Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Gen X-ers Will Have the Best Careers of Anyone

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Gen X-ers Will Have the Best Careers of Anyone I got into Northwestern University despite far-from-perfect SAT scores and missing the valedictorian spot by one grade. If I were a millennial, I would have had much longer odds. Born in 1976, I’m a late Generation X-er and have had less competition for everything pretty much all my life. You’ve heard of Generation X. Due to plummeting fertility rates, the media called our birth years the baby bust. Gen X includes those born between 1964 and 1979 and is bookended by the massive baby boomer generation (those born 1946â€"63) and the even more massive millennial generation (those born 1980â€"95). Historically, we’ve either been ignored or called slackers by pop culture and advertisers. But we’re more influential in the modern workforce than we tend to get credit for and are about to become more so. And if the coming baby boomer exodus from the workplace is just revving up and Gen-Xers are next in line to fill the roles boomers retire from, it wont just be a sheer numerical advantage that plays to our favor. Heres why. FILLING A COMMUNICATION SKILLS GAP While these are sweeping and probably unfair stereotypes, you dont have to look far to find organizations urgently prodding their more senior employees to get with the technological program. Meanwhile, hiring managers and recruiters arepointing to a soft skills gap among recent grads and championing emotional intelligence as a job skill. Our careers have tracked the rise of the digital workplace, and the foundation thats given many of us may pay dividends. So while millennials may be unfairly caricatured as socially inept much the way boomers are wrongly dismissed en masse for poor technical chops, the trends in companies staffing needs are unmistakable. Gen X-ers, on the other hand, may be more likely to prove communication maestros by comparison. We grew up socializing without devices in our hands. Whether it was learning to cope with the neighborhood bully or sweet-talking our parents into letting us stay home alone while they went on vacation, many of us knew how to use words and persuasion to problem-solve and solicit cooperation. Anna Garvey at Social Media Week called Gen X the Oregon Trail generation,referencing the 1980s adventure game that had millions of kids glued to their schools’ desktop computers. The idea was to get your wagon to Oregon before you lost all your oxen or died of disease. Oregon Trail and games like it showed us how to tinker with this new and strange technology and become masters of the machine. Heading off to college and our first careers, the electronic age really started heating up. As Garvey aptly put it: We came of age just as the very essence of communication was experiencing a seismic shift, and it’s given us a unique perspective that’s half analog old school and half digital new school. To be sure, not every Gen Xer grew up the same way or acquired the same skills through their experiences. But our careers have tracked the rise of the digital workplace, and the foundation thats given many of us may pay dividends in helping us navigate the boomer brain drain. In my first job at a PR agency in New York City, I dealt with issues typical of the alienated, twenty-something X-er. I struggled with how to meet people who could help me do my job, and how to talk to my boss about getting a raise. Theres more to it than just timing. Sure, we have valuable years behind us and just as many left on the clock. But were also invested, comfortable, and happy. But I was the only person in the office who knew how to use a search engine. I learned to survive in the boomers’ business world, but I also helped usher in the tech everything one that millennials would soon populate. I developed a useful hybrid of offline and online communication skills, easily shifting from one medium to the other. When workplace clashes occurred, I understood where the boomers were coming from but also intuitively got the millennials. Eighteen years later, that role as a bridge still serves me well. Every day, as I serve as a translator and perform mediation and mentorship duties for boomer and millennial colleagues and clients alike. In the process, my skills as a leader of a multi-generational workforce only increase. Of course, Im just a sample of one. But the research seems to suggest that many other Gen X-ers share my experience. In a recent EY study that surveyed 1,200 professionalsacross generations and industries, Gen X scored higher than the other generations when it came to effective collaboration. In separate research published by the Center for Talent Innovation, 65% of respondents associated the team player label with Gen X-ers (compared to only 45% associating it with millennials). Even if these findings dont reflect the innate personality traits shared by an entire generationâ€"as some psychologists are quick to point out that they probably dontâ€"they may still hint at the stage in our careers where my peers and I now find ourselves. More than that, from what we know about the skills companies need most in their new leaders, the research suggests that were uniquely prepared for those rolesâ€"not just next in line for them. For the rest of the piece, please visit the Fast Company website.

Five Secrets To Write Outstanding Presentations - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Five Secrets To Write Outstanding Presentations - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Want to write great presentations that leave your audience wanting more? Want to avoid Death By PowerPoint, but still need a slide deck? The secret to outstanding presentations Here are five secrets I use in creating outstanding presentations. 1) Start with the title. I always start with titles similar to the ones Ive done here â€" five secrets, 10 professional tips, etc. Maybe its cheating, but I always end up with a very large audience, whether its at a conference or a standalone seminar. I also know that I can generally cover 10 points in an hour, 5 points in 30 minutes. Ill adjust accordingly if Im going to allow for QA time. But this title gives me the direction to go. 2) Outline the talk. This may seem rather rudimentary, but youd be surprised at the number of speakers who dont even do this, preferring instead to ramble on and on. Ive followed more than one person whose aimless nattering cut into my own presentation time, and in order to stay on schedule, I had to cut my own presentation short. If it wasnt for the next three steps, I wouldnt have been able to do it. 3) Use Creative Commons Photos Find some Creative Commons photos on Flickr (use their Advanced search feature) that have something to do with each point. If Im talking about the importance of accuracy, I might look for a rifle scope or an arrow in an archery target. If Im talking about writing, it could be a notebook or a pen. If possible, take your own photos. Do better than your smartphone camera. Use a decent camera and take a large, high-resolution photo. Fill up the entire screen with the photo. Dont create a smaller version and so you can put text off to the side in the white space. Fill up the entire freaking screen. 4) Headlines Only, No Text Write a headline in 60 point type, black or white with a drop shadow, and make it be the main idea for that portion of your talk. The slides are there to reinforce the point youre trying to make, not make the point for you. If you have more than 10 words on your slide, there had better be a good reason. If its an important quote, and its the only one in the deck, then by all means, keep it. If its data or a series of bullet points that youre about to read out loud, delete it. Put it in a handout that you give out after the presentation. The benefit of doing this is that I can speed up or slow down a presentation as I need it. If I need to expand my time, Ill tell a story at a certain point. If I need to shorten my time, Ill skip the story. This is what saved me those two times the other, rude, and unprepared speakers took at least a third of my own presentation time. You should be able to give your presentation without the benefit of your slide deck. If, for some reason, the projector were broken â€" Ive been in that situation too â€" you can give your talk without the audience missing out on any information. 5) Rehearse Unfamiliar Material In the Car If you write out a script to memorize, forget it. Write it out so you know what youre going to cover, but as quickly as you can, boil it down to the main bullet points and a few supporting points. Then, rehearse that outline as much as you can. If you try to memorize a script, you may end up tripping yourself up if you lose your place. Give your presentation in the car, describe one or two of the main points to a friend, and visualize yourself giving the presentation as you fall asleep. Sure, you could actually rehearse the presentation, but Ive never been a fan of rehearsals. I feel self-conscious and I get into my own head right before the presentation when that happens. I would rather know the material cold, and deliver it in my own style, than rehearse it like Im an actor in a play. Its important that you know the material. Its not that important that you have every gesture and intonation down flat. These are some of the basic methods you can use to create outstanding samples. Dont bore people with details, dont give them a lot of slides with a lot of words. Use creative and humorous photos to entertain people and reinforce your point. And learn your material by talking about it, rather than memorizing a script. Do these things, and people will remember your presentation for how awesome you were, not because three people in the audience died of boredom. Author: Erik Deckers is the owner of Professional Blog Service, and the co-author of Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself. His new book, No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing, which he wrote with Jason Falls, is in bookstores and on Amazon now.

From Idea to Reality How to Take the First Step - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

From Idea to Reality How to Take the First Step - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career I told my cousin today about my goal of traveling the world. Id love to do that too, but we cant just leave the job.  How would you survive out there, become a bartender? she said sarcastically. Although Im sure bartenders have a ridiculously fun time at their job, I have no plans of needing to work once I embark on my journey around the world with my girlfriend. By the time Kim and I leave, we should be making enough money online to not have to work anymore. I replied. I told my cousin about the  e-commerce store  I built and she lost her mind: how in the world did you build that? Because I have a deep community of motivated and passionate entrepreneurs, I at times forget that the rest of the world believes that theres nothing more than the 9 5.  I have no problem with the 9 5; my girlfriend Kim absolutely loves her corporate job and goes to work with a smile on her face everyday. But for many people like my cousin, the corporate career is a necessary evil that they must endure to reach the promise land of 2-week vacations and eventually retirement. Why dont you build a side business and try to generate some side revenue? I ask my cousin. I have so many ideas, but I have no idea where to start. she defeatedly admits. And there lies the problem: ideas are a dime-a-dozen, but the execution and implementation on the idea is rare and difficult to achieve for most people. How I built the e-commerce store in 5 easy steps Found the manufacturer in Los Angeles Hired a model and photographer Used Shopify for the e-commerce platform Uploaded images and retail info to the site Launched the site You make it sound so simple Jun, but in reality, its so much harder. she snapped back at me. But is it really that difficult? The biggest barrier to entry is not the competition, technology, or capital costs; the biggest barrier to entry is fear All the knowledge is at your finger tips Blaming ignorance is no excuse for not starting a venture.  Absolutely everything can be googled. Dont know how to build an e-commerce store? Google it. Dont know how to drive traffic to your site? Google it. Dont know how to create an LLC? Google it. Ignorance is not an excuse. The first step you need to take Create a savings account and label it Business.  Start saving 5% of every paycheck into that savings account.  Once you hit $1,000, youre ready to start your business. Utilize your resources I built an e-commerce store because my partner in Los Angeles is connected to the garment district. I built an affiliate travel site for Peru because my uncle owns a travel agency in Peru. Utilize your resources and network.  Reach out to friends and family and let them know that youre interested in building a company.  Ask them about where they work, what resources do they have, and what pains they see in their industry.  Find the right opportunity for you and take the dive. Its scary, but the worst that can happen is that you lose your $1,000, which is nothing in the big picture.  Stay persistent, stay motivated, and you will find success. Money is littered on the street; you just need to know how to pick it up Jorge Loayza Author: Jun Loayza  is the Co-Founder of  RewardMe, a  customer loyalty  platform  for restaurants and retailers. In his entrepreneurial experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies and lead social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levi’s, LG, and Activision. Jun recently published the Definitive Guide to Local Marketing on Facebook.

Is the Employer Always Right - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Is the Employer Always Right - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career In this new, chaotic, and uncertain century, with its more and more minutely specialized occupations and skill sets and with nothing to do with the faltering economy, it’s not only human resources employees who might not be familiar with certain job skills and the actual needs of the open positions in their organizations. Believe it or not, the hiring managers themselves many times don’t know their own needs until the hapless chosen candidate has completed a typically extensive, lengthy, complex, and personally probing on-boarding administrative process and the candidate has already started reporting for work. Then the employer suddenly dismisses the employeeâ€"after perhaps only one or two days on the jobâ€"saying it has decided the employee’s skills apparently don’t match the actual needs of the position. That reason is not an employer cover-up for dismissal for a different reason. It is indeed the actual reason. We’re living in a fast-paced world. Not only in our personal and family lives is everyone in the household or among our acquaintances going in different directions, but the same phenomenon is prevalent even more at work. For instance, the economy forces senior management to make budget cuts, which then cascades down the chain of command. Sometimes management changes are made, and literally everyone gets asked to do more with less and in less time. It’s no wonder, then, that hiring decisions nowadays are going not through a reasonable-length process but through an accelerated, hasty processâ€"one that brings its victims. Employers are treating staff like a printed circuit board in an electronic module: Plug it in, and let’s see whether it’s working. If it is found that the wrong part has been used, it gets quickly replaced with a new one. Perhaps the replacement part will work better. It is a fact that high employee turnover is very costly and not only in dollars and cents. Does the employer regret or feel contrite that such a dismissalâ€"not based on the employee’s faultâ€"leaves an indelible scar on the psyche of the employee? The answer is, most likely not. And the painful part of that too-often occurrence is going to stay with us until the buyer’s market shifts to the seller’s market, the way it used to be in the late 1900s. Many people in America lost their jobs because of a shift in the economy that was due to the transfer of a large part of manufacturing to countries where labor is less expensive. Another reason is that evolution of the technology whose machines and computers introduced efficiency made people or hands become redundant. And generally, people are slow in adjusting to the new world. For instance, today’s car mechanics need specialized computer skills and knowledge; otherwise, they cannot repair today’s highly computerized vehicles. So, with these sorts of rapid changes here to stay, the only issue we’re left to grapple with is whether employers are always right. Do you know? Do you have an answer? What’s your opinion?

Strategies For Writing a Winning Federal Resume

Strategies For Writing a Winning Federal ResumeWhile the objective of winning a federal employment is a worthy goal, there are many strategies for writing a winning federal resume. However, in order to learn how to write a winning federal resume, you have to understand that every resume that a federal agency receives is unique and cannot be repeated with ease. Thus, it is imperative that you research each resume before handing one over to your potential employer.These days, with the economy in the dumps, the number of government jobs available to the American public has gone up. Most agencies that are not suffering from budget cuts still have some open positions available and because of this, they will do everything in their power to keep people from applying for these positions.You have to learn how to get yourself noticed and not to be discounted when trying to land one of the many available federal jobs. For this reason, you need to apply to as many positions as possible. How do y ou find these jobs?First, you need to keep in mind that just because a position is available federal jobs that may be located in a certain state will be even more difficult to secure. This is because many states are experiencing cuts due to federal cuts. Yet, positions in the rest of the country can be difficult to obtain. Thus, if you know where there may be openings, you can apply for those positions in order to secure the position you are seeking.Next, you need to be aware that the number of government jobs available will differ from year to year. There is also the matter of budget cuts, which can make it difficult to attain funding from the federal government to retain or hire employees. Thus, if you know when a position becomes available, you can apply for it right away.Another strategy for writing a winning federal resume is to work with a service like PSB International or DSW International to help you prepare your resume for government jobs. These two companies have an excell ent staff that is well trained in the details of writing a winning federal resume. They will ensure that you include all of the information necessary and create a professional resume for you to present to your potential employer.Both of these companies have staff who can train you and ensure that you receive the proper training to ensure that you have an eye-catching and professional resume. These companies are experts in the field of writing a winning federal resume and will ensure that you are successful in your application. It is a great investment to put money into your career to ensure that you are successful in securing the position you are seeking.Finally, you can be successful with your efforts in trying to learn how to write winning federal resumes by participating in one of the many seminars available for individuals to attend. These seminars can give you all of the tips and techniques that you need to improve your resume. A seminar can teach you how to use different techn iques that will ensure that you are not only successful but become an expert on how to make a winning federal resume.

Improve Your Work Performance in the New Year by Building a Strong, Healthy Body - Sterling Career Concepts

Improve Your Work Performance in the New Year by Building a Strong, Healthy Body Improve Your Work Performance in the New Year by Building a Strong, Healthy Body What’s the most popular New Year’s resolution? To get back into shape. If it happens to be one of your resolutions and you could use some motivation to follow through on it, here’s one more reason: there is a direct relationship between physical fitness and work productivity,  according to a 2016 study  published in the American Journal of Applied Sciences. Building a strong, healthy body is not only vital for your physical health but also for your psychological and emotional health, all of which are  needed for professional success  regardless of your line of work. Contrary to what many people think, the ways to obtain a strong and healthy body dont have to be hard or complicated. You may be forced to make some changes in your life, and possibly some sacrifices, but it will all be worth it as it will boost your overall health and make you a better worker. Here are three things to consider in the New Year to pursue improved physical fitness: Regular physical exercise is a must   Theres no escaping it; you must be involved in some form of physical exercise regularly to achieve and maintain physical fitness.  Exercise has many physical benefits  including a healthier heart, lower blood pressure, and a more attractive physique. On top of that, exercise has a wide array of cognitive benefits like improved concentration, faster learning, sharper memory, and enhanced creativity, all of which can improve your productivity. The best way to add exercise to your regular routine is by joining a gym and working with a professional trainer. If thats not possible, you dont have to worry since there are many ways you can exercise without stepping into a gym; jogging, cycling, body weight exercises, yoga, and taking online classes are just a few of them. Follow a proper diet   Exercise can only take you halfway through the journey to physical fitness; to make it to the end, youll need to follow a proper diet as well. When it comes to diet, theres no one-size-fits-all approach; diet can be a very touchy subject and what works for you may be completely different from what works for others. However, there are some basic diet principles that you can follow. For one, you need to  eat a well-balanced diet  that provides your body with the vital nutrients it needs to fuel your workouts and leave enough for your other body functions. The food quantities and the timing of your meals can also have an effect on your fitness plan. Supplements: yay or nay?   Another important thing you need to consider is  how to use supplements  to help you achieve your fitness goals. There are many supplements available, but not all of them will be suitable for you. Protein supplements or drinks that can help you strengthen your bones and gain muscle quickly while losing fat at the same time are worth considering, as are preparations that contain omega 3, 6 and 9 and calcium. Naturally before doing so, make sure you have the green light from your doctor. The role of physical fitness cannot be understated when it comes to job productivity. It promotes your physical, mental and emotional well-being, helping you become the best version of yourself which sets you up perfectly for professional success.

How a resume of a talented graphic designer should look like - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

How a resume of a talented graphic designer should look like Do you have the passion to draw? Do you like thinking and executing creative plots? Do you have a degree or certification in designing courses and software like Photoshop? Can you not work on anything else, but designing? If you have answered a perfect Yes to all these questions, then this means you either are already a graphic designer, if not, then you will very soon be one. Graphic designers are sacred talented people who are available in limited numbers and this is why they are sought after in any industry or job. For a number of years, the role of graphic designers was badly undermined, but now the whole scenario has changed. The importance of designers, especially brands is so much that a bad visual can kill off the entire marketing strategy. This is why what goes into a plot and how the idea reflects in terms of design is so important and hence graphic designers have to be thinking creatively round the clock. They are in great demand and usually will be the chirpiest, most happy people within the company having connections with everyone. Such is the nature and personality of designers and you cannot fight that because this is what keeps them going and thinking creatively. Since graphic designers stand out in every way or form, their resumes also must stand out when it comes for a job application. Today’s talk will be about how a resume of a talented graphic designer should look like. Different than the ordinary resume A resume of a graduate who has a degree in marketing or finance or a resume of an experienced finance person is a plain basic scaled resume which highlights the most relevant information about his experiences and credentials. However, a graphic designer’s resume will and should never even be close enough. A graphic designer will have a resume without any rigid form or format, they must have their own structure and it should look like something that even a layman could identify without reading it that it is the resume of some creative personnel. Creativity Now in order to make your resume look different, creativity has to play a strong role. Graphic designers usually treat their resume like a flyer or a pager which gives out an important information in an appealing way. Their resumes will have designs and arts with relevant information, it will be a sight for sore eyes when it comes to managers looking at it. Samples A graphic designer’s resume will have certification details and sample ideas of their previous work and academic work. Unless you provide evidence of your design, it will be hard to judge your skills, this is where the tricky part for graphic designers comes in. They usually cannot translate their work in terms of words. Colorful With creativity comes colors, an average graphic designer’s resume will always be very colorful and fancy making it seem different than the rest plain white resumes. A graphic designer resume’s creativity can do a lot of impression making work for them if done correctly. Author Bio Sarah Wood is the author of this blog post. Sarah works as a designer and communications manager who loves to post related blogs on the site Assignment Help UK. She is very keenly followed by lots of online users.