. I didnt think they were a big deal but I use them all the time when on the road. Magellan GPS: I call this my Lady, and she is crucial to my travels.   I bought a 4 wide for $175 (it was a floor model) and have loved it from day one.   My Lady has saved me on many trips, and the amount of stress from navigating a new city has gone from 100 to 0 from that day on. Honorable Mention: Dymo Twin Turbo LabelWriter: Since I got my LinkedIn DVDs in, and started shipping them, this has become my new best friend.   I bought the twin since it prints two different labels on the left is the shipping label (with your name and my return address) and on the right is the stamps it is SO awesome to be able to fulfill all of my DVDs from my desk, without having to go to the post office (as long as it the package goes domestic). What hardware tools do you live by? Tools I Use (part II of II) Hardware Heres the other half of the Tools I Use post.   Friday was about the software I use, today is about the hardware.   Again, in no particular order: Split Keyboard: I type so much that I need something ergonomic.   I tried a split keyboard when I worked for the FBI doing a lot of typing and it became a must-have.   I never have pain in my wrists from typing unless I am on my laptop a lot, or have to use someone elses keyboard. USB headset: As mentioned on Friday, I use Skype so this headset is how I answer the phone or make calls out.   I love how it is hands-free so I can be on a call and take notes the entire time. Optical mouse with a scroll wheel: You know the mouse that has that wheel on the top, so you can easily scroll up and down a website?   If I dont have the wheel Im apt to go nutz.   Seriously.   I hate using a mouse that does not have the scroll wheel. UPS: This is that big battery backup that you plug all your stuff into Ive had a few brownouts and my UPS easily keeps my computer up.   Theres nothing fun about an electrical problem that causes your machine to reboot my UPS is awesome. Two monitors: I cannot do it with one monitor anymore I have one that is 19 wide and another that is 22 wide, and I use all of it.   One day Ill have four monitors if you dont think you can use two monitors you simply havent tried.   When Im on the road and have to use just my laptop monitor I really feel the limitation. Palm Treo: This is my phone I dont know if my next one will be an iPhone (sexy but crappy phone service), a BlackBerry (which I can use on my Sprint account), or a Palm Pre but for now this does what I want.   I should note that I DO NOT do email or surf the web on my phone I had to draw the line somewhere and this was it.   I dont want email to get at me 247! Thumb Drives: When Im on the road I rely on my thumb drives to transfer my presentations. I didnt think they were a big deal but I use them all the time when on the road. Magellan GPS: I call this my Lady, and she is crucial to my travels.   I bought a 4 wide for $175 (it was a floor model) and have loved it from day one.   My Lady has saved me on many trips, and the amount of stress from navigating a new city has gone from 100 to 0 from that day on. Honorable Mention: Dymo Twin Turbo LabelWriter: Since I got my LinkedIn DVDs in, and started shipping them, this has become my new best friend.   I bought the twin since it prints two different labels on the left is the shipping label (with your name and my return address) and on the right is the stamps it is SO awesome to be able to fulfill all of my DVDs from my desk, without having to go to the post office (as long as it the package goes domestic). What hardware tools do you live by? Tools I Use (part II of II) Hardware Heres the other half of the Tools I Use post.   Friday was about the software I use, today is about the hardware.   Again, in no particular order: Split Keyboard: I type so much that I need something ergonomic.   I tried a split keyboard when I worked for the FBI doing a lot of typing and it became a must-have.   I never have pain in my wrists from typing unless I am on my laptop a lot, or have to use someone elses keyboard. USB headset: As mentioned on Friday, I use Skype so this headset is how I answer the phone or make calls out.   I love how it is hands-free so I can be on a call and take notes the entire time. Optical mouse with a scroll wheel: You know the mouse that has that wheel on the top, so you can easily scroll up and down a website?   If I dont have the wheel Im apt to go nutz.   Seriously.   I hate using a mouse that does not have the scroll wheel. UPS: This is that big battery backup that you plug all your stuff into Ive had a few brownouts and my UPS easily keeps my computer up.   Theres nothing fun about an electrical problem that causes your machine to reboot my UPS is awesome. Two monitors: I cannot do it with one monitor anymore I have one that is 19 wide and another that is 22 wide, and I use all of it.   One day Ill have four monitors if you dont think you can use two monitors you simply havent tried.   When Im on the road and have to use just my laptop monitor I really feel the limitation. Palm Treo: This is my phone I dont know if my next one will be an iPhone (sexy but crappy phone service), a BlackBerry (which I can use on my Sprint account), or a Palm Pre but for now this does what I want.   I should note that I DO NOT do email or surf the web on my phone I had to draw the line somewhere and this was it.   I dont want email to get at me 247! Thumb Drives: When Im on the road I rely on my thumb drives to transfer my presentations. I didnt think they were a big deal but I use them all the time when on the road. Magellan GPS: I call this my Lady, and she is crucial to my travels.   I bought a 4 wide for $175 (it was a floor model) and have loved it from day one.   My Lady has saved me on many trips, and the amount of stress from navigating a new city has gone from 100 to 0 from that day on. Honorable Mention: Dymo Twin Turbo LabelWriter: Since I got my LinkedIn DVDs in, and started shipping them, this has become my new best friend.   I bought the twin since it prints two different labels on the left is the shipping label (with your name and my return address) and on the right is the stamps it is SO awesome to be able to fulfill all of my DVDs from my desk, without having to go to the post office (as long as it the package goes domestic). What hardware tools do you live by?

Resume Writing Tips For People Who Have No Experience

Resume Writing Tips For People Who Have No ExperienceWriting a resume is not the same for everyone. For example, some people have had some experience in the past, while others do not. This can be true if the person has no experience at all. If you are someone who has no experience or had no experience, you can still go about making a resume that will work for you.A resume can help you when you need to let an employer know your ability to do work. It is necessary to keep a few things in mind when writing a resume, especially if you have no work experience or none at all. Below are tips to writing a resume for people who have no experience.Look at what it is that you have written on your resume. Find out what it is that is wrong with your resume. This includes things like grammar, spelling, formatting, and punctuation. All of these items play a major role in creating a resume that is helpful for you to use. If you do not know how to do some of them, it might be wise to learn so that yo u can make your resume unique and professional.Make sure that you know how to write a resume that is easy to read and can effectively employ people. There are many guides that you can use in order to find a good guide for resume writing. Make sure that the guide you use includes several tips that you can apply. Many of these guides will include chapters and sections that will help you know how to write a resume that is easy to read and employ people.When you find how to write a resume that is professional, you need to incorporate the appropriate information. Keep it simple so that employers can easily read the information that they need to know. It is important to keep your resume short and simple. Employers may be willing to spend a little more time reading a short resume. If you are already well educated, then it may not be necessary to spend the extra time reading the information.Do not take too much time on your resume. You do not want your resume to be too long, but you also do not want it to be too short either. The idea behind writing a resume is to get something done. Having too many details on a resume makes it difficult to use because the reader can get lost.The idea behind writing a resume is to let people know about your skills. You do not want to leave anything off. Make sure that you include everything on your resume that you feel is essential to showing your potential employer what you are capable of doing. As long as you remember that employers are looking for people who are interested in what they have to offer, then you can use these tips to make a resume that will work for you.Resume writing is not easy for everyone. When you are looking for ways to get things done, you want to make sure that you are looking at a guide or material that includes the steps that you need to follow in order to create a resume that can be used by anyone. There are other resources that you can use to find a better way to write a resume, but make sure that you cons ider using a guide that is full of information and tips to help you get the most out of your resume.

Certified Professional Resume Writers (Top 5)

Certified Professional Resume Writers (Top 5) Are you on the market for a new resume?If you are searching for certified resume writer services, it’s clear that you have already done some research.Finding highly-credentialed, certified professional resume writers is a great way to minimize risk, and avoid resume writing scams.But did you know that there are more than 3,000 certified writers in the United States and Canada alone?With so many certifications outstanding, finding the best certified writer is harder than just searching on Google.Believe it or not, searching “certified resume writers” on Google will yield over 19 million results.To save you time, Find My Profession has compiled everything you need to know about certified professional resume writers into one article.In this article we will cover:What is a certified professional resume writer? Certified professionalresume writer myths. How to find a certified resume writer service. Our five favorite resume writers.Feel free to click on a link above to be taken dire ctly to the section of your choice.What Is A Certified Professional Resume Writer?A certified resume writer is someone who has gone through a test or written assignment in order to earn a resume writing certification.The testing process varies based on the organization providing the certification, but in general, the process consists of a writing assignment where the resume writer must create a resume and cover letter from scratch.After writing the resume and cover letter, it is mailed to a group of individuals who act as judges, reviewing the resume and giving it a pass or fail score.While hiring a certified professional resume writer can definitely be a smart choice, it’s still recommended that you screen the writer you are considering, before hiring him/her.Certified Professional Resume Writer MythsThere have been some myths floating around about certified professional resume writers that we wanted to clear up.Certified resume writers are alwayshigher quality than non-certified writers. Certified resume writers always offer satisfaction guarantees. Certified resume writers are re-tested every year. Certified resume writers are always more expensive. Certified resume writers are always booked weeks out.Truth is, anyone with the ambition to learn about resume writing is capable of becoming a certified resume writer.It’s not fair to assume that all certified resume writers offer higher quality than non-certified resume writers.In fact, we have seen some of the best resume writers in the world, who refuse to become certified.Whether you are hiring a certified professional resume writer or a non-certified resume writer, screen your writer thoroughly to make sure their services fit your needs.How To Find A Certified Resume Writer ServiceThere are a handful of organizations offering resume writing certifications.Each of the websites below has directories to search through their members and find a resume writer that is right for you.Professional Association of Resume Writers: ~1,700 members National Resume Writers Association: ~600 members Career Directors International: ~400 members Resume Writing Academy: ~200 membersWhile all of the organizations on this list provide resume writing certifications, you can see that there is a huge difference in the number of members each association has.We recommend searching through all of these companies' websites (rather than just one) to find the best certified professional resume writer for your future job search.To save you time, we have compiled who we believe to be 10 of the best and most trustworthy resume writers across all organizations.Check out our top 10 list now!Our Five Favorite Certified Resume WritersBelow we have shortlisted some of our favorite certified professional resume writers (many of whom work or have worked for Find My Profession).Keep in mind that certification renewals are at the discretion of the individual resume writer and we are unable to confirm if each of these writer s is still certified.However, we have seen samples of these writers work and even employ many of them so weknow for a fact that they provide extremely high-quality resume services.1. Andy Ricardo â€" Find My ProfessionAndy Ricardo comes with over 25 years of experience in Human Resources and nearly 10 years in professional resume writing. He is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers Career Coaches (PARW/CC).2. Gulnar Mewawala â€" The Emphatic ResumeGulnar Mewawala is a triple certified Master Resume Writer, Wharton MBA, and former executive search professional. She focuses on working with senior-level professionals and executives.3. Lindsay Duston â€" Find My ProfessionLindsay Duston is a seasoned resume writer who has been writing executive-level resumes for over 15 years. With nearly 10,000 resumes written, Lindsay has experience in just about every industry and career level.4. Jerome Imhoff â€" The Resume Shop Ink.Jerome Imhoff is a 10-year staffing veteran who has matched hundreds of job seekers with employers. He comes with a Master of Arts in Education and holds a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) Certificate.5. Rebecca Skov â€" REA/Find My ProfessionRebecca Skov has been employed in Human Resources and Career Counseling for over two decades and is experienced in human resources practices, recruitment, and career coaching. She holds a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) certification.Wrapping UpThere is no doubt that finding a great resume writer is tough.By searching for a certified professional resume writer, it’s clear that hiring for quality is a top priority for you.While we can’t guarantee that all certified resume writers will meet your quality expectations, we can help give you some direction when screening these writers.Let’s recap some of the things we went over in this article:Certified professional resume writers are resume writers who have taken a test t o receive one of the various different resume writing certifications. Certified resume writers do not come with any guarantees. Screen them like you would any other resume writing company. You can search for certified resume writers via the Professional Association of Resume Writers, National Resume Writers Association, Career Directors International, or the Resume Writing Academy. We presented our favorite certified professional resume writers to save you time and money searching through hundreds of resume writers on your own.We hope that this article was able to help you find what you were looking for.If you enjoyed it, and you’d like to get started on your resume, check out Find My Profession to work with some of the best certified resume writers in the nation.

Personal Branding Interview Scott Anthony - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Scott Anthony - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Scott Anthony, who is president of Innosight and the author of The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times. In this interview, Scott talks about how companies can stay afloat today despite the economy, why companies need to stop some innovation efforts, some thoughts and tips on personal reinvention and much more. In The Silver Lining you argue that for most companies today, the challenge is greater than simply cutting costs, making incremental product improvements, or expanding into new markets. You say the challenge is reinvention or transformation. Can you explain this idea? Simply doing what companies are doing better won’t be enough. Companies have to fundamentally do something quite different from today. Transformation comes from entering new markets and leaving old ones. Companies rarely transform themselves through cost cutting or improved operational effectiveness. Operational effectiveness is necessary to compete, and world-class operators can create competitive advantage, but in almost all cases, operational effectiveness is insufficient to stave off disruption and drive long-term competitive advantage. A good example of reinvention is IBM. The company frequently enters into new businesses and categories. Its latest widespread transformation traces back to the challenging times in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The company faced intensifying competition in many of its core categories; many of their competitors had reached the same level of quality and were quickly becoming viable purchase options. IBM responded by accelerating its move into service businesses. Today, close to 60 percent of its revenue comes from services. It also formed a group called Emerging Business Opportunities to enter into new markets. That group has helped IBM create substantial businesses around open-source software, wireless, life sciences, and grid computing. Investing in transformational efforts in a brutal market appears difficult, but the alternative isn’t stagnation, it is extinction. To help companies free up time for successful transformation â€" you propose stopping some existing innovation efforts. You suggest “prudently pruning the innovation portfolio.” How can companies start doing this? Downturns require prudent pruning of portfolios to free up scarce resources but it can be difficult to determine which projects to say “no” to. Companies looking to shut down some innovation efforts have to evaluate two different portfolios: their portfolio of in-process innovation efforts and their portfolio of existing businesses (brands, product families, units, and so on). Prudently pruning these portfolios will help to ensure that resources flow to the right innovation efforts and to identify existing businesses that can be safely shed. The single most important question to ask when making decisions is, “What is the future potential of this idea or business?” For an individual idea, use past patterns to help assess how big an idea could be, remember that markets that don’t exist can be difficult to measure and analyze. For an existing business, try to determine unexploited growth potential in current markets and the potential to expand into new markets. Look forwards, not backwards. After all, every mutual fund prospectus tells us that “past performance is no guarantee of future results.” You included a chapter on personal reinvention. Why is this so important? It is unlikely that a company can transform itself unless its leaders transform themselves. The changes happening in the economy pose significant challenges on a personal level â€" not just an organizational level. F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” Unfortunately, most managers can’t pass this test â€" but they will need to develop and improve the ability to master paradoxical demands or they will fail in this new environment. Recent research has shown, however, that through careful self-assessment and a customized development plan â€" leaders can build this skill. I also believe that innovation practitioners need to strengthen their innovation muscles. Recent research in this area highlights how successful innovators tend to excel at associational thinking, with tendencies toward discovery skills, such as questioning, observing, exploring, and networking. Innovators can take specific actions to improve these skills. Also, would-be innovators can consciously attend “schools of experience” that promise exposure to common innovation challenges. Can you provide some tips on personal reinvention for leaders who are struggling to adapt to the changes brought on by this recession? Theres no silver bullet to address this challenge, but the following three tips can help leaders begin the necessary process of personal reinvention. Work with a human resources executive to develop a personalized development program. This isnt your fathers HR programincluding psychological, philosophical or even spiritual elements in training can help leaders improve their ability to grapple with paradox. Consider using tools such as Kegans Seven Languages of Transformation to help accelerate your and your teams ability to change. Start a nights and weekend activity rife with ambiguity. University of Southern California Professor Morgan McCall describes how a managers capabilities come from attending schools of experience. Helping a family member with a small business, launching a volunteer program at work, or spearheading an activity in the community can be ways to gain exposure to new sets of challenges. Consciously complicate your life by brushing up against other disciplines. Its a long-held view that innovation often occurs when different disciplines intersect. Going to trade shows in unrelated industries, trading jobs for a week with a colleague at a non-competitive company or even reading an unusual magazine can expose leaders to new ways of thinking. You say that leaders face another important challenge beyond improving their own abilities: harness its creative talents given the unique needs of an economic downturn. What are some strategies companies can embark on? One approach is to continue to give innovators freedom to dream up bold new ideas, but tighten the leash on near-term activities. In other words, force innovators to prove their dreams are within reach through the kind of smart, low-cost experiments that I describe in the book. Alternatively, involve creative minds in core business challenges. Can they find different ways to prune portfolios or do more with less? While exploring low-cost market research techniques or finding ways to trim benefits without alienating the staff might not sound as sexy as creating the next iPod, they require creative thinking and have a deep impact on business. Further, the more a company can improve its core operations, the more it will have fundingâ€"and patienceâ€"for innovation. Companies that don’t take these actions will see their innovation muscles atrophy during an economic downturn. Imposing discipline on the innovation process and letting creative managers use their talents to help with core challenges can keep innovators in shape for the next battle. Scott Anthony is the president of Innosight, an innovation consulting and investing company with offices in Massachusetts, Singapore, and India. He has consulted to Fortune 500 and start-up companies in a wide range of industries. During 2005â€"2006 he spearheaded a yearlong project to help the newspaper industry grapple with industry transformation (Newspaper Next).   Anthony is the lead author on The Innovator’s Guide to Growth: Putting Disruptive Innovation to Work (Harvard Business School Press, 2008). He previously coauthored (with Harvard professor Clayton Christensen) Seeing What’s Next: Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change (Harvard Business School Press, 2004).   His latest book is called The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times (Harvard Business Press, 2009).

Free Resume Writing by a Professional Is Not a Waste of Time

Free Resume Writing by a Professional Is Not a Waste of TimeFree resume writing by a professional is one of the most practical ways to avoid the risk of mistakes that can hinder a career. The most important thing to note before engaging a professional writer is to find a company that has proven that they are professional.Finding a good writer that will let you have full control over the resume should be a top priority. It is important to ensure that the writer you choose has a proven track record of writing professionally. A good resume writing company should also be adept at finding the best candidates for you.Before choosing a company it is a good idea to research the internet. A quick search will uncover a plethora of companies that promise free resume writing by a professional. This may seem like a great idea initially, but many of these companies will charge you as a signing up fee, in addition to offering to provide you with a free resume. A few websites that you can consider i nclude My Resume Writer, Resume Writer and My Resume Pen.I would strongly recommend not engaging any company that is offering a free resume writing by a professional service. These companies do not have a proven track record and will generally only waste your time and money. You want to save yourself the time and effort of having to check with many different writers, and then in the end, not know which ones to trust.A good tip to help you weed out the scams from the legitimate, would be to compare prices. Many people fail to do this and wind up spending more than they need to. You can easily do this by searching online for companies that offer resume writing by a professional at a lower price.Once you have identified a few companies that are offering free resume writing by a professional, it is important to call them and request a complete price list. It is also important to do this research and make sure you understand exactly what you are paying for.After speaking with the company , it is important to do a little homework on the writers themselves. You want to make sure they have a proven track record and are adept at creating compelling resumes. It is important to understand that all writers have their own quirks and it is easy to distinguish between the fake ones and the good ones.Don't get caught up in scams that offer free resume writing by a professional. A good resume writing company will not take advantage of their clients. They will provide a professional resume writing service with the knowledge and experience needed to create resumes that you will be proud to present to your prospective employers.

10 Ways to Get More from Your Last Training Course CareerMetis.com

10 Ways to Get More from Your Last Training Course Photo Credit -Pixabay.comAccording to a survey by McKinsey, only one-quarterof employee training programs improve performance for businesses.The research reveals a major loss of time, money and energy for both employers and workers. Companies around the world spend more than $100 billion annually on employee training, with £40 billion spentin the UK alone eval“A big barrier to learning effectiveness is that you give people the ‘what’ before you have built up the ‘why’,”â€"Tom Bird, co-author of the Financial Times Guide to Business TrainingOne major reason why people fail to apply what they have learned is that they begin with a problematic mindset. This mental perception extends beyond the scope of the training course. However, it must be confronted; otherwise, they may not get any meaningful benefit from training.Such problematic mindsets will eventually derail team-buildingefforts and overall organizational productivity, since members won’t be fully committed.An eff ective way to overcome this, as Tom Bird suggests, is by explaining what the organization is trying to achievethrough training.An example of a problematic mindset becomes evident in the way companies deal with phishing attacks. Every year, companies spend billions to counter such attacks.However, 23 percent of recipientscontinue to open phishing messages, indicating a far greater challenge than awareness. Seemingly, a significant number of employees still fail to appreciate the danger posed by phishing emails.They likely have a mindset that, “It’s not a big deal. It’s just a simple email or Facebook message.”evalTo counter such a mindset, Mastercard took an aggressive approachby giving its employees a real-life phishing attack experience before training. Those who opened the “phishing” emails experienced a simulation of a program that mimicked a hacker removing data from the employee’s computer.This made them appreciate the seriousness of the matter, and those who fail ed Here are the four different learning stylesand how you can get more out of training by understanding yours:i) Active vs. reflective learnersAs the name suggests, active learners retain and understand information best through activity. If you’re an active learner, look for opportunities to practically apply the information you receive. Working in teams will greatly enhance your productivity.On the other hand, reflective learners retain and understand best by thinking quietly about the information. In this case, team buildingshould include periods whereby specific projects are delegated to reflective learners individually. That will give them sufficient time for quiet reflection and better performance.ii) Sensing vs. intuitive learnersIf you’re a sensing learner, you prefer using well-established methods to solve problems. Focus on this as you apply what you learn.Intuitive learners fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, preferring innovation and disliking repetition. Make t he most of the innovative aspects of your training course.iii) Visual vs. verbal learnersImages and demonstrations are best suited to visual learners. If you’re having a hard time recalling information that wasn’t presented visually, why not make your own diagrams, time lines and pictures?Verbal learners prefer words. If your training was presented in written form, you can use text-to-speech software to listen to it instead.iv) Sequential vs. global learnersevalLogical, linear steps best appeal to sequential learners; rather than large, random jumps which appeal to global learners.As a sequential learner, you’ll find it easier applying what you learn in a systematic process even if you don’t have the overall picture; but global learners would first need to understand the big picture.3. Get the Leaders on Board“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”â€"Warren Gamaliel Bennis, pioneer of leadership studiesLeadership is necessary to translate a trainin g course into practical application in business. One key reason is that organizations work in teams; hence, they require someone to ensure all team members work cohesively.evalThis means, as an employer, you must not just focus on employee training and team building, but also invest in leadership training.Effective team building skillsrequires leadership that serves as a role model and facilitates workers to make the necessary changes learned from training.If leaders don’t provide a conducive environment, employees might lose motivation and assume their bosses aren’t interested in them applying the new skills they have acquired.Even in situations whereby leaders provide support to team members, there may arise issues beyond the employee’s’ capacity.Hence, it’s the role of team leaders to prepare appropriate actions to overcome such obstacles. This may require further training or incorporating other specialized professionals into the team.eval4. Reinforce the New SkillsPhot o Credit â€" sites.psu.eduAfter 30 days, you’ll forget 80 percent of what you learned in your last training course (according to the ‘Forgetting Curve’ created by Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist).Fortunately, you can significantly improve how much you remember, if you reinforce the new skills you learn (through a process called ‘spaced repetition’).Moreover, Dr. Brent Peterson of Columbia University reveals that 50 percent of learning effectiveness is achieved through after-the-course learning activities. The reason many businesses fail to generate performance improvements from personnel training is simply because companies spend a mere 5 percent on after-the-course learning activities.Evidently, after-the-course learning activities are essential for organizational performance.As an employee, you must constantly reinforce the new skills you learn through constant practice. This helps you overcome old habits, which are typically hard to change. Such habits are the n replaced by the new skills.This is the underlying principle of the Sticky Learning ®training method, designed to ensure 80 percent of learners are still using new skills 5 months later. It focuses on repetition, re-learning and applying the skills to form new habits.5. Set Specific Learning Goals“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”â€"Tony Robbins, entrepreneur, best-selling author, philanthropist, and life and business strategistIt’s not enough to set long-term performance goals. Research shows that setting specific difficult learning goalsproduces greater performance than setting long-term performance goals.Without specific goals, you won’t be motivated to achieve, simply because you won’t know what you’re aiming for.If you’re working within a team, make sure your goals are aligned with the overall team goals. This way, the actions you take to achieve your goals won’t derail your organization’s team-buildingefforts.This h as an impact on your company’s financial performance.A studyby Workforce Intelligence Institute SuccessFactors revealed that setting closely aligning goals across an organization produces greater financial success.6. Apply Memorization TechniquesSimply put, you can’t apply what you don’t remember. Therefore, memorization techniques will help you recall what you learned so you can apply it.Here are three proven memorization techniques you can use:i) Semantic encodingSemantic encoding is attaching meaning or factual knowledge to sensory input (the information you receive). Researchshows that this is a particularly useful strategy in recalling information longer. For example, you can associate a new business operation process with something you’re familiar with, like the natural water cycle that forms rain.ii). MnemonicsA mnemonicis a tool to help you recall a large amount of information. For example, the order of the planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uran us, Neptune and Pluto) can be recalled by using the first letter of each planet, to create the phrase: “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.” You can also use acronyms, music or rhyme.iii). ChunkingWe often use this technique to recall phone numbers, chunking them as “888” “555” “0000” rather than the cumbersome and memory intensive “8 8 8 5 5 5 0 0 0 0.” By grouping more information into smaller sets, we can hold more than the limit of 4 different itemsin our working (short-term) memory. You’ll simply find similar patterns within multiple items and organize them into a few sets.7. Apply the Protégé Effect“While we teach, we learn.”â€"Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman philosopher and statesman [4 BCâ€"AD 65]Teaching others helps you understand better, recall more accurately and apply the lessons more effectively than simply learning for yourself. Called “the protégé effect,” this was scientifically proven in a studywhereby students who tau ght other students achieved higher test scores than those who were simply learning for themselves.Teaching others forces you to put more effort into grasping the material so you can explain it properly. This can also involve practical application of the lessons so you know that you’re sharing sound knowledge. All these enhance your own understanding.Various organizations have taken advantage of the protégé effect, including The Service Employees International Union (SEIU).The SEIU successfully applied the train-the-trainer modelto train employees of different nursing homes, who then trained their fellow employees.This not only resulted in many workers being trained, but also ensured all trainees were actively involved during the process. Most of all, it produced a beneficial team-building effect as employees learned from and exchanged ideas with their fellow workers.8. Get Rid of InterferenceInterference can make you forgetwhat you learned in training and prevent you from effect ively applying those lessons. Therefore, you must focus on achieving your training goals, by eliminating as many distractions as possible.Interference comes in many forms, including: anxieties, emotional problems, intellectual interference (mental overcrowding), intense concentration on something else, and the presence of strangers.Intellectual interference, in particular, can happen even during your learning process. It occurs when you overcrowd your learning hours with unorganized material. To deal with this, you should avoid cramming new information and have a well-organized and properly spaced-out learning schedule.Eliminating interference will also help you conserve your willpower. Researchshows that constantly exerting ourselves to fight off temptations and distractions depletes our energy and leads to less progress towards our goals.The fewer distractions you face, the more productive you’ll be.9. Measure the Impact“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and progr ams by their intentions rather than their results.”â€"Milton Friedman, award-winning American economistAccording to McKinsey research, half of organizations fail to track participant feedback about employee training programs. In fact, just 30 percent of organizations use specific metrics to measure training effectiveness.Without standardized ways to measure the effectiveness of training courses and team-buildingactivities, companies will shun programs that challenge employees’ comfort zones.Also, without measurements, it is quite difficult to accurately identify the true impact of any training course and gauge the overall return on investment.Progressively measuring the impact of training will help you further refine it. You can identify which aspects are beneficial and need enhancement and which should be cut out.10. Find a Mentor“If I hadn’t had mentors, I wouldn’t be here today. I’m a product of great mentoring, great coaching…”â€"Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCoIt’s not just enough to be shown and told what to do during a training course. You also need someone to guide you while you do it.That’s where a mentor comes in.A mentor is a teacher, counselor and advocate; an experienced employee who advises juniors on how to meet daily responsibilities.Having a mentor will help you succeed much quicker and more smoothly. Your skills will develop faster as you benefit from the experiences of another and avoid the mistakes they made. Working closely with an experienced senior, you’ll gain insights that could otherwise take a long time to understand.Most of all, mentoring offers greater benefits beyond specific skill acquisition or career development. The close guidance and interaction between experienced and novice workers is a powerful team-building tool.Key InsightsWhether you’re an employer or a worker, you can clearly see how much time, money and effort you need to further invest after receiving training, so you can achieve maximum results.Wi thout this follow-up, all that you had invested in the training course itself could go to waste.

Facing Your Biggest Fear Head On

Facing Your Biggest Fear Head On Is it true that people dont change until they hit rock bottom? Ive met some truly incredible people along the way whove overcome pretty amazing odds.   Theyve defied cancer, overcome the loss of a child, survived a divorce and many more.   What awes me is the ability of these people to move on with their lives.   Are they better people because of their experience?   I dont know.   But I do know that their stories are inspiring. My biggest fear was always the death of my parents.   I couldnt see life without them in it.   In 2010 I lost my father.   It was devastating.   It still is.   But what choice do I have but to continue on and cherish his memory, right? For the job seekers out there who are still looking for work, what is your biggest fear?   Is it not finding a job?   Is it losing your home?   Divorce?   I feel sorry for you all.   You are in a sort of purgatory.   You spend hours a day toiling away with this wet blanket of fear weighing heavy on your shoulders. What will you do to face your fear head on? What if you were to resolve to the fact that you wont get a job. What would you do to survive?   How would you make money to pay your bills?   How would thinking in these terms change how you are living your life?   Would you be able to move forward? Is Life About Accumulating Stuff Thinking in this way would force many other life changes.   The sale of a house.   The downsizing of the family budget.   Is that so bad?   Who said that life was about accumulating stuff?   What are the things you value most in your life?   Relationships. People. Family. Somewhere along the line, we were poisoned into thinking that life was about the objects that surround us.   What if life is about the people who surround us? When you meet people who have beat an serious illness or life altering challenges, what is it that has made them successful?   Was it their ability to accept and move on?   Was it their belief in relationships over objects? My Hope What I am pushing for with this post is unrealistic, I know.   But what I hope and wish for is a society which puts the best interests of people first- not the accumulation of wealth and commodities.   How many pairs of shoes do you really need?   Do the kids need every new toy that comes to market?   Speaking of which, how many hundreds of dollars are you spending on technology upgrades: smart phones, computers, the latest and greatest gadgets?   And that improves the quality of your life how, exactly.

How People are Finding Jobs

How People are Finding Jobs How People Are Finding Jobs Some interesting statistics are in from a couple of trusted Internet sources, WEDDLEs (www.weddles.com) and Salary.com, on the topic of how people find jobs. WEDDLEs 2008 Source of Employment Survey ran from March 2007 to March 2008 and generated responses from over 15,600 individuals. The respondents were 65% male, 35% female; they had a median age of 40-45, with more than 60% describing themselves as managers, mid-level professionals, or executives. When asked to identify where they found their last job, the respondents listed the following sources as their top ten (not all sources are listed so the percentages will not total to 100%): · 13.3% An ad posted on an Internet job board · 7.0% A tip from a friend · 6.8% Other · 6.3% A newspaper ad · 6.2% They posted their resume on a job board · 6.0% A call from a headhunter · 5.8% They were referred by an employee of the company · 5.2% They sent a resume to the company · 4.9% At a career fair · 4.8% By networking at work. Survey Source: Weddles.com Salary.com released its recent Employee Job Satisfaction Retention Survey, where a total of 7,482 individuals and 245 human resource or other company representatives responded. Among the individual employee respondents, 7,101 were employed and provided valid responses. Of those, 57 percent of employees indicated they are “somewhat” or “very” likely to intensify their job search in the next three months, down slightly from last years 62 percent. The most popular job search activities that employees are involved in, in order of preference: · 46% are surfing online job postings · 42% are updating their resume · 32% are reading classified employment listings · 32% are networking with friends/colleagues · 27% are posting or emailing resumes Survey Source: Salary.com If you combine WEDDLEs tip from a friend and referral by an employee of the company you get nearly the same number as the #1 response an ad posted on an Internet job board, which implies that networking should receive the same amount of attention as surfing online job postings. The questions that arise are these: Are you spending an equal amount of time networking? And, if not, how can you make that happen? Source: Career Coach Academy https://www.proreswriters.com