Join a Professional Association to Boost Your Career Find Your Dream Job

Join a Professional Association to Boost Your Career Find Your Dream JobJoin a Professional Association to Boost Your Career - Find Your Dream JobToday you are going to join a professional association related to your industry. A professional association is an organization whose members have similar credentials or professional interests. For example, the American Marketing Association is the leading national organization for marketing professionals, and the American Bar Association is the leading association for attorneys. Joining a professional association will help you not only in your job search, but also throughout your career. Even if you already belong to an association, read on for tips on how to use your membership to enhance your job search. Why Join a Professional Association? There are a number of ways that joining a professional association can aid in your job search. Perhaps fruchtwein importantly, a professional association is a great source for networking. You wil l gain access to a number of people in your industry with whom you can discuss the industry, and who may be able to give you career advice. Associations also hold a number of meetings and conferences. Not only are these valuable places for networking, but they also offer seminars on career development and industry trends. Members can gain mora industry insight through an associations publications, such as a trade journal or newspaper. Reading about industry trends will provide you with excellent industry information that might be useful during a job interview. Many associations also have online job databases where members can post resumes and search job openings related specifically to their industry. Tips for Selecting a Professional Association Not all professional associations are created equal. Ask former colleagues or other associates in your industry which associations they would recommend (this is a great question to ask during an information interview). If you find an as sociation of interest, see if there is a regional chapter near you that you can join. Belonging to a local chapter will make it easier for you to attend events and meet people in your area. You do not need to join every association related to your industry, nor should you. This would be spreading yourself too thin, and would likely cost more money and take up more time than it would be worth. Instead, find one association that fits your professional needs. What to Do When You Join When you become a member of an association, check the associations website for upcoming events or conferences. Attend a local event, and strike up conversation with other members (be sure to bring your business cards). Begin with light conversation, and then bring up your job search. Remember, you are there to gain information about the industry and add contacts, so do not spend too much time dwelling on your need for a job. If there is a job search database on the associations website, post your resum e and look for any interesting job openings. If youve networked with anyone who works for a company with a job opening, get in touch with them and see if they can recommend you for the job or give you any inside information. Continue to utilize your associations resources throughout the rest of your job search, and throughout your career.

5 ways to look and feel healthier in 1 week, according to a nutritionist

5 ways to look and feel healthier in 1 week, according to a nutritionist5 ways to look and feel healthier in 1 week, according to a nutritionistAs winter winds down, its a great time to lean into your New Years resolutions and become your healthiest, most fit self.But whats the best way to start?Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraRegistered dietician and nutritionist Andy Bellatti reveals all the things you should - and should never - do to get you feeling your best in under a week and on the right track.DO Drink lots of water.Water is essential - it regulates the shape of every cell inside our bodies. If we dont get enough, in fact, these cells begin toshrivel up. The CDC recommendschoosingwater instead of sugar-sweetened beveragesto help with weight management.Swapping a cold glass of H2O for a single 20-ounce soda will save you about 240 calories.So hydrate, Bellatti told Bus iness Insider, ideally with water.DONT Go on a juice cleanse.If youre considering a detox or juice cleanse,you might want to reconsider. Drinking just water, juice, or any other liquefied concoction for more than a few days can set you up for unhealthy eating behaviors, and can often lead to spikes and drops in blood sugar levels, which can spawncravingsand mood swings.This is a recipe for hangriness, Bellatti said, that also inaccurately paints all solid food as problematic.DO Cut back on sodium.Most of us - 89% of US adults, according to the CDC- eat too much sodium, and thats not including any salt added at the table. Too much salt in your diet can causepuffiness and bloating, so cutting back can help you avoid that.Sodium retains water, Bellatti said, so lowering sodium intake also reduces puffiness.DONT Start banning foods.Theres a difference between cutting back on things you eat in excess and banning certain food groups entirely.Diets that rely on avoiding ingredients (like sugar or gluten) can lead to replacing those things with other ingredients that play the same role in the body (like honey or corn-based foods). Doing this can be dangerous if thereplacement products are nutrient-deficient.DO Fill up with fiber.Writer Michael Pollansaid it best Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.Fresh, high-fiber vegetables like broccoli, bell peppers, and brussels sprouts - whichthe CDC calls powerhouse foods- are a great source of key vitamins and nutrients, including fiber, which helps keep you feeling full and satisfied until your next meal.Whole, plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds) are best, Bellatti said. One quick way to add extra fiber to your day sprinkle chia, hemp, or ground flax over whatever youre eating for a boost.DONT Rely on powders and pills.The problem with diet powders and pills, Bellatti said, is that they often take something that welches once a whole food, like a fruit or a vegetable, then process it to separate out one ingredient. Thats alright for things like cocoa powder, which does have nutrients, but it shouldnt make up the bulk of your dietary intake.When something is a powder, youre probably using what, a teaspoon or tablespoon at most? And you have to wonder how much that can really do. Versus a cup of broccoli or a quarter cup of cashews. Thats something significant, Bellatti said.DO Be mindful of portion sizes.The baseline portion sizes ofour snacks and meals have balloonedover the last 40 years - even theplates and cups we serve them onhave gotten noticeably bigger.The average size of many of our foods - whether fast-food, sit-down meals, or even items from the grocery store - has grown by as much as 138% since the 1970s, according to data from theAmerican Journal of Public Health, theJournal of Nutrition, and theJournal of the American Medical Association.So be mindful of portion sizes, and if youre eating out, consider taking some of your meal home for later. DONT Focus exclusively on calories.Focusing too much on calories can be dangerous, too, since the measurement falsely makes it seem like a calorie of one food is exactly the same as that of another.This is especially true when eating at restaurants, Bellatti said. Manylow-calorie itemsare loaded with sodium, which retains water and can leave you feeling bloated.Plus, keep in mind that for sustained weight loss, youreonly supposed to lose about 1-3 pounds each week.That tends to be a lot more sustainable than losing a whole bunch at once, Philip Stanforth, a professor of exercise science at the University of Texas, told Business Insider.DO Think positive.Thinking positively about eating and feeling bettercan help motivate some peopleto stick to a new lifestyle.In terms of changing the way you eat (its much more than a diet), focus on the opportunities and what you can eat as opposed to what foods youre trying to cut down on, Dr. Donald Hensrud, who chairs the Mayo Clinics division of preventive, occupational and aerospace medicine,wrote in a blog post. There are many wonderful foods and recipes to explore, and believe it or not, we can learn to like new foods.DONT Expect miracles.Lets be real Eating right for a week isnt going to counteract decades of subsisting on fries and Frappuccinos. But it is enough to reduce some of the more irritating aspects of those symptoms, like the bloating linked with a high-salt diet, and thefatigue associated with blood sugar crashes.The most that can happen in a weeks time is that you make choices that help reduce bloating and puffiness. Any promises beyond that are more about marketing and hyperbole than anything else, Bellatti said.But committing to treating your body well - even if only for a few days - might be enough to lay the foundation for months or years of future healthy eating. If you can prove to yourself that you can treat your body right (and that it feels good to do so), you just might be more likely to keep it up later on.This article first appeared in Business Insider.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Tap Into Your Character Strengths at Work [Infographic]

Tap Into Yur Character Strengths at Work Infographic Tap Into Your Character Strengths at Work Infographic According to a new infographic from Happify, just knowing our strengths isnt quite enough. What we need to do isuse those strengths, in our personal lives and at work.Tapping into our strengths helps us make progress on our goals, boosting our feelings of independence and confidence, says the infographic.Developing our strengths is good for our health, good for our moods, and good for our careers according to the infographic, 81 percent of people whove had strengths-based career counseling are employed,whereas only 60 percent of people whove had conventional career counseling are.To learn more about using your strengths on the job, check out the full infographic below or visit Happifys website.

Are you living to work or working to live and does it really matter

Are you living to work or working to live and does it really matterAre you living to work or working to live and does it really matterWe want to have our cake and eat it too - but in this day and age, it seems that women are always being told to choose. For those of us not interested in that narrative, how do you find a career that can satisfy your personal and professional needs - while pursuing your passion?I spent more than four years working for a non-profit- with an incredible mission. I found the work valuable, challenging, and fulfilling. To top it off, I loved my co-workers. But eventually, a few important things - my salary, my passion, and my goals for the future - started to feel like they were misaligned. How could I do work that I believed in, while also being smart about finances, and my future? And, which welches more important?Even though I loved the work I welches doing for the nonprofit, it welches hard to face the truth that my salary wasnt quite cutting it. I live in San Francisco, arguably the most expensive city in the country to live in, and it was getting harder and harder to invest in and save for my future. Lots of my friends were living more comfortably, and while I know its not healthy to compare, I couldnt help but question if I could be making more money, and whether or not it was something I deserved, as opposed to something I just wanted.What does living wage mean to you?I kept thinking about what the idea of a living wage was, and how that differed depending on who you were. Sure, I made enough money to afford the basics and I had plenty of fun, but how was that different from what a living wage meant to someone else - someone who had kids, was hoping to buy a house, or was paying off loans, etc.?So I made a list of the things I knew I wanted to accomplish in the next two, three, five, and 10 years. The truth was sobering, but it whipped me into shape. Unfortunately, it also meant I needed to seek new employment.But what ab out my passion?Looking for a new job meant I had to come to terms with something I wasnt ready to come to terms with yet. Was I going to sell out? Id spent a considerable part of my life working very hard on a low salary - but it was worth it, and I dont regret one day of it, because I felt great about the work I was doing. It mattered to me, and it had a positive impact, and that was truly something that I factored into my compensation. I didnt think Id ever give it up.So I was worried about finding work that I believed was important and being compensated enough. I didnt want to work for what I thought to myself was some random company where Id be toiling away on behalf of something I didnt care about, only for a higher salary. But I also knew that money was going to help ensure that I would be prepared for the life I wanted in the future.How do you choose?I asked lots of friends and family how they felt about their own jobs and income, and how that contributed to their happiness. Their answers ran the gamut from general responses like I dont care much for what I do, but I love my life, to I like my job because of x,y, and z and thats enough for now.Everyone understood the predicament I was in because most people had seemed to make peace with similar questions long ago. But I still felt like I had to choose between work I loved for less money, or work I didnt love for more money. And I didnt know how.What I chose was both. And no, its not because I found the perfect job with the perfect salary. Those jobs do exist - if you have one, youre lucky - but I still havent found mine yet. I did, however, come to peace with the fact that I was going to have to choose one over the other sometimes, but not forever.I found a job that I do like, and yes, I can finally breathe easier financially. But I also do a lot of work outside of my job, including freelancing for my former organization, to keep myself engaged with my passions. And someday in the future, the time wi ll come when Im ready to switch back. Or, maybe by then, my goals will have changed. And thats okay.Once I realized that having it all didnt necessarily have to mean having it all at once, I felt the freedom to act on what I wanted, as opposed to what I needed, and then understood that those two things had been more closely aligned than I thought all along.This article first appeared on Career Contessa.

How to Land a Retirement Job

How to Land a Retirement JobHow to Land a Retirement JobRetirement from a lifelong career doesnt necessarily mean an end to work. Many retirees return to the workforce to pursue a passion,earn extra money, gain health care benefits, serve their community, or to avoid boredom. In fact, retirement can signify the abflug of a new career for many workers who arent ready to actually retire. Retirement can provide an opportunity to choose a different path than the first time around. It can also provide extra income and the chance to do the type of work that you wished you could have done during your last career. Types of Retirement Work Options Some of the more common options for retirement employment areoperating a small geschftsleben, freelance work, hospitality, retail, consulting, teaching, and healthcare. However, dont limit yourself. Rather, before you start a job search, take some time to explore options and decide what it is you would like to do during this phase of your workin g life. Take acareer testor two and see what might be a good fit for your skills and interests. Also, consider how much time you want to commit and plan accordingly. Many employers would prefer to hire flexible employees who are willing to work less than full-time hours. If you dont need to work 40 hours a week, it will be easier to land a job. How to Land a Retirement Job To get started, consider reaching out to contacts at your previous employersif you enjoyed working there prior to your retirement. Explore part-time roleswith less stress or greater appeal that will still tap the knowledge or skills accumulated throughout your career. Or, consider some additional ideas Make new contacts in person Utilize your positive image and outgoing personalitybycontacting managers in-personat local restaurants, hotels, retail establishments, and other employers. Stop by at non-peak times, show respect for gatekeepers, and exude a youthful energy. Use temporary employment agencies These wo rk well for office and factory jobs.Temp agenciesare a great way to access seasonal and part-time employment as well as to sample a variety of employers. Plus, temp jobs give you flexibility when you dont want to commit to a full-time position. Mobilize your contactsLet them know what type of employment youre seeking. You may be surprised to learn that one of your contacts or one of their associates could use help from a trusted source. If your connections dont need help, they may know someone who does. Start your own business If you have entrepreneurial inclinations, explore the viability of starting a small business,whether it is marketing a favorite craft item, providing a tafelgeschirr like installing hardwood floors, or catering parties. Retirees often favor enterprises which require limited capital investment. Consult business people whom you know and services such asScoreor theSmall Business Administration. Try freelance work Consulting, writing, design, programming, translat ing, medical transcribing, and data entryare common pursuits for many seniors. Utilizing websites that match freelancers to projects can be an effective strategy. Check the Chamber of CommerceMany local businesses list jobs on their Chamber of Commerce website. Its a good resource for finding local jobs. Visit online job posting sitesUse online job search enginesto find relevant listings in your location. In addition to using the general job sites, check those that focus onjobs for retireesand older workers. Visit Encore for positions that are geared towards those looking for a passion-related job or second career, and try VolunteerMatch to research a variety of volunteer jobs to find out which ones appeal to you. Also try AARPs Life Reimagined for Work, which not only pulls relevant job listings from LinkedIn but also offers content specific to boomers along with tools to help career changers and retirees find the right job for them.Workforce50.com is another site worth visiting be cause it offers useful search tools, reviews of career books, information on military-to-civilian job transitioning, and more. Working and Social Security If youre collecting social security and are under full retirement age, earnings from your job can impact your social security benefits. Understandhow working impacts your social security retirement payments. Top Jobs for Retirees Not sure what type of retirement job youd like to pursue? Heres a list of potential positions Accounting clerkActivities staff at a retirement homeAdjunct professorAmericorps volunteerArt gallery assistantAvon, Mary Kay representativeBank tellerBartenderCake/pastry makerClerk at a hardware storeCrossing guardCustomer service representativeDelivery drivereBay resellerEtsy sellerEntertainerEvent plannerFlooring installerFreelance designerFreelance photographerFreelance writerGreeterHome health aideHotel front desk clerkHunting guideIT consultantLandscaperNewspaper delivery personNurses assistant Painter Park guidePet sitterPiano tunerReal estate agentReceptionistResort workerRestaurant workerRetail sales clerkSchool bus driverSecurity guardSki instructorSnow plow operatorSocial work assistantStandardized test proctorTax preparerTeachers aideTennis instructorTravel guideVan/taxi/Uber/Lyft driver

The 5-Minute Rule for Computer Skills for Resume

The 5-Minute Rule for Computer Skills for Resume Computer Skills for Resume Secrets With increasing digitization, understanding how to operate computers has almost turn into a fundamental survival skill. Apart from security problems, you dont need all of your cheap neighbors to use your Internet and downloading movies at your expense. Especially when good protection is readily available for free, and is extremely simple to set up. Just make sure that you speak with a person in your IT department if youre still somewhat unsure of the fundamental computer skills in regards to IT security. Possessing the correct computer skills will cause more possibilities. You may often find both systems on computers at your community library, though you might also be in a position to learn on the work too. For example, if youre asking for a tech job, you dont wish to outline all your basic computer abilities. Today, just about any job requires a fundamental comprehension of computers, and se veral jobs involve intermediate to advanced computer abilities. Youll receive daily lessons that teach you all of the basics you will need to know to begin studying for your fantasy tech job Show the employer you have the skills the geschftsleben requirements. An instructor wont necessarily know whether you dont understand an assignment or course material. The Pain of Computer Skills for Resume Theimportance of interpersonal skills shouldnt be underestimated. Using resume skills examples isnt an uncommon thing. Written communication skills are also quite important. Learning basic computer skills can be challenging. Before you jump into writing down all of the incredible talents youve got, lets learn a little more about what skills employers typically start looking for on a resume and see whether youre able to incorporate any in your skills section. Lets take a good look at the skills you will need. Skills about how to make your very own dynamic website are critical. On-line learning asks a lot of reading and writing. A Key Skills section, on the flip side, is listed on top of a resume. Writing skills are also critical for many unique jobs. Writing resume skills isnt easy. The Basic Facts of Computer Skills for Resume A hiring manager will be searching for skills which are the absolute most relevant to the job accessible. Irrespective of where you include your skills section on your resume, you can be sure that the hiring manager is likely to find it and definitely likely to ask about doing it. Tonights resumes are a rather straightforward variety of prior jobs and duties. Make certain youve got the most recent version of what the hiring managers are interested in finding.Dont have the proper skills, and you may lose out on your perfect job prospect. Your best strategy is to tailor your resume to every particular job which youre applying to. If youre interested in receiving work in tech but not certain where to start, a good strategy is to ch eck at job listingsmountains and mountains of job listings. When its your very first job, and not so formal, you might want something quite straightforward. Why Almost Everything Youve Learned About Computer Skills for Resume Is Wrong If youve assigned the job to compose a resume, you need to understand its format first. Write resume skills with precision and make expert CV. After awhile, all the resumes have started to look the exact same. There are a lot of websites that provide courses youll be able to take, or certifications youre able to increase your resume. Its also vital to develop the skills necessary to both excel and guarantee a thriving career in the business. Instead, you are going to highlight relevant abilities and achievements from previous work in the neatly-aligned bullet points. There are a number of other computer skills, however, that are usually used across all industries which are important for most job applicants to know. Most Noticeable Computer S kills for Resume Back in the old times of the web, only someone with big-time tech skills could update a site. Most jobs require that you have a fundamental comprehension of computer programs like Excel and Microsoft Office, and skills in internet navigation, social networking sites and email systems. In case you have knowledge, blogging is just one of the very best ways to share this, and also to let prospective employers understand the value you could bring them. As an example, programming languages youre going to need for assorted tech jobs could vary or include many different languages.

Do These 8 Things To Be A Successful Staffing Firm

Do These 8 Things To Be A Successful Staffing FirmThere will always be ways to improve how your staffing firm works toward building successful relationships with your clients and going above and beyond keeps them happy, enayas they invest in your services for years to come, and leads to your continued success. In fact, a September study released by CareerBuilder reported that the utilization of staffing firms to place talent is at 32 percent, an increase from 26 percent last year.Although, the utilization of staffing firms is rising, the relationships staffing firms have with clients leave much to be desired. In the saatkorn CareerBuilder survey, client satisfaction declined to an unimpressive negative three percent in 2015 which means, for the first time, there are mora client detractors than promoters.Surprisingly, total sales in the staffing and recruiting industry have increased by 5.8 percent, according to a 2014 report by the American Staffing Association. So we know the gesc hftsleben is there, but uncovering where clients are, connecting with them, and keeping them happy can be a challenge. Implement these eight strategies to improve client relationships and rise above the rest 1. Streamline your entire recruiting process.Answering emails, addressing client inquiries, and searching for job candidates in a timely manner can be exhausting. However, maintaining a strong relationship with your clients has been the foundation of your business model since Day One. Better recruiting comes from better processes. By replacing outdated and inefficient spreadsheets, paper resumes, and hardcopy documents with better equipped technology, your staffing firm will be able to stay connected with clients more efficiently. Here are three tools that successful staffing firms are already using to help create more effective client relationships Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) A CRM is a tool that can help you regulate how well everyone at your staffing firm co mmunicates with clients, build better relationships, and increase your sales. By using a CRM, your kollektiv can easily respond to clients, collaborate on an account, efficiently share information with clients.Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Your staffing firm should be using an ATS to locate applicant records quickly and keep organized during the recruiting process. Your clients want to see results thats why they hired you, after all. Screen out under-qualified applicants by asking pass/fail questions. Create custom pre-screening questions by location. Keep track of applicants through custom work channels. Automatically merge duplicate applicants. Easily compare applicants. All of this can be done with the right ATS.Social Collaboration ToolsYour clients expect you to stay informed and up-to-date with potential job candidates before their position is ever posted, or before the candidate even knows theyre looking for a new job. Social collaboration tools will help maximize your sal es and recruiting process while integrating with your existing social media practices. For example, you can use a platform that posts directly to social networks making it simple to connect and share. This allows you to easily set up a posting schedule for social networks ahead of time. When candidates apply, after seeing your job post on social media, this type of platform automatically tracks which employee shared the job and which social network they came from. This feature lets your colleagues to keep up-to-date on important information about companies, candidates, and jobs. It also allows you to share a post others see and can comment on in real-time and, fruchtwein importantly, store all communications and updates.Better technology helps StaffingFirms connect with clients more efficientlyClick To Tweet2. Create a follow-up system.Sure, you can attempt to make sure your employees always follow up as soon as possible to emails, phone calls, and inquiries from both current and p rospective clients. But do you have a system in place to keep up-to-date internally on client communication and accounts?A few questions to consider What do clients need immediately after the initial candidate screening is completed by your team? For example, after working with a client to find job candidates, it would be a good idea to offer a next step service that offers screening candidates and conducting video interviews. What will your clients need three months after working with you? Depending how much you keep in contact with former clients, you may find it difficult to figure out what services they need next. Creating a follow-up email to thank customers for their business can go a long way. After a position is filled, reach back out to your client by email or phone and ask them for feedback on the overall process. Perhaps this particular client would like to be less involved in the process than you initially thought. Maybe they are interested in collaborating a bit more du ring the screening process. The only way youll know is to begin the conversation. 3. Optimize for mobile.If you arent optimized for mobile, youre losing out on sales not to mention Google ranks mobile-friendly sites higher in search results. If your website takes too long to load, or users have to pinch the screen on their mobile device to read content clearly, you can say goodbye to your visitors. In fact, in the aforementioned CareerBuilder survey, 57 percent of corporate clients develop a negative perception of a staffing firm if their site is not mobile-ready. Moreover, 73 percent of job candidates will leave a site if it is not mobile-optimized, and one out of five will not return.So, what can you do to make sure your firm is mobile-friendly for your clients and job candidates? Ask yourself these questionsDo I need to zoom in to read anything? Do external links work? Is there an easy way to reach out to a rep? Is contact information easy to find? Is navigation as simple from m y phone as it is from my desktop?First, decide what needs to be done from there, prioritize your spending. Depending on the amount of work required and the budget at your disposal, you might need to update in phases. Alternatively, there are plenty of services and web platforms that enable one-touch mobile optimization of any website. Just as your website should adapt to the size and type of device being used to access it, email design should be equally responsive. In fact, the CareerBuilder survey found 27 percent of corporate clients report they interact with staffing firms via a mobile device. When selecting an email marketing platform, make mobile optimization a priority there are plenty of options on the market from which to choose.4. Share success stories.While potential clients might know they need a staffing firm, they might not be immediately convinced they need your staffing firm. In the earlier survey by CareerBuilder, 18 percent of clients read reviews of staffing firm s online before becoming partners. So, solicit client success stories you can share.Consider creating written case studies or, to be more interactive, see if you can get clients to participate in video testimonials. Your clients will like the free promotion, so set up a spot on your website and/or social platforms where they can be featured. Train your recruiters to identify top clients and provide them with the necessary tools to create a polished final product. 5. Respond to client feedback on social media.Social media has changed the way we receive feedback by enabling users to post, comment, share and chat in real-time. Clients can speak up if your website is down, ask you a question using direct messaging on Facebook and Twitter, and reach out through your websites contact page. All of these options mean someone from your staffing firm must be available to respond to this feedback. When a client writes a review on your companys Facebook page, respond to it. For example, if a cl ient praises your professionalism and candidate placement accuracy, comment back in a timely manner. You could say something as simple as, Thank you for being a loyal client. We appreciate your business and look forward to working with you again If the review is a complaint, respond quickly and ask them to contact you directly so you can address the problem. This publicly shows you care and want to resolve the issue but keeps the nitty gritty details of their complaint off your Facebook wall. If you address complaints right away and make a public attempt to rectify the situation, those individuals often come back and update their review.Why all staffing pros MUST respond to clients on social media SocialRecruitingClick To Tweet6. Collect client feedback.Keep track of all feedback both positive and negative. Use it in team meetings for praise and recognition, as well as areas to improve. Proactively identify breakdowns in your work process before they become major issues, as well as valuable strategies that are worth implementing across the board with similar clients.Send out short surveys to clients via email to measure satisfaction over time. Both Google Forms and SurveyMonkey are popular tools that streamline the process.7. Understand your clients industry.Its better to know a lot about a few industries than a small amount about many. Put in the extra time and effort to educate yourself, and it will pay off in the long-run by helping you land and retain valuable clients. Remember, staffing agencies dont find jobs for people they find people for jobs. So, just how well do you know your clients industry? Regularly check job postings, and track news and trends in your clients industry to get a better understanding of the candidates your clients want to hire. For example, what are the top qualifications that IT companies are seeking? What training courses do candidates need to take, and how is this applicable to fulfilling your clients needs? Also, have your clients fill out a questionnaire that provides your firm with greater insight into your clients problems, their successes, and what differentiates them.Staffing agencies dont find jobs for people they find people for jobsClick To Tweet8. Adopt efficient collaboration tools.Developing relationships in the staffing industry is all about being different different in a way that contributes to your clients overall success. One great way to differentiate is by collaborating with clients via video interviewing. Hiring specific and highly-skilled workers can be a challenge since they are so hard to find. Yet, your staffing firm needs to fill the clients open positions with the most impressive candidates as quickly as possible.Video interviewing gives staffing firms a leg up on the competition by saving both time and resources, while allowing recruiters to serve their clients more effectively and efficiently. Instead of a phone interview with someone who could be all wrong for the job, t he one-way video interview in particular allows you to quickly sort through your staffing options.Additionally, both live recorded and one-way video interviews make it easy to share a shortlist of top candidates with your clients.Before starting any interview process, determine together the top requirements for the position, then create a selective list of questions to use for your initial screen of candidates.What relationship-building techniques do you use to improve client relationships?

Poll says Americans are some of the most stressed people in the world

Poll says Americans are some of the most stressed people in the worldPoll says Americans are some of the most stressed people in the worldAmericans are just as stressed as ever.Gallups annual Global Emotions report found just what many of us felt Americans are some of the most stressed people in the world.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreMore than 150,000 people around the world were polled, where they were asked about the emotions they experienced the day before the survey welches conducted. Over 1,000 Americans responses were collected for the polls latest installment.Fifty-five percent of Americans said they had experienced stress during much of their day in 2018, much higher than the global average which sat around 35%.Americans stress levels, which were the highest in a decade, were influenced by participants age and income. More than 60% of American people below age 50 felt most stressed. Financially, more than half of the countrys poorest fifth felt most stressed (68%) and worried (56%).Gallup said there was a strong relationship between stress, worry, and disapproval due to the current state of politics in the US.The most stressed-out nations in the world are led by Greece (59%), Phillippines (58%) and Tanzania (57%). The United States ranked seventh on the list.Combating your stress levels can be difficult, but there are ways to help. The National Institute of Mental Health says practical steps could help reduce your levels. Some of their recommendations are recognizing what your bodys response to stress is, getting regular exercise or try to relax actively.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, accord ing to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

How to Use the Critical Path Method to Manage a Project

How to Use the Critical Path Method to Manage a ProjectHow to Use the Critical Path Method to Manage a ProjectProject managers use the term critical path to describe the entire sequence of tasks that must be done on time if a project is to be completed in the minimum amount of time required. Crucially, it includes the assumption that each one of the tasks must be completed before the next can begin, so any delay in any task will delay the entire project. The critical path method, or CPM, is used to plan a project by defining each necessary step in it and estimating how long each will take. The goal is to prevent the kind of bottlenecks that can plague any complex plan. Defining the Steps Project managers work with team membersto define all of the work required to complete a project or to achieve the project scope. The work is typically broken down into units called work packages. These work packages are small enough to be associated with an owner, managed for risk, and controlled for time, cost, and materials. A common benchmark is that a work package should take no less than eight hours and no mora than 80 hours to complete. Each work team defines and estimates the time and cost necessary to deliver their work packages. Diagramming the Results The project manager then pools the packages and sequences them in the order in which they must be completed. The result is a network diagram that identifies key meaayas Early start The earliest a work package can startEarly finish The earliest a work package can be completedLate start The latest a work package can be started and not delay the projectLate finish The latest a work package can be finished and not delay the projectSlack or float The amount of time a work package can be delayed and not impact the project These metrics are used to calculate the various possible paths through this network of packages. Any slack time can be identified. The project manager and team members adjust the various paths and loo k at different options until they are sure they have found the most efficient and timely and least risky project plan. It is important to note that the critical path can change based on resource scheduling, even during the execution of a project. Why Use This Method The critical path helps the project manager and team focus their efforts on the most important work packages. It also serves as a reference tool for monitoring and reporting progress and adjusting resources as needed. Project managers use it even mid-project to identify work that can be fast-tracked to avoid delays in the overall project. Really Complicated Projects When a project is large and complex, the project manager may wind up with a network diagram that has multiple critical paths or one critical path and several near-critical paths. This is described as a sensitive project network. The more sensitive it is, the greater risk there is of delays. Critical Path Creation Software Small projects lend thems elves to a manual calculation of the critical path. The largest initiatives may contain literally thousands or tens of thousands of work packages. In those cases, project managers rely on project management software programs to calculate and describe the project network diagram and critical path or paths. Nonetheless, it is important that the project manager understands how to develop, refine, and manage the critical path with or without such tools.

Study Witnessing rudeness in the morning will ruin the rest of your day

Study Witnessing rudeness in the morning will ruin the rest of yur dayStudy Witnessing rudeness in the morning will ruin the rest of your dayAll around us, we are witnessing daily moments of incivility. Theres the snide remark your neighbor on the train gave the person in front of you. There are coworkers who dont say sorry, colleagues who are purposefully avoiding each other, clients who wont meet your eye.New research finds that we are subconsciously picking up on behauptung moments, and even when rudeness doesnt happen directly to us, witnessing rudeness affects our mood for the rest of the day as if we had been the recipient.Study Were sensitive to rude awakeningsA new study published in theJournal of Applied Psychologyand highlighted by BPS Research Digest found that our exposure to rudeness works like a contagion, infecting our moods and productivity with its bad energy.Researchers recruited81 students in a business course to complete surveys in the morning and evening. Student s in the test group would see a video of a rude workplace interaction before completing the survey. The rudeness being witnessed would be as mild as a request being answered with no eye contact or unfriendly language, but these moments made a difference to the rest of the students days.Participants witnessing rudeness would internalize the incivility. In their evening surveys, these participants would report seeing mora moments of rudeness throughout the day. The researchers said this heightened awareness of what a rude world we live in would spark the parts of us that start to see everyone and everything as a threat. These bystanders to rudeness would be more likely to psychologically withdraw throughout the day and would report poorer progress towards their goals and a higher sense that they had no agency over their actions.Rudeness affects everyoneWhat this study proves is that when youre rude to someone, it doesnt just affect the person you want to insult everyone who witnessed the moment will get dragged down, too. An overheard terse remark can cause a ripple effect of rudeness and bring a whole office down in its wake.Our sensitivity to rudeness is backed up by previous research that found it can have devastating effects on our ability to do our job. In one study, doctors and nurses who heard mildly rude statements about their competence were more likely to make serious mistakes that would result in the wrong diagnosis.Heres what you can doInevitably, we will encounter rude people and witness uncivil, unkind behavior throughout our days. How can we prevent ourselves from the psychic damage these acts cause us?The researchers in the rude awakening study found that we can build our immunity to rudeness by shoring up our reserves of confidence. The innocent bystanders to rudeness who reported higher levels of self-esteem were immune from the rudeness manipulation.But until we all gain the self confidence needed to repel rudeness, we need to watch what we sa y and how we act around others. Recognizing the outsized power one snide word can cause is one more reason to hold your tongue against the temptation to make someone feel small.Study Witnessing rudeness in the morning will ruin the rest of your dayAll around us, we are witnessing daily moments of incivility. Theres the snide remark your neighbor on the train gave the person in front of you. There are coworkers who dont say sorry, colleagues who are purposefully avoiding each other, clients who wont meet your eye.New research finds that we are subconsciously picking up on these moments, and even when rudeness doesnt happen directly to us, witnessing rudeness affects our mood for the rest of the day as if we had been the recipient.Study Were sensitive to rude awakeningsA new study published in theJournal of Applied Psychologyand highlighted by BPS Research Digest found that our exposure to rudeness works like a contagion, infecting our moods and productivity with its bad energy.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreResearchers recruited81 students in a business course to complete surveys in the morning and evening. Students in the test group would see a video of a rude workplace interaction before completing the survey. The rudeness being witnessed would be as mild as a request being answered with no eye contact or unfriendly language, but these moments made a difference to the rest of the students days.Participants witnessing rudeness would internalize the incivility. In their evening surveys, these participants would report seeing more moments of rudeness throughout the day. The researchers said this heightened awareness of what a rude world we live in would spark the parts of us that start to see everyone and everything as a threat. These bystanders to rudeness would be more likely to psychologically withdraw throughout the day and would report poorer progress towards their goals and a higher sense that they had no agency over their actions.Rudeness affects everyoneWhat this study proves is that when youre rude to someone, it doesnt just affect the person you want to insult everyone who witnessed the moment will get dragged down, too. An overheard terse remark can cause a ripple effect of rudeness and bring a whole office down in its wake.Our sensitivity to rudeness is backed up by previous research that found it can have devastating effects on our ability to do our job. In one study, doctors and nurses who heard mildly rude statements about their competence were more likely to make serious mistakes that would result in the wrong diagnosis.Heres what you can doInevitably, we will encounter rude people and witness uncivil, unkind behavior throughout our days. How can we prevent ourselves from the psychic damage these acts cause us?The researchers in the rude awakening study found that we can build our immunity to rudeness by shoring up ou r reserves of confidence. The innocent bystanders to rudeness who reported higher levels of self-esteem were immune from the rudeness manipulation.But until we all gain the self-confidence needed to repel rudeness, we need to watch what we say and how we act around others. Recognizing the outsized power one snide word can cause is one more reason to hold your tongue against the temptation to make someone feel small.This article was first published on November 6, 2017.