How to Plug 99% of the Leaks in Your Professional (and Personal) Network

How to Plug 99% of the Leaks in Your Professional (and Personal) Network This is a guest post from Tom Clifford. Read more about Tom below, at the end of his post. Tom has been a long-time friend and heavy user of JibberJobber, having logged into his account more than 850 times. I sincerely appreciated this unsolicited post you know I hardly, rarely do guest posts, but I was so flattered that Tom wrote this here ya go! Let’s do something really crazy. Let’s not keep track of anyone you meet. For added measure, let’s ignore who you know, how you know them, what you did for them and so on. What do you think will happen over time? Like a bucket with a hole in it, details about each person will drain out of your memory. Of course, there’s a simple solution to this: Find a way to plug the leak. Plug the leak, and you won’t have to worry about remembering everything. But how do you plug the leak? By having a “net” for your network. Why bother having a “net” for your network? Having a “net” when you’re networking helps you “catch” (or remember) the people you meet over time. Remembering so many people over so many years just isn’t possible for the brain to do, right? What happens when you don’t have a “net”? If you don’t have a “net” that “catches” this valuable information, someday you’ll wake up and find your networking efforts in shambles. To help pull the pieces of your networking puzzle together, you need a simple, yet powerful, networking system. What’s a networking system? A networking system is a way to give structure, organization and meaning to all the people you meet throughout your career. Having a networking system is more than just collecting names, phone numbers and email addresses. It’s a system to help you move your career forward by making it easy for you to manage your relationshipsâ€"while still being flexible to your needs. What does an effective networking system look like? Here are a few key ingredients that make a (nearly perfect) networking system: Keeps track of critical ideas people shared with you Knows the people your network referred you to Tracks documents you sent to each person Creates and stores your various elevator pitches Sets personal goals and tracks the progress of key relationships Sorts and prints information numerous ways You get the idea. You need a system for organizing, managing and keeping track of your network for the long haul. Unhappy with the networking systems that existed, Jason Alba created his own “net” and networking system. He called it “JibberJobber.” JibberJobber? Yup. JibberJobber. JibberJobber is a web-based “personal relationship manager.” JibberJobber is a complete networking management system to help you keep track of everyone you meet. Think of JibberJobber as your “one-stop relationship manager.” It not only holds all the information related to your connections, but it is also a system featuring unique tools that you can easily customize to deepen certain relationships critical to your own career path. Cool, huh? Can your networking system do that? Sure, there are a gazillion programs that allow you to enter the names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of people you meet. But remember: JibberJobber is NOT a contact management tool. JibberJobber is a relationship management tool. It ties all of your relationships together unlike any other system. If your current networking system has leaks in it, JibberJobber can plug those leaks right up. With JibberJobber, you won’t miss a beat from any of your networking activities. Does your system plug your networking leaks? Plug your networking leaks. Plugging any potential leaks in your networking efforts is a breeze with JibberJobber. You probably won’t use all the tools in JibberJobber each time you meet someone, but here are a few things you can do with it: Upload the documents you gave your contactsâ€"resumes, articles, etc. Keep track of expenses. Did you incur any expenses meeting someone? If so, you can keep track of it in one place. Add a networking event. Write and revise your 30-Second Pitch. Write several versions of it while you’re at it! Enter your answers to questions people frequently ask you (that way, you can always review the answers before an important sales call, etc.). Scan the Article Library for new or interesting articles related to various aspects of career development. Add a book and a short personal review to the Book Library. Use the Tree View to see relationships between people. Not bad for free, right? (Heck, that’s just the beginning of what’s possible.) Don’t want to bother learning a completely new system? Learning and using JibberJobber is a breeze. All you have to do to get going is import your address book into JibberJobber. Once your contacts are loaded, start playing around with it for a while. You can always keep using your current contact management system until you become more familiar with JibberJobber’s features. [note from Jason: also, jump on a user webinar, which I do about twice a month] Can anyone benefit from JibberJobber? Yes, anyone can benefit from using JibberJobber. It’s a great tool for everybody who’s serious about managing their careers and their relationships. Job seekers love JibberJobber because it was initially designed with them in mind, but really, everyone can benefit from using it. Sounds like JibberJobber will cost a pretty penny. What’s the catch? Well, there’s no catch. JibberJobber won’t cost you a penny. You can get up and running for free with the basic version. If you like the free version, you can upgrade to the premium levels at any time. Managing relationships is one of the key secrets to your success. Remembering who said what, where, when and why is impossible. It’s important to have a “net” to keep track of people you meet over your career. A networking system is your “net” to tie all your relationships together in one place. JibberJobber is your relationship tool to manage all your relationships. JibberJobber can plug any potential leaks in your current networking system. JibberJobber is a snap to learnâ€"and it’s free. Want to learn more? To learn more about JibberJobber, head on over to the website and check out the cool videos. Thomas Clifford is an award-winning business communicator and blogger. Tom’s  copywriting focuses on jargon-free marketing articles, homepages, landing/sales pages,  e-books and B2B case studies. Before copywriting, Tom spent 25 years producing over 500 marketing and branding  films (and interviewing more than 1,500 people) as a documentary producer. You can follow Tom on Twitter at @ThomasClifford. His blog, “Humanizing Business  Communications,” is packed with new media business communication tips and writing strategies. His e-book “5 (Ridiculously Simple) Ways to Write Faster, Better, Easier” is free to new  subscribers. How to Plug 99% of the Leaks in Your Professional (and Personal) Network This is a guest post from Tom Clifford. Read more about Tom below, at the end of his post. Tom has been a long-time friend and heavy user of JibberJobber, having logged into his account more than 850 times. I sincerely appreciated this unsolicited post you know I hardly, rarely do guest posts, but I was so flattered that Tom wrote this here ya go! Let’s do something really crazy. Let’s not keep track of anyone you meet. For added measure, let’s ignore who you know, how you know them, what you did for them and so on. What do you think will happen over time? Like a bucket with a hole in it, details about each person will drain out of your memory. Of course, there’s a simple solution to this: Find a way to plug the leak. Plug the leak, and you won’t have to worry about remembering everything. But how do you plug the leak? By having a “net” for your network. Why bother having a “net” for your network? Having a “net” when you’re networking helps you “catch” (or remember) the people you meet over time. Remembering so many people over so many years just isn’t possible for the brain to do, right? What happens when you don’t have a “net”? If you don’t have a “net” that “catches” this valuable information, someday you’ll wake up and find your networking efforts in shambles. To help pull the pieces of your networking puzzle together, you need a simple, yet powerful, networking system. What’s a networking system? A networking system is a way to give structure, organization and meaning to all the people you meet throughout your career. Having a networking system is more than just collecting names, phone numbers and email addresses. It’s a system to help you move your career forward by making it easy for you to manage your relationshipsâ€"while still being flexible to your needs. What does an effective networking system look like? Here are a few key ingredients that make a (nearly perfect) networking system: Keeps track of critical ideas people shared with you Knows the people your network referred you to Tracks documents you sent to each person Creates and stores your various elevator pitches Sets personal goals and tracks the progress of key relationships Sorts and prints information numerous ways You get the idea. You need a system for organizing, managing and keeping track of your network for the long haul. Unhappy with the networking systems that existed, Jason Alba created his own “net” and networking system. He called it “JibberJobber.” JibberJobber? Yup. JibberJobber. JibberJobber is a web-based “personal relationship manager.” JibberJobber is a complete networking management system to help you keep track of everyone you meet. Think of JibberJobber as your “one-stop relationship manager.” It not only holds all the information related to your connections, but it is also a system featuring unique tools that you can easily customize to deepen certain relationships critical to your own career path. Cool, huh? Can your networking system do that? Sure, there are a gazillion programs that allow you to enter the names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of people you meet. But remember: JibberJobber is NOT a contact management tool. JibberJobber is a relationship management tool. It ties all of your relationships together unlike any other system. If your current networking system has leaks in it, JibberJobber can plug those leaks right up. With JibberJobber, you won’t miss a beat from any of your networking activities. Does your system plug your networking leaks? Plug your networking leaks. Plugging any potential leaks in your networking efforts is a breeze with JibberJobber. You probably won’t use all the tools in JibberJobber each time you meet someone, but here are a few things you can do with it: Upload the documents you gave your contactsâ€"resumes, articles, etc. Keep track of expenses. Did you incur any expenses meeting someone? If so, you can keep track of it in one place. Add a networking event. Write and revise your 30-Second Pitch. Write several versions of it while you’re at it! Enter your answers to questions people frequently ask you (that way, you can always review the answers before an important sales call, etc.). Scan the Article Library for new or interesting articles related to various aspects of career development. Add a book and a short personal review to the Book Library. Use the Tree View to see relationships between people. Not bad for free, right? (Heck, that’s just the beginning of what’s possible.) Don’t want to bother learning a completely new system? Learning and using JibberJobber is a breeze. All you have to do to get going is import your address book into JibberJobber. Once your contacts are loaded, start playing around with it for a while. You can always keep using your current contact management system until you become more familiar with JibberJobber’s features. [note from Jason: also, jump on a user webinar, which I do about twice a month] Can anyone benefit from JibberJobber? Yes, anyone can benefit from using JibberJobber. It’s a great tool for everybody who’s serious about managing their careers and their relationships. Job seekers love JibberJobber because it was initially designed with them in mind, but really, everyone can benefit from using it. Sounds like JibberJobber will cost a pretty penny. What’s the catch? Well, there’s no catch. JibberJobber won’t cost you a penny. You can get up and running for free with the basic version. If you like the free version, you can upgrade to the premium levels at any time. Managing relationships is one of the key secrets to your success. Remembering who said what, where, when and why is impossible. It’s important to have a “net” to keep track of people you meet over your career. A networking system is your “net” to tie all your relationships together in one place. JibberJobber is your relationship tool to manage all your relationships. JibberJobber can plug any potential leaks in your current networking system. JibberJobber is a snap to learnâ€"and it’s free. Want to learn more? To learn more about JibberJobber, head on over to the website and check out the cool videos. Thomas Clifford is an award-winning business communicator and blogger. Tom’s  copywriting focuses on jargon-free marketing articles, homepages, landing/sales pages,  e-books and B2B case studies. Before copywriting, Tom spent 25 years producing over 500 marketing and branding  films (and interviewing more than 1,500 people) as a documentary producer. You can follow Tom on Twitter at @ThomasClifford. His blog, “Humanizing Business  Communications,” is packed with new media business communication tips and writing strategies. His e-book “5 (Ridiculously Simple) Ways to Write Faster, Better, Easier” is free to new  subscribers.

What Is the Cost of Writing an Executive Resume?

What Is the Cost of Writing an Executive Resume?The question 'what is the cost of writing an executive resume' comes up every time there is a career change. This question assumes you are in the job market and need to make a decision about changing careers or coming in from the cold. Most people make a decision to change careers because they do not want to stay in the same position for very long, and therefore they are looking for some way to get out of that position quickly.Since so many people are affected by this question, it is an important part of the job market. This is also why you should be prepared when answering this question for your own benefit. If you are considering a change in career direction, you will want to know about the cost of writing an executive resume and what can happen if you don't go ahead with the changes you want to make.There are many questions revolving around the answer to the question 'what is the cost of writing an executive resume'. Some of these qu estions revolve around how much a business might have to pay to get someone from another company on board. Others revolve around if a job posting is worthwhile because it pays well, or if it would be worth the price for you to get it done instead.The first thing to remember when you are answering the question of 'what is the cost of writing an executive resume' is that there is little if any charge for making a hire. A common misconception among many businesses is that there is such a thing as 'bargaining' over hiring. This is not true at all. You should not even have to pay a penny to get somebody from another company to join your organization.What you can pay for is a promotion. An experienced professional that has the skills and the knowledge to bring in new customers can command a higher salary than someone who is not as knowledgeable. This is why you need to know what is the cost of writing an executive resume, so you can know how much you can realistically afford to pay to get a better salary. Otherwise, you will spend your hard-earned money hiring somebody with no more skill than someone with a higher salary.The next thing to remember when you are answering the question of 'what is the cost of writing an executive resume' is that you will get some benefit from the search for a position. A good recruiter can help you get some great jobs because they have expertise in the area of a position. It is usually beneficial to use a recruiter to get a new job if you know that this person has some expertise in the area you are in.In most cases, you will be able to get a raise to compensate for the cost of the salary. Since so many people are getting higher salaries, a lot of companies are going to go out of their way to find qualified candidates to fill these positions. It is to your advantage to spend the time and effort to get a job interview, because you may be offered a great job with an increased salary.Hopefully, these answers to the question of 'what is the cost of writing an executive resume' will help you to know that there is very little cost to a career. You can easily make a career change without having to go through the process of a 'changing careers' presentation.

How to Find True Happiness and Be Successful in 2009 - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Find True Happiness and Be Successful in 2009 - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke with Gretchen Rubin, who just might be the happiest woman on earth.   She shares her happiness tips everyday on her world famous blog (over 17,000 subscribers), while blogging at the Huffington Post, being an author of several books and, soon, taking over the world.   In this interview, Gretchen reflects on 2008, gives you tips for 2009, shares some of her blogging strategies and then analyzes her own personal brand for all of us. Gretchen, for 2008, can you sum up some of your advice on how to live a happy life? If you want to live a happier life, I’d suggest you start by thinking about the elements of my “First Splendid Truth” â€" to be happy, you should think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth. First, ask yourself â€" what makes me feel good? What brings me joy, energy, enthusiasm, engagement, satisfaction? Ok. What can I do to bring more of this into my life? E.g., you might start a film club with six other movie-crazy friends. Second, ask yourself â€" what makes me feel bad? What brings me anger, resentment, boredom, frustration, guilt, remorse? Ok. What can I do to lessen this in my life? E.g., I have tried very hard to give up gossip. Third, ask yourself â€" do I feel right about my life? Am I leading the life I feel that I’m “supposed” to live? Do my choices reflect my values? Am I heading in the right direction? I switched from law to writing, because although I had a great experience as a lawyer (for instance, I clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor), I felt that I wasn’t doing what I was “supposed” to be doing. Fourth, ask yourself â€" does my life have an atmosphere of growth? What’s changing for the better? In what way am I learning, growing, helping, and making things better? (more on this topic in Question #2) What are your top 3 suggestions that people can use for living a happier life in 2009? [youtube=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=idQn6dGH4Vk] First, although happiness seems like a transcendent, abstract principle, start with the physical reality of your own body: work on getting enough sleep, some exercise, and eating healthfully. These habits matter! If this seems overwhelming, start small: turn off the lights 15 minutes earlier each night, take a ten-minute walk outside each day, eat an apple at lunch. You will really see a boost in energy â€" and energy is a great foundation for happiness. Second, ancient philosophers and modern scientists agree that the key to happiness is relationships with other people. Take time to see your friends and family, show up, reach out to new people, try to be helpful, make connections â€" anything you can do widen and deepen your relationships will boost your happiness. Third, one aspect of happiness that I didn’t recognize when I started my research was the importance of a factor that I call “the atmosphere of growth.” We’re all happier when something in our life is changing for the better: we’re learning something new (taking a Photoshop class, working on our golf game); we’re helping something grow (a child, a business, a garden), we improving something flawed (cleaning a messy closet, volunteering to help an organization get its books in order), we see positive change in our life (getting a raise, getting out of debt, starting a new relationship, healing a rift). As that list suggests, there are many ways to foster “an atmosphere of growth.” Make sure your life includes this aspect somewhere. It helps bring you enthusiasm and energy â€" without it, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, trapped, cramped, stagnant. Your happiness project consists of twelve commandments.   What are your three favorite and why? Actually, I think all my commandments could be summed up in two: “Be Gretchen” and “There is only love.” In the end, I’ve found that although it sounds like a cliché, it really is true: as long as I remain faithful to myself (not who I wish I were) and as long as I try to act with love, I have the foundations of a happy life. As an individual blogger, youve succeeded more than almost anyone.   How are you able to stay committed, original, vocal on your blog?   What are your secrets for growing a readership? Thanks for those nice words about my blog! I’m very lucky, because the topic of happiness is inexhaustible. I never worry about running out of things to write about. I never lose interest in the subject, myself. I do try to discipline myself to keep things interesting for readers. I ask myself a series of questions when I post: am I being funny? Am I giving good information? Am I tying into recent events? Am I telling stories? Am I providing links to interesting material and highlighting the valuable writing of others? Am I showing what it’s like to live in New York City? Am I being honest about my own nature and perspective? Am I being critical of anyone other than myself? Obviously, I don’t hit each note every time, but I keep those goals in mind. I also post six days a week â€" I think that’s important to keep a blog lively. I try to reach out to other bloggers who write about related subjects. This is good for my blog and also wonderful for me personally â€" I have lots of new blog friends, some of whom I’ve met, but most of whom I haven’t met â€" and that has enriched my life tremendously. Once a week, I write a post in “tips” form, a format that’s very popular on the internet. I think that has helped me get picked up in places that exposed my blog to new readers. I also cross-post twice a week on the Huffington Post, post original content twice a week on RealSimple.com, and starting on January 12, I’ll cross-post on Slate. I love each of these sites, and I’m thrilled that I get a place there myself. And obviously that’s good exposure for my writing. How have you built your personal brand over time and whats next for the brand called Gretchen Rubin? The goal of my book and my blog is to help people understand happiness better and to start their own happiness projects, so that they can help themselves become happier. As such, my brand is to be engaging, informative, accessible, light-hearted, and encouraging. So, for example, I tell people that if they’d like to see my personal Resolutions Chart, of the resolutions I keep as part of my happiness project, they can email me for a copy (just email me at grubin, then the “at” sign, then gretchenrubin dot com. no need to write anything more than “Resolutions Chart” in the subject line). By sharing my experience, I hope that I can inspire other people to do a happiness project of their own. I also use Facebook, Twitter (follow me at gretchenrubin), and a monthly newsletter to connect with readers. I love these new tech tools, which weren’t available to me when my other books came out. I try to use my presence there to reinforce my availability, my ability to point people to interesting, useful information, and to connect other people. Because my book, The Happiness Project, isn’t coming out until December 1, 2009, its publication is what’s next for me. - Gretchen Rubin is a writer working on The Happiness Projectâ€"an account of the year she spent test-driving every conceivable principle about how to be happy, from the wisdom of the ages to current scientific studies, from Aristotle to Ben Franklin to Martin Seligman. On her Happiness Project blog, she reports her daily adventures on her way to becoming happier.   Rubin is a graduate of Yale Law School and was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. She was clerking for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she had the epiphany that she really wanted to be a writer.   Her bestselling Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill and Forty Ways to Look at JFK are succinct, provocative biographies.

3 Ways to Keep Your Job Search Healthy This Holiday - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

3 Ways to Keep Your Job Search Healthy This Holiday - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Fresh off the hottest sales of the season and with shopping in full swing for the holidays, it’s nearly impossible to enter a store without seeing a Salvation Army volunteer ringing that familiar bell asking for a donation. If you’re on the job market, this year might be tough to donate extra dollars however, you may have time to volunteer and it can pay off in many ways. 1st Way: Volunteer Seek out local community organizations that need interim volunteers to get through the holiday season. Giving back to your community during this season supports those in need and your job search. A recent survey conducted by United Healthcare and Volunteer Match reported that 73% of volunteers reported lower stress levels and 68% of those who volunteered   in the past year felt physically better. Feeling good and lowering your stress impacts your job search directly. When you feel good, you’re more likely to network and interview more confidently. To find volunteer opportunities near you, visit www.volunteermatch.org 2nd Way: Scoop up savings and a seasonal job This season retailers, banks and consumer-focused businesses are hiring faster than I can finish this blog post. With personal spending up 2.6% from just one year ago, according to the Commerce Department, companies are staffing up and you can grab a seasonal job that has benefits both short and long-term. Wells Fargo plans to hire 5,000 consumer loan and administration-focused professionals in the next 45+ days. If you’re a marketing professional, visit MarketStar or RedVentures which, combined, are adding 1,300+ marketing, product and sales professional positions some of which pay upwards of $100K. As the aunt of four young, toy-loving nephews, I wish I had a few extra hours in my day. This season, smart job seeking parents can keep their skills fresh and wallets happier as one of the 45,000 people Toys ‘R’ Us is hiring for the holiday season.   Tech junkies, Best Buy has you covered with 29,000 openings this season. There are 150,000 retail-related season openings. Now that’s a way to make money, gain savings, and keep your full-time job search healthy. 3rd Way: Get involved in your community An ongoing job search can become frustrating after months, for anyone. Given that it takes an average of 211 days to land a job in today’s market (CNN), everyone needs a way to keep their skills fresh. Staying engaged in your community is good for you and your job search. One of my clients is an IT executive looking to transition to a new role. As we discussed his community involvement it was impressive to see that he’s the IT Strategist for the 20th largest church in America. Community involvement can be related to your favorite organization (e.g. ASPCA) or hobby yet it can also be supporting an organization utilizing the wealth of knowledge, education and experience you have gained over the years. During this holiday season keep your mind, body, and job search healthy using these three ways and stay in touch with the personal branding blog. We’ll be here everyday to keep you focused through this fun time of the year. Author: Adriana Llames is a veteran career coach and acclaimed author of Career Sudoku: 9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game, released with top book seller Amazon.com. She is creator of   “HR In-A-Box,” a Human Resources software product helping small businesses across America and a professional keynote speaker motivating and inspiring audiences with her focused programs on “9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game”, “Confessions of a Career Coach” and “Nice Girls End Up on Welfare.” For more information, visit www.adrianallames.com

How to Use Reviews to Find Professional Resume Writing Services

How to Use Reviews to Find Professional Resume Writing ServicesWhen it comes to hiring the right people for your company, you have to make sure that you use the best possible professional resume writing services. You will be greatly benefited by this process and your chances of getting a good employee are much higher. Here are some tips that you can use in order to do this.First of all, you have to make sure that the services that you will be hiring do not just sell their products or service. There is a need to check their credentials so that you can make sure that they have sufficient skills and knowledge about the industry in which you are operating. The last thing that you want is to hire an expert who does not have the necessary skills that are needed for the job.This means that you have to make sure that you conduct your search through reviews on websites where people from different sectors of the industry talk about the pros and cons of the various companies and professionals t hat they are using for their resumes. Reviews can help you avoid paying the fees that are charged by these companies. Reviews can also help you avoid hiring someone who is not qualified. This can greatly increase your chances of hiring the right person for the job.You should also make sure that you find out the credentials of the professionals that you are going to hire so that you will know what exactly they are capable of doing. Do not just rely on the reviews, make sure that you contact the companies and ask them a lot of questions in order to know what you are paying for. If you find that they do not have anything more than what they are claiming, then you might want to think twice before you hire them.It is very important that you also look at what specific resume writing services they are using. There are websites that will provide you with this information so that you can choose the best one that you can hire. Look at these reviews as well because these reviews can give you i nsights about what these professional resume writing services are capable of providing.Even if you do not believe in online reviews, there are still other ways that you can get these reviews. You can hire a background check company to check the background of the professionals that you are going to hire. These companies will check the employees' records and other background information that will help you in making the right decision when it comes to hiring these professionals.Some reviews can also be found on the review sites that are run by the companies that are going to be hiring the professionals. It is up to you how you use these resources but make sure that you consider all of the sources and the opinions that you get from them. You can get recommendations from the professionals as well.You should also make sure that you look at the quality of the service that you are going to be getting from the professional resume writing services that you are going to hire. Do not hire someo ne just because they offer lower rates. Make sure that you check for this in the reviews so that you will be able to see that the pros and cons are listed correctly.

5 Steps for Making Important Decisions

5 Steps for Making Important Decisions Do you struggle with making decisions? At some point, we all do. While there are some decisions I find easy, like what to say to start a conversation or my personal policy toward jerks, there are many decisions I find difficult. They tend to be the ones where the stakes are high, the outcomes aren’t clear cut, and everybody has an opinion. That means there’s likely to be controversy no matter what is decided. And it’s even worse if it will take time to tell whether the decision was a good one or not. The more senior you become, the more you will be called upon to make tough decisions. So, now is a good time to start preparing yourself for difficult decision making. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s not always possible to gain consensus on whether a decision is good or bad. But it is possible to ensure that you engage in a strong decision-making process every time you face a big decision. The Process of Decision-Making When you’re under pressure to make a tough decision, it’s useful to have a checklist to guide you through the decision-making process. A leader I respect recently shared with me his five-step process for making important decisions. I’ll be implementing this process for my next big decision and think this process can make a difference for you as well. 1. Who is the decision for? The first step is to determine who the decision is for. That is, whose perspective do you need to take into account? For whom is it a good decision? So, think about the key stakeholders. For a corporate executive, it’s the employees, clients and investors. For the Dean of a college, it’s the faculty, staff and students. For parents, it’s their family unit. Who is your decision for? 2. What does it mean for the future context? Every time you make a decision, you’re setting a precedent. It’s a data point that stakeholders can point to in the future as they make a case for their own decision making. While it may be expeditious for a parent to give in to their toddler’s latest temper tantrum, the longer-term consequences can be even worse. Similarly, it pays to give serious thought to future implications of today’s difficult decisions. 3. What are the values involved? The best compass for making decisions is to base them on values, both yours and the organization’s. It’s useful to get clear on both sets of values before you’re thrown into the deep end on a tricky decision, and to ensure there’s as much alignment as possible. Otherwise, you probably don’t belong in that organization. Values matter â€" don’t lose touch with your True North 4. Who are you bringing into the decision-making process? It’s tempting to keep the decision-making team a small group of “like-minded” people. While it makes for quicker decisions, you run the risk of falling into the trap of groupthink. And that, in turn, is the foundation for making suboptimal decisions. Instead, look for contrarians and get their points of view. Just like Abraham Lincoln did. As the creator of this decision-making process says, make sure you have a group of people you can assemble quickly and provide a safe zone to express their points of view without consequences. 5. Establish collective responsibility Once you’ve brought in and taken into account a diverse group of viewpoints and had a robust discussion, it is still up to you as the leader to make the final decision. However, make sure the group you’ve assembled understands that the decision is the group’s collective responsibility. That is, once they walk out of the room, it will be equally their decision and they can’t undermine or complain about it. The origins of this concept of collective responsibility comes from the well-established parliamentary procedures in the UK. The convention is that members of the Cabinet must support all decisions made behind closed doors in Cabinet even if they don’t agree with them. Conclusion The next time you’re faced with a big decision, use these five steps to ensure you’ve used a robust decision-making process. It will also increase the likelihood your decision will stand the test of time as being a great decision. In the end, the key is to have a good decision-making process that you can communicate and defend to the rest of the world and that will give you confidence in your big decisions. What are the decisions you struggle with, and which elements of this decision-making process would make the biggest improvements to your decision-making? Leave a comment and let me know.

College Grad Job Search - Are We There Yet - Vol 2 - CareerAlley

College Grad Job Search - Are We There Yet - Vol 2 - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity. Baltasar Gracian When I was growing up, my family did not go on any vacations that required an airplane. Typically, the four of us (Mom, Dad, Sister and me) would go on a vacation that meant we were getting into the car and driving for (what felt like) eternity. Our car, which did not have air conditioning, certainly did not have a DVD player to keep my sister and I occupied. How ever long it took, we did finally get to our destination and we had a great vacation. We did not miss the DVD (there was no such thing) and, you know what they say, ignorance is bliss. Job search is much the same. The trip can feel like its taken an eternity to get there, but once you arrive (and you will arrive), the long trip is but a memory and you know that the trip was worth the ride. So on the road to your next job, remember to keep the destination in mind however long the journey may be. What do I want to be when I grow up? 5 Fast Growing Careers That Pay While money isnt everything, unless you are opting for volunteer work, it is an important consideration. Yahoo! Education provides a list of the top paying careers (starting salary) with links to additional information. How does $70,000 plus sound to you? Honorrollonline.com In addition to providing a newsletter, a blog and career advice, this site matches employers with college students and graduates. In order to enroll in their program, your school must have signed up to participate (you can check to see which schools are included). They also have a link to Student Union which is an online community and resource. Click the companies link on the left hand side of the page for a list of companies using the site. Click colleges to see if your college participates. Entry Level Jobs Where to look EntryLevelComputerJobs.com As the name of this site implies, it is a job search engine that focuses on entry level Tech jobs. You can post your resume, search for jobs and peruse the information the IT Resources page. The home page has links at the top for login, register, options and more. Below this is a search box where you can enter key words and location. The right hand side of the page is divided into the main Tech job categories for easy search. Collegecentral.com This site offers quite a few options. You can click on student central which focuses on entry level jobs, alumni central which focuses jobs for recent grads and Career Services Central which allows you to connect with mentors. The site also has a job search kit, which provides resources on resumes, cover letters and interviews. There are also a very wide range of articles on the first page. Aftercollege.com Aftercollege offers searches for internships and entry level jobs. There are mouse sensitive links at the top of the page (take a look at Jobs, Schools or Resources. You can register or just search (search is on the right hand side of the page). You can search by job categories and there are a number of job tools on the main page. This site also has endorsements which are similar to recommendations on LinkedIn, which allows professors, managers or anyone you want to put in the good word for you. Good luck in your search.Visit me on Facebook