Personal Branding Interview Caroline Ceniza-Levine - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Caroline Ceniza-Levine - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke with Caroline Ceniza-Levine, who is a career coach, writer, speaker, Gen-Y expert and co-founder of SixFigureStart.   In this interview, Caroline talks to us about how executives are googled before interviews, what executives can do after a layoff, and much more. Caroline, is it true that executives will be googled before a job interview? Yes, executives will be googled and not just executives. College admissions offices look at online profiles as part of student applications, so even pre-career your branding matters. For executives, recruiters and prospective employers will absolutely look at online profiles and will also be using online sites such as LinkedIn to find candidates in the first place. Remember: All networking contacts may look, not just prospective employers. So if you are trying to get even an informational interview, it helps to have an engaging profile. People have limited time so they will check you out before consenting to even an informational meeting. Google yourself to see what’s out there. Place a Google Alert on your name (and your company’s name if you have a business) so you can keep abreast of what is being written about you. If an executive gets laid off, what are their next steps to recover? That’s a long question. We do entire workshops on how to handle a layoff and move forward. In a nutshell, take stock of your cash position â€" you need to know how long you have for your search, or if you will need to be looking for a short-term money solution (temp work, consulting) while you conduct a search for that long-term job. You want to launch your search as quickly as possible so that you have time for a thoughtful, proactive search. Too many people take time off and then start their search once they’ve already used up a significant portion of savings and/or severance, putting undue time pressure on themselves. Do you think all executives should blog? Why or why not? Blogging is a great way to establish your expertise. I have often recommended to my career changing clients especially that they blog about their target industry and functional area. This way they have a venue to showcase their credibility and have samples of their ideas. Blogging also forces the jobseeker to follow that subject and stay on the cutting edge of it. That said, a public blog is public for all. So you need to be careful about what you write â€" that it is in a voice that is professional, that the content is intelligent, that you are not revealing confidential information. Can you name an executive with a strong brand name and what makes them unique? The well-branded executives that people will have heard of are the business leaders/ CEOs who have published and/ or travel the lecture circuit. So, Jack Welch has a strong leadership brand and has written a book and conducted speeches related to that. Danny Meyer is famous for hospitality and similarly has a book and lectures about hospitality/ service. When I was a recruiter, I also saw more junior professionals brand themselves with good resumes, online profiles, conference keynotes, published reports or white papers, and mentions in the press. A great way to get on a recruiter’s radar is to publish, speak or be quoted as an expert. How have you built your personal brand over time? My brand has evolved over time and is associated with the career changes I have made: from classical pianist to management consultant to retained recruiter to actor to corporate HR to entrepreneur. My current firm SixFigureStart focuses on Gen-Y, so my branding via writing and speaking is targeted to that population and its constituents (schools, parents, etc). The career change piece and Gen-Y focus are not mutually exclusive, as evidenced in my career blog for Vault.com, which focuses on nontraditional search tactics for the student jobseeker (my own eclectic background provides a firsthand starting point for the atypical search tactics). In this way, I try to maintain a consistent message while still using all of my unique and varied experiences. I give the same advice to my clients â€" to be authentic and accepting of all the different aspects of your background. - Caroline Ceniza-Levine is a career coach, writer, speaker, Gen-Y expert and co-founder of SixFigureStart, and has 16 years of experience in professional services as a management consultant and executive and corporate recruiter. Most recently, Caroline was Head of University Relations for Time Inc. She has also recruited for Disney ABC, TV Guide, Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, Pfizer and Citigroup. Caroline is a career columnist for CNBC.com, Conde Nasts Portfolio.com, Vault.com, Wetfeet.com and The GlassHammer and teaches Professional Development at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Caroline is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University.

7 non-awkward ways to improve your relationship with your manager

7 non-awkward ways to improve your relationship with your manager Is your relationship with your manager okay? Could it be better than okay? It can be difficult to figure out how to improve such an important work relationship without being an obvious sycophant (thats a fancy word for butt-kissing, vocab enthusiasts). Butt-kissing aside for one second, we at Debut think youre better than that. There are better ways to use your talents than making a coffee for your manager when they come in every morning. Here are some ways to better your relationship that arent cringeworthy. Communicate about your workload This might shock you, but you dont have to do exactly what your boss asks you to do word-for-word. Communication is key, be sure what your manager wants done and when they want it done by. If youre not sure, dont be afraid to ask. Your manager will appreciate you being clear about what you can and cant do, as opposed to you taking too much on and not completing tasks. Set up a regular one-on-one If youre working in a large company, it can be really difficult to nail down your manager for a meeting. If this applies to you, try and take the initiative. Regular meetings dont have to happen everyday, they can be every other day, weekly or fortnightly, even monthly. As long as you make the effort to become more visible to your manager, theyll appreciate you for it and youll be able to better conceptualise what you need to do to move forward. Find common ground You both work in the same place, so thats a start. That could also mean that your manager and you are passionate about the same things. Try and find some common ground on your favourite parts of the job even things outside work are fair game. Connecting with them on your favourite music and TV shows will make for a genuine connection that isnt work-based and a much easy relationship. Be trustworthy One crucially important thing that will ingratiate your boss to you is if they can trust you. This isnt something you can build overnight, rather its done by consistently doing things you say youre going to do. You dont have to be successful all the time, but succeeding in small ways many times in a row will make you the go-to person when your manager needs something done. Ask for honest feedback Dont let pride get the best of you. Dont assume youre doing a good job just because your manager hasnt said anything. Talk frequently and ask them to give feedback at your one-to-one meetings. Your manager has the benefit of an outside perspective and will be able to best assess how the work youve done measures up compared to your key performance indicators. Give them honest feedback Kissing up to your manager and assuming they look after you perfectly will cause problems for your relationship down the line. If you dont like the way youre being managed, the best thing to do is be honest about it. Your manager will be seeking to improve just like you are and the best managers take feedback from above and below them. Caring about yours and their development will definitely improve your relationship. Dont fear them, empathise with them Your manager is a human being just like you. Theyre going to make mistakes, they have fears about their job, and they have insecurities. Its important to have patience with them. Nine times out of ten, they go home thinking about the little wrinkles in their performance rather than yours. Communication will lead to a better understanding, which in turn will mean a better time for both of you. Connect with Debut on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for more careers insights.

Why are managers so afraid to show some happiness - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Why are managers so afraid to show some happiness - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Billionaire Ingvar Kamprad hard at work That day, the IKEA store in Gentofte, Denmark is a hive of activity. Not only is there a European executive meeting taking place, but the company founder, Ingvar Kamprad himself, is in the house. That?ll make most employees straighten up and put in a little extra effort. The execs wrap up at 6 in the evening, and Ingvar takes a stroll through the store as if this was the most natural thing in the world, kindly greeting each and every employee. He encounters two female employees talking to each other and approaches them with a smile and the words: ?And what are too such lovely ladies talking about?? ? following up with huge hugs for both of them. Ingvar Kamprad is not merely a multi-billionaire and the top guy of company employing well above 100,000 people worldwide ? he?s is also a happy person, and he?s not afraid to show it. The same goes for many other top executives like Tony Hsieh of Zappos, Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, J?rgen Vig Knudstorp of LEGO and BrinPage of Google. Richard Branson of Virgin is perhaps the most famous example of a top exec who isn?t afraid of being happy, enthusiastic and funloving. Would you dare to? Can people tell that you?re happy from looking at you? Are you walking the halls of your company with a smile on your face, a cheerful outlook and an unflagging faith in the future? Or have you, like so many other managers, bound yourself to an identity that requires a professional, cold, serious, disparaging and businesslike appearance? Happiness pays off. Happiness at work is catching ? and when the boss is happy, it?s downright infectious. If you, the person in charge, seem unhappy, you dampen the mood of everyone else in the company. This leads to more sick days, more stress, higher staff turnover and lower efficiency. On the other hand: When you radiate energy, curiosity and enthusiasm, you inevitably pass on your attitude to your employees. They grow happier and more creative, and they?ll ultimately end up providing better service to your customers. Happy managers also gain a natural rapport with their employees, and people are much more eager to go the extra mile for a happy manager than for an unhappy one. However, there?s one downside to being happy that you should be aware of: You may be regarded as less competent. In an exciting psychological study, participants were asked to read an article and subsequently assess the smartness of its author. Half the participants got an article with a negative, critical attitude towards a certain topic ? the other half got an article on the exact same topic, but worded in a much more positive way. The study showed that the author of the negative article was perceived as the more intelligent of the two. That?s frankly strange, because loads of studies prove that happy people do a much better job. But apparently, many people also think that happy people aren?t all that serious. They?re seen as kind of happy-go-lucky and maybe a bit gullible too. On the whole, however, there?s no doubt that the advantages to being a happy manager far outstrip the disadvantages. So what can you do to bring some more happiness into your management style? Here are three concrete and dead simple suggestions. 1: Smile. Look happy when you?re at work. Smiles are infectious and build good relationships. Dont be fake, though. It has to be a genuine smile. 2: Look at the bright spots. Many managers spend all their time on problems and all the stuff that doesn?t work. Change tack and spend much more of your time praising good work and finding and cherishing the heroes of your organization. 3: Cultivate optimism. Some managers believe that a permanent atmosphere of impending crisis leads to good results, and they work hard to point out threats in order to create a burning platform. That?s a mistake. If you convey calm, optimism and faith in the future, you create a much more efficient and adaptable organization. Optimism is not an excuse to sit around doing nothing ? it?s the most important driver of change there is. The upshot Studies show that managers on average are happier at work than employees but you wouldnt usually think so to look at them, since many believe that leaders should be serious rather than happy. They forget that its possible to be both. Smiling and being happy is no substitute for being good at your job of course. You still need to be professionally competent, efficient and a good manager. But the collective experience of some of the most capable and successful managers in the world shows that being happy makes you a better boss. That is, if you?re not afraid to show it! Your take Are you a leader? If so, are you happy and not afraid to show it? Or do you adopt a more professional facade? As an employee, have you tried working for happy boss? Or a very unhappy one? What was that like? Related posts How Richard Branson celebrates his employees. Happiness at work at Southwest Airlines. Happiness at work at Zappos. 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

The Benefits of Using Professional Resume Writing Templates

The Benefits of Using Professional Resume Writing TemplatesIf you are having a hard time writing your own resume, why not consider getting professional resume writing templates? These templates can help you avoid some of the common mistakes that students make when they write their own resumes.One of the biggest mistakes that students make is making the resume look as though it was written by a person. You should be able to see the correct spelling of names and title tags as well as titles of paragraphs. Make sure that the information on the resume is clear and well-written.If you are unsure about what kind of information you should include in your professional resume template, you can always hire a professional writer to help you out. For the type of experience that you have, this will likely be needed for you to fill in the right information. Professional writers can also write the resume for you if you cannot write it yourself. This can be helpful for those that have some type of d isability.When you first start writing your resume, it is important to know what needs to be included. This will help you determine what should be left out or what can be included. The more details you include, the better your chances are of getting hired. By making this decision early on, you will be able to be confident that the information will be included on your resume.Some professional resume writing templates do have spaces that should be left blank. Make sure that you follow the template in regards to the number of spaces that you leave empty. Not filling them in is a common mistake that most people make when writing their own resumes. Filling in these blank spaces with your personal information is acceptable but you should also leave enough information for the employer to know what skills you have.Some professional resume templates allow for some sort of summary. Although you can write your summary later, it is very helpful to start writing a summary as soon as possible. A summary can provide an overview of the skills that you possess so that the employer can have an idea of what type of work experience they will need.One of the best things about professional resume templates is that they will take all of the worry out of preparing your resume. Many templates allow you to put your information in the proper format and that means that you will not have to worry about making mistakes when you are writing your resume. This is one way that you can save a lot of time and money that you would otherwise spend on hiring a professional writer.Whether you are preparing for a job interview or are just wanting to create a resume for yourself, professional resume templates can be used. Many students often write their own resumes and once they start, they often get stuck. Creating a professional resume takes a little practice but it is well worth it in the end.

Theladders Resume Writing Service Reviews

Theladders Resume Writing Service ReviewsTheladders resume writing service reviews are excellent places to find all of the information you need in order to submit a great resume. All of the details needed for writing a great resume are covered in these reviews.Theladders is a great place to find great reviews from all of the top employers. These professionals who review services have an extensive list of information on each and every resume they have to offer, allowing you to write a resume that is tailor made to your individual needs.Each review is broken down into five different levels based on a variety of aspects. First, they provide their overall thoughts and opinions of the particular resume service. Next, they analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the company's job postings as well as the overall career path of each employee.Third, theladders career counselors are always on the lookout for potential talent that can be led to successful careers. Finally, they also give specif ic details on each company's locations and connections to high-paying employment opportunities. It is important to find out if the employers and career counselors have any complaints or questions with regards to the services.Hiring services have a long history of being known for their excellent customer service and convenience. They have been in business for hundreds of years and will continue to make this reputation even stronger. When looking for a resume writing service, always ask them about their easy access to the top employers and what advice they have to offer.Theladders reviews are a fantastic way to find out what others have to say about a particular service. Companies all over the country keep these reviews for the sole purpose of evaluating their competitors and deciding whether they should work with them. In the case of hiring services, they will look for the best opportunity they can find to hire the best people possible.A resume writing service review is one of the be st ways to find out if a career service is the right choice for you. Make sure you are doing your research before choosing a writing service so that you are sure to get the most out of it.

All About Creative Professional Resume Writing Samples

All About Creative Professional Resume Writing Samples Resume plays an essential role during the selection procedure for work. Your professional resume is significant in lots of means. If any new job experience needs to be added then just one section needs to be incorporated between the texts without making any other alterations. You may have had a sketchy work history due to several factors and maybe you fear that listing everything will cause you to look as a work hopper. What Does Creative Professional Resume Writing Samples Mean? There are essentially 3 styles of resumes. Your Resume' is essential to your whole future. Some resumes don't have a normal format throughout. All the expert resumes share various characteristics. Be certain that you highlight all of the teaching related courses and certificates. If you're really keen to earn a career in the banking business, you may apply in various banks and financial organizations. You will need to coordinate with your skills with as many relevant keywords as you are able to. Developing a nursing resume is difficult, notably since there are not any rules. What You Can Do About Creative Professional Resume Writing Samples Beginning in the Next Seven Minutes You're able to later prove your work suitability at the right time of the personal interview. Resumes are produced to highlight the ideal side of an individual. Stunning Resume matters a lot when you're trying to find a great job. What Everybody Dislikes About Creative Professional Resume Writing Samples and Why Always keep in mind that the hiring manager is going to have no interest in knowing about your individual achievements. When writing the resume for any coach, it is crucial to include all of the coaching related skills in the resume that could make you stick out from different coaches. If you think that you're fit for over 1 job there, it's necessary for you to create a targeted resume for each job. Employing a professional res ume service ought to be your very last selection. Resume tips for felons are a big assistance. Resume skills and abilities play a substantial part in boosting the standard of your resume. To produce the progress that you believe your talents deserve you will want to lower the luck factor and make your own opportunities. While you would like to make sure that you take some time to focus the content on you and your targets and accomplishments, you also should remember why it is you're writing the resume in the very first place. The Basics of Creative Professional Resume Writing Samples That You Will be Able to Benefit From Starting Today Many job seekers attempt to pass off periods of unemployment by claiming that they started their own company, which might or may not truly be true. New jobs can help ex felons to develop into a region of the society. Generally, a resume won't guarantee that you will get in the door of a prospective employer, but nevertheless, it will prevent you from entering if not well done. A good resume would highlight every one of your strong-points so the employer could see right away why you'd be a great option for the job.

3 Tips For Crafting A Thank You Follow-Up Letter - Work It Daily

3 Tips For Crafting A Thank You Follow-Up Letter - Work It Daily A good thank you note will not change your qualifications for the job, but it can tip the scale in your favor if it’s down to you and another candidate. If used properly, it can also improve your standing from how you performed during the interview. Related: What To Say In A Thank You Card Besides 'Thank You' The best thank you notes don’t simply say, “Thank you for your time. It was nice meeting you.” Take it as an opportunity to remind the employer that you have what it takes to deliver results for the job. You can also consider touching on things that are important, but that you didn’t get a chance to or didn’t do adequately during the interview. If there was a specific challenge or problem the employer brought up during the interview. Put some extra thought into it, and briefly address it with a premise for a solution. You may also bring up experience under a similar scenario and mention that you would be open to discussing it further. A job candidate who takes extra time to craft a meaningful thank you follow-up note doesn’t only impress, but is memorable. So, here are some general tips to crafting and submitting the best thank you follow-up note. Send a separate note to each individual you met with and keep the message different for each contact. Clearly, there were highlights to the conversation you can build on with each individual. Distribute the thank you note within 24 hours of the interview. Employers also see a more personalized touch when a hand-written message is sent, so after getting the email out separately send out a personalized thank you card. Address key points â€" Start by expressing appreciation for the meeting, think about highlights from the meeting, and recap on how and why you make a good fit for the job; consider adding additional information you didn’t get a chance to touch on or didn’t adequately address, and complete your message expressing excitement on the next steps to the interview process. A thank you note is absolutely necessary after each interview. It signals to the employer that you’re still interested and it solidifies the positive impression you’re going for. This post was originally published at an earlier date Related Posts How To Follow Up After An Interview How Much Follow Up Is Too Much? The Best Interview Follow Up Checklist About the author Don Goodman’s firm was rated as the #1 Resume Writing Service in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Don is a triple-certified, nationally recognized Expert Resume Writer, Career Management Coach and Job Search Strategist who has helped thousands of people secure their next job. Check out his Resume Writing Service. Get a Free Resume Evaluation or call him at 800.909.0109 for more information.   Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here. Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!