Monday, December 30, 2019

Infographic Details College Grad Happiness, Meaningful Work is Key

Infographic Details College Grad Happiness, Meaningful Work is Key Infographic Details College Grad Happiness, Meaningful Work is Key And with the influx of college graduates into the workforce, companies should be well aware of what makes todays top talent happy as well. This is where webapp Happify comes in.The company created a new infographic, Education, Striving for Happiness Success, which offers companies a detailed look on college graduates views of happiness.For starters, the infographic notes that college graduates are more likely to say theyre very happy than workers without a degree. And 30 percent of millennials say meaningful work is the most important measure of a successful career, even more important than a paycheck.And in what fields do college graduates find the happiest work? The infographic data revealsNursing -86%Special Education-83%Medical Technology-80%Biomedical Engineering-79%Athletic Training, Social Work, Child Family Studies-78%The data also notes th at St. George, Utah Charlotte, N.C. and Houston, Texas are the happiest cities for job-seeking college grads.Check out the complete infographic below to also discover how current students find happiness through GRIT, extracurricular activities and school rankings

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

6 Keys to Determining If a Job Commute Will Work

6 Keys to Determining If a Job Commute Will Work6 Keys to Determining If a Job Commute Will WorkIts hard to believe in the midst of todays modern hustle and bustle that not so long ago commuting to work entailed little more than a short horseback ride to the nearest town or a leisurely 15-minute stroll a few blocks away. With ever rising real estate prices and a move towards a split between urban and suburban platzsettings, however, todays job seeker can typically expect a commute thats a tad bit longer. According to recent studies, the modern commuter can expect to spend upwards of an hour commuting on a daily basis. Live near a larger city with a high cost of living? Housing affordability and quality of life concerns may push that number up as younger workers and growing families attempt to find a bit more room in their living situation.Whether by auto, train, bus or other methods, these stats mean that anyone on the job hunt should be prepared to answer important questions about j ust how far they are willing to commute for that new job or career. Looking at a job move that involves a commute? Weve put together a handy list of six keys to determining if a job commute will work for you. How will you pull off the commute?The first factor to take into consideration when deciding whether a commute will work for you is just how youre going to go about getting into the office. Not all forms of transportation are created equal. Rail lines can be expensive and difficult to access if youre not within a short distance of a direct route, but trains also provide opportunities for working, reading or engaging in other activities. Driving, on the other hand, can often be stressful but provides flexibility with schedules. Bus and car shares are other great options to investigate as a starting spot for your research. How much will it cost?Another factor that should weigh heavily on your decision whether to commute is the cost of travel. Daily train fares, gas and wear and te ar on your personal vehicle, tolls and parking expenses can all add up. Carefully plot out how much your commuting expenses will impact your weekly or monthly paycheck before deciding on a commute. Dont forget to ask about any employer subsidies for using mass transit or ride shares as this could be a perk that adds value to a lengthier commute. How flexible are your work hours?Will your boss be the type that expects their employees to show up at 9am on the dot, every day? If your route of travel suffers frequent delays or is on a set schedule with minimal options, positions with less flexible working hours may not be entirely commuter friendly. Even when opting to drive, accidents and poor road conditions can add significant time to your commute. Flexible start and end hours may be the ticket to a reasonable commute. What opportunities will the new job bring?While the cost and hassle of a commute is one half of the equation, the other part to consider is just what you may be gainin g inexchange for that headache. If the job youd be accepting has big potential to make your career or will provide invaluable experience, it may be worth a longer commute in order to gain those opportunities. Salary, room for advancement and uniqueness of the position should all be weighed when deciding on how much commuting youre willing to undertake for a role. How likely are you to find a job closer to home?If the distance of the potential position has you feeling a bit daunted, ask yourself whether a similar or better role may be found closer to home. If you enjoy living in a small city and have a particular skill set, this may be a difficult proposition. Simply Hireds job search radius filter is a great tool to help would be job seekers explore options within a set distance. Simply change your criteria for geographic location and youll be in the know regarding local positions that may help ease commuting woes. Is relocating an option?If your home is too far from your job, why n ot move a little closer? If youre not set in your current housing situation, a move closer to work may be just what the commuting doctor ordered. Before choosing to take the drastic route, however, be sure to think all of the opportunity costs through. Items such as moving expenses, deposits, lease commissions and any increase in the cost of living should all be carefully weighed into the equation. Are you a commuting beast or have you recently had to make the travel more or less decision on your own? Drop us a line of just what swayed your decision and maybe your comments will be featured in a future update.

Friday, December 20, 2019

ASME Becomes Gold Member of America Makes

ASME Becomes Gold Member of America Makes ASME Becomes Gold Member of America Makes ASME Becomes Gold Member of America MakesASME recently became a Gold Member of America Makes, formerly known as the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, with the recent placement of ASME member Maureen Fang as the on-site Advanced Manufacturing Fellow at the institutes headquarters in Youngstown, Ohio. Fang was one of three ASME Federal Government Fellows who were profiled in the April 10 issue of ASME News. Read the article here.With a Gold Membership, ASME now has a seat on the America Makes Governing Board and is encouraged to collaborate on additive manufacturing technology applied research that will occur during ASMEs term as a Member-in-Good-Standing. ASME will also have the opportunity to participate in the America Makes additive manufacturing road-mapping process, and ASME members will receive access to America Makes workforce training courses at a reduced rate.For additional information about America Makes and the benefit of Gold Membership, please visit https//americamakes.us/ and https//americamakes.us/membership/benefits.

Sunday, December 15, 2019

How talking to Seth Godin on the phone changed my life and business

How talking to Seth Godin on the phone changed my life and businessHow talking to Seth Godin on the phone changed my life and businessIt welches a year ago. I had 15 people working for me, my business was losing money every month, I was stressed beyond belief, and everyone thought I was successful. You know, Jeff, my business coach told me, you dont have to do this.But I did. At least, I thought I did. When youre good at something, you have to keep doing it even if its killing you, right?After bootstrapping my company to a million dollars, I was now living in the stressful reality of running a seven-figure company.So I did what smart entrepreneurs do in this situation. I hired a coach.From blogger to CEOI thought things would be easier, but now they were harder than ever. So, I reached out to my friend Casey Graham to help me make sense of this.Casey coaches business owners on how to scale their companies, helping entrepreneurs become CEOs. Heres what he told me when I asked to stop feeling so stressed about running a businessFirst, youll need to work harder than youve ever worked before. For the next 24 months, youre going to have act more like a CEO and less like a writer. Its leid going to be easy, youre probably going to hate it, but in the end, youll be able to get out of your business and do what you really want.This sounded like the advice from a friend who runs a software company Your life is going to suck for the next two years, but after that things will be great.Okay, great, I thought. I can do that. Its only two years. If this is what it takes to succeed, this is what must be done.Together, Casey and I mapped out a plan that included $600,000 in new salaries, a bigger kollektiv, lots of expenses, more work, and even more stress. And for six months, I worked the plan, pursuing this dream of freedom, updating my coach every week.But each week, my anxiety grew. And each week, Casey told me the saatkorn thing You dont have to do this. Still, I kept goin g.My love for the work decreased. I stopped writing altogether. As the company grew, expenses increased, and there were even a few months when we lost money. As someone who grew up lower middle class, I worried I was going to bankrupt myself trying to scale this thing.I was sleeping less, eating more, and elend having very much fun. In the back of my mind, I wondered Is this what growth is supposed to feel like?How a phone call with Seth Godin changed everythingI shared my concerns with Casey, and once again he said, Jeff, you dont have to do this. Why dont you take the next few days to decide what you really want?I contacted a few friends and mentors, people Id admired for years and respected how they had grown their own businesses. One person was Seth Godin, a best-selling author and successful entrepreneur. He was someone who represented my equal interests in art and business.Within an hour, Seth responded to my short email with an even shorter reply Call me. And in the email was his cell phone number.Over the course of a twenty-minute phone call, Seth blew my mind. He asked about the business - why I abfluged it, how it was structured, and what my goals were.I want to spread ideas that change culture, I said, eagerly.Thats your mission, he corrected, not a business goal. Dont expect to always get paid for your mission.Oh, I said. Well, we sell online courses that help writers get paid and published.Good, he said. Now, thats a business. Why did you start it?Because, I guess, I wanted freedom.Then he said something I wont ever forgetDont build a business because you want freedom. Build a business because you want to run a business.Seth laid out two options for meScale my business, graduate to CEO, and acquire other businesses to help deal with the churn of my industry, eventually creating an 8- or 9-figure company and selling it.Keep the business at the same size and focus on profitability instead of growth, saving at least half the money I make every year. Then, with that free time and energy, focus on my craft.There will be times, he said of the second option, when you will get paid what youre worth. And there will be times when you wont.What happens when Im not paid what Im worth? I asked, worried.Thats why you put half your money in the bank.Oh.We concluded the phone call with my telling Seth I would consider both options. But in my mind, the decision had already been made.How I strategically scaled backThe next day, I was making breakfast for my kids, flipping pancakes in our kitchen, thinking about my schedule for the day. I didnt have any commitments until 1130. It was 830.I looked at my daughter and my son who were 6 months and four years old respectively. I thought about spending the next two years of their lives trying to scale a business, which felt like precious time to spend on something I didnt intend to do for the rest of my life.I dont want to run a business, I thought.The next day, I started making decisions that over the past six months have changed everything.First, I right-sized my business. I decided to stop growing. Bigger wasnt better. Smaller was better. More manageable was better. Better was better. This meant making tough decisions - letting go of key team members, canceling contracts with talented people, cutting unnecessary expenses. Basically, doing the exact opposite of what youre told you need to do to scale.Then, I focused on what only I could do. Your highest best as my old anfhrer used to call it. For me, thats writing. I knew I was in a bad place when I had outsourced everything I enjoyed doing and adopted a new set of responsibilities that I didnt.Finally, I decided to stay in my lane. I changed the game I was playing - how I was keeping score, what winning was, and so many other things.And guess what?I felt a lot happier. I had more time to write, more freedom, and was generally a nicer person. I kept a small but lean team of three full-time employees plus myself. We all we ar a few different hats, and its not always easy, but it works.Our top line hasnt grown much, but the bottom line has soared. Weve basically tripled our profits. We had a 70% profit margin the other month. Crazy.More important than that, this feels right. This feels like me, not like trying to be other people and horribly failing at it.Its like that May Sarton poem where she says, Now I become myself. In that poem, she talks about trying on other peoples faces and it not working, because it never works. That was me. And now, Im learning how to be okay with who I am and what I do.Lessons learn on not scaling your businessSeth was right. If you start a business to buy yourself freedom, you are in it for the wrong reasons. Do it because you love it, because its your calling, not because you think its going to give you the life you want.So, here are the lessons I learnedYou cant have what other people have if you arent willing to do what they do. In my case, my ego wanted the prestige t hat came with having a big company without wanting to spend the time and money to get there.Sometimes, you dont need to grow to get what you really want. For me, the business was a means to make an income while I continue to write.If you feel like youre losing, change the game youre playing. Hanging out with my entrepreneur friends always made me feel small and insignificant until I realized we were really playing different games.Today, there is a lot of pressure for writers and creatives to start a business, make money doing something theyre not passionate about in hopes of finally having the time to do what they really love. On one hand, theres wisdom here. You dont want to be another Starving Artist, after all.But nobody ever told me you can create your best work and thrive. For me, that meant having a business but not feeling the pressure to scale it. It meant being content with where I am and focusing on what I want, which is to be a great writer and spend time with my family.S o thats what I did, and I couldnt be happier. If youve felt the pressure to build something big to do what you really want to do, remember these words you dont have to do this. You can create the life you want without playing somebody elses game.Call to actionWant to become a professional writer in less than 18 months? If so, get my free strategy-guide where I teach everything I know.Get your strategy-guide right now.This article first appeared on Medium.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

5 More Power Words to Make Your Resume Get Noticed

5 More Power Words to Make Your Resume Get Noticed5 More Power Words for Your Resume5 More Power Words to Make Your Resume Get NoticedYour resume should inspire a hiring manager to spend more than a few seconds reading it. Thats especially important if theres a lot of competition for the job opening. You want the hiring manager to absorb as much of the information on your resume as possible to increase your chance of being called in for an interview.One way to do that is with strong action words. In a previous post, I listed five resume power words. Here are five moreDROVEMeaning Drove has nothing to do with operating a maschine vehicle. It refers to being in the proverbial drivers seat of a project or other undertaking. In other words, moving by force or compulsion, especially from a position of leadership.Example Drove 20% sales increase from top five accounts in 2007 by assigning high-performing sales representatives to oversee software implementations.Milder Alternatives to Avoid Increased or pushed. It might be accurate to say you increased sales, but it doesnt have nearly the power of saying you drove the increase. Pushed gives the impression that you caused movement from behind, while drove gives the impression that you pulled others along behind you. The hiring manager will sense that you exerted more energy by driving rather than pushing.LAUNCHEDMeaning To initiate, such as a new venture or product.Example Launched new product line for the 25-34 age group in response to market research, resulting in 3% revenue growth within 6 months.Milder Alternative to Avoid Rolled out. By comparison, this is downright wimpy. Launch connotes strong action, getting something out of the gate and into motion, like a rocket. Rolled out makes you think of your old lawnmower being rolled slowly out of the garage.JUMP-STARTEDMeaning As one might jump-start a dead car battery, to jump-start means to enliven or revive.Example Jump-started stalled negotiations with key, strate gic vendor for $5 million machine partes contract, persuading both sides to make concessions that led to agreement within 48 hours.Milder Alternative to Avoid Restarted or resumed. Just having jump connotes lively action. Its what I like to call a vigorous verb or, in this case, half a vigorous verb.PIONEEREDMeaning To pioneer means to fearlessly blaze a new trail, or to be a part of something in the beginning stages. So, you can use this word if you played either a leading or non-leading role in something new.Example Pioneered new-hire mentoring program that helped cut employee turnover by 50% within two years.Milder Alternative to Avoid Developed or established. Again, if youre promoting a significant accomplishment on your resume, you need a strong verb that will increase the chance the hiring manager will read it. Pioneered makes one imagine exciting scenarios of hardy people persevering through hardship toward their goal (remember Lewis and Clark?). Developed or established sou nds like you yawned and crossed something off your to-do list.EXECUTEDMeaning To execute means to carry out, accomplish, perform, or do. (But dont say you were the executioner, which may lead the hiring manager to turn your resume over to law-enforcement authorities.)Example Executed corporate humanitarian initiative to assist social service organizations addressing homelessness and hunger, resulting in $12,000 worth of free publicity and greater brand recognition.Milder Alternatives to Avoid Carried out, accomplished, or performed. These just dont have the same vigor as executed. Pro athletes dont carry out nice moves they execute unbelievable plays.If you want to write a truly impressive resume that will grab the readers attention, choose action verbs that generate powerful images in the minds eye.

Friday, December 6, 2019

The Quintessential Manual to Resume Io

The Quintessential Manual to Resume Io The Foolproof Resume Io Strategy Indeed Job Search app is just one of the very best job apps you could come across online. Resume templates can be ideal for ideas but take the opportunity to make your own formatting. To begin, you have the choice to import your Word or LinkedIn resume. Or is preferable to select the help of a resume expert and make a conventional Word or PDF CV. In the second circumstance, it only knows it is reading its input from standard input so that it does not display file anthroponym. It is possible to even easily edit your CV on your cellular device. Following constructor requires a file name for a string to make an input stream object to read the file Following constructor requires a file object to make an input stream object to read the file. Following constructor requires a file name for a string to make an input stream object to compose the file Following constructor requires a file object to make an output s tream object to compose the file. The Upside to Resume Io Take time to make certain that your dates are in order and can easily be legible at a glance. Apart from the above workaround, theres no choice except to opt for a subscription, even though it can be canceled when you desire. This problem is a long-lasting controversy for people that work in Human Resources, but its a topic of respectful treatment of candidates. In order to get this done, Resume-Now.If you grow to be the best winner, you will get many precious awards The very best part is the fact that its free of charge. You may find plenty of great resume templates, however you will have to decide if theyre likely to help or hurt your likelihood of landing an interview. Move the loop to follow a different portion of the song, or drag the ends to expand the loop to include things like the entire song. The Fundamentals of Resume Io Revealed There are a few good businesses that just deutsche bundespost vacancies on their various websites. Should you need access to unlimited resumes and cover letters youll need to pay more. You should be in a position to compose convincing statements that speak to your work and that which you will be in a position to supply the employers with. While resume builders are sometimes an excellent resource when it has to do with general statements and some industry particular statements, it is not going to always be able to supply you with how to highlight your most significant points. This questionnaire is going to be kept separate from the other personnel records. Granted, you can produce an account at no cost and youre are not restricted by the sum of resumes and cover letters you may create. Be ready with an ideal response so as not to lose your finest candidates. The Basic Facts of Resume Io For instance, you want the Premium package if youre a student or have less than 2 decades of working experience, but you want the executive package if youve got more than two decades of experience. Other services werent so well. fruchtwein likely its not an affordable services, should they give you a high high quality services. There are a lot of professional services that will make it possible for you to share your resume after its been written in the very best quality. This builder is extremely straightforward and fast to use. Resume builder it is a sort of an on-line software, which allows you to create a resume online. When picking a resume builder, you want to make sure you get one which is simple to update and will give you a document that could be edited. Opt for a resume builder template to start. There are, in addition, a lot of absolutely free phrases that you could add thats a wonderful option particularly if you are unsure about the most suitable words to utilize in a professional setting. At The SecondCity, you will acquire an emphasis on developing your craft for a writer. Until you build your hours worked and great revi ews youll not obtain the higher paying long-term projects. Writing a professional resume isnt quick. You will be given a link that will make it possible for you to share it publicly with others on LinkedIn and other social networking platforms. Hence, you wont ever get rid of track of latest job posts. Thanks for the fantastic post First some notes about the surroundings.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Coping With a Boss Who Goes TMI

Coping With a Boss Who Goes TMI Consider this scenario you walk into your managers office ready to discuss a recent revenue dip.Instead of examining the line graph in your hands, your anfhrer holdsup an X-ray and begins to explainthe consequences of a recent major surgery. Workplace TMI (too much information, in case youve never heard the acronym before) can causeextreme awkwardness and dwindling respect, and it can be especially troubling when your boss is the culprit. When your supervisor violates the generally accepted rules of workplace discourse with TMI, it is essential to respond with the exact opposite behavior. Be appropriate and be professional.Here is some advice for dealing with a boss who shares inappropriate informationFirst, identify the reason behind the bosss story. To properly handle any instance ofTMI, it is important to understand why a person is giving you all that unnecessary information. Whydoes your boss feel compelled to detail how her last one-night stand went awry? Is it possible that she is trying to bond with you? Is your supervisor sharing thebest remedies for UTIs to subtly explain why she has been taking so many sick days?If you are able to determine the rationale behind the TMI, you can address the cause with a proper workplace action. For example, if the boss is trying to bond with you, bestattungs lunch with her.You can chat about your families, hobbies, and other topics, rather than sexual escapades.Another tactic is to change the subject to something more relevant to work. Sometimes an abrupt change in topic is all your boss needs to realize that theyhave crossed the line. Offering an unexpected change in topic brings your boss back into the reality of the social situation. This method wont offend or embarrass, but will convey your discomfort effectively.If you find it difficult to get a word in while your boss rambles on with their TMI, you can usenonverbal cues to show your supervisor that you are not sure how to respond. Glance at the door, angle your body away from the speaker, or check the time on your cellphone repeatedly. Showing that you are disengaging from the conversation lets your bossknow that you are not interested in engaging with the material being shared.If body language doesnt work, resist the urge to join in. You may see it as a way to ease the awkwardness or fit in, but two TMIs do not make a right. Despite the precedent your boss has set, they could balk at your personal story, or your sharing could escalate the conversation to whole new level of too much information.Finally, lock up the conversation in your mental vault. Regardless of how you choose to combat workplace TMI, its absolutely necessary to internalize the material forever. Sharing it with your coworkers may score you some points, but no matter how open your boss may have seemedat the time, TMI is not meant for group consumption. St ories have a tendency to transform as they passfrom person to person.By the time the story circles back to your boss, you could end up looking like a gossip instead of an innocent listener.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Using Cover Letter Keywords to Craft Cover Letters that Get Noticed

Using Cover Letter Keywords to Craft Cover Letters that Get NoticedUsing Cover Letter Keywords to Craft Cover Letters that Get NoticedIf youve looked for a job in the past few years, youre likely aware that employers are finding new ways to use resumes as screening tools. Web sites (Ladders included) devote thousands of pages to discussing the best practices of resume writing. Meanwhile, a cottage industry has grown up around certified professional resume writers (CPRWs) who study the art and technique of producing a resume with the best chance of navigating the software and menschengerecht readers who review and judge your document.While experts talk less about titelblatt letters, they must navigate the same course as your resume. If the sources are quiet on titelbild letters, do they matter anymore?Yes, said some CPRWs, ATS vendors and human-resource managers who handle the documents at both ends of the process.Granted, your resume is center stage. Your titel letter may bedrngnis b e read at all, and it wont salvage a poor resume, but it must be crafted just as carefully to satisfy software algorithms and HR screeners.The introduction of the ATS as a first link in the chain has changed everything about the writing process, say CPRWs and HR managers. Like your resume, your titelseite letter has little room for error and demands exacting attention to structure and usage of keywords.To determine the best rules for writing a titelblatt letter, Ladders asked the experts how titelblatt letters are handled throughout the process.Do you need a cover letter?To start with, do you even need a cover letter?Technology-wise, some ATSes treat cover letters as searchable text, the same as your resume many dont. Human process-wise, however, its the rare recruiter who even bothers to pass cover letters on to hiring managers.But that doesnt mean that you should stop writing them. Cover letters are a concise way to communicate your value to a company, and some recruiters and hiri ng managers do use them to winnow candidates. They demonstrate your attention to detail and anticipation of the companys needs. Finally, small employers dont necessarily employ ATSes, meaning your cover letter will more likely be read by human eyes.How an ATS handles a cover letterNathan Shackles is a sales manager for ApplicantStack, an ATS made by Racarie Software and one of the software programs that render cover letters as searchable text. Shackles said that, like many ATSes, the application accepts cover letters as text pasted into its online form, not as an attachment. Therefore, the application stores cover letters with the resume as searchable text.Id say this is fairly common, that cover letters are searchable, Shackles said. Because often, people will describe technologies in their cover letters and not put them in their resumes, for whatever reason. Thats the reason we search the cover letter as well.From that vantage point, Shackles recommends that job seekers look at th e cover letter as a way to put in additional skills and credentials to add additional searchable keywords that a company may have programmed in the ATS to identify candidates for a specific job posting.Your e-mail is the cover letterMany ATSes, including ApplicantStack, also process resumes received via e-mail. In those cases, the ATS renders the content of your e-mail as the cover letter and assumes any attachment is your resume. Thus, when asked to e-mail a resume as an attachment, assume your e-mail content will be saved as a cover letter and write it accordingly.On the flip side are ATSes that only process resumes, not cover letters. Tom Boyle is director of product strategy at one such ATS vendor, SilkRoad Technology.Most ATS programs update or create a job seekers profile by uploading a resume next, they cherry-pick information to parse and fill in the fields to create a profile within the ATS. While Boyle has seen ATS software parse all sorts of resumes and formats, he noted that SilkRoad only renders cover letters as attachments and doesnt divide it up into fields.That means the ATS doesnt render your cover letter as searchable text. Thus, finessing the cover to make it machine-friendly by seeding it with keywords wont influence your applications ranking with this type of ATS.Once a cover letter has become an attachment, its unlikely that it will be searched and processed like a resume, Boyle said, given that the number of ATS programs that have the ability to search an attachment on a candidates profile is very small.How do humans process your cover letter? What happens to your cover letter once it reaches human hands?David Couper, a career coach, said that the recruiters at most Fortune 500 companies dont even send him the cover letter, let alone scan it into an ATS.His experience is backed up by research conducted by Phil Rosenberg, president of reCareered, an executive career-coaching service. Over the past two years, Rosenberg has surveyed hundred s of HR managers and recruiters and interviewed management at the Top 10 job boards. He found thatLess than 10 percent of HR departments scan cover letters.Eighty percent of HR staff, hiring managers and recruiters read the resume first.Job boards dont keyword-search cover letters, only resumes.However, dont count those cover letters out. According to the surveyMost hiring managers have denied interviews to candidates qualified by their resumes, but disqualified by additional information in their cover lettersTailor the resume as well as the cover letterCouper advises his clients that you just never know whether someone is going to read the cover letter and whether it will make or break your application. I recommend that the job hunter matches the job posting and includes keywords, he said. I also suggest that you lead in with a hook, preferably a personal contact, to someone the recruiting manager knows or some specific information that relates to the company or industry. The cove r (letter) is one of those items that you never know about but in the end you hope that it gets to someone - not a machine - and they read it.But this attention to customized cover letters may be missing the mark as far as achieving a high ATS ranking. Rosenberg noted that most candidates put the majority of their customization (if any) in their application in a cover letter, using a largely static resume.Job seekers do that in the hope that the words on their resume magically match the keywords a companys HR department or recruiters are searching for in their prescreening process, he said. But the odds of matching keywords between a job listing and an uncustomized resume stink, Rosenberg said, generating response rates that range between 0 percent and 5 percent in healthy hiring years and sank to less than 2 percent in the current job market. Hence, he advises clients to spend more time customizing their resumes than tinkering with their cover letters.Whats the safest thing to do ? Tailor both your resume and your cover letter to match specific job listings. Mandy Minor, a resume writer with J Allan Studios, handles the possibility of ATS scanning by giving her clients several choices of what to use in a cover letterI build a template with phrases such as, I am an accomplished CHOOSE ONE marketing manager or marketing director or project manager so that they can pick the title that will line up best for each job opening, she said. I also use industry keywords in a brief, bulleted list of accomplishments in the cover letter, which gets the attention of not just the ATS but also the human reader.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

More of Your Most Popular Career Questions Answered

More of Your Most Popular Career Questions AnsweredMore of Your Most Popular Career Questions AnsweredTherbeie are many questions that come up while conducting a job search or when advancing ones career. Allow us to increase your career intelligence and take you on the next step in your journey to the job you want. Here are several questions Vault has received in recent weeks1. How should one answer a question regarding his or her GPAespecially if youre a professional that did not attend college (i.e. you dont have a GPA)?Companies dont usually ask for your GPA unless they are recruiting you right out of school. In that case, your GPA is used to compare you with other candidates from your class. If a job application asks for a GPA, but you dont have one, you can leave the question blank or submit Not applicable. However, if you omit a GPA for whatever reason on your resume or in the application, be prepared to answer questions about it in the interview. Not attending college is an ob vious explanation for a GPA absence, but without a degree you must be prepared to demonstrate real work experience related to the punkt for which you are applying. Good luck2. A good friend of mine has asked me to recommend him for a position at my previous company. As much as I like him, I feel he is not a good fit for the position based on his past work experiences and interests. What action do you recommend? How should I convey this to him without sabotaging our relationship?The best way to handle this situation is to just be straight up and candid with your friend. Explain to him that while you love him and want to help in any way you can, this particular position is not a good fit - based on your knowledge of the company, department, and fellow employees. Rather than focus on what he does not have in terms of skills and experience show him positions in or out of your company that would be a better fit.3. I have been with my company for 8 months and I have already received one promotion. Recently, my supervisor resigned from the company. The manager of my previous supervisor is acting as an interim supervisor for me and other line managers. I havent heard whether the company plans to hire a replacement. If they do decide to hire, should apply for the position?While you appear to be on the fast track, the first question to ask yourself is - what is the scope of this new role and what are the requirements and skills necessary for success? The second question is - do you have the skills, experiences and aptitude for this new position. You might ask the interim supervisor what the plan is going forward, as it pertains to the position, and get as many details that you can on the requirements and skill sets needed for the role so that your resume can be updated appropriately. Your stock is high because of your early promotion and demonstration of success, so your inquiry will be perceived as interest, drive and assertiveness. 4. I was recently reassigned to ano ther dept. My new boss and my former bossdont get along well. Lines are being drawn between the two departments and I am being pulled into the fray. I would love to stay neutral and out of this whole issue, but I wonder whether this is naive and wishful thinking. What advice wouldyou provide for office place factional fighting?Some department heads can be like cats and mark their territory. You have to be very careful here, because you dont want to burn any bridges. Youre now in a new department and you need to align with your new manager. Someone said, You cant get to second with your foot on first so you will need to be conscious of how you are perceived. For example, if you are perceived as spending more time with your former colleagues and not investing enough time with colleagues in your new dept, this can hurt you and the perception others have of you within your new department. In addition, you should never say anything or email anything to anyone that could come back to haun t you. Dont take sides. Just keep your head down, do your work, be professional at all times and untersttzungsangebot your manager and the department. Do not feed into this dept vs. dept frenzy. Any questions? Send them to JMinnersvault.com with the subject line Career Counselor and look for your answers in a future edition of VaultCareers Blog.

Lady Antebellum to UGAs Class of 18 You can take a big risk

Lady Antebellum to UGA's Class of '18 'You can take a big risk' Lady Antebellum to UGA's Class of '18 'You can take a big risk' Below is the full transcript of the commencement address by Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood to Georgia’s Class of 2018:Dave Haywood: Wow, that was … You got the bio that I sent, President. Thank you. I figured I’d let him read it. Man, thank you guys so much for having us out. Charles would be up here in just a minute. We wanted to share a few minutes and a few words to you, guys. Thank you so much to the president. Thank you so much to all the faculty and staff. This is really just a neat honor for us. We’re used to being in front of people, but not public speaking, so please don’t judge us on that tonight. We came down from Nashville today. We’ve had a great day hanging out, kind of over by Tate and just reminiscing. Charles and I graduated in ’04 like President Moore had said, and man, we sat right over there by the band for every home game from 2000 to 2004, so yeah. Huge dog fans. We get score updates in our monitors when we’re on stage at nig ht. That’s a true story.But I’m sure you guys are probably wondering what in the world a few country singers are doing up on this stage, and I have to assure you, we’re wondering the very same thing. Our journey is a little different, and hopefully there’s a little bit of intrigue with that. But for Charles and I, a little bit of our back story, led us to a really interesting place. But we grew up in Augusta, Georgia, down the road. All right. That was my family. They follow me everywhere I go. But anyway, so we grew up in Augusta, and graduated from Lakeside High School, and really only applied to one college. Did you only apply to one? Yeah, so we didn’t have a backup plan.It’s  commencement season!Follow Ladders’ Commencement Addresses magazine on Flipboard to watch and read all of the most inspiring speeches from this year and years past.I’m happy we got in, because by today’s standards, we would not have gotten in. But man, we loved it here in Athens. Charles and I have been great friends since we were probably 12 years old. I always knew that he was such an amazing singer, and it was at Georgia where we really started writing music together. We lived down the street, a couple blocks off of Cloverhurst Avenue in a place we called the Treehouse, which has probably fallen down by now. But it was our senior year at Georgia in 2004, and Charles and I didn’t play much music while we were here. I was an MIS major, Charles in finance. I know, computer programming people, I hear you. But man, we loved it so much here. We didn’t play a lot of music while we were here.But our senior year, we were at a party at our house, and I was playing some stuff on the guitar, just kind of making up some chord progressions, and Charles walked over. We hung out a bunch, obviously, here in Athens, and came over and said, “Man, what are you picking on?” I said, “I don’t know, I just kind of make stuff up.” He said, “Well, play that again,” and h e started making up some melodies, some lyrics, and that was the very first song that we wrote together was in ’04 here in Athens. So, kind of a special start to us and our writing career as a band, and we just fell in love with being creative and writing music. That song we wrote was really awful, by the way, and I hope nobody ever hears it.Charles Kelley: Tell them the name.Dave Haywood: Yeah, the name was, it was called Carpe Diem Is on Vacation, and that one’s gone in the special file folder that will never get heard, yeah.Speaker 3: Sing it.Dave Haywood: It was so bad. It was so bad.Charles Kelley: It went something like this. (singing) Some other junk.Dave Haywood: Charles Kelley, everybody. But we graduated from Georgia and our story was kind of different. We didn’t know what we wanted to do, so we graduated and I went off to Buckhead and worked doing internal auditing at an accounting firm, which is a little different than where I am today. Yes, accountants, that’s r ight. My cousin is here graduating as an accountant, so if you’re hiring out there, keep an ear out for him. But we went off to work, and I worked in Atlanta. Charles was up in Winston-Salem doing finance. We just loved writing music together. So, we would travel a lot for our jobs, and we would meet up on the weekends and write music.About after a year or two of working out in the real world, we loved the people we worked with but just felt like something was missing for us. At that time, Charles’s brother, Josh Kelley, called us and said, “Man, you guys kind of have a unique talent with writing songs. What if you came to Nashville, lived in our house and tried to write music?” So, that’s what we did. We took a risk and moved to Nashville. I loaded up my Blazer with my guitar and some Polo shirts and headed straight to Nashville, and me and Charles spent every day writing songs. I think that’s what we want to encourage you guys with a few points, and we’ll be brief, b ecause I know you guys want to go downtown after this.See, we’re used to cheering. Cheering is good. We’re used to that, okay. It makes me feel at home. You can yell whenever you want. That’s fine. Thank you, it’s great. But so we were up in Nashville writing music and we met Hillary Scott within a year and started writing as a writing trio, like President Moore had said, hoping to pitch songs to other artists, and that was our goal. We wrote probably a dozen songs together, decided we should go out and play a show, and said, “Man, this is too much fun. We should start a band,” and came up with a crazy name. I helped create our MySpace page. So, we’re dating ourselves. I understand that. But man, we had a blast doing it. We are still, to this day, so honored and humbled to be able to play music and do what we love to do. It’s really a special, special honor.But that risk, I think the few things I’d leave you with, and Charles will be here in just a second, but ther e was a bit of a risk for us to go to Nashville, but at the same time, we felt like with a degree in our hand, it wasn’t really that big of a risk at all. It was a calculated risk, and I think that’s what I’d love to encourage you guys with tonight. Now, you have a degree, and now you can take a big risk, because you have an amazing diploma and degree from tonight, and be open, be open to things you haven’t even dreamed of yet. For Charles and I, we didn’t graduate from Georgia and say, “We’re going to Nashville. We want to be country singers.” We got out there and worked hard in the real world and kept our minds open and followed our passion and ended up landing in Nashville in a country band. So, for all you guys that don’t have a clear vision of where you want to go, be open, because life and the good Lord can really surprise you. So, welcome my buddy, Charles Kelley.Charles Kelley: Why do I got to follow that? You’re just so good. You were funny. You got laug hs. Can I use this chalice? Is this open? It’s water. So, I’m not going to lie. When I first found out that we were going to do this, I got a little nervous. I started writing down some stuff. My wife, she’s really intelligent. She’s definitely the smart one in our marriage, and so I had my first little draft. I said, “Baby, I’m about to lay it on you. Listen to this.” We kind of go. We start talking about this, talking about Lady Antebellum, and I said, “Now, this is where I’m really going to bring it in, bring it home.”I was going to talk to you all about the Venn diagram. Remember the Venn diagram with the circles? And then they intersect and you got, in one circle, hope, you got your dreams. Next circle, you got what you’re good at. Next circle, you got responsibility. And when those things mesh, beautiful harmony. She laughed, she literally laughed, and so I deleted it. She said, “Is that what you’d want to hear if you were sitting in here?” I said n o. But also, I’m 36 years old, it’s going to be hard for me to relate to you guys perfectly, but I do remember being there, and I remember being scared you know what, because I didn’t have a clear vision. But you know what? I don’t know. I knew I had this great degree and I would figure it out.But I guess I wanted to just talk about something you might be interested in, Instagram. It’s such an interesting thing to me, and we’re all on Instagram. I think the one thing that I just want to encourage everybody, just stop comparing yourself to other people on Instagram. We know what everybody’s doing. Like you’re sitting there and you did 100 pictures in front of the mirror doing the perfect little duck lip face. Then we see it and we’re like, “Gosh, she’s so beautiful. I wish I had that hair. I wish I had this.” I mean, we all are going through the same thing, the same insecurities. We go through it all the time. If I see another band or an artist doing something that looks really cool and we’re not doing that, I get jealous, and I think jealousy and this comparison is the thief of happiness. So, just try to not compare yourself to other people because it will distract you for some happiness.The next thing, too, I’m not trying to sound preachy, but money has never, ever been, for me, the thing that’s brought me happiness. I thought it was going to be the thing. I was sitting in your shoes going, “Oh, man, I’m going to be a millionaire. I’m going to have a jet ski and go on, I don’t know, whatever else millionaires do.” I thought it was going to make me so happy. It’s funny, I mean, the thing that has brought me the most happiness is chasing my dream, and I really do think I could have found happiness in so many different avenues. I really did, as funny as it sounds, I loved studying finance and being in those accounting classes. I really did. I enjoyed it. It was something that I think I could have found great purpose in.B ut I also had this artistic side that I knew was kind of in the shadows, and so kind of to go back to what Dave said, there’s so many options for you, guys. Don’t think you only have one clear path and one clear direction. I hate when people say, “Don’t have a plan B, because it’ll distract you from the plan A.” That’s BS, man. I totally had a plan B. It took all the risk away from me. I felt like I could go in there with such, just free abandonment and take this risk while you’re young, because trust me, I’m married now. I’ve got a two-year-old. When you have those responsibilities, I guarantee you, I would not have taken a risk like I did with Dave and moved to Nashville. But again, University of Georgia prepared me, prepared me to work my butt off. I have such great work ethic. I wasn’t as smart as you guys, but maybe like a couple of the rows back, but I developed a lot of work ethic.You guys, I mean, a 4.0 … Now, there wasn’t one professor that just di dn’t like you and wanted to give you a B? Not one. Blown away, blown away. All right, that’s crap. You don’t want to hear that. Oh, yeah, this was kind of clever. I don’t like it when people say plan A, plan B. How about we call it two plan As? Perfect. But I guess go jump off the deep end a little bit while you’re young. I know a lot of you probably know exactly what you’re going to do. You got some job set up. But if you don’t, don’t be afraid to jump off the deep end. It definitely gets a little higher, that diving board. That was something cool I thought I’d write down.Trust me, the older you get, the higher and higher that diving board’s going to seem. Can you tell I’m getting nervous? A little chalice time. They’re like helping me through it. They know I’m struggling. Another thing too, man, go see the world. I grew up in Augusta, Georgia, and I’m not going to lie, man, I was so basic. I literally … I really was. I’m not saying there’s anythin g wrong about being basic. But I had the same friends. We all dressed alike. We all thought alike. I’m telling you, the minute I moved to Nashville, and I’m not saying Nashville is seeing the world, but it opened my eyes to “Okay, there’s this artistic side. Maybe now I can wear some tight jeans,” and I did. Maybe I can get a tattoo, so I got this tattoo on my arm, and it’s my favorite band of all time’s the Beatles.One of my favorite songs is Blackbird, and there’s this line, “All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise.” I got it in ’09 because I said, “I don’t care if I make another dime in this world.” I said, “When I wake up in the morning, this makes me happy.” I loved it so much, and I wanted to be reminded of that, because sometimes, I don’t care even if you have your dream job, you’re going to have moments that you’re just bored and it feels like work. Trust me, I hate flying. I hate being on a bus all the time. I hate missing my family. But to have those few moments of pure passion and purpose, I think, is what life’s all about, so I hope all of you can find that.I encourage you to, as you travel, if you do get the chance to travel, I mean, there’s so many amazing different ethnicities, sexual orientations, races, backgrounds, and they bring so much light and color into your world. I mean, when you go over to Italy and you’re looking up and you’re seeing, what was that joke? The 16th chapel? Sistine Chapel. When you’re going over to these places and you’re seeing this, it makes your life almost feel like, it makes you not sweat the small stuff in a weird way. When I saw that, I said, “Man, we’ve been on this Earth a long, long, long, long time,” and when I get worried that something’s not working out in my life, I think about, like, “Hey man, this is a long, long journey, and people have been here forever, and we’re all going to survive. It’s all going to be okay. I know you all have so many fears, and there’s so much in the world right now, so much uncertainty,” but I don’t know. I think it’s going to be okay. That was horrible.Oh, this is going to be good. I want to leave you with this. Be nicer to your parents, please. I was so selfish. I was so selfish, high school and college. I thought I knew everything. You don’t. You don’t, you don’t. They helped you so much and they sacrificed so much. I was thinking the other day, with my two-year-old. He pooped in the tub. Without hesitation, I just went bam, bam, bam. It was like “The Matrix.” I just, no hesitation. I was like, “I bet my mom’s done that.” I was like, so your parents, whoever raised you, they’ve been putting up with your crap their whole life. So, the least you can do, give them a big old hug after this and thank them. This is such a huge night and accomplishment, not just for you but for them.With that, I’m going to end it. Guys, good luck. I wish you all wel l. I hope you can find your dream job. But just be happy, find purpose, and be nice to Mom and Dad. You were way better than mine, Dave, sorry. We are going to end you on this. We felt like we had to sing for our supper. Thank you. You take that. You can burn that.Dave Haywood: All right.Charles Kelley: You ready, Dave? Sing along if you know it. (singing) Sing it if you know it, come on. (singing) Do it for Ray. He’s up in the sky now. Dave Haywood. Taking this with me.