Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Should We Get Rid of Performance Reviews

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Should We Get Rid of Performance Reviews In theWashington Post, Lillian Cunningham reported that management consulting giant Accenture will disband rankings and the once-a-year evaluation process starting in September. The company will implement a more fluid system, in which employees receive timely feedback from their managers on an ongoing basis following assignments. Accenture is certainly not the first to move in this direction. Perresearch by CEB, 12percent of Fortune 1,000 companies have gotten rid of rankings. Earlier this year, Accenture’s competitor Deloitte abolished rankings and rolled out a new evaluation program that is more incremental in nature. Microsoft, Adobe, Gap and Medtronic have also overhauled their programs. “It’s gone from an interesting, quirky thing that some companies do to a viable strategy that a good chunk of companies are pursuing,” says Brian Kropp, executive director of CEB’s HR practice, in a 2015 article for theSociety for Human Resource Management. CEB found that the average manager spends more than 200 hours a year on activities related toperformance reviews(including training sessions, form completion, and in-person meetings). Adding these hours plus the cost of theperformance-management technologyitself, CEB estimates that a company of 10,000 employees spends roughly $35 million a year on reviews. Yet, nearly 90 percent of HR leaders say the process doesn’t yield accurate information ordrive better performance. The Slippery Slope If current ranking and performance review systems made this little sense, you’d think every company would be doing away with them. But old habits die hard, and frankly, some organizations are afraid of going too far in the opposite direction. I don’t blame them. While I’ve never been a fan of forced rankings â€" it doesn’t do much good to compare an employee in Memphis to one in Melbourne, and the sight of 50 anxious junior-level colleagues backstabbing one another to get into the top 20 percent is really quite unseemly â€" I believe performance reviews do have merit. For the rest of my POV, head on over to Intuits Fast Track blog.

How Low Cost Resume Writing Services Can Help You

How Low Cost Resume Writing Services Can Help YouIf you're a professional looking for good employment prospects, low cost resume writing services can prove to be very helpful. Since so many jobs are posted online, you'll find that employers are in search of all kinds of fresh, easy-to-read resumes that are going to be posted and added to the websites of employers all over the world. Having a high quality resume not only shows your employer that you have the necessary qualifications for the job that you want, but it also spells out your credibility as an employee and business person.Today, when the economy is still recovering from the recent economic downturn, employers don't just post jobs online; they need great resumes for all kinds of job openings in the professional and personal worlds and low cost resume writing services can help them with this part of the process. However, many times a resume can be completely meaningless without its contact information and other components. It 's a very important piece of information, especially if the hiring company needs more than one or two applications before making a decision about who to interview.With the help of low cost resume writing services, you don't need to worry about this. They will collect all the information about your past and present employment and allow you to easily create a professional looking resume. There's no need to worry about keeping your resume up to date, since they'll be able to tell you what position you applied for and how many others you were contacted for.If you know anything about the web and your career goals, you probably already know that using low cost resume writing services can be an excellent way to get the word out about yourself. It helps to get the word out about yourself by working with a professional. You get the greatest possible exposure, and if you want to market yourself, this can be a great way to get the ball rolling.If you're trying to break into a career and you'be en employed for a while, the best thing to do is take advantage of low cost resume writing services. You don't need to outsource to companies that are offering to write you a resume. These are experienced professionals that can write you a resume that you'll be proud to use.This is particularly true if you're trying to break into the corporate world. With large organizations needing to hire hundreds, if not thousands, of people each year, it's not wise to try to write your own resume. You'll run the risk of not being read or heard over your competitors. And, since this is one of the most competitive fields in the world, you'll need to put in the time to make yourself stand out above the rest.The first step is to contact a low cost resume writing services and make a recommendation. They will then make sure that your resume will get the attention of your future employer. While this isn't the only way to write a resume, it can definitely help.It's not hard to write a resume these days, but it takes time and effort. No matter what kind of job you're trying to land, you need to do everything you can to make yourself stand out and be remembered. If you don't have the time to work on it, don't waste any more time trying to write one.

Effective ways to wrestle your biological clock

Effective ways to wrestle your biological clock Two days ago, I called my friend to cut a deal. I needed to make a partnership fast, and we have been doing business together for years. I knew she could push something through her company that would make me look good. We ended up spending an hour on the phone, and she mentioned she was taking a four-week leave. I knew it was for fertility treatments. She couldnt believe I knew. She had kept it a secret from everyone. She panicked that if I knew her whole office would know. Heres how I knew: Because women with high-powered jobs dont take four weeks leave. You dont get a high-powered career by going on leave. But at some point, even in a high-powered career, fertility issues start trumping career issues: When its four weeks off a big job, its fertility. I have a lot of friends who went through fertility treatment. So I gave my friend the name of another friend who currently sports bruises all over her body from injections, and then I said, Hey, I know youre crying, but push my deal through before you go on leave. Let me tell you about my friend who did not wait to have kidsthe friend who is genius girl, and great at planning, and a rock star at work, and is doing a startup while she has a young child. She is one step away from being hospitalized for exhaustion. Really. Her thyroid is breaking down from her relying too heavily on adrenaline. Among my friends who are women, the majority have had fertility problems. Every friend has a different story, but there is one theme that has dominated every friends trials and tribulations: A lack of control. We can control so much of our lives today. And women who are in high-powered careers are usually the best at controlling their lives. Its a shock to find out that fertility is so hard to control because its so important. So its no surprise that theres an industry developing that helps women control their fertility. Please, please do not read the rest of this post thinking that holding off getting pregnant til your mid thirties is a good idea. Statistically it is a very bad idea if its important to you to carry your own child. There is no science magic that makes a mid-life pregnancy a low-risk endeavor, but here are three things you can do in your twenties and early thirties to decrease the risk of a high-risk pregnancy. 1. Get a husband. I know, this is not popular advice, but its practical advice. A husband is like a career. If you are not looking for one, youre not likely to find one. If its not a high priority goal, its probably not a goal you will meet. So if you want to make sure youre making babies with your own healthy eggs, think of your twenties as the time to find a mate. 2. Freeze your eggs. If you dont want to exert control over your life by finding a husband, how about using control over your life to save some good eggs? The Wall Street Journal reports that even though its not actually proven technology, women are signing up in droves. The treatment is expensiveup to $14,000but often thats peanuts to women who will spend their most fertile years climbing corporate ladders. 3. Test your eggs for premature aging. Yep. Thats right. Eggs age differently in different women. And the aging process could get faster or slower relative to the general population. This means that while most women need to start having babies before age 35 to manage risk well, some women need to start earlier. If you want to know if your eggs are aging fast, go to Repromedix to find out if you can be part of the companys limited rollout of a new test for eggs. The results combine the magic formula of your age, your eggs, and the amount you have of two specific hormones in order to come up with your age in fertility years. When I was 30 I did not have a boyfriend. I hired a dating service for 10K, (which at the time was the best way to deal with my ticking clock) and the guys who were coming up were great investors for my company and lousy husband prospects. (Except for the Calvin Klein model. He was not a good husband or a good investor. He was totally ridiculous.) At that point, I was making a ton of money, and I could have afforded a lot of this stuff. If I had known about it, I would have done it. If you have the money, and you dont have ethical problems with it, maybe you should do it. You never know where you will fall in the fertility lottery: Hedge your bets the best you can.

How Recruiters Can Use Video to Attract Talent

How Recruiters Can Use Video to Attract Talent How do you go about creating engaging video content aimed at candidates? How do you reach a large audience with your videos? How can you get viewers to apply for jobs? To answer these questions Ive had a chat with  Aimee Bateman who is the founder of CareerCake. Shes a consultant, speaker and skills trainer, YouTube expert and she was a  keynote speaker at #smlondon LIVE! 2014.  She has no less than five million views across five YouTube channels to her name.  You can  listen to the audio podcast on  iTunes  and  Soundcloud  (embed below) or keep reading for a summary of our conversation. A longer version is available at Link Humans. Questions by me, answers by Aimee. Why is video marketing important to recruiters? I think firstly it goes straight back to Simon Sineks  Ted talk, I think it’s the most viewed Ted talk on YouTube, which is that, people dont just buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And if you want to really engage with your audience, you want to make them feel something. You know, people dont always care what you do. Theres often lots and lots of people that do what you do and theres always more to it than that in terms of sort of getting a customer, especially in a market place thats so full of noise. I think  Gary Vaynerchuk  describes it as marketers ruin everything. And I just think that video is a great way for you to show people who you are. And people will fall in love with you whether you are a personal brand or a corporate  brand. If you want people to fall in love with you, you have to show them who you are and video is a great way to do that. And I think every brand has a story. I think everybody should humanise the brand because your customer is always going to be a human. I mean even when it comes to You know, people talk about B2C advertising, and then they talk about B2B advertising. I think that with the revelation of social media, I think that B2B and B2C have become the same thing in my opinion and even when its B2B, you know, a logo is never going to buy your product. Its still always going to be a person. How do you create effective video content? Yeah, I think the first thing to do is just break through the BS. And I think the first thing that people need to do is that, you know, understand that your consumer is intelligent. I think a lot of businesses, when theyre producing marketing content and video, they just forget that theres a lot of variance in actual stuff out there and consumers are becoming more and more switched on. I think especially consumers can smell the BS a mile off now so I think its important that you keep it real. Keep it really, really real. But make sure that youre adding value. If we just going to the internet to talk about your business and what you do, thats great and you might get excited about that, but is anybody else? Well, Im not so sure. People dont always care about what youre doing. Its how what youre doing is going to add value to me. So its always about adding real value. And secondly, I think its really important when people are marketing their company to remember that theyre not always their customer and what might interest you and what you might think are your unique selling points arent always the things that your customers are going to want to know about. So asking questions… Remember, when I first started my YouTube channel about five years ago, before I created any content, I jumped onto social media platforms and started asking people what do you want to know? Like, how can I help you? And then I created my first 12 months of content that I created, was all based on what people had asked for. So I think thats really, really important. For example, in the recruitment space, thats where I live, when you are promoting yourself, maybe as an employer of choice, its not just the case of this is what were doing, this is how big our business is, this is where our office is. It might be a case of well, lets introduce some of the people that work for us. Lets find out what they like about our business. Lets take a video of them in the club next door cause this is where we go every Friday after work. And just keeping it really, really real but making sure youre adding value. What type of technical equipment do you need? I still use the camera that I bought from eBay for 20 quid. It was a ZI Kodak camera, ZI8 it was, and I still use that. So it depends on your brand really, but I just bought it 20 quid, it was second hand on eBay and I started making YouTube videos in my living room. Yeah, I mean but that was fine for my brand. It depends on what I suppose on how you want people to view you. But if you can afford, if youve got a budget just to bring in an external company or to Even if you want to make your own, then thats fine. I would say that the one thing that is really important is your audio. I think even if youve got quite a basic camera or youre making videos on your phone or your iPad, you know, that might be alright for your brand, but never ever compromise on audio, always invest in a good camera and a good microphone. What are your best tips and tricks for video marketing? If I just focus on YouTube maybe, firstly, cause theres little things that I think that theres a lot of platforms you can use, but firstly with YouTube. A lot of people ignore the description  area  but I always think its important to blog in my area because people do read that. So if you are going to make a really good video then you want to add keywords, obviously and a title, you want to make sure that the title is really good. So numbers work really well, so “Five steps to” or “Three ideas for” QA titles work really well. But also, yeah, blogging in your description area. So making sure that youve got a link on YouTube, maybe a link to your website or a link to a really funky lead page where you can capture somebodys email address and obviously implement that into your email marketing campaign to then build relationships with people. Optimising tags, thats quite an obvious one on YouTube. I always talk about the 12 second rule. You know what it’s like when you meet somebody and you make your mind really, really quickly but its still like that in video, so you have to adopt the same stuff that you would if you were in a room with somebody. You know, if you want to ask some questions, engage with them or you still have to do that on video so I always think creating movements is really, really good with videos. A call to action, I think a lot of people forget to do that. I definitely forgot to do that, I made lazy, lazy videos in the beginning when I was at 20,000 hits, but nobody was coming to my website and I was like, “Why not?!” But I wasn’t asking them to. Another really wonderful thing to do, which I havent done but I am so going to do it, its on my to-do list, its creating a video advising people or suggesting why they should subscribe to your channel.  And Gary Vaynerchuk  has got an amazing on his one which is “Why you really need to subscribe to my channel”. Its like, “Guys, seriously, if you are not subscribed to my channel, it hurts me. And it hurts my soul.” And he just talks about the value youre going to get from subscribing to his channel. Because your subscribers are up, thats basically people who are just out there waiting for you to upload new videos. Thats amazing. You dont have to worry about being found. Theyre going to get an email straight to their inbox when you do launch a new video, so thats really, really good. Encourage comments as well. I know a lot of people that produce videos for YouTube and they just think, “Oh, but I disabled the comments” And I get that, considering how many views Ive got on YouTube, for every 30 beautiful ones for comments, I do get the odd ones somebody says that they hate my Welsh accent so much they want to punch me in the face until I bleed or, you know, something horrendous like that. I would always say that if youre worried about comments damaging your brand, then you can always switch them to ‘Approved’. But encouraging comments, so actually saying to people, “If youve got any thoughts on this video, or you’ve got any questions, please…” And even point down, you know, “Please add something in the comments”. How do you promote your videos once they are uploaded? One of the things obviously I would think most people listening to this will be totally familiar with making sure that when you are producing this content, that youre sharing them on your Google+, stick this on your Instagram, your Facebook, your Twitter. Once you get to a certain amount of hits on YouTube, that video will just promote itself. I think one of my videos, it got, it took about a year to get to 25,000 hits but then once I got to that, its getting about 20,000 hits every quarter now. So YouTube will do that. You can also pay keyword advertising on Google for videos but I think its being really, really smart with how youre doing it. So in terms of blogging and collaborations again. One other thing is interviews, if youre interviewing somebody within your industry that has got quite a big social media platform, then obviously theyre going to share it with their markets and their network, and then they go back and they see your YouTube channel so they might look at your other videos. I always think that this is something that I am doing at the moment, is putting your YouTube channel or your Wistia channel in your  email signature. I think that thats a great way to get more of your videos views. Using LinkedIn, actually embedding your videos into your profile on LinkedIn, I think a lot of people dont tend to do that, they just use text but thats a wonderful thing, you can add your videos in there. Allowing people to embed not a lot of people put the embed section off, so I get people… I know for a fact that there are loads of videos, careers websites out there that have got every single one of my videos embedded into their websites. So then you think, from a commercial point of view, why would I allow that? Because theres no reason for people ever to come into my website and buy my products. Because they can watch my stuff on other peoples websites and you know… But I do believe that allowing embeds will encourage other people to obviously share your content maybe on their blogs or their websites. Playlists… if you can create playlists so that when one video finishes it doesnt go to a video that YouTube have chosen, it goes to one of your videos. And making sure that you have really, really good titles as well. But I think a lot of it comes down to just finding influences within your industry that can share your content and people that are going to create real value and then using your marketing expertise and your marketing knowledge to build those relationships. Find out more about Aimee at CareerCake.com  and her main YouTube channel CareerCakeTV.

How to Find Great Resumes Using a Professional Template

How to Find Great Resumes Using a Professional TemplateThere are a lot of ways to find great resumes, but which ones actually work? I'm going to tell you what I've found to be the most effective way to find great resumes.First, let's talk about what 'great resumes' really are. A resume is a tool that tells a recruiter everything they need to know about your abilities and qualifications for the job. The best resumes will have a lot of great keywords on them.Because this is how it's supposed to be, you need to make sure that your resume has a good keyword density. For example, if your company specializes in electronic gadgets, the keywords you should put on your resume are 'electronic gadgets'electronic technology.'To further your success in getting a great resume, you need to use a professional template or program that will help you get a good keyword density. The program will provide you with many good keywords to place on your resume.I prefer to use wordpress.com because it has an a mazing job keyword generator that will automatically submit resumes with a good keyword density. I use it every day.You can also get WordPress to automatically submit to other places like Monster.com. Here's how you do it:If you don't use WordPress, you can still use it to get a good keyword density. One thing I recommend doing is joining a community where the people are always trying to get better at their resumes. It's free.If you want to save time, you can do things like build a great WordPress plugin for your career website. Instead of being a professional resume writer, you can focus on building tools like these. They'll save you time.

How to Use Employee Feedback to Create a Better Workplace Experience CareerMetis.com

How to Use Employee Feedback to Create a Better Workplace Experience Employees spend almost 9 to 10 hours a day at their workplaces. It is quite understandable that they expect to be happy in a place where they spend so much time.Employees actively seek to work with employers who are able to create a happy and productive environment, even if it is at the expense of a higher paycheck.evalStrong company culture is essential to promote their search for happiness. Otherwise, it can be an expensive affair for businesses since employee turnover will eat into company profits.Hence the reason why more and more companies are beginning to view their employees like customers. Businesses need to make sure that their employees are engaged and loyal and will be advocates for their companies.To achieve this feat, the initial step is to gather employee feedback and evaluate it meticulously. Doing this right can improve employee satisfaction in the workplace.Employee Satisfaction Survey DecodedSo, what is an employee satisfaction survey? How can you design one? A surv ey maker can come in handy here.Conducting an employee satisfaction survey is absolutely essential. It gives businesses a perspective on how their employees view their work experience with a focus on two key factors â€" happiness and relationships.Incorporate questions that are direct and to the point â€" very similar to customer survey templates. This will encourage employees to respond to the survey more implicitly. The feedback would be more honest about the leadership performance and point out lapses in the organizational set-up.Having employee satisfaction on your goal list is good. However, you cannot achieve it completely based on goodwill alone. Do you still need to consider ROI. Why? Because of high employee churn rates.evalA lot of businesses are of the opinion that employee churns at this level is an inherent and uncontrollable part of the economy. In fact, it is quite the opposite.In aGallup report, more than 50% of the employees who participated in the survey said that employers could have prevented them from leaving their current jobs when they voluntarily wanted to switch. More than 50% states that their leadership did not even inquire about their levels of satisfaction or if there were any opportunities for growth within the organization during their notice period.The fundamental concept of minimizing churn rates is to check with employees and see how they feel about their roles, relationships within the organization and the overall work culture. This, in turn, can help managers understand what motivates them. It also sheds light on their goals in the near future and what they expect from their workplaces.Gathering feedback builds the foundation to create a great work environment. It also aids in retaining talent in the company. If your employees feel valued, they are more likely to be invested in the company. Importance of Employee Feedback SurveyevalBusinesses need to gather information on how their employees feel about their role in the comp any. Are they engaged? Are they satisfied? It is important to know this because happy employees are great for the business.Why?Productivity increases with less absenteeism.Loyalty to the company goes up.Enhances customer experience.They are likely to become brand advocates.By analyzing employee sentiment and offering a more personalized experience, businesses are driving them towards sharing their review and feedback with their friends, family and the society at large.Surveys to Collect and Analyze Employee FeedbackThere are several methods of collecting employee feedback. It can range between basic surveys designed using survey software to a more advanced version powered by artificial intelligence.Check out these popular survey methodologies used by businesses:a) Anonymous Surveys: evalThis is a simple survey method that is popular when it comes to gathering employee feedback. The employees are free to express their opinions honestly as these survey forms are confidential in nature .b) Non-Anonymous Surveys: In order to understand which employee is feeling what, it is important for businesses to conduct non-anonymous surveys that offer more in-depth information on specific employee sentiments. With this knowledge, businesses are able to take corrective measures more effectively.c) Pulse Surveys: For short and quick assessments, businesses are making use of pulse surveys which can be distributed more frequently amongst their employees.Using Employee Feedback to Offer a Better Workplace ExperienceEvery business has a unique workplace culture. For some, it may be a more informal environment, while others may offer a more traditional, formal experience. How things get done within the company is determined primarily by the work culture that it promotes, how employees choose to engage with each other and their behavior. It is also a fusion of their beliefs, values, vision, and system that is shared between the business and their workforce.evalIt takes trust, transpa rency and a whole lot of listening if businesses intend to build a positive work environment. It is important not to venture in the direction where the organization’s culture develops on its own. Instead, a proactive approach will create a positive environment where employees will thrive.To reinforce desired behaviors, beliefs and ultimately shape a positive work environment, businesses can look towards implementing employee feedback surveys which will reflect the work culture of your business.Here is what you can do to define a positive work culture:i) Designing Office DynamicsThe manner in which you design your office space tells a lot about the personality of your organization. It also plays a significant role in defining your office culture which in turn translates into the experience that you offer to your employees. Additionally, it can also influence their productivity and performance in the workplace.The objective of creating office dynamics is to develop a physical worksp ace that helps define your organizational culture. By involving your employees in this decision making helps in creating a workspace that is enjoyable and positive.evalIf you intend to re-design the workspace, then it is best to base it on your key organizational values. Gather feedback from employees via surveys on how the redesigning of the office space will help them thrive in their roles. Your employees will take in good stead and feel valued and appreciated being made a part of this process.ii) Develop Employee Friendly Policies and ProceduresevalPolicies in a company structure help in setting expectations â€" both for an employer and their employees. They are a reflection of the organizational values and also offer guidance and direction for a variety of situations in the workplace.Even though many of the policies may be non-negotiable, there is always room for improvement. Adding new policies and procedures that are employee-friendly only goes to define your work environment better.Ask your employees to share their opinions on any new policy or procedure that you are thinking of introducing into the system. Get their feedback on if these new additions will enhance their productivity and performancein any way. Let me lead you towards your goal of enhancing company culture by making these small changes successful.iii) Being TransparentTeamwork between employees can only flourish if there are organizational trust and transparency. It not only shows that the employees hold value for the organization but also boosts morale and overall productivity.Being transparent ensures that the employees are aware of what is happening around them. They feel more involved and invested in the business. And if your employees choose to voice their opinions, they should feel that it will matter to the management and will be acted upon. iv) Promote Employee DevelopmentEmployees today seek opportunities for continuous development in their workplaces. New skills, training, and w orkshops help them to operate with more efficiency and effectiveness. It also adds to employee satisfaction.v) Developing a Positive Work EnvironmentYou cannot overhaul your company culture and work environment overnight. But you can define and shape it over a period of time. Seek employee feedback as that supports a positive work environment. It also shows that you care for their inputs and opinions which in turn keeps them engaged and satisfied with the organization.

Maximizing your work success in a new city

Maximizing your work success in a new city 5 Flares 5 Flares This article was contributed by CareerBliss.com, a career community dedicated to helping people find happiness in the workplace. So you accepted the job and moved to a new city. Hopefully you’ve weighed the pros and cons and found that moving will be beneficial to your career in the long run. The best part of moving to a new city is a chance for you to present a new image to your new professional and social communities. A new city means new faces, brand new networkâ€"a chance to start off on a clean slate. As the newbie in your city and office, you have to get used to the fact that everyone and their mothers will ask you basic personal information to get a better idea about your presence. It’s up to you to acclimate and present yourself as someone who will go far. Take advantage of this chance to correct past mistakes and really manage your image and goals, in a way that not only will establish yourself but also benefit your career. Here are some words of wisdom and resources to make changes for the better and help you jump into the scene and get ahead in new networks: A Clean Slate This is your chance to create a thoroughly organized space. When you move to a new city, leave behind your clutter and create a clean home and work environmentâ€"this will prevent any missteps that could result from inaccessibility and general disorganization. Consider strategic décor, like the art of Feng Shui, which focuses on channeling health and fortune. Removing excess clutter is important to your overall success because it cuts procrastination time and boosts efficiency. In addition to physical cleanliness and organization, a new city is your chance to reinvent a new and improved version of you. Since no one knows your history, it’s time to acknowledge past pitfalls and mistakes and prevent repeating your mistakes as you move forward. Research and Update  You won’t get very far if you seem like a tourist in your own city. It’s time to research and learn as much as you can about your new area. Some things to consider are: which industries are booming in your area? What’s the unemployment rate like? What are taxes like and how will it affect your overall compensation?   As you research details about your new town, make sure that you update the following list of information to stay ahead of the game: Update your license and car registration info ASAPâ€"typically within 10 daysâ€"to avoid DMV fines. Gather medical and dental records for your new doctors. Contact the IRS to figure out potential income tax deductions for moving for a new job. Check your insurance informationâ€"the policies often change in different areas. Subscribe to your local newspaper or community magazine to stay up-to-date on local events. Stand out in the New Crowd It may seem daunting to form an entirely new network, but just remember this: It only takes one connection to break into new networks.   Make the effort to have conversations and genuinely connect with someone at work or in your neighborhood.   Always accept invitation from the first connections you have to open up more opportunities to meet their network so you can expand your own. You can stand out in the crowd if you sincerely immerse yourself among the people you are around.   Start at your new workplaceâ€"get to know your coworkers outside of work by asking them to happy hours or lunches. Using social media sites is another option, but it is best used to leverage your previous network into connecting with their contacts that may live in your new city. Joining a gym and volunteering are two great ways to expand your network as well. To ensure that your move will help you reap maximum and lasting success, it’s important to reinvent yourself by staying organized, updated, knowledgeable, and by slowly building a network. Realize your previous mistakes and make it a priority to build a more solid foundation in your new city by jumping right into your new city.

How to Use Your Resume to Change Careers

How to Use Your Resume to Change Careers The best executive resume format can help you change careers. Writing a resume can be a daunting and tedious task. Between trying to figure out where to start an knowing what to include, creating a resume for a career change is even more difficult. Since a cover letter is crucial to your chances of getting noticed, opting to use a cover letter writing service  is a great option. If that part of the process can be handled by a pro, writing the resume itself won’t seem quite so intimidating. Are You Using a Functional Resume? Don’t! First, let’s get familiar with the term functional resume. A functional resume is one that highlights certain skills, instead of the traditional chronological format. Those looking to change careers should use this technique to draw attention away from their former job titles and play up skills that may be relevant in their new desired field. This sounds like a great idea, except there’s only one problem: recruiters and hiring managers are all too aware of this method. They know you’re trying to hide something. They’ve seen it a million times, and it’s sure to get your resume in the trashcan. A Better Approach So what can you do instead? After you’ve used the  best executive resume format, try to see things from the employer’s point of view. Don’t treat every potential employer the same; they all have different needs and desires. Some may put more emphasis on past experience, while others have requirements about personality, ethics, work style or drive. Second, do your research. You should know everything there is to know about the company you are after. Figure out what skills they value the most, and use that knowledge to your advantage. This will get you noticed by HR. Third, don’t forget about any freelance or unpaid work you’ve done. This can be valuable when trying to change careers. Everyone has an  executive bio, but this is one chance to stand out from the crowd. If it’s relevant work, it doesn’t matter if you were paid or not! If you don’t have any of this type of experience, now’s the time to consider it. If you’re truly passionate about a career change, you have to use every possible angle to your advantage. Convince Employers You’re Committed Now for the most important part. Since you can’t rely solely on your executive bio, you must communicate your passion for this position through your resume as well. Since you may be lacking the typical work history, this is where you can make up for that. It’s vital to emphasize you have thought this change through and are committed to it. The employer needs to feel confident you won’t quickly grow tired of the work and leave after they took a chance on you. Now you know the basics: start with the best executive resume format, don’t use a functional resume and play up your passion. By using these tips, you will get in the door of your dream job in to time!    If you need more guidance during the process, consider enlisting the help of a  cover  letter  writing  service.  There you will find all the tools necessary to create the best resume possible.