Some of us liked math class, and some of us did not (I am in the latter group). But like it or not, numbers are essential in your career, from resume to retirement and everywhere in between. Job performance numbers are particularly useful for at least three reasons:
they look good on your resume
they help with salary negotiations
and they give you confidence
Performance Numbers Validate Your Resume
When you can state that your work for a past employer resulted in a 15% increase in sales, that is an authoritative statement. It had better be a true statement that you can back up with more information, too! The fact is. illustrating your success with hard numbers always gets a good ROI on your resume because it is specific proof of your worth. Employers looking for a good return on their investment in hiring you will be impressed.
Performance Numbers Bolster Your Salary
When you come into a salary negotiation equipped with the numbers showing your worth, you have a powerful argument for getting a raise or added benefits. You have provided the company with more profit and are worthy of a bigger wage. Again, the numbers need to be backed with additional information so it can be verified if questions come up. If you are due for a salary increase, be prepared to bolster your claims with the numbers to prove it.
Performance Numbers Boost Your Confidence
When you are keeping track of what you do at work and the difference that it makes, there’s a record of your valuable input. Even something as simple as attendance means you were on the job — and if you are tracking all the numbers of your particular job you should see which numbers will be valuable for your resume and salary negotiations. You will also begin to see indications and trends in your personal work habits and opportunities that will help you establish goals. Keeping track of your own job performance numbers puts you in control of your own career.
Are you one of those people who talk when they are nervous? It’s pretty easy to do — and very damaging to your career if you don’t learn how to control it. That old adage about having two ears and one mouth so you can listen twice as much as you talk is actually good advice for every part of your working world, from the interview to get the job to the moves into management and executive leadership.
The Big Mistake You Can Make
When you sit down for an interview, one of the big questions in the interviewer’s mind is what you will be like to work with. It’s a valid question because most jobs do involve some level of teamwork. So in order to answer the big questions, the way you answer smaller questions is observed. Speaking without listening is a red flag because it indicates that since you don’t listen here, in the job interview, you won’t listen later, on the job.
If you are rehearsing your “hire me” job spiel in your head, waiting for the chance to present it, then you aren’t going to be hearing the questions they ask. You’ll be answering the questions you think they will ask — and that is not the same thing at all.
It is a good preparation tactic to think through questions that may be asked in an interview. But that’s not a script you are rehearsing, and the interview may not involve those questions at all. It’s better to make sure you actually hear what is being asked so you can answer the question.
The Leadership Skill of Listening
One of the reasons that the skill of listening is a mark of leadership is because truly hearing what people are saying gives added perspective to a problem so it can be solved. Listening is a mark of respect for the speaker, and true leaders value those on their team as important contributors. Learning how to listen is part of honing your interview skills, but being able to listen and contribute value to the conversation by being on the same page is a skill you will need all your life.
Are You Looking For A Way To Improve Your Job Skills?
Many of us need a little help learning the new skills that are a part of today’s workplace. Fortunately, there’s a way to get some of that education for free — the MOOC, or Massive Open Online Course. The challenge is finding the right course for your circumstances, and not being overwhelmed by the task. Many of the top universities offer MOOCs, but just because it’s good content doesn’t mean it’s good for you.
Do Your Research
Take the time to read reviews and carefully consider what your goals are. For instance, the emphasis on internet marketing in every business means that people who keep up on SEO skills are preferable. Look for some reviews, or guides like the 2015 Guide to Free SEO Training Courses Online on Search Engine Watch. The goal is to select one skill to develop in your spare time and deciding which skill you need to prioritize based on your own career goals.
Do Your Homework
Once you have decided to take something like a MOOC, keep at it. Most of the difficulty in online classes is keeping at it. This is why it’s usually good to do one at a time and, if you can talk a friend into taking it with you, you have a study partner and some accountability. You are working on educating yourself for your own satisfaction for the most part, but that is impressive because it shows you are looking for life-long learning opportunities.
People who demonstrate a desire to keep learning, taking the initiative to research the best options for their industry, and keeping at it by getting through something like a massive open online course are impressive. They make an impression on their colleagues because they set a good example. They make an impression on their employer because they demonstrate an ability to stay current with their skill set. And they make an impression in their self-confidence because they are increasing their knowledge and understanding. If you decide to explore the potential of the MOOC, do your research and select the right one — then do your homework and get it done.
I hope that by now you have a LinkedIn profile because this social media platform is one of the best ways to keep your career viable — if you use it wisely. But once you have completed your profile and started exploring your options, how do you decide what is a good thing to do? And how do you figure out how to do it?
Search Engine Journal has recently given us some good ideas in Kristi Hines’ 10 LinkedIn Tips and Strategies You Need To Know. These are helpful suggestions that may be exactly what you are looking for:
How to unsubscribe from blog posts — a great help in uncluttering your inbox
How to quickly change group digest frequency — another de-clutter benefit
How to see where you rank — it can make a difference
How to put links on your profile — to your site, your writing, etc.
How to get LinkedIn Premium features for less — who doesn’t like a bargain?
How to schedule updates to LinkedIn — and take some of the drudgery out of your life
How to get LinkedIn testimonials on your website — you do have a website by now, right?
How to research customers on LinkedIn — or anybody else, like potential employers
How to target Facebook and Twitter ads to LinkedIn connections — you may not be actually putting out ads, but it is good to know
How to research competitors on LinkedIn — and see how you stack up
How Is Marketing Like Career Building?
It’s true that Search Engine Journal is not usually a site you’d find career advice on, but the line between marketing and career building is very fuzzy. If you think about it, marketing is just presenting the best of your business to the public in various ways so the people see and respond appropriately. Isn’t career building presenting the best of your skills, knowledge, and experience to get an appropriate response?
In fact, skill marketing is a way to get people thinking about you as a potential asset for new positions. The more you can utilize platforms like LinkedIn to show what you have to offer, the easier it is for people to see what you bring to the table.
The Top 5 Skills Sought By Employers In 2014 (and what that means for 2015)
Did you ever wonder what the global job market is actually looking for? LinkedIn is in a unique position to find out, so after analyzing over 330 million LinkedIn member profiles, they came up with The 25 Hottest Professional Skills of 2014. Of that 25, the top 5 are:
Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
Middleware and Integration Software
Storage Systems and Management
Network and Information Security
SEO/SEM Marketing
What This Means For 2015
These were the top 5 skills that employers and recruiters were looking for last year. These are the skills that got people hired. Does that mean you should drop your current career plans and get a degree in statistical analysis? Not necessarily — but it does mean that technological understanding is something that cannot be ignored. Any candidate that has the skills needed for a particular job PLUS the global perspective of how that job fits into the bigger picture is a lot more prepared to compete.
If your resume doesn’t mention the technology you know how to utilize, it’s time to update your resume. In this increasingly interconnected world, we need professionals who can integrate the work they do with the global presence of the company that employs them. Each one of the “top skills” looked for attest to the fact that business is supported by technology and the IT department isn’t just tech support.
At the very least, taking the time to see what these areas consist of and how they are used in your industry prepares you to be someone who can see how their part fits into the mission of the company and gives you insight on the challenges of management and leadership. If you are interested in executive responsibilities, executive perspective sees how it all fits together.
If I were to make any predictions for 2015, it would be that most of the skills on 2014’s list will still be important. They may change positions, but like technology, they aren’t going away.
6 Ways To Turn Your Social Media Savvy Into A Career
Did you know that many businesses are looking for someone to be their Social Media Manager? It’s true — because social media is fast becoming an essential part of marketing and customer relations, companies need somebody to devote a lot of time to doing it right. Scarlett Wilson recently shared the Top 6 Skills Employers Look For In A Social Media Manager on B2C (Business 2 Community) and the list is worth considering:
Experience in using social media tools — the more, the better.
An analytical mind-set — the ability to use analytical tools to interpret data and explain what the numbers really mean.
Ability to plan long-term social media strategies — understanding your particular market and trends, etc.
Ability to write quality content — this is crucial because search engines increasingly look for relevancy, and people insist on it.
Additional digital marketing skills — blog writing, keyword optimization, formatting, or anything in this category should be on your resume because they are in demand.
Communication skills — because social media is all about communication. So is business, actually.
Social Media Skills Are Marketable
It used to be that things like LinkedIn Profile Development were considered to be a good networking device for an individual career and that was all. Most business owners didn’t think about their business social media development unless reputation management became an issue. But today the reality of internet marketing means social media has to be an integral consideration.
If your company doesn’t do any social media marketing, and you have these skills, you could be able to convince your boss that it would be good to let you start doing something in this field. If you are looking for a job, make sure that you have any social media skills listed in your resume and can explain why they are there.
An old-school employer may not understand why it’s important until they are shown some facts. Any employer who is at all concerned about the company’s internet presence will be very interested in what you have to offer.
You want your resume to stand out, right? But not when it stands out as a shining example of what not to do on a resume. While there are many ways to make mistakes on a resume, one of the most ubiquitous is the plethora of unnecessary verbiage that accompanies attempts to impress. What???
That was an example of “Resume Speak“, or in more words, the fine art of “utilizing synergies and leveraging paradigms” seen at a popular Tumblr site of the same name. This site is just a steady stream of things said simply then translated into the kind of business-speak that makes communication bog down. And it is funny. In fact, if you work in the writing field and have anything to do with resumes, it’s hilarious.
For example, instead of saying “Got out prison with parole three years early for good behavior”, the site suggests “Successfully interfaced with governmental disciplinary system by modeling socially sanctioned behavioral metrics, significantly reducing duration of recommended confinement period.” That’ll look good on a resume all right — not.
Your Words Are Important
The language we use on a resume is more than a vehicle to transmit information. Our choice of words can alert an applicant screening system that we are a potential candidate by using the keywords it is searching for. The way we put our words together can confuse or clarify what we say about our qualifications — and using buzzwords or resume speak is not going to have the effect you are hoping for.
Even the highest level of executive resume writing has to be careful to avoid resume speak because it’s so easy to do. Business and industry have their own vocabularies and phrases. Some of that language comes pretty close to what you’ll see on that Tumblr site because Resume Speak began as a response to the overblown sentences seen far too often in the attempt to impress. As the site says, it’s useless. Don’t do this on your resume.
One Simple Way To Avoid Drinking Too Much At Office Parties
“Party ’til you puke” is NOT a good career strategy.
It can be challenging, though, if you only equate drinking at social gatherings with getting drunk in order to have a good time. It should be obvious that losing control of your actions is going to have repercussions the following week when you are working with these people, but let’s go over the reason for office parties before I share this great way to control your alcohol intake.
The Purpose of Office Parties
Businesses will provide opportunities for coworkers to get together in a less-business setting because it’s good for morale. Everybody can relax a bit, the divisions between boss and worker are softened, and people will be more productive when there are some friendships going on. These are networking events, to be honest. This is the time you can talk to the CEO without an appointment, or discover a shared interest with your manager. It’s also a relaxed time to know you are appreciated, since most gatherings are hosted by the company.
But the business gathering is still a business gathering and unprofessional behavior will cost you big time since it affects the way you are perceived. You need to know your etiquette for office holiday parties, and a big part of that is not over drinking. How do you keep from drinking too much?
Choose A Drink That Isn’t Your Favorite
If you are delighted that your favorite cocktail is being served for free, the natural reaction is to get one! And another one! And more! Why? Because it’s your favorite drink and you will just suck it down lovingly and want more. This is setting yourself up for failure. Instead, save the favorite drinks for when you are with friends who don’t care what you act like when you drink.
Choosing a drink that isn’t your favorite means you will drink it slowly. You’ll also be reminded that this is a business function and you have more important things to do than drink.
Of course, I am not suggesting you choose a drink you hate, because then your facial expressions would distract everybody. Pick one you think is okay, just not your favorite. No grimaces, no gulps, just sips and conversation. You’ll have this office party thing down as a success.
