Speaking Phoenix, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Vegas

Speaking Phoenix, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Vegas Im getting ready to get on the road again. Im looking for opportunities to speak at job clubs or employment centers if you have contacts or ideas, let me know. Next week Ill be in Phoenix presenting a few times.  Mark your calendar for Tuesday, Feb 8, in the morning, and Feb 10, in the evening.  Those are my two open presentations (details coming later). In March Ill be in Baltimore presenting a few times, Im not sure if any of them are open or will have room.  Ill be there from March 14 16, and then fly that night to Boston (!!) and do presentations Thursday, Friday and maybe Saturday (March 17-19). In April Ill be in Vegas at a conference I hope to find at least three job clubs I could present at. (the week of April 4th) The next week (April 11 ?)  Ill be in the Los Angeles area presenting to university career center directors and Im looking for some job clubs to open their doors to me. All details will be posted on the blog like I said, if you have leads or ideas, let me know!  And mark your calendar! Speaking Phoenix, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Vegas Im getting ready to get on the road again. Im looking for opportunities to speak at job clubs or employment centers if you have contacts or ideas, let me know. Next week Ill be in Phoenix presenting a few times.  Mark your calendar for Tuesday, Feb 8, in the morning, and Feb 10, in the evening.  Those are my two open presentations (details coming later). In March Ill be in Baltimore presenting a few times, Im not sure if any of them are open or will have room.  Ill be there from March 14 16, and then fly that night to Boston (!!) and do presentations Thursday, Friday and maybe Saturday (March 17-19). In April Ill be in Vegas at a conference I hope to find at least three job clubs I could present at. (the week of April 4th) The next week (April 11 ?)  Ill be in the Los Angeles area presenting to university career center directors and Im looking for some job clubs to open their doors to me. All details will be posted on the blog like I said, if you have leads or ideas, let me know!  And mark your calendar!

5 Things You Can Do to Have a Relevant Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

5 Things You Can Do to Have a Relevant Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career There are a lot of skills that you should be acquiring and honing right now, such as better writing skills, interpersonal skills and analytical skills. Although each of these skills is generally important for almost everyone, regardless of age and position, there is something more important that people are going to have to focus on next year: remaining relevant.   The major challenge for workers is going to be data consumption, analysis, tagging, sharing and retrieving.   It is the reason why I blogged about the personal branding system that I use to be able to remain relevant, organized and a value contributor. Why is this a skill? Its a skill because we are absolutely flooded with information now and if you dont know what to do with it or if you ignore it completely, then it will have a negative impact on your career.   You have to think about all of the other people in your industry who are reviewing their feeds and emails all the time.   Technology, media and life is moving so fast that if you dont have a pulse on your industry, your value to your company will diminish.   This is why were living in an information society right now, where information is more powerful than money.   If youre aware of the latest and greatest media channels or sites that help you become more productive, youll be more successful and valuable to the people around you. Most people have not mastered this skill and even if youre confident, your system might not uphold in the future.   Its hard to imagine disconnecting from technology for a few days or even a week anymore.   I feel that there is such an opportunity cost for not being aware of whats going on every single day.   The people who pay attention win. The facts There have been a lot of statistics out lately about the amount of data we are consuming and the data thats freely available online.   Think about all the data sources that we have at our fingertips now.   There are thousands of social networks, traditional websites, forums, etc. Here are a few that have caught my eye recently: FACT: U.S. households consumed approximately 3.6 zettabytes of information in 2008. (source: GigaOm) FACT: There are now more tweets than people on earth. (source: Mashable) FACT: 53% of all adults think things are changing too fast nowadays. (source: amarach research) 5 things you can do to remain relevant 1. Gather industry news and set alerts for topic mentions. 2. Subscribe to the top technology blogs that give you a general feel for the latest gadgets, social networks, trends, and more.   I recommend Mashable, TechCrunch and ReadWriteWeb for starters. 3. Figure out what skills you need based on your job role and your long term aspirations and learn them.   You can acquire this knowledge by taking a class, hiring a tutor, searching online, watching a video instruction manual on YouTube, purchasing a book on the topic, or just experimenting for yourself. 4. Start a blog or force yourself to contribute content to at least one social network. By doing this, it will force you to stay relevant because you have to read and think before you publish. 5. Ask your manager, your mentor or someone you respect in your industry (especially a thought leader) for their perspective on whats going on and what you need to be aware of. Your turn What have you done to remain relevant to your industry?

How to cope with diversity

How to cope with diversity All projects run longer than scheduled. So when I planned for remodeling the farmhouse as a two-week project, I figured it would take four weeks. But we are on week eight because were waiting for tile. And when the farmer and I have an argument, he says, Go to Home Depot and buy some tile so we can take baths. It is useless to try to explain to him why Home Depot tile is not innovative design. He doesnt care. He just wants to be clean. I used to think diversity was my best friend marrying a black guy. But the guy graduated from rich-kid private schools and has tenure at UCLA and, at this point, I think diversity is not skin color but rather social upbringing. I noticed theres a lot of information on how to create diversity, but theres not a lot of information about how to cope with it once you have it. So here are my tips: 1. Accept that some people dont care about what you care about. Its true that we have not been very clean during the remodeling. All the plumbing is on hold. We take showers under the spigot for the well, and I keep thinking a towel is dirty, and put it in the dirty laundry, and then a week later it looks relatively clean, so I use it. The farmer is concerned that people will think we dont wash. He says people in the country judge you by whether youre clean. This is the hardest part of remodeling for him. The hardest part for me was painting because everyone besides my designer, Maria Killam, told me that its a sin to paint woodwork. I painted anyway. The painters were so offended by the idea of painting woodwork that after they did the whole upstairs they asked if I changed my mind because they could still leave the woodwork downstairs unpainted. Also: The painters wouldnt paint the pink bedroom until the farmer expressly approved, in person, the color of paint. (His commentary: Dont call me in from the field to look at paint again, okay?) 2. Know when you have to get your way. What we ended up with are colors that make me happy and creative. In fact, these are the same colors I chose for my childhood bedroom. My parents were so sure that Id hate the colors when I went through puberty that they bought everything really cheap. But I never stopped loving my bright blue carpet. (Even now I remember the crayon I used to pick the carpet color: Cornflower blue.) 3. Dont try to change others. See the world differently yourself. I was going to go for farmhouse chic decor. But only non-farmers like farmhouse chic: you dont need an old bench in your house when you have four in your barn. So I decided that steampunk is a better look for me, and maybe I should sell our old barn boards â€" which I constantly rescue from the farmers bonfires â€" to the farm-fetish people of New York City. 4. Seek out opposing views, just to practice processing them. Oh. Wait. Speaking of New York City, when I tell a New Yorker that I live on a farm, do you know what they ask? How many bedrooms is the house? Like all houses are weekend houses on the Hudson. And do you know what Wisconsin natives ask when I tell them I live on a farm? Do you burn couches? Its so common for farmers to burn furniture in their yard that people in Wisconsin know which furniture makes the best fire. (Yes, we did, in fact, burn furniture. But I didnt realize it until my nanny asked if she could have the dresser were not using, and the farmer said, It was cheap wood, anyway.) 5. Use innocuous obsessions to distract from genuine conflict. While Ive been waiting to unpack, I have been gardening adding plants the Amish farmer down the highway has on sale because its too late in the summer to plant them. Also while Ive been waiting to unpack, I have been sort of unpacking. Going through books. I always try to throw some books out when I move because I have too many. In my 20s, my walls were covered in books. But once I realized that living a life buried in books is a sign of dysfunction, Ive been trying to cut back. I still am not able to read a book from the library. I have to own it. But I am able to throw out a book if I no longer remember anything about it. 6. Theres relief: A new, jarring way of thinking becomes tame over time. I read Fear of Flying the first year out of college, and then I realized I was missing a whole part of the literary canon, so I spent a year reading the history of women writing about sex. It was an eye-opening year, but twenty years later, the books are not as challenging. I throw out almost all the books, but I save: Fear of Flying, by Erica Jong The Pillow Book, by Sei Shonagon Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson My Secret Garden, by Nancy Friday The Story of O, by Pauline Reage Then I got worried that the town is so small that everyone watches what everyone throws out, and people will not appreciate the literary aspects of books like House of Incest. I told the farmer that he should be careful bringing the box to the dump because some people would think its porn. Oh, really? was all he said. And he moved those books a little bit away from the trash pile. Then I noticed the books were making their way slowly, one by one, to our pink bedroom. 7. Real diversity requires real patience. The tile is not the only thing holding us up. Also the faucets. Which the farmer assumed was the contractors fault and not mine because what sane woman would wash dishes in an outside well for eight weeks on her own volition? Actually, I say, I need brass polished finish for the s-trap, and I have had a hard time finding it. The farmer tries very hard to understand why a nickel finish on the pipes would not be steampunky-y enough for my farmhouse kitchen. I hate to end up with a kitchen that is actually ironic commentary on our farm life instead of insightful commentary. What? What are you talking about? Its why I need brass pipes instead of nickel. Steampunk is insightful commentary on vintage decorating. The farmer hugs me. He knows Im onto something, and maybe he can wait another week. Or three. We go up to the bedroom. We knock over the stack of maybe-porn and we bump into the chandelier so hard that it sounds like wind chimes. We pull off the duvet that I had to travel to New York City to find, and just as the farmer is about to go down on me he says, Whats this? What? Theres dirt. Really? How do you get dirt in your underwear? Were you gardening nude or something? How does this happen? I think about the dirty towel getting me dirty instead of dry. I think the farmer is not going to want to hear that we have no shower and no washing machine and no end in sight. So I say, Yeah. I think its gardening. And somehow, hes relieved.

Meal Planning for More Productivity at Work

Meal Planning for More Productivity at Work You’ve heard the phrase, “You are what you eat. right? Think about it. The last time you sat around and ate junk food, how did you feel? What about when life just seems to be in sync and you find yourself eating all the fruits and veggies? Nutrition is key to being successful in everything we do. When we eat junk, our brains get foggy, our bodies get tired, and we don’t work effectively or efficiently. On the contrary, when we’re filling our bodies with the nutrients they need, we are way more alert, focused, and energized. All of the things you want when you’re trying to crush it in your career. If you’re looking for a way to stay focused and blast through your career goals, your nutrition needs to be on par. But, you’re busy and getting a balanced meal in during the work day seems like a daunting task, especially with deadlines, people that need you, and the vending machines calling your name for a quick pick me up. Today, we’re here to make meal planning simple. Simple enough that it will only take you about 30-60 minutes to have all your meals and snacks ready for the entire workweek. Here’s your chance to take your goals and your nutrition to the next level. HOW TO MEAL PLAN FOR A SUCCESSFUL WORKWEEK STEP 1: PLAN YOUR MENU The first step in any meal planning effort is to plan out what you want to eat. Not sure how to get the right balance of nutrition? Head here for a nutrition guide using just the palm of your hand. This will ensure each meal or snack you eat is filled the the healthy nutrition your body needs. To put it simply, aim for a balance of fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, and whole grains for each meal. If you will be at work 9-5, Monday through Friday, aim for having 3-4 lunch options you can rotate throughout the week. Do the same with snacks. The key is to remember when you will need to eat while at work. If you find yourself struggling to eat an early breakfast, then plan to also take a simple breakfast food to work. Which leads me to step 2, keep it simple. STEP 2: KEEP IT SIMPLE Meal plans don’t have to be fancy in any way. In fact, the simpler they are, the more likely you are to stick to them. When possible, cook extra dinner to use as lunch leftovers for the following day. If that’s not possible, then choose 2-3 other lunch foods that you can rotate through. Buy simple sandwich or salad ingredients that fall in line with a balanced meal. Then, snacks. Seriously, keep it simple. Find 2 snacks you want to munch on throughout the week. Rotate through them. Then, the following week, try another 2 snack ideas. Meal planning does not mean you have to eat boring meals, you just need to plan ahead a little bit. Make your snacks and meals foods that you actually enjoy, just keep them simple at the same time. Some top snacks include: Apples and peanut butter Hummus and veggies Cottage cheese and peaches Protein bars (with lower sugar) Guacamole and whole grain pita chips STEP 3: PREP AND STORE Here’s where the most time is spent. But, it’s completely doable in a short amount of time with a meal planning system. Once you have all the foods you want to prep for the week, follow the steps for quick prep: Wash, cut, chop all foods into the size they will be served in Cook, mix, or prep anything that needs it Store in individual serving size containers Place in a drawer or box in fridge for easy grab and go Yes, it’s that easy! If it’s all ready to go, you’ll be able to easily grab it as you walk out the door in the morning. Prep for the entire workweek and you won’t have to worry about any other prep the entire rest of the week. STEP 4: EAT WHAT YOU MADE AND STAY CONSISTENT I had to throw this step in because it’s very important. So many times, we buy or prep food and then don’t end up eating it! Why is that? Maybe the vending machine sounds more appealing? Or we’re trying to deal with our emotions by using food and you’re certain that cookies will make you feel way better than veggies at the moment. The first key to staying consistent with your nutrition is to make the foods you like. Don’t overhaul your entire diet overnight. Slowly add in the fruits and veggies if they are foreign to you. Then, make sure you have a handle on your relationship with food. If you find yourself grabbing for cookies or chips when you’re stressed, try finding a way to manage your emotions without using food. Also, learn about your body. Learn about what hunger and fullness feel like to you so you know when it’s time to refuel with a snack or a meal. Now, it’s time to get planning! You have a career and life goals to knock out of the park. Use nutrition to help you stay focused, energized, and motivated. And if you’re a skeptic, try it for yourself! See how different you feel when you start putting the right nutrients in your body! This guest post was authored by Elizabeth Dall Elizabeth Dall is a certified exercise physiologist and wellness coach. She specializes in helping professional women and mothers build confidence and love for who they are, build a better relationship with food, and reach their health and wellness goals. As a mother herself, she’s learned how important it is to find ways to nourish her body and soul to give the best to her work, family and friends. Her message is one of self-compassion and a simplified, well-rounded approach to health. You can find more goodies, info, and join the community at elizabethdall.com.

6 Tips to Effectively Work in a Remote Job - CareerMetis.com

6 Tips to Effectively Work in a Remote Job Source â€" Pexels.comWith the advancement of technology and the globalization of the business world, the ways of doing business have changed drastically. Nowadays, it is not required to confine employees in one workplace, as in the past. This has lead to the popularity of working remotely in various sectors such as sales, engineering, and customer service.Working remotely doesn’t mean occasionally working from the office; it refers to living in a different city or even a different country from the company for which you’re working.Plenty of companies have their employees placed in remote locations, and there are also thousands of freelance positions available for those who want to work remotely and be their boss. Working remotely is now becoming the leading choice for college students and recent graduates while looking for internships and entry-level jobs.evalWorking remotely offers a lot of benefits and freedom, and many jobs are quickly accomplishable from a virtual office. Howe ver, working remotely also has its drawbacks. You may find yourself slacking off and not get things done.Let’s take a look at the six tips that you can do to overcome those challenges and successfully work remotely.Tip #1: Consider Your WorkplaceevalWhen you are working remotely in your home, you most likely have the freedom to work wherever, as long as you have your laptop and a reliable internet connection. You can work from your bedroom, the living room couch, the kitchen counter, and much more. But having inconsistent places to work can lead to erratic work patterns, leaving you stressed and dreading work.It is always advisable to set up a designated space to do your job and make sure that you feel motivated by your environment and ready to tackle whatever comes your way. Turn a spare room into an office. If the space in your home is limited, find a desk or table that’s specifically for your work.You can also find alternatives for your work like going to the local coffee sho p, bookstore or office space. Most of these places offer free Wi-Fi and a quiet place to sit so that you can do your work more comfortably without any distractions.Tip #2: Keep Connected with Your Colleagues and Managers AlwaysOnce you have set up your workplace for your remote job, the next thing is to establish proper communication with your colleagues and managers to operate the remote workforce effectively. A connection is always a good idea when you are working for a traditional office, but even more so when you are working from a virtual office or home.You are required to schedule frequent one-on-ones or check-ins with people who know what you’re working on, how it’s progressing and any issues that come up. It will not only provide clarity of the work that you are doing, but it will also serve as a reminder that you are taking the initiative for managing the job effectively.evalThe more information you provide to other team members of the company, the easier it will be for your colleagues and managers to work with you and help out if you get stuck somewhere in work.Tip #3: Set a Schedule for Your WorkOne of the advantages of working remotely is that you can set a schedule for your work according to your requirements or your schedule. Just remember, once you establish a plan around your company’s core business hours, you need to stick with it to get your work done.Doing work for consistent work hours helps your body and mind get into work mode, and even allows you to focus and be more productive. Working the same hours every day also helps you to communicate effectively with the rest of the team and be available as new situations crop up.Tip #4: Network Locally While working in a traditional office environment, you can exchange a lot of ideas with people within teams. But when you choose to work as a remote worker, you are most likely to become more and more of a loner, and you miss out on a lot of these ad-hoc conversations and meetings. Even thoug h you can gain experience from the work you are doing in the remote job, to grow your skills, it’s important to learn from others.evalSo, you need to make sure that while scheduling your time, you are also planning to get out. Be social with others! Find meetups and workgroups like virtual offices in your area is an excellent way to network and to learn and share ideas to work more effectively in your job.evalTip #5: Build Relationships with Your CommunitySuccessful careers don’t only center around the work you do in your remote job. They also depend on the relationships you build with your co-workers and managers. You can also make connections with other entrepreneurs while sitting in the virtual office.Developing high-quality relationships with co-workers and managers not only helps you in establishing relationships with them, but it will also help you increase productivity and feel psychologically productive at work.Make sure that you are taking enough time from work hours to develop these relationships. It is important to be active on internal communication platforms or by having regular video calls with team members. Make sure to bond over connections inside and outside of work.Tip #6: Take Short BreaksThe last tip to effectively work in a remote job is to make sure that you are scheduling short breaks. It is important to relax from your working plan. Make sure to get up from your desk and move around in your virtual office.When you work in a traditional office, you often take short breaks. Be it while walking to meetings, getting coffee refills, or walking to chat with a colleague.However, while working remotely, sometimes you forget to take those short breaks which may result in overwork. Therefore, it is always better to stop working and stretch your legs a few times a day.ConclusionWorking remotely definitely has its perks. From flexibility to work, less time spent commuting, and the ability to set your hours. However, it also brings some challeng es with it.If you’re considering transitioning to a virtual office, these tips can help you in providing a productive work environment.

That time I was on satellite radio

That time I was on satellite radio 12 Flares 12 Flares The original plan was to create a quick video blog for today, but after a few quick takes and an odd error, I decided Id just write out this blog update for everyone! Things have been pretty crazy over the last few weeks and I want to apologize for a reduced number of blog posts.  That is changing very quickly, and Ill be back whipping out the content like usual.  Tons of amazing things are happening, but today Ill share just one of my updates. A few months ago, a very regular participant of #JobHuntChat, Maggie Mistal, asked me to come onto her Sirius/XM radio show to talk about the chat and how to get a job on Twitter.  Obviously, I was jacked and so was Jessica.  We were really looking forward to both going into the studio in NYC, but unfortunately, Jessica couldnt make it, so she called in and was fantastic.   Ou big day on global radio was last Friday and it was just a phenomenal experience. Down below you can see some pictures of my trip into the SiriusXM studios, but heres a bit more about what happened during the show: Jessica and I talked to Maggie about how job seekers can use Twitter and #JobHuntChat to actually get a job.  We covered topics like branding for job seekers, creating Twitter names that will attract employers, and how to engage with company recruiters and HR folks the right way.  Jessica was great at explaining what #JobHuntChat is and how others have been successful in using the tool. We also received a call in from Tracy Brisson, who spoke about how #JobHuntChat helped her hire a Marketing Specialist for her company.   We were really excited to hear that story, and cant thank Tracy enough for calling in to share. If you havent already, check out the #JobHuntChat blog, and join us on Mondays from 10-11PM EST on Twitter.  Just let me know if you have any questions! As promised, here are some pictures of my trip!

Tips For Writing a Landing Page Blurb For a Resume Website

Tips For Writing a Landing Page Blurb For a Resume WebsiteA lot of people are asking themselves how to write a landing page blurb for a resume website. There are several ways you can go about doing this, but there are several things you should consider first. Hopefully these tips will help you make the best decision.Before you can start, you must have a clear picture of your potential customers and a different point of view on their lives. For example, let's say you're looking for a college graduate to fill a particular position. For you, as a resume writer, you want someone who is a creative thinker and someone who is exciting and would provide a great experience for them.So, let's look at the other aspect of the potential customers. What is the same about the two? And which one would you want to be your customer?There are two types of potential customers, for you to think about. First are the busy professionals, those who are always busy, and second are the people who like to work on their own. These two would like a resume writer to provide them with a resume for their job and if you're a career related writer, you need to be able to provide them with the information they need. So, we will focus more on the career related resume writer.A career related writer has to create a resume in a certain way and include references so that they could be referred by their future employer. So, with a career related writer, the job is easy. Just be sure that you have all the necessary information to write a job description, job description and then use bullet points to describe the professional.The job market today is very competitive. Finding someone who has the experience and skill set to do the job you want them to do may not be easy. This is why finding a career specialist is very important. You want to make sure that you get a copy of the person's resume and then let them lead you through the process.When you're searching for a website blurb, it's important to find t he right one. After all, this is how you will present yourself as a professional. So, before you make your decision, you want to know how you can impress potential clients.A professional blurb can do this by telling a story about what you have done in the past and why you will be a great addition to the company. They should also remind the reader of the characteristics they expect in a professional.