Are you Faceless on LinkedIn

Are you Faceless on LinkedIn So you joined LinkedIn and started a profile â€" perfect! â€" but then you went ahead and left your profile picture blank.   Hm. Was the decision not to add a photo strategic, or did you just not want to share it? Some people fear that adding a photo will cause scrutiny or discrimination that detracts from their content â€" which could happen â€" but in all honesty, by not including a photo this same judgement is being cast.LinkedIn profiles were designed to include a photo; not including one is going against the norm. Honestly, why risk seeming out of reach, ‘appearing’ unapproachable, or ‘looking’ incapable? Without a photo it may even be assumed you dont know how to load one. Human nature is highly visual, which is why photographs regularly accompany printed materials. Pictures increase engagement. Without a photo, many visitors may find it hard to look beyond the faceless image and create rapport. Really, who doesnt like putting a face to a name?   In fact, it is a known statistic that profiles with photos are 7 times more likely to be viewed (see related Forbes article here). People like to see who they are reading about and a missing profile picture is not only a turn-off, but a flag that something isnt quite right. The key to a good LinkedIn profile picture is to keep it highly professional. A photo of your cat, your family, or you wearing your favourite Hawaiian shirt is not appropriate.   If you don’t want people to judge you in your photo, certainly don’t give them a good reason to. Avoid being counted as invisible on LinkedIn by adding a current professional head shot of yourself in appropriate business attire looking relaxed and approachable.Ultimately it is up to you to include a photo on LinkedIn or not, but if people assume you are out of reach opportunities could be lost. Here are some tips for your LinkedIn photo: Don’t use an old photo. There are few things worse than meeting someone for the first time and not recognizing them because the profile on their LinkedIn profile is from 10 years ago (or longer)! Use a photo of you in your profile â€" don’t use a photo of an object. At a minimum, your photo should include your head and shoulders, not just a close-up of your face. Smile! Radiate warmth and approachability in your photo. Photos should be professionally done, if possible (but not glamour shots). Wear your most complementary color. Bright colors can attract attention.   Patterns should be avoided. Don’t have other people in your photos (and don’t crop other people out of your shot â€" there should not be any errant body parts in your LinkedIn photo!). Make sure the background in the photo isn’t distracting. Relax. Look directly at the camera. Take multiple shots and ask people their opinion on which one makes you seem most “approachable.” Tips for Men: Wear a dark blue or black dress shirt or a suit jacket, collared shirt, and tie.   No t-shirts or Hawaiian shirts. No busy or crazy patterns. Tips for Women: Wear something you feel comfortable in. No t-shirts. No big or busy patterns. Soft, dark v-necks look great. Black always works; avoid white. If possible, your hair and makeup should be professionally done. Another excellent and informative article on the importance of a LinkedIn profile picture is by Bob McIntosh, titled: 10 Reasons Why Your Profile Photo is Important to Me.  Many thanks to Bob for including my own profile picture in this post as a top example!

November Wrap Up - Repurpose Your Career Podcast - Career Pivot

November Wrap Up - Repurpose Your Career Podcast - Career Pivot November Wrap Up November was the first full month of episodes for the Repurpose Your Career podcast. I thought this would be a good time summarize November’s episodes and give you an opportunity in one place to sample the series. Episode â€" 2 How We Will Work Longer As We Live Longer with Chris Farrell In this episode, Marc interviews Chris Farrell, Senior Economics Contributor at Marketplace, American Public Media’s nationally syndicated public radio business and economics program. He is the economics commentator for Minnesota Public Radio, and host of its series, Conversations on the Creative Economy. An award-winning journalist, Chris is a columnist for Next Avenue, and the Star Tribune, and a contributor to the New York Times. His most recent book is Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life. Marc and Chris discuss several topics, including the aging of the population, and why that’s not such a bad thing; aspects of entrepreneurship; and that living longer, means working longer. Download Link |iTunes|Stitcher Radio|Google Podcast|Podbean|TuneIn|Overcast Read the show notes here. Episode â€" 3 Plan a Life of Success, and Turn it to Significance With Dr. Joel Dobbs In this episode, Marc interviews Dr. Joel Dobbs. Dr. Dobbs is an experienced life sciences executive, with over thirty years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He has served in a variety of senior leadership roles in information technology, as well as general management, clinical research, regulatory affairs, post-marketing surveillance, academia, and consulting. Dr. Dobbs has served as a member of top-tier executive teams of dynamic organizations, in startup, rapid-growth, turn-around, merger, integration, and change phases. Download Link | iTunes|Stitcher Radio|Google Podcast|Podbean|TuneIn|Overcast Read the show notes here. Episode â€" 4 Career Failures, and How to Recover from Them In this episode, Marc shares the chapter, “Career Failures, and How to Recover from Them,” from his upcoming book, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life. Download Link |iTunes|Stitcher Radio|Google Podcast|Podbean|TuneIn|Overcast Read the show notes here. CEpisode â€" 5 Career Pivot Questions? Marc Has Answers! In this episode, Marc answers employment pivot questions with his trusty sidekick, Elizabeth Rabaey. Listen in for ideas to go forward! Download Link |iTunes|Stitcher Radio|Google Podcast|Podbean|TuneIn|Overcast Read the show notes here. I hope you have enjoyed listening to this podcast as I have enjoyed producing it. You will find all of the podcast episodes on the Repurpose Your Career podcast page. Thank you to Podfly.net for producing each episode. So what do you think? Leave a comment below with your thoughts. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

5 easy steps to better sales meetings - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

5 easy steps to better sales meetings - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog (sign from a Copenhagen shoe shop) I got sick and tired of sales people at one point. There seems to be some unspoken agreement among them that all sales meetings must run like this: Boring company presentation, including their org chart and last 5 years financial statements. A pre-planned presentation of all their products, including some that could never, ever interest me. 5 minutes at the end for them to try to figure out what I would like to buy. Whichll be nothing. Theres gotta be a better way! And there is. Sales meetings dont have to be an unpleasant affair in which pushy salespeople use every trick in the book to convince reluctant customers to buy their stuff. I developed a better format for The Happy at Work Project for two reasons:First of all, with our name and our products we were forced to come up with a way to make sales meetings fun, or we would have lost all credibility right there. (If youve never heard of us, we do workshops, presentations, conferences and board games to make people happy at work). Secondly Ive tried being the victim target potential customer of many traditional sales pitches, and I just couldnt bear the thought of inflicting that experience on potential, unsuspecting customers. When using the meeting format described below, I have repeatedly seen clients switch from a defensive, arms-crossed, you-cant-trick-me-into-buying- nothing-buster posture to a relaxed, positive atmosphere where theyre asking me interested questions rather than me trying to ram information down their throats. Simply speaking, sales meetings become fun. Heres how I do it. 1: Youre not there to sell First of all, we dont call them sales meetings, we call them customer meetings. This is not just semantics, the point truly isnt selling the point is to meet a potential customer, to learn about that customer and to let them learn about what you can offer. Youre not there to sell ? youre there to help the customer make a wise decision (this idea is courtesy of my Iowan friend Mike Wagner). Of course youre there in the first place because you believe in the quality of your products/services and you believe the customer needs what you can deliver. If this isnt so, why did you approach this customer at all? And that is the fundamental difference: Is selling a matter of salesman vs. customer or is it a matter of working together. Our meeting format creates a setting where seller and buyer work together to create value for both. 2: Frame the meeting I very briefly introduce myself and my company, and then take a little time to frame the meeting. Time: All our meetings are planned for a 1 hour duration, but I still always start by fixing the time frame, saying Id planned to finish no later than X oclock. Is that OK? Sometimes the customer will say, Thats fine I have a meeting right after and then I always offer to end our meeting 5 minutes early. Content: Then I explain that in my experience, the meetings go better if I can spend some time asking about them first. I can talk for a long time about our products, but if I dont know something about the customer, I may not say anything thats relevant to them. Then I ask if thats OK. Agreeing to these things up front puts the customer in charge of the whole process. While you will of course be running the meeting, you do so with their full consent. 3: Ask a lot of good questions This meeting is not about you. Its about the customer. We have a list of good questions to ask, and the first question is always this: What made you take time for this meeting? This is an amazing question, because it goes right to the root of why youre talking to that customer. Were all busy people, and theres a reason this person has taken an hour out to talk to you. The entire point of the meeting is to find that reason. So why not ask up front? Also, our last question ?What benefits could your organization achieve, if people were happier at work???? is crucial, because right there, the customer will supply you with all the selling points. Substitute your own argument instead of happier at work here. Asking questions is important, because successful customer meetings are the ones where the customer does most of the talking. Also, this means that whether or not the meeting results in a sale, you will still walk away with new knowledge. 4: Present your offerings on 1 (one) page We then present one sheet of paper that describes our work and our products. Yes, thats right, one single, solitary sheet. At this point many customers are expecting (or dreading) a 20-slide corporate PowerPoint presentation, and theyre unfailingly relieved and happy when I pull out just this one piece of paper and explain our offerings based on that. But my products will never fit on one page I hear you cry. Oh, yeah? Well if you cant describe yourself and your products simply enough to fit on one page, then youre not ready to talk to potential customers yet. They deserve that level of clarity and simplicity. Our presentation focuses on what we do, i.e. the actual products and services we can deliver and very little on who we are. The paper also contains a short description of how we work and some (great) customer quotes. Of course, having just learned a lot about the customer, its easy for met to connect our offerings to their business and to focus more on products they can use. It becomes a targeted presentation, tailored to that specific customer and boy, do they ever appreciate that. Remember to constantly stop and ask the customer How does that sound? or similar. Dont go into your entire spiel and then ask at the end. You might ask after every product: How could you apply this in your business? 5: Wrap up the meeting We always end the meeting a few minutes before the agreed time. This shows respect for the customers time, and avoids that fidgety few minutes at the end where the customer is subconsciously wondering whether the meeting will end in time for her to make her next meeting/appointment. There seems to be an unstated belief among sales people that long meetings = good meetings. That the longer you can keep the meeting going, the more interested the customer must be. Wrong, wrong, wrong. At the end of the meeting, we ask: ?How did you like the meeting? Did you get all the information you need???? ?Would you like to be added to our mailing list so you get our newsletter???? ?How would you like me to follow up on the meeting? Should I call you in X weeks???? This ensures customer commitment on whatever follow-up we decide on. Step 2 takes just a couple of minutes, while step 3 (asking about the customer) should take about 25 minutes of a one hour meeting. You then have 20 minutes to present your products and let the customer ask questions about them and 5 minutes to end the meeting. If you find yourself dreading sales meetings or find yourself uncomfortable in a traditional salesman role, give this method a shot. Not only will you enjoy meeting customers this way youll also sell more. If you liked this post Im pretty sure youll also like these: Selling by giving Top 5 business maxims that need to go Part I Part II Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Operations Manager Resume Writing

Operations Manager Resume WritingOperations Manager Resume Writing is a broad term for jobs such as these. It covers managerial positions as well as manual ones. They are usually in charge of the operation of an organization. In most cases, they are the person in charge of the daily operations.Managers do not just work with others but with many people. Their responsibility is to oversee the actions of every department. While this sounds easy to do, it can be quite difficult at times.For this reason, it is imperative that candidates who are applying for a managerial position to be able to excel in their area of expertise. They should be good at keeping on top of things. They should also be good leaders and excellent planners. Furthermore, they should have good communications skills and they should know how to get along with people well. All these are very important if the position requires constant contact with the public.There are several ways in which the manager can advertise thems elves to potential employers. They can speak at length about their skills. This can be done via written materials or in person.A good example of a manager's resume is that of how a state legislator might have his or her resume framed. The resume will probably focus on a particular bill and the history of its development. It will also include the dates on which the senator was appointed to the position and will include links to any press releases or letters regarding that position.Resumes can also be posted on career sites. However, while on these sites, the candidate must meet certain requirements. If he or she wants the resume to be posted online, for example, they must have a verified email address. Also, the resume must be from an accredited institution and not aspam one.Managerial services resume writing is very popular. These types of services require a long and sometimes detailed resume and a great deal of detailed information about the applicant. These services are usually ve ry competitive because they have to provide applicants with something unique and impressive, which is why many of them do charge fees for their services.All applicants for the manager position should carefully read through the job description of the company and try to find out the actual responsibilities of the position. If they have questions, they should inquire. This will help the candidate to narrow down his or her choices and prepare for the interview.

Fun Ways to Teach High School Students Resume Writing

Fun Ways to Teach High School Students Resume WritingFun ways to teach high school students resume writing will help you get them all motivated to start their careers. Any parent can attest to the fact that they want their children to get what they deserve and just as much, want to keep them from going to places that are out of their league. Having a great resume can be the difference between being an applicant and being accepted and what you should do is make sure you put a lot of effort into getting it in place so that it's as effective as possible.One way to do this is by giving students an opportunity to make their resumes a little bit more personal and have them define what makes them different from others. Start off by writing down everything they are interested in or have ever done. Make sure you also list any awards they might have won, prizes or awards they've won and how they went about getting those. Make sure to include the educational institutions they went to as well as any volunteer work they've done and such.In addition to your information, it's a great idea to give your students some creative ideas as well. If you live in a rural area, you can always make their resume reflect this by sending them to and have them go to the local coffee shop or coffeehouse. Once there, have them go through the ads and hand out their resume as a way to start getting the word out about the school and getting it noticed.Another great way to make sure that your high school students are getting what they deserve is to give them a chance to write down their strengths and weaknesses. By doing this, you can see how they come across with this very important question.This is something you can use to make sure that you are able to find out what kind of child's personality you're dealing with. The best way to do this is to have them write down everything that they would like to change and see how they feel about those things. This will help you see if they're really trying to work on their weaknesses or not.If you've ever had a lot of difficulties finding the right job for your child, using resume writing to teach high school students resume writing is the perfect way to get them into a program or school that will help them get the job that they deserve. It's one of the easiest ways to help kids get what they want and it's one of the most effective ways to show your students that you care about them and that you want to see them succeed. So, if you're willing to do what it takes to have a great career for your child, then you need to give this a try.Fun ways to teach high school students resume writing and using this technique to find the right school for your child has proven to be very effective. Be sure to give it a try for yourself!

The Nuiances of Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers

The Nuiances of Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers Life, Death and Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers Paying for an expert copyedit isn't excessive your upcoming career is on the line. There are a lot of hotel, restaurant and recreational jobs out there. A resume is composed to supply the hiring manager with a thorough overview of an applicant's qualifications for a specific job position, and it isn't usually meant to supply an entire picture of the applicant. Initiate a plan about a particular role you would like to put yourself into. Educators contact me daily to make certain they receive their career moving in the proper direction. No matter what type of industry you're aiming to land work in, you want to personalize your list of skills for the position. If you need assistance with something and we don't list it, please get in touch with us. General Resume Tips As you initiate looking for a teacher jobs, take time to rate your abilities and goals. Resumes don' t have to be long. Writing a good resume is key for landing work in the area of your pick. The Fundamentals of Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers Revealed Our occupation is to make a polished and expert bit of writing. Everyone looks up at an important teacher and they would like to be a better teacher, they need to be a better student, better still, they would like to be a better person. Pretend that you're the boss for a moment and someone presented the resume you've written to you. Ok, I Think I Understand Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers, Now Tell Me About Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers! You're able to divide your skills into various sections for effortless readability for the employer. Hence, before you begin drafting your resume, receive a very clear picture of the way to go about doing it. The most significant thing you should remember when writing your teacher resume is that it needs to be clear and simple with an amazing structure. When writing a resume, it helps to review resume examples that are linked to your occupation. Using Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers In today's world, the use of teachers has also been slightly modified. You will also find a good example of a resume written particularly for an early childhood education job. You didn't choose to be a teacher as you wished to turn into rich, you did it since you have passion for education. Needless to say, someone might want to possess the abilities and suitable training, in addition to a degree in education to be a teacher. The Pain of Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers Anyway, if you're keen in working in a specific company, you can research and identify how to transfer your skills effectively. By highlighting what you do well, it is going to enable you to look for work in areas you will enjoy. If you're a student and do not own a lot of work history yet, list any part time jobs you might have held or any volunteer work you might have done. Most teachers should list all their certifications, or whenever they anticipate receiving them. What You Need to Know About Writing a Resume Teachers Pay Teachers Even experienced teachers are needed to renew their licenses every fixed number of years, and several enroll in supplementary training or greater education programs to advance their career. You will have to be careful of how they're listed in your state. If you haven't yet completed your degree, state which year you intend to finish your degree, and the kind of degree you are going to have after completion.

5 Ways To Network Outside Of The Office - Work It Daily

5 Ways To Network Outside Of The Office - Work It Daily Nothing replaces face-to-face networking, and for those who are job hunting, networking is every candidate’s lifeline. Networking is also important, however, for those who are working. Since “every job is temporary,” it is incumbent upon even the most happily employed to remember to optimize their network and keep in touch, both in person and through social media. RELATED: Who Should Really Be Part Of Your Career Network? Here are five ways to network outside of the office, even when you are working. 1. Attend professional conferences and conventions. Professional conferences are places where you can learn and upgrade the level of education and skill needed for professional development. In addition, however, you can meet many other people who are in your industry. You never know when these contacts might come in handy. 2. Join local networking groups. Just about every professional group has a local chapter or a local organization that provides an opportunity to network with individuals who share your particular area of expertise. Get to know them by attending meetings. I attend a couple of these types of meetings a month and see people with whom I share a common bond. We can commiserate with one another as well as celebrate one another’s successes. 3. Get social and check out Meetup.com. If you haven’t yet checked out Meetup.com, you should. This platform offers a group for everyone. There is a group for every type of interest whether, it is wine tasting or bicycling. If you can’t find a Meetup that meets your needs, you can organize one of your own! It is a great way to get to know people who share a passion or an interest off the jobâ€"or job-relatedâ€"and you never know whom you might meet. 4. Stay in touch with alumni. Attend class reunions. Your alumni association may be an overlooked opportunity for you to stay connected, but it is one you should use. You never know where people will wind up, and it is just possible that a former classmate is now working for a company about which you might be interested in learning more. In addition to reunions and local chapter meetings of alumni, LinkedIn provides a great way for you to find and locate alumni online. It is up to you to add the personal invitation to connect and then to follow up so that you can catch up in person. 5. Become a conference presenter! In keeping with the importance of attending conferences and conventions, you can get your name “out there” and become known as an “expert” in your field if you volunteer to present on a topic with which you are particularly interested and one about which you can share insights or information. Volunteer to present at a conference. Offer to write an article for a professional journal or newsletter. People will start to view you as an “expert” in your field, and they will seek you out, thus helping you build your professional network. Never overlook the importance of being well connected in your professional community. It is your responsibility, and failing to do so is a failure of appreciating the importance of being connected with those whom you might help in the future as well as with those who might offer you an opportunity some day. This post was originally published at an earlier date. Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!