Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Career Lessons from an Unconventional CEO

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Career Lessons from an Unconventional CEO Fred Cook, the CEO of PR juggernaut GolinHarris, has worked with Jeff Bezos, Michael Eisner, and Steve Jobs. You would expect him to have attended the best schools, gotten the best grades, and racked up marketable skills before he could legally vote. But the best thing about Fred is that none of those things are true. As he describes in his new book Improvise: Unconventional Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO, Fred got to where he is through a diverse set of experiences that includes pool hustling, selling Italian leather on the streets of Florence, and getting arrested while working as a doorman at a five-star hotel. The career lessons he mastered at each stage of his colorful career became his credentials. Here are some of the highlights. Lesson #1: Learn to Play Pool As a pool hustler, Fred spent most of his time huddled around Brunswick pool tables arranged geometrically on ornate floral carpeting speckled with 50,000 cigarette burns. To prove his prowess, he wielded a 19-ounce, inlayed Willie Hoppe pool cue that his parents gave him as a bribe for completing confirmation class. He learned to think of his life experiences as balls on a pool table. If there are only two, your shot options are limited. But when you have fifteen, the combinations are endless. Fred now works in a business of ideas, and he finds that his pool hustling career allows him to generate more than most people. It’s not that he’s smarter or more creative â€" he simply has more options to play with. Lesson #2: Hang Out with Bums At the Arc Lanes bowling alley, Fred was mentored by dropouts and derelicts with names like Red Dog, Baby Pod, and Fat Beckham, who were collectively known as the Arc Bums. The criteria for becoming a Bum included a high school diploma, no visible means of support, and time in jail or reform school. As a young person from the right side of the track, Fred was very different from this crowd â€" and that was what made the experience worthwhile. “Most of us like to hang out with people just like us, but that’s a problem because we never learn how to deal with other types of people,” he says. “If you’ve already assembled a cast of curious characters, learn from them. If you haven’t, move to Las Vegas.” For the rest of Freds lessons, check out the full post at Intuits Fast Track blog.

How To Build a Website

How To Build a Website Todays post is by Eric Flores. Virtually all businesses need functional, eye-pleasing websites to get by. What they dont need (in all cases) are world-class HTML skills or design credentials. While it never hurts to have design ability, the idea that only professional designers can create good websites is simply not true. Thanks to the Web 2.0 movement, non-designers with even modest technical knowledge can put together fully-functional, visually appealing websites in just a few days, using ready-made technology and resources. Heres how to build a website: Simple Layouts First, forget the idea that your website needs to dazzle and impress people in order to do its job. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, the mid-late 1990s trends of Flash-heavy layouts, dancing graphics and crazy colors are now laughed at by most intelligent businesspeople. If youre not convinced, look at the most successful websites online today. Google stands out as the biggest example, using only a search box, its logo, a few links and a plain white background. Facebook actually distinguished itself from other social networks (in part) by using a clean, simple layout instead of letting users clutter up their profiles with browser-slowing nonsense. This is no accident. When you have substance (a truly great product or service) to offer, you dont need to emphasize sizzle (a needlessly flashy website.) A straightforward site that tells people how to do or get what they came for is often good enough. Its important, though,   when starting a website to consider your brands colors and style. You might want to have a look at a few different brand color palette tools, like this one from  Bold Web Design. It shows the fortune 500 companies, including their main colors and secondary color range. It will give you a good idea of what colors or styles of fonts that you like for your own website. WordPress                                                                                          (Debs (ò?ó)?) Next, abandon the concept of cobbling together a website from scratch with HTML and DreamWeaver (or Notepad.) This is always an option, but for the non-designer, its usually the most frustrating and inefficient one. For those of us who havent mastered Photoshop (and dont plan on it), its much faster and simpler to build a website around WordPress. It may surprise you to learn how many of the websites you visit and blogs you read are actually powered by WordPress. This one, for example. In a nutshell, WordPress is a blogging platform that people can build their websites around and change as needed. Think of it as having the foundation of your website already built. Instead of building an entire infrastructure from scratch, you build the site on top of WordPress and set it apart with customizations (explained below.) Ready-Made Themes (webtreats) WordPress, powerful as it is, isnt much to write home about (design-wise) in its basic state. Just a blue header, white background, and a single column with black text. Not that theres anything wrong with that, necessarily remember that simple designs are often better than complicated ones. However, most business owners still want their websites to have some degree of uniqueness and individuality. Thats where WordPress themes come in. One of the most useful features of WordPress is the ability to install ready-made graphical themes with just a few clicks. Spend a few moments browsing through the WordPress themes page and you will find over 1,000 different graphical themes to choose from. These themes can be edited, assuming you do have some HTML skills. But if not, at least a few of these themes will suit you just fine as-is. SEO Packs Weve all heard about how important search engine optimization (SEO) is for new websites. Without deliberate effort to get to the top of Google, we hear, your competitors will outrank you. But who has time to stay on top of the ever-changing SEO sorcery: keyword tags, inbound and outbound links, PageRank, canonicalization, and all the other miscellaneous factors that drive Google rank? Luckily, you dont really have to. Just install the WordPress All-In-One SEO Pack. Merely having this installed on your site will make it more search engine friendly (and easier to find) than most of the websites out there. Its a textbook example of the 85% solution getting most of the key value from SEO and then getting on with your life, rather than getting caught up in analysis-paralysis and accomplishing nothing. Hiring Designers On An As-Needed Basis Sometimes the ready-made themes of WordPress just arent enough. Maybe your chosen theme got you 90% of the way toward your ideal website layout, but something is missing. Dont worry the solution is actually pretty simple. In these cases, you can hire web designers on a one-time project basis. Rather than employing a Photoshop or DreamWeaver wizard full-time, just wait until an actual, specific need arises. For example: your theme wont let you put an image where you want one to be, or you cant figure out how to add a longer form to the contact page. When things like this come up, hop on Craigslist or VWorker.com and post a job ad. Simply explain that you run a WordPress-powered website, list the theme (say, a href=http://cutline.tubetorial.com/ About the Author: Eric Flores is a freelance writer for Adobe. Adobe software, such as a photo editor, and services revolutionize how the world engages with ideas and information; anytime, anywhere, and through any medium. On their website you can find a PDF creator as well as many other tools to convert to pdf.

Personal Branding Interview Rodney Rumford - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Rodney Rumford - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke with Rodney Rumford, who is best known for his Face Reviews blog, as well as his commitment to the social media world. In this interview, I grill Rodney on Twitter, which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest personal branding tools ever created. Twitter allows you to bypass hierarchies and connect with customers, reporters, CEOs, entrepreneurs and friends seamlessly. In this interview, Rodney goes over the importance of Twitter, the benefits, how both companys and individuals can use Twitter for business acceleration and much more. Why is Twitter so special and why did you take so much time to write a book and build materials around it? Twitter is special because it is a new form of communication and a channel that has many dimensions to it. It is special because you can effectively listen to what people are saying about your brand or topics of interest to you and make connections and engage with people quickly. The many ways in which Twitter can be used for personal branding, networking, business, marketing, sales, support, etc make it truly unique and exciting. I have been using Twitter in a professional capacity for over 2 years and it became clear to me as millions more joined Twitter that many people had not a clue what it was all about and how they could best use it. The problem is when you first look at Twitter you think… “Who would ever use this? This is the stupidest thing I have ever seen”. It’s value is not obvious upon first glance to many people. So educating people on the opportunities, best practices, case studies, and ways in which it can be used is a natural step for me as we have been teaching our clients these things for many years. I just wanted to share all of this information in a way that was helpful and useful in these tough economic times. The opportunities are so great for both personal and a business uses, that I felt compelled to make this knowledge available to the masses quickly with the Twitter as a Business Tool Book and Multimedia Kit. What are your top 4 strategies for individuals and corporations brands on Twitter? For Both: Continually add value and be relevant to the topics that people are discussing. Don’t post “What you are doing”, rather post “What you are thinking”. There is major difference between these 2 styles of engagement and sharing. For Individuals: Interact with people that are influential and that you want to build relationships with. Don’t follow people that you have no intention of ever interacting with or listening to. Make it a habit to interact regularly, proactively and at a moderate pace. Follow people that the influential’s interact with. When the opportunity is right you can engage with them. Don’t bum rush and follow 2000 people before you have done at least 50 tweets of value. For Corporate Brands: Be there, and make sure that you are listening to everything that is being said about your products, services or brand. Start at the end. What is the use case for your business? There may be multiple use cases and ways that you wish to use this communication channel. How many accounts will you need? Basically you need a complete and cohesive strategy before you dive in and end up with egg on your face. Clearly define and expose who is tweeting in a professional capacity on behalf of your company. Youve probably noticed a lot of screw-ups on Twitter. What are the common mistakes youve seen people make? I see people and brands that heavily self-promote and use old push marketing tactics. Those simply do not work on Twitter. You can’t use it to always say “we are great”. Another common mistake is not acting as a valuable resource and helping people out. If you respond and help people and add value you can see a very positive upside. The other common mistakes are people not branding their presence visually with a background or a nice profile picture. People will not follow people that do not have a profile picture at a minimum. The biggest mistake is not filling out your bio and linking to where people can learn more about you, your blog or your business. You need to give people an opportunity to learn more about you in more than 140 characters. Another common mistake is veering way off of your core business topic into the tall weeds repeatedly and for long periods of time. Trust me, very few people care what you are eating or that you are tired. Staying on topic is very important. And finally I will say the most annoying mistake is when people use bots to send users a Direct Message after they have followed them. It is annoying and feels spammy. What are the benefits of being on Twitter to individuals and corporations? Does Twitter have weaknesses? This list could be a mile long, but I will keep it brief. I have written about this exhaustively in both the book and on the blog. Benefits: You can get what is effectively free marketing Opportunity to spread the word and communicate in a 1 to many style Viral communications that moves your content rapidly It allows you to connect with people you know and people you don’t know It is an eco-system that allows you to communicate to masses of people easily It is a great feedback mechanism and focus group You can drive sales, traffic and news quickly I would say the major weakness that Twitter has at this point is market penetration of ONLY 6 million users. This number will most likely exceed 25 million in the next year. Twitter has to keep the wheels on the runaway freight train. It’s other weakness is also it’s strength in my opinion. All of your interactions are there for the world to see. It is transparency in its purest form. Some people and businesses are afraid of that. However, the Genie is out of the bottle. How have you built your personal brand on Twitter? Has that translated into helping you in your business? I was lucky in that my personal brand was relatively known in the social media space for a few years. However, I have used Twitter to extend that brand and the brand of my agency in such a way that we have picked up several Fortune 0 Clients. The key was to determine our use case up front with specific goals in mind. We execute as a use case of brand building through knowledge sharing. It becomes a way to discover, build and make influential connections proactively. We listen, engage, share and add value and eventually become a trusted resource for knowledge, information and insights. This translates into more business and more opportunities for my agency and for me personally. Twitter is not going away and I would encourage people to really get on the train and embrace it for its many business benefits. Cheers! You can learn more and get a free chapter from my book. - Rodney Rumford is the author of Twitter As A Business Tool. He is a true visionary and has authored books on Social Media, Business Blogging Podcasting. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, Business 2.0 and numerous Associated Press Reuters articles. His work has also been featured in the acclaimed “For Dummies” series of books. He has 21 years of experience in technology, marketing, engineering, sales and consulting. He has worked for Fortune 0 companies and startups in a variety of management board advisory positions. He is the Founder CEO of Gravitational Media SociallyBranded, a new resource for monitoring and maximizing online brand penetration and exposure. For more information go to his Face Reviews Blog, or follow him or his book on Twitter.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Launch a New Career After 50

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Launch a New Career After 50 Its estimated that more than one in four Americans are tapping into their retirement savings accounts such as 401(k)s to meet non-retirement needs, but such a strategy can mean it may require people to work longer, especially since company-provided pensions are now provided to only one-in-five workers. That could explain why twice as many people in their late 50s and early 60s are starting a business or becoming freelancers compared to a year ago, finds a PeoplePerHour survey. Some 38% of respondents admit that while running their own show is a challenge, more than two-thirds report it wasnt likely that theyd ever want towork for someone else again. Nancy Collamer, author of Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit From Your Passion During Semi-Retirement, recently discussed with Anita Bruzzese how older workers can best position themselves to launch new careers later in life. AB: First, lets begin with what you mean by a second-act career. NC: A second-act career involves more than just landing a new job or shifting into a different industry. It refers to a distinct move into a new line of work, and for people in semi-retirement, it typically also implies a more flexible lifestyle. AB: How do you decide what you want to do in these second-act careers? Does it have to be what youve always done in your professional life or can you start something completely new? NC: By all means you can start something new! After all, if you dont do it now, what are you waiting for? Just be aware that it can take considerable time, energy and expense to start anew (not to mention that it also can require a bit of an ego adjustment) so be realistic about your expectations. All things being equal, it is always easiest to transition into a new career that is related in some way, shape or form to what you did before. For example, perhaps you enjoyedfacilitating meetings a skill that could be transferred over to working as a director for a non-profit. Or maybe you loved mentoring younger employees an experience that could be a springboard into a second-act as anexecutive coach.Take the time to assess your background and then consider(read the rest here)

Early Retirement Packages - Boomers Ultimate Guide Podcast - Career Pivot

Early Retirement Packages - Boomers Ultimate Guide Podcast - Career Pivot Early Retirement Packages This month, Kalynn Amadiofrom the Boomer’s UltimateGuided Podcast asked me to discuss early retirement packages. This can be a dry topic, but we had a lively discussion. Please check out my previous blog post on Should I Take the Buyout Package, which complements this discussion. If you receive an early retirement offer, whether you accept it or not comes down to evaluating the package from six perspectives: Immediate financial needs Tax implications Health insurance Provisions of the separation, including non-compete clauses Long term financial needs Mental health and well-being Please take a little bit of your time tolisten to what I had to say about early retirement packages in my discussion with Kalynn Amadio, The Boomer Gal on The Boomer’s Ultimate Guide Podcast. document.createElement('audio'); http://media.blubrry.com/boomersultimateguide/s3.amazonaws.com/bugpodcast/BUG_audio/10-16/BUG_E072.mp3 Play in New Window | Download Next, check out The Boomers Ultimate Guide Podcast website. Also, check out the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher. 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 ...

Everything you need to know about employment history verification - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Everything you need to know about employment history verification Are you applying for a new job? You might be looking for a change of scene or a fresh start on your career. That’s great. But watch out, as companies are looking to know how you did of your past employment. You might wonder why the hiring manager of the company you’re applying for is doing an Employment History Verification (will refer to it as EHV in several passages of this article). Its a process of confirming if the details and information that you’ve given them is accurate. If you want to be qualified for the job, you shouldn’t just focus on your knowledge and experience of the post. You should also make sure that your past employment record is sparkly clean. No matter how much you achieved, it won’t matter if your new employer finds out you’ve had issues at your previous job. There’s a lot more to an EHV than just collecting your past data. Thats why in this article, were going to talk about what Employment History Verification is all about, why is it important, a nd how employers execute it properly. Why Employers Verify An Applicants Employment History? Every employer is always looking to get the best people for the job. Thats why they conduct investigations such as an Employment History Verification to make sure that an applicant is fit for the job. Not only that, but they would also like to make sure if the applicant is a good or a bad asset for the company. An EHV confirms all of this. It checks the applicants title and tenure. It also looks into personal data such as the reason why you left your previous job and your eligibility for rehire. During this process, any potential problems and past issues may be revealed. After the investigation, the results will then be compiled into an Employment History Verification report. The information provided by this report will confirm if whether or not the applicant has the experience and work history to qualify for the job. It also provides a chance for previous employers to share their professional and unbiased views of the applicant as their past employee. An Employment History Verification is also a good test to see if an applicant is honest; or is just making fraudulent claims to get the job. It’s a great way to spot fake resumes, fake degrees, false references, and even fake identities. Through an EHV, employers can avoid hiring a toxic person. Even if past employers will only disclose minimal information, it’s still worth the time since every small bit of information will build up into a more concrete jurisdiction on the applicant. It will also serve as a building defense against negligent hiring claims. What’s Included In An Employment History Verification? Now that we’ve given a clearer meaning of what EHV is, let’s emphasize on the factors that are involved. An applicant’s employment history comprises a detailed list of your previous jobs, workplaces, titles, achievements, issues, and more. The employer will gather each information and verify them according to legitimacy and reliability of the source. They will confirm various information such as the date of your previous employment, location of your former workplace, your salary, as well as your reason for resigning. Employment Professional References A lot of applicants dont take references seriously. But when you find out that its actually crucial information that employers look into, youll realise that you should put a lot of thought in into it. Typically, your resume will include at least one reference from your previous workplace. To verify its legitimacy, the recruiter will contact this reference to confirm your identity and make sure that youre not just making things up. The company will also ask for professional or even personal references to add to your employment reference. A common mistake that most applicants commit is focusing too much on their resumes and cover letters. They tend to focus on impressing with their CV. However, always keep this in mind: the employer couldnt care less about your resume nor your cover letter. Whats important to them is knowing if youre someone they can trust and if you have the qualities and past record to be a good fit for the job. They can only confirm that through your references. So from now on, if you want to have a fruitful career, start by making sure the references on your resume is legitimate. Choosing Your References Now that we got your attention on what matters most during your application, lets start discussing the references that you should choose. Of course, youd want to select the people wholl make the best recommendation for you. Just select your closest ex-workmates, and youre all done. However, it’s not that easy, as you also need to take into account the reliability of your references. By that, we mean people who have the title, as well as the mindset of giving a 100% unbiased opinion about you. Often, we place our past boss. That’s okay, as long as you two were on good terms. Otherwise, you may want to think about retracting your decision. The best references that you should put into your resume is your former supervisors or co-workers in other departments who also happen to know you. Again, the ideal choice is people who know you, as well as your strengths and abilities. Identify people who will say positive things about you. However, make sure there isnt any bias involved. If the one conducting the Employment History Check will find out, thats an automatic red flag. Furthermore, choose three of the best references. These should be people who are aware of your achievements and can speak that highly. They should also know about your tendencies at work, your skills, work ethic, and overall performance. Keep in mind that your reference doesnt all have to be people at work. You can also enlist your past professor at your University or even a school mate who knows you well and has a lot of positive things to say about you. Getting Your Own Work History While most companies create its own Employment History Verification using the information that applicants provided; there are some that add a work history to an applicant’s requirement. Once you encounter a company that requires this, you can get help from the Social Security Administration. They have records and information that you can use to reconstruct your Work History. You can also acquire this ahead of time so that you’ll be fully prepared during your application. The Weakness Of An Employment History Verification While an EHV is a robust method for determining the best candidates for a job post, it does have some downsides. For one, there are no guarantees that an employer will respond to the request of verifying an applicants past employment. If they do, it also doesn’t guarantee that they will respond on time. In most cases, employers who are willing to respond to an employee background check will still not answer all the questions. While this may come as rude or unprofessional-like, employers have their reasons why they tend to not get involved with this process. For the most part, many organizations have policies and regulations that govern the limitations of information that they can disclose with regards to past employees. Other organizations even have a policy stating not to reveal anything. Some companies make use of third-party verification services. However, they don’t provide every information, so a thorough investigation is not met. Overall, an employment history verification is quite flawed, and, most of the time, don’t give justice to the applicant’s employment reputation. However, employers still find a way to get through it and determine the legitimacy of an applicant. That’s why instead of settling for the recent past jobs of the applicant, employers will dig deeper even opting to get personal just to know if the applicant is telling the truth. How Far Back Does EHVs Go? Most employment verification checks are done using recent employment. However, if they don’t get anything relevant out of it, they’ll opt to go deeper, checking for the applicant’s last seven years of employment. Sometimes it could be longer. The period covered in a report will vary depending on the length of the applicant’s tenure with his or her past work. It also depends on how much information they get. The employer will also look into an applicant’s educational and personal history for the following circumstances: If the applicant is a fresh graduate. If the applicant is yet to reach seven years, or so, working. If the employer fails to gather enough relevant information from the applicants past job Duration Of An Employment History Verification An Employment History Verification typically lasts from one to three days. However, since these investigations highly depend upon the previous employer and other parties involved, some searches tend to take much longer. As mentioned earlier, some employers are very difficult to talk to and are very arrogant when it comes to disclosing information about past employees. Some employees are also challenging to locate. Because of these circumstances, what a company does is use a third-party verification service to contact the prior employer. They will repeatedly make contact at least three times. Reaching out to a past employer would include direct phone calls, emails, and fax attempts. For the employer who’s conducting the EHV, patience is vital during these times. Turnaround time can vary widely. There are even times where prior employment verification must be mailed. If this is the case, the tracking system will still mark the search complete, but with the note, “will update when i nformation arrives.” Attempts to contact prior employer will continue. However, the information tracking system won’t be able to report the rest of the background check for a particular search until the previous employer picks up and answers the questions. Our Recommendations To Applicants As someone who is applying for a new job, its important that you make sure that everything is for your application to pull through successfully. Thats why you need to take into consideration the possibility for an employment history verification. Its a standard process that most companies exercise. Knowing that the company youll be applying for will look into your history before formally offering you the job post, you need to take several measures to make sure nothing negative comes out of your EHV report. Here are a few things you can do: Keep a good track record of your academic and employment history. Make it a habit of retaining documents or digital copies of all your records. Get a copy your academic transcript and diplomas, make sure your record is flawless on your previous work. Have contact information of your past employers for reference. That way, filling out employment applications will be a breeze. At the same time, you can ensure that your past academic and employment record is clean. Clean up your social media profiles. Nowadays, its also pretty standard for recruiters to look into your social media profiles. Thats why if youre applying for a job, make sure you delete anything in your online profiles that may put a dent on your application. Rant tweets, things you share on Facebook, or even pictures you post on Instagram should be deleted if it shows anything negative about you. Another good way to prevent hiring managers from snooping into your online status is putting all of your social media profiles on private. Be Honest. Last but not least is being honest. If something negative comes up in your background check, dont try to work your way around it. Instead, discuss it carefully with your potential employer. Tell them the real story. In return, they might even give you the position just for your honesty and maturity in dealing with the situation. Take Employment History Verifications Seriously An Employment History Verification is something that applicants like you need to take into serious consideration. Employers arent joking around when they say they want to know what youve done in the past. The best thing that you can do is maintain a good track record. Just be a good, reliable, and professional worker. In return, youll get high scores during your EHV, and youll qualify for any job you apply for. With this in the back of your head, good luck with your application and may you have a successful career.

How to Choose a Resume Writer

How to Choose a Resume WriterWhen it comes to choosing a resume writer, there are a lot of decisions to make. What types of writers to choose? What sort of price? And what company should you use?Some people think that they need to hire a writer because they have an overflowing inbox or because they just don't have the time to write a good resume. These types of excuses are understandable. But for some people, they are truly valuable. If you need help writing a resume, these are the writers you want.The most common reasons that people use a writer is to improve their resumes. A resume, no matter how good, is not going to change a person's ability to perform a job. For this reason, hiring a writer will help you save time and money.The second reason that a writer is so important is that a writer can make you sound more professional. Many people aren't good at writing resumes. In fact, many people don't even read them before they submit them. Using a writer is going to make you sound bet ter.The third reason a writer is so important is that you can get a writer for free. When you make the decision to hire a writer, ask yourself if you are willing to put in the time to write the resume yourself. Do you really have the time and patience to go over the document on your own or would you rather pay a few dollars to save yourself some work?When you are deciding who to use as a writer, consider what your company needs and what company the writer is affiliated with. Also look for the reviews online to see what other people think of the writer. It's never a bad idea to check to see if someone has a good track record. Many companies hire writers and promote them all over the internet.Writing a resume is not hard to do but if you want to increase your chances of landing a job, choosing a writer is crucial. However, make sure that you are comparing all of the different companies you are considering. There are many different things that go into hiring a resume writer. You want t o make sure that you pick one that will fit into your company's marketing plan and not waste your time and money.