Why You Shouldnt Be Looking For A Job

Why You Shouldn't Be Looking For A Job 84 Jobs are dead. Long live the contract-driven economy. This is a guest post by Rebecca Rachmany. If you’d also like to guest post here on JobMob, follow these guest post guidelines. Let’s start with why you’re looking for a job in the first place. That’s obvious, you say. It’s because you need to make a living. I’m with you on that one, but let’s just look a tad deeper. What you really want is financial security. Let’s face it. A job is good today, but you want long-term financial security, not just a job today.eval A job will never give you financial security A few years ago, someone interviewing me for a job asked me why I move companies so often. I said, the average time on a job is a year and a half, so I’m not far off that average. See, this startup failed, and that one moved the department offshore, and I got a better offer here. Nothing strange. The only strange thing, I realized, was that every time I had a job, I thought I had a job.eval What I actually had was a contract. All you’ve got is a contract for the next 30 days, if that Wait, it’s worse than that. Not only do you only have a contract, you only have a contract for as much money as you need this month. You aren’t putting anything aside for the next interruption in your job, are you? Remember, the job is going to last an average of 1.5 years, so you better be saving enough for those 3 months between jobs that are coming up in another year or two. Seriously. You should be looking for a contract Should you be a freelancer? Start your own business? I would say yes. Actually, I would say you already are your own business. You are just a contractor. Companies take you on temporarily to fill a particular temporary position. It’s temporary for a variety of reasons, not least because the company itself is temporary. If you have the skills to do so, start your own business. If you don’t, get those skills. Seriously. The higher the salary, the higher the risk I was chatting with a product manager one day, and I commented that he seemed like he should be in a more senior position. He said that he had carefully turned down promotions throughout his career. He chose to stay at a medium-level salary, with no promotions, because he knew there would always be openings for product managers. There aren’t as many openings for VP. If you want to be fairly secure in your career, that’s not a bad way to go. Note, however, that you have not made great progress towards financial security. Especially as you pass age 50. If you lose your job after age 50, no matter what your profession, you’ll have difficulty finding a new job. Let’s see. That’s 15 years before retirement. What are the chances you’ll lose a job in a span of 15 years. Pretty close to 100%. Again, you have moved away from financial security, in particular in the years you are going to most need it â€" when you’re getting older. The days of the “job” are behind us Do you know why people keep saying that there are no jobs? It’s because you didn’t listen the first time. Of course there are jobs. The main reason there are jobs is because of small companies, not big companies. Small business is responsible for most of the job creation. The statistics speak for themselves. Most new jobs are created by small companies. This article says that these jobs are short-lived, but we’ve just established that almost all jobs are short-lived. If you want to succeed in creating financial security for yourself and your family, it’s time to learn business skills. I know you think you aren’t the entrepreneurial type. You think that because you’ve been educated your whole life to be an employee, not because of your natural tendencies. Our educational system still insists on educating employees rather than entrepreneurs. Fortunately, you can learn the skills to be an entrepreneur at any time. Whether you decide to stay in a regular (temporary) job or not, these skills will serve you for the rest of your life. Unless you are in a high-demand profession If you are a programmer, this article isn’t talking to you. You will always be able to find a job if you follow these two rules: Always keep your skills updated. Learn new languages, even if it means using your own time and money. Maintain good relationships with colleagues. If you follow those rules and stay in high-demand positions, you’ll always have a job. Note that I didn’t say “do excellent work”. It goes without saying that you should be at least “good” at your job. Learning entrepreneurial skills won’t hurt you, even in the most stable of jobs. It certainly will benefit the company you are working for if you develop these skills, and at the end of the day, if you benefit your company, you’re making your job more stable. What skills do I need? If you recognize that you may become an entrepreneur or freelancer, either by choice or by force, following are the skills you’ll need to learn. Sales. There are many online courses and in-person you can take. Any sales organization or MLM company provides sales training, though I don’t recommend MLM. I do recommend the Landmark Introduction Leaders program, though they would never call it sales training, it is very effective. Drive: To run your own business, you need to have drive. I recommend a course in self-empowerment, in particular courses that come from the coaching discipline. The in-person courses are best, but online or DVD-based courses are also effective, if you make sure to repeat the classes until they are internalized. I recommend the Anthony Robbins materials for motivation and drive. Finance: Knowing how to price your services and run your finances is the basis of having a business. Even if you have a great accountant (and you need one), you need to understand what is going on in your business at a financial level. A formal finance course at a college or university is good for this, and you definitely want to be familiar with Robert Kiyosaki’s materials on the subject. What if I’m not ready? Find someone who already runs their own business and see if you can join forces. Get a job for now, knowing it’s temporary, while you brush up your business skills. Or just go for it anyway. You might not be ready to work for yourself, but today’s reality calls for it. About the Author Rebecca Rachmany is currently the Chief Marketing Officer of Tech-Tav Documentation, providing content marketing and social media marketing to high-tech companies. She has more than 20 years of marketing and management experience in the high-tech industry. She has been a partner in two successful services businesses, founded her own startup and served as VP Marketing on Plicto, a startup which was sold to Bittorrent. She holds a BA from Rutgers College and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. Her professional blog can be found at www.rebeccarachmany.com and her personal blog is at www.rebeccarachmany.org. This article is part of the The $10000 7th Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest. WebHostingBuzz is a reliable web hosting company with the servers hosted at multiple US and Europe locations and over 30,000 happy customers worldwide. If you want Rebecca Rachmany to win, share this article with your friends. READ NOW: How Successful Freelancers REALLY Get Started

How Hiring Decisions Are Made - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How Hiring Decisions Are Made - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Years ago, I had a large office in the Wall Street area with a personal secretary screening my phone calls, opening mail, taking dictation, and managing my calendar. Since then of course, the business world has changed. The next phase had executives sharing a pool of secretaries using floppy discs working on word processors. That was followed by an administrative assistant supporting at times an entire group. Whereas years ago the hiring process and the hiring decision were the exclusive domain of the executive, nowadaysâ€"since so-called teamwork has become a major part of the work environmentâ€"hiring decisions are often shared and thus made by several team members. That process supports the concept that a group decision is better than an individual decision. As a result, the process has become convoluted, protracted, and not necessarily betterâ€"in my opinion. Today’s job market is flooded with lots of very qualified candidates chasing very few openings. The way hiring happens has also changed. Technology has infiltrated the process, and today’s submission of one’s candidacy is purely mechanical. Nobody sees the candidate’s skills and qualifications unless the hiring manager’s keywords match those on the résumé, and only then is the original résumé reproduced for reading. Once that happens, several candidates get reviewed via a selection process. To save time and money, a phone interview, or screen, is the next hurdle candidates face. It’s usually accomplished by someone junior in the human resources department who does not fully understand the hiring department’s particular needs. If an external recruiter is the intermediary between the candidate and the hiring company, then the recruiter’s financial motivation is playing a key role. That’s because recruiters work for the company paying their commissions. Decision Making Decision making is a complex process because several parties have a say and a stake in it. For example, sometimes the human resources department representative’s opinion carries significant weight, and other times the rep is merely a paper trail processor. Sometimes a candidate is interviewed by several people in addition to the final decision maker. Those others, too, have a sayâ€"because hiring managers want to show their support of their teams by demonstrating their collegialityâ€"but to what extent those other opinions matter is probably variable. And what happens when a hiring manager favors a particular candidate but several others who’d be future peers of the candidate show resistance? In addition, in most cases hiring managers know the thinking and mentality of the person they report into, so what happens if their own opinion is opposed regarding the type of person who should be hired? A recent large survey was conducted among human resources professionals and hiring managers. The survey clearly found that by far, the number one factor in the hiring decision is the fit factorâ€"meaning, the determination about whether a candidate will fit into the culture of the company. Fully 100 percent of the respondents said so! But what is this culture that’s referred to? Who defines it? Who interprets it? Some companies use exclusively behavior-based or situation-based interview questions. The tenet here is that past performance is a good indicator or predictor of similar such performance. I wonder if those companies can decisively demonstrate that by practicing this theory, they become able to hire and retain a higher-caliber labor force. Ultimately, of course, it is people who make the final decision about which candidate to offer the job to. The interview process is certainly not a science but an art. Can that art be learned in order to improve one’s chances of being hired? Well, I’m sure you know the answer to the old riddle that asks, Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?

A Marketers Guide to Audience Engagement

A Marketer’s Guide to Audience Engagement Effective content is crucial for audience engagement. Companies are increasing their content marketing efforts, according to Smart Insights, creating a more competitive environment for online marketers. More than 90 percent of companies are utilizing content marketing in 2017 75 percent of companies increased their content marketing budget in 2016 43 percent of companies increased staffing levels of their content marketing departments Despite these figures, Smart Insights reports that approximately half of all  content marketing strategies are not integrated  with the rest of the business strategy. Add in the potential of marketing being in the “age of content shock” â€" or how the exponential increase in content production could result in content consumption increasing slightly and then inevitably plateauing â€" and it’s easy to see how the stakes have intensified for marketers. With the right audience engagement strategies and tools, marketers can create valuable content that overcomes “content shock.” But it isnt just a matter of quantity.   The graphic below clearly shows that were already far past the point of just doing more. Effective audience engagement depends on a well-planned, well executed, and coherent approach that delivers the results you want.   Heres how to achieve that. Audience Engagement Strategies Create High-Quality Content Quality is the most important aspect for content, whether it’s a blog post, infographic, video or podcast. Content should be unique, targeted and, according to Kissmetrics, “easy.” Easy to Scan:  Take layout into account for pages and articles. Readers tend to scan instead of reading pages, so use appealing typography and visual images to catch individuals’ eyes, which will cause them to read more. Content with relevant images receives 94 percent more views than content without relevant images. Easy to Interact With:  Create interactive elements such as quizzes, polls and online chat. Easy to Load:  A one-second load delay can drop conversions by 7 percent. Minimize bounce rates and maximize readers’ happiness by improving site speed. Minimizing image files and investing in a content delivery network can help. Easy to Share:  â€œSocial sharing is, to a great extent, the highest level of engagement that there is,” Kissmetrics says. Try to integrate social media buttons to content pages to make this a simple step for visitors. Easy to Monetize:  Advertisers are struggling to turn a profit due to problems like few solutions for making money from mobile users and interruptive ads that have led to the increased use of ad blockers. One effective way is to integrate contextual ads into content, which automatically provide relevant and engaging banner ads. Develop an Authentic Personality Create content that aligns with your brand’s personality. For some companies, this means a fun, quirky style, while for others it means a more direct, concise approach. The Content Marketing Institute offers 10 tips for  adding more personality  into content. Tell a good story  to draw readers in, offering entertainment value while matching the purpose or mission of your content. Elicit an emotional response  to appeal to readers’ emotions. Ask rhetorical questions  to get readers thinking, instead of merely being fed information. Use formatting  like good paragraph spacing, bold type, italicized fonts and lists to make content pleasing to the eye. Widen your vocabulary  for more personality (but don’t overdo it). Be interested in your topic, which allows your enthusiasm to be contagious to readers. Read entertainment content  to become a better writer. Include fascinating facts  to support why people read: to be entertained and to learn. Write like you talk  to communicate clearly and avoid jargon. Build suspense  to leave your reader hanging on your every word.  Integrate a Timely Communication Strategy Produce content on a regular basis to keep your blog, social media accounts and other content marketing channels fresh. Give your audience a reason to come back with new content, and remember that it is important to be seen in your audiences’ social media feeds and by search engines. Use Social Media Effectively Social media is a natural landing spot for your content. For each channel, you should ask  some key questions  that tell you the purpose of the channel, goals for your audience (do you want them to share, comment or register for something?), what type of content your audience wants, the right tone and how often you should post. The content you post, as well as your tone and frequency, will look different for LinkedIn and Twitter, for instance. Evaluate how you’ll appeal to your specific audience on each channel and leverage the channel’s best practices. Focus on Targeted Outreach Find other places where you can place your content. From a guest post on  Forbes  to a sponsored infographic on a leading personal blog in your niche, there are opportunities outside of your channels that provide potential. Developing relationships with influencers in relevant topics can be a powerful strategy for getting your brand seen. Utilize User-Generated Content Ask for your customers and audience to participate in building content. You can run campaigns that call for pictures on social media, user-created videos that feature your brand and more. These types of opportunities can help motivate and engage your target audience better by getting them involved actively. Track Impact of Engagement Identify metrics on your website, social media accounts and more to gauge your effectiveness. Performance indicators not only inform what your return on investment is for your content marketing campaigns, but they help reveal ways you can improve. Track your success and test different things to capitalize on your ideas. Online Audience Engagement Tools Audience engagement tools offer an ideal way for marketers and small business owners to track engagement and/or communicate with customers. Here are some of the top audience engagement tools. HubSpot:  This social media tool allows you to develop a content calendar, automate posts and see a wide variety of data for your accounts. It’s one of the most popular tools of its kind for businesses of all sizes. Zendesk:  Improve relationships with your customers through this could-based tool. This customer service software and support ticketing system lets you gather customer feedback and address questions and requests for help. It is fully scalable. Intercom:  Intercom is an integrated customer messaging application that has live chat, customer engagement and customer support features. It integrates with several platforms and tools, thanks to its flexible APIs. MailChimp:  Automate your email marketing campaigns for content efforts and more with MailChimp. You can schedule emails, use email templates, set up auto replies and track the effectiveness of your campaigns. Outbrain:  Outbrain is an advertising platform that places your content on premium websites. It produces 200 billion recommendations for consumers each month. TweetDeck:  This social media tool for Twitter lets you schedule tweets and track where your brand, industry or specific topics are mentioned. Importance of A Marketing Education Obviously, marketing is now more than ever an essential part of any business.   There should be someone on board, or at least under contract, who not only knows business but has a good understanding of the nuances of marketing.   But what if youre a small company that doesnt have that in your staff mix? One answer is to work towards an    online bachelor’s degree in business administration  that focuses on the marketing skills and tools graduates need to adapt and excel in the business world.   While there are many options, one that is particularly interesting is from Grace College.   Their GOAL (Grace Opportunities for Adult Learners) program is designed for students balancing personal commitments while pursuing an education. The fully  online MBA  provides students with a strong foundation in marketing, accounting, finance and human resources as well as coursework in entrepreneurship. These programs can help graduates gain the skills needed in todays marketing-intense world and pursue leadership opportunities in business. Audience Engagement = Skillful Marketing The cost of marketing takes an increasing bite out of the budgets of most businesses.   So its more important than ever to get it right, the first time.   Take the time to execute the elements of effective marketing weve pointed out, and your bottom line will thank you.

Why its Worth Paying to Hire a Motoring Solicitor

Why it’s Worth Paying to Hire a Motoring Solicitor Why it’s Worth Paying to Hire a Motoring Solicitor If you’ve recently been caught speeding, whether by a speed camera or by police officers, you will probably still feel very shocked and worried about the future. It may be a relatively low speed, in which case you will probably receive a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), which consists of a £100 fine and three penalty points. If you feel this is a reasonable state of affairs, then you should pay the fine and learn your lesson. Sadly, however, not everyone caught speeding feels they’re being treated fairly by the law, which is where specialist solicitors like motoringoffencelawyers.com come in. Speed cameras keep us safe, but… In recent years the number of speed cameras alongside our roads has increased and while it’s thought they save dozens of lives every year, they are also catching drivers who are only just outside the speed limit. This means that more and more drivers may be accepting FPNs than would have done in the past. A slight lapse in concentration for a few seconds could see a driver slapped with three penalty points, which may affect their job and their insurance premiums. If you know you were speeding… You can still benefit from strong legal representation. You may have been late for an important meeting, or you were rushing to work and decided to put your foot down just for a few seconds. The gamble didn’t pay off and now you’re facing a court case because you went quite a bit over the speed limit, or you were on the motorway and you’re looking at a large fine. Hiring a legal team to help you works in two ways. First and foremost, they can look for inconsistencies in the way the evidence of your speed was collected by the police and also look for any failures to follow strict Home Office procedures. If there are any holes in the evidence, or a vital step in procedure was missed out or not performed properly, then the prosecution case may be unreliable. Savvy, experienced lawyers can see glaring errors that you may not, as you’re too busy fretting about how you’ll pay the fine or do without your car for six months. Secondly, you’ll have tough, knowledgeable people who are also on your side. It’s easy â€" and understandable â€" to feel guilty and judged when you’re being prosecuted for a driving offence. No-one wants to put other people in danger, or be thought of as careless or negligent and you’ll probably already be on the receiving end of comments and criticism. This, on top of feeling worried about your job security, makes for a lonely and scary time. Motoring lawyers can give you peace of mind With a good solicitor behind you, you’ll know that you’ll be going into court with strong representation and so you’ll get fair treatment by the magistrate or judge, as well as the best outcome possible. Whether it’s getting your case dismissed entirely, or reducing your £2,500 fine and 12-month ban to £1,100 and six months, you’ll be better off with motoring lawyers than you will be without them.

Deadly LinkedIn Mistake No LinkedIn Profile Photo, or a Bad Photo Choice - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Deadly Mistake No Profile Photo, or a Bad Photo Choice

Always Customize Your LinkedIn Invitation to Connect

Always Customize Your LinkedIn Invitation to Connect In case you havent heard, you should always customize your LinkedIn invitation to connect, but I bet you didnt know these secrets.   In the early days of LinkedIn, before mobile, it wasnt hard to figure out how to customize your invitation to connect with someone. But times have changed and even I have accidentally sent an invitation without tailoring it first. The Default Message Is A Turn-off Many LinkedIn users complain about the impersonal invitations they receive. And so did I. But no longer. I think we need to give people the benefit of the doubt. Heres why. LinkedIn doesnt always give you the opportunity to select which type of message to send. So it isnt that the person is lazy or doesnt want to change the message- they often dont have the chance. Secret #1: Never Click to Connect Unless You Are On The Persons Profile The only guarantee you will be able to customize your invitation to connect happens when you are using your desktop (not the app on your tablet or smartphone). If you click connect from any other screen, you probably will not be able to edit the message. LinkedIn prompts you, in fact, they tease you, into connecting with people you should know. This happens when you see people you may know, when you search for someone, and many other places on LinkedIn. Just remember, always go to the persons profile and connect from that connect button!  Here is an important update: Secret #2: Use The 3 Dots From Your Mobile LinkedIn makes it far too easy to send the default invitation if you are using your mobile! If you are using your phone or tablet to connect with someone- look for the three dots at the top right of their profile! This works on most mobile devices. Lets be forgiving on this topic. And please do share this so we can all come up to speed on how to customize your invitation to connect!

Niche Resume Writing to Make Money Today

Niche Resume Writing to Make Money TodayIf you are looking for ways to start your own small business, there are several niches that make money for you and make it easy for you to start. By taking a look at these niches, you can easily find out how to take a break from your regular 9-to-5 and really start making money.Bachmann craves for customers. This is because she is a person who love to help others and is able to teach the product she has created to others in return. If you have the drive and confidence to do this type of thing, you might want to consider this niche.These people love to go to big cities. They also live in these cities and have been there for years. Many are single parents and have a college degree. They enjoy making friends, getting involved in activities and making new friends.Real estate agents are in demand, not just in the country but in many places in the world. Some individuals do this work full time, while others may have part-time jobs. They love to be ou t there meeting people and making new friends, and are very persistent in marketing their services.You don't have to be an experienced medical professional to apply for this position, but do have to have the dedication to read through the whole doctor's advice before you start talking about anything and eventually start using the product. You also have to be willing to use all the resources that the doctor offers, which include Internet and websites.Selling something that a lot of people will pay for is a sales job. You have to market your product or service to hundreds if not thousands of people who are willing to buy it. If you have no previous experience selling anything, you have to think outside the box and start finding all the potential customers for you niche.Career experts are in high demand in almost every industry. In order to make good money, you must be able to market yourself, and since there are so many people wanting to find career experts, you can easily find a nich e like this.Niche is the most widely used word in the market today. It is the basis for many of the niches and they are the most popular ones. By coming up with your own idea, you can easily become successful in this niche.