6 Easy Steps to Finding Career Success

6 Easy Steps to Finding Career SuccessWe all know what its like to want to succeed, but feel as though were just not cutting it. Here are six proactive things you can do to get over your fear of being rejected and focus on building momentum in the long term. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) Step 1Get used to hearing noDont take things personally. Rejection is part of the normal rhythm of a career. People say no all the time, for a wide variety of reasons. Its not all about youStep 2 Turn a negative into a positiveSometimes not getting what you want is for the best. You may be disappointed now, but you never know how youll feel in a few months or years. Not getting that promotion or that new job might actually be the best thing for you. Give your future self the chance to be grateful.Step 3 Use rejection as a reason to take mora risksThe trick to getting over rejection is actually getting rejected more. Youll never get a yes if you dont ev er ask the question. After that, its just a numbers game Getting used to the nos will make the time between the yeses all the sweeter.Step 4 Show off your drive and ambitionBe proactive. Focus on the things you can do to improve your odds. Ask for leads, cross things off your to-do list, and stay ready. Make as many pitches and proposals as you can. Youll start to notice that every rejectionis still a stepping stone to your ultimate goalStep 5Pay attention to the slightest progressMaking daily progress is immensely satisfying, particularly when your work and goals are meaningful. And it pays off. Behavioral psychology research suggests that improving every single tiny thing by the tiniest 1% can make an enormous difference over time. Consider every increment a building block for building your best and brightest future.Step 6 Take small steps towards your goalsSuccess cannot happen overnight. Its important to take small steps in the right direction, and to keep taking those steps. Ma ke a daily commitment to yourself, and continue choosing to work towards your goals. Youll get there much faster and enjoy the road a whole lot more.

7 Steps To Still Being Successful With A Boss Whos MIA

7 Steps To Still Being Successful With A babo Whos MIA A close friend recently landed the job of herbeibei dreams, working for an amazing company that many only hope to get hired at. Once the celebrations ceased and the job actually began, however, she worried that the opportunity wasnt living up to her hopes or expectations especially once she realized her babo was often MIA (both in the office physically, as well as in the role of a career mentor). She feared that without proper support and guidance from her boss, she would fail and felt it already affecting her stress levels and workplace productivity. Together, we mapped out an action plan to save her from the Sunday scaries and to set her back on her path to world, er, career domination. If youre facing the same fears and worry how an unsupportive boss will affect your performance, read on for your immediate to-do list and tips1. Communicate with your manager. If your boss hasnt already set up regular meetings or check-ins, th en be proactive and ask to do so. Establish a regular meeting time, and if she or he cancels, be diligent about rescheduling. If your boss is out of the office often, ask to have a Skype meeting or phone call to touch base. Communication is essential in forming a relationship with your manager and will equip you to do your job better. 2. Be prepared and punctual. Always be organized and ready for the meetings send an agenda ahead of time if possible. Your boss will appreciate this even more if they are not in the office and in a time-crunch. 3. Establish what the priorities are of the company/your departement/your boss.Simply knowing the end goal is a simple but sometimes overlooked part of the puzzle. What would make your bosss life easier right now, and how do you fit into that equation? What are her expectations of you? Ask lots of questions early on, and request feedback specifically where you desire it - whether its about tasks youve completed, or if you wonder what her preferr ed method of communication is. 4. Be clear on your own expectations/needs.Just because youre focusing on your bosss needs doesnt mean you should neglect your own. Speak to your boss about your needs to do your job and do it well if you feel there are elements or resources lacking in certain areas, use your voice - but offer a suggested solution as well. 5. Ask your coworkers for advice.Take some time each morning to get to know your coworkers better - they are often valuable sources of knowledge and experience that can help guide you in how to work best with your new boss. 6. Find a mentor elsewhere.Ideally, it would be great if all bosses were built-in career mentors, but that is not always the case. If your boss is not stepping into that role, look for mentors elsewhere - whether in other departments in your company, or through networking groups for professionals.7. Take responsibility for your own career success. The worst thing any ambitious professional can do is to sit back a nd wait for things to be handed to them. Whatever you want - whether its more guidance in your day-to-day, a promotion, ANYTHING - you need to take the necessary steps to make it happen. Starting any new job can sometimes be a time of uncertainty, and growing pains can occur when youre identifying how best to work with your boss and coworkers. Establishing a process for yourself is a crucial step in obtaining workplace contentment.--Karen Schneider works for bareMinerals in Global Packaging + Creative Services and has worked in a variety of industries over the span of her career, including digital media, fashion & apparel, and wine & spirits. She is currently a contributor to The Muse and Career Contessa and has been featured on Business Insider and Harvard Business Review for her career advice. Shes obsessed with learning, life, and career/self-improvement.

The Keys to Success as a New Recruiter - Spark Hire

The Keys to Success as a New Recruiter - Spark HireWhen youre new to recruiting, the job may feel overwhelming. The location requires far more than just finding a potential candidate and submitting their materials to the hiring manager. If youre looking to excel as a recruiter, keep these tips in mindKnow how to network It may sound obvious, but many new recruiters overlook the importance of bolstering their network. You should be networking every day, and shouldnt rely on only one method to do so. Call someone who has an interesting background, reach out on Twitter, or send a message on LinkedIn. Strike up a conversation at a cocktail party, and meet friends of friends. Even if you dont have an opening that matches that persons skills and needs at that time, its always good to have a lot of connections to work off of.Get a mentor You can learn a lot just by watching a more veteran recruiter at work. Notice how they talk on the phone or leave voice mails, and find out what kinds of t ricks they use to find the best candidates for an open position. Its often good to have more than one mentor, as no two recruiters work in exactly the same way. If your company doesnt set you up with a mentor when you come on board, do your own research in order to find someone you admire. Many people are more than happy to help coach new recruiters to success.You dont just have to recruit within your area of expertise Some recruiters think that they have to recruit people for jobs with which they are familiar. In reality, quite the opposite is true. Thanks to the Internet, you can do research about any field. Just because you know nothing about engineering, doesnt mean you lack the tools to recruit for this kind of position. With a little understanding and an open mind, its possible to learn about any field. Ask plenty of questions. People who work in that field can often provide you with the insight you need to successfully recruit for that position.Get on the phone Whether its ou t of laziness or fear, some recruiters try to do all of their recruiting strictly online. They rely heavily on social media and shy away from the phone. While this may work for some people, it makes it harder for a new recruiter to be successful right away. Social media is certainly a powerful tool for recruiters, but you cant be afraid to pick up the phone and make a call. Talking to someone on the phone forges a more powerful connection than e-mail or social media alone. Though it may seem intimidating at first, eventually youll get more comfortable and will have no problem making a few calls.Lastly, dont forget to follow up. Far too many people have lost great prospects because they dropped the ball after making the initial contact. If you have to, keep a spreadsheet that reminds you when you need to follow up and with whom. This is a huge part of the job, and its one you have to master in order to be successful.Are you new to recruiting? What have you learned about the field so far? If youre a recruiting veteran, how did you get comfortable with your position?

Talk Careers with Your Kids When Theyre Kids

Talk Careers with Your Kids When Theyre KidsTalking Careers with Your KidsTalk Careers with Your Kids When Theyre KidsAs a parent, how many times have you seen public service announcements that tell you to talk with your kids about sex or drugs? Today, I think the conversations should also cover careers and career management. Why? This economy has wreaked havoc on not only my generation, but the others in the workforce as well. In some ways, we will never return to what a lot of us have experienced.Now, some of you might ask How do we talk with our kids about careers without turning them off? The answer is simple Start at an early age, when theyre in high school, if not earlier. But some parents make the mistake of trying to have all the answers, always giving advice and always ready with a solution.My daughter has taught me best how to handle these conversations. Here are a few of her inspirationsDad, sometimes I just want you to listen and not try and solve everything.Listening mea ns giving me your undivided attention.I need you to guide me and coach me, not make decisions for me.My rule of thumb now is a recruiting version of the 80/20 rule, with her taking the lead role of talking (80% of the time), while I question her just 20% of the time to bring better clarity.Its amazing what we can learn from our kids. I now find myself at times having to realize that Im talking to an accomplished young person. Almost any encounter can be a teaching moment for both of you.I always told my daughter to follow her dream, find her passion, and build a career around it. Here are five talking points that you, as a parent, can consider when you have this conversation with your own childCareer Management Realize that you are the CEO of all your hopes and dreams. You will determine the trajectory in your career, so always manage it.BrandingWhat are the one or two things that make you stand out? Always be conscious of those. What types of signals are you sending? Are you seen a s a go-getter? A slacker? Or something in between? Determine what your brand will be.Networking Practice delivering a two-minute pitch that says who are you and what youre about. Thats the proverbial Tell me about yourself. Think of three to four sentences that will tell anyone not only who you are but whats important about you. (Parents, invite your kids to a networking fest youre attending and show them how they should properly introduce themselves.)Resumes A great time to think about writing your first resume is as soon as you begin high school. Once you start job hunting and working, always keep it updated and available. Add to it as soon as you complete a new assignment or earn a promotion. Many times, youll meet someone who will want to see your resume right away. (Parents Teach your kids to think of the resume as something you build throughout your life. Show them yours and discuss the importance of keeping it up to date, provided yours is.)Performance Its extremely important to always perform at your highest level. Performance differentiates who will win in career management. Promotions and raises will come when you work beyond the description of your current job and make contributions that demonstrate your true value to the business.These discussions have paid off considerably. My daughter is now juggling two internships, both in her area of interest and our career conversations continue. Like other major life topics, career management discussions should start early to offer the best chance of helping your kids thrive rather than struggle.

Aberdeen Broadcast Services for Work-at Home Jobs

Aberdeen Broadcast Services for Work-at Home JobsAberdeen Broadcast Services for Work-at Home JobsAberdeen Broadcast Services, a California-based family captioning business, offers transcription services for video producers and broadcasters that go beyond captioning to cover such areas as digital file delivery, translation and voice dubbing. Formerly known as Aberdeen Captioning, the firm changed its name to reflect an expanding role in language services, including translation, multi-language subtitling, and voiceovers. The company operates three divisions AberFast,AberCap, andAberLingo. Work-at-Home Opportunities Many of the positions (caption editors, sales exec, translators) listed on its website are at its in-house in its facilities in Orange County, CA however, it does offer work-at-home jobs in Real-time captioning - Hires experienced freelance real-time captioners with speeds of 180-220 WPM for live captions or live-to-tape programming. Knowledge of Bible/Christian termino logy is needed for some positions. Freelancers should have their own real-time, closed-captioning software, a back-up computer and three phone lines (one can be a cell). Pays up to $75 per hour.Transcription - Hires transcriptionists for video clips. These jobs are very typical of the home typist jobs. You are required to have a foot pedal, transcription software professional headphones, and Windows media player installed. Excellent grammar and punctuation skills, as well as knowledge of Christian terminology, are required. Pays $1-$1.50 per audio minute. Translation - Hires freelance linguists who have fiveyears experience as a professional translator, a university degree and native fluency for translating subtitles, voice-overs and creating subtitles using subtitling software. Applying to Aberdeen Captioning Go the Aberdeen Captions careers page and search through the job postings. Notice how they are color coded for hiring, accepting applications and closed. Be sure to note w hether they are work-at-home positions. To apply, emaille your cover letter and resume to infoabercap.com, carefully following the application submission instructions in the posting. In the subject line, write your name and the name of the position. Aberdeen will only respond to applicants it wants to move to the next level. It will not respond to calls from those who have not been contacted.

Henry David Thoreau and why nothing is as it seems

Henry David Thoreau and why nothing is as it seemsHenry David Thoreau and why nothing is as it seemsIn 1845, Henry David Thoreau made a famous pilgrimage to Walden Pond in Massachusetts to live in a tiny cabin that he built in the woods. He went to the woods, as he wrote, to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. He would live on his own means- no electricity and no running water- and like a Spartan, he would suck out all the marrow of life and reduce it to its lowest terms.He recorded his experiences in a book calledWalden, which is assigned in high schools and quoted inHollywood moviesto illustrate the virtues of self-reliance and humankinds connection with nature.I have a confession I hateWalden. Ive been envious of Thoreau- and not in a good way- ever since I read about his pilgrimage to nature. The story reminds me of my own inadequacies.You see, I m a city boy, raised in the urban sprawl of Istanbul- home to 15 million people. I have the soft hands of a typist. I dont own power tools. My work injuries consist of paper cuts (theycanbe nasty). If you put me in a cabin in Walden Pond- cut off electricity, running water, and wi-fi access- I wouldnt survive. So I envy people like Thoreau who can deliberately expose themselves to rough conditions and survive- nay, thrive.A few weeks ago, when I was reading Amanda Palmers excellent bookThe Art of Asking, I discovered a few mora details about Thoreaus wild experiment with self reliance.It turns out that the cabin Thoreau built was less than two miles from his house- not in some remote woodland, as the story might imply. Almost every day, he took trips back to civilization, which was walking distance in nearby Concord, Massachusetts. He ate dinner at his buddy Ralph Waldo Emersons houseall the time. My favorite part Every weekend, Thoreaus mother and sister brought him a basket of fre shly baked goods, includingdonuts.The historian Richard Zacks sums it up well Let it be known that Nature Boy went home on weekends to raid the family cookie jar.I dont tell this story to poke fun at Thoreau (okay, maybe a little bit). I tell it because it highlights a far more important lesson The people we put on a pedestal often cant live up to their own legend.Long before social media, people were creating positive curated portrayals of their lives. If Thoreau lived in the age of Instagram, he may have been shooting selfies in front of his self-made cabin, while neglecting to snap photos of himself devouring baked goods freshly delivered to his doorstep.Much of what you see on the Internet isfake. You can purchase 5,000 Instagram followers for$40or get 5,000 YouTube views for$15. There are click farms, which are businesses where hundreds of computers and smartphones play the same content over and over to drive up fake engagement (heresa videoof one at work). People are even post ing fake sponsored content on social media, pretending to be brand ambassadors even though theyre not getting paid. Why? In the influencer world, its street cred,saidBrian Phanthao, himself a self-proclaimed influencer. The more sponsors you have, the more credibility you have.Gloss reflects more than it reveals. Nothing is as it seems.The next time youre tempted to put someone on a pedestal because of the story they tell to the world, just picture Henry David Thoreau- not sucking on the marrow of life- but feasting on his mom-made donuts.Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned law professor and bestselling author.Click hereto download a free copy of his e-book, The Contrarian Handbook 8 Principles for Innovating Your Thinking. Along with your free e-book, youll get the Weekly Contrarian - a newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and changes the way we look at the world (plus access to exclusive content for subscribers only).Thisarticlefirst appeared onOzanVarol.com.

12 Obstacles That Affect Your Career Brand Voice

12 Obstacles That Affect Your Career Brand Voice12 Obstacles That Affect Your Career Brand VoiceEveryone is an authority at least in his or her household, or at the minimum, self. Right? Or maybe you are an insider and can speak authoritatively about your industry, hobby, or passion. Authority is essential in your career brand voice.People get psyched out when they hear a loud voice that is demeaning and demanding. Thats a career brand voice that these days most will pass on. Trust is earned and won, and that is what people will be drawn to at the end of the day.Your actions are also a key to establishing a professional brand and voice. I mean, you should do what you say you will do and people believe you. Or you dont meet your goals that you set for yourself. Its almost as if your words fall to the ground. Want more clients? Want more opportunities. If your voice doesnt have a brand, you give the control to someone else.I have 12 ways to identify why your voice lacks authority or cr edibility. This will help you connect with people much faster, with assurance, and open the doors to opportunities you didnt think existed before.Here are 12 obstacles that affect your career brand voiceLack of FocusYou can have too many influences, heroes, and mentors if you lack core beliefs and values. The overflow of your heart or lack thereof will surface. If people dont know where youre goingor are confused by the direction of your actions and words, no one will buy in. If your messaging is unclear and unfocused, eventually your network and (Lord forbid) those who consider you for jobs become uninterested. Its best to master one point and two sub-points at a time. Better yet, one point might be best.Trying Too HardLets say you meet someone that can put you in the right persons hiring radar. Instead of being patient, you abflug calling twice a day for a week to ask how things are progressing. What are the chances your contact is so annoyed he or she is now ignoring you?Incitefu l but Never InsightfulYou want to be seen as original, but at the cost of someone elses ideas or content. You rather erroneously quote or regurgitate others ideas as your own. When people hear you, or see your work, and it becomes obvious that you dont have an original thought, then people will lose respect or confront you until you give correct attribution. We have all seen people who suck up to people for other reasons than be valuable. It never ends well and the last thing they get is respect.Weak or Wrong Delivery MethodPeople think that a loud delivery for their ideas is the most effective when it only compensates for weak ideas. Great ideas need the right delivery, to inspire the right action, and by the right people. Sometimes, less is more, especially when we have the right solution. I have a soft voice, but I believe in the proverb, A gentle word breaks a bone. The secret is being confident in what I say (often preceded by much thought). You can do it tooLack of ExperienceI am turned off when people say they have a passion for a careeror task but lack the work, credentials, or research to demonstrate competence. The first few hundred times may not be enough to claim yourself as an expert. If thats the case, there are other questions and concerns you should have, and put in more reps (more work).Not Growing ProfessionallyTo use a fitness analogy, to grow muscles, they must be worked to failure every now and then. Reps are done until the muscle is overloaded with work until no more reps can be performed. You dont grow, because you havent been overloaded or worked to failure. Muscles must be challenged regularly to grow, and so do you. You want to grow, stretch, and show your usefulness. Create a blog and take people on that journey with youNot Asking Questions, Lacking DepthGreat questions come from great listening skills. Not asking an interview question is lazy, but lacking depth in asking a question says so much more negatively. People who succeed ob tain the job he or she wants over and over again, and ask simple but profound questions.Lacking InitiativeSuccessful career management is partly intuitive. There are hints as we go along that point us in the right direction. Sometimes, its weird but many times that voice inside should be heard, and to quell it requires initiation and action. Perhaps youre afraid to fail or to make a mistake. People are likely to forget the missed shot if you make the next shot.TemperamentIf you are easily frustrated, then people will find it easy to say no to you. Apply temperance to any area in life, but specifically to your career management or job search efforts.Your LifeAll unclear goals, objectives, and targets lacking in purpose will come into play in everything you do in your career. The pattern in your life shows that youre a shooting star vibrant at first, then dissipates like sparkles. Thats rarely a good thing.No Follow-UpThis is a must-have skill. Without it you will never thrive. Want t o work from home? Want to freelance? The follow-up is the money maker probably missing from your arsenal. To emphasize anearlier point, when you say youll do it, and you dont, no one takes you seriously.Dont Promote, Market, or Advertise YourselfI am not a big fan of wearing a banner or showing my face on a billboard, but I have a website for that. Its probably the difference between someone finding you and your uniqueness, or wondering why youre unique.This can be challenging if you are used to not being in control of your career. Job seekers have much more confidence and faith when he or she have a pliable attitude willing to pivot, turn, or turnaround even. Wherever your opportunities will come from, it will depend on how you develop a career voice that is recognized by the right employer, business partner, or client.Readers, is your career brand voice affected by any of these obstacles? How do you overcome them? Share with us belowMark Anthony Dyson is the founder of TheVoiceofJ obseekers.com, and a Career Consultant, Writer, Career Educator, Entrepreneur, Trainer, and Speaker. His goal is to give job seekers from all walks of life the voice that stand out in a crowded field of job competitors.