The Holistic Approach to Employer Branding

The Holistic Approach to Employer Branding When you think of the Tech industry you dont always associate it with being holistic but thats the approach it takes when it comes to recruitment. Appian Corporations main business is software and Tricia Goose is the Recruitment Marketing Strategist there. Have a listen to the episode below, keep reading for a summary and be sure to subscribe to the  Employer Branding Podcast. Listen on  Apple Podcasts,  Spotify,  Stitcher  or  Soundcloud. In this episode you’ll learn: • What their biggest struggle is in the tech space • Why its not just a job but a way of life • What its holistic approach is and how it works • Why the whole picture matters to candidates • Why she compares its EVP to a hole-in-the-wall eaterie You can connect with Tricia here.

Hard Work, Marketable Skills, Feeling Appreciated Leads To Passion! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Hard Work, Marketable Skills, Feeling Appreciated Leads To Passion! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Passion does exist for some people but for most of us it evolves over time. In the past, it was known as a calling or vocation. There are those who have always known what they wanted to be â€" physicians, musicians, writers, teachers, ministers, â€" and have pursued those goals diligently and can’t imagine being anything else. For most people, however, finding our passion requires life experience, exploration of different disciplines and overtime identifying a problem that you can help fix! Your experiences Most people develop their identity and their sense of self over time. The identity is constructed gradually by working in a variety of areas and immersing oneself in some task.   The longer we live the more time we have to reflect on our experience and crystallize our tastes, values and our identity. Developing our identity is similar to developing a brand: It requires time and exposure to the outside elements before it becomes known.   Our identity and our purpose (or passion) are closely related and the more one understands who they are and what drives them, the closer they’ll be to discovering their purpose. Your purpose is something you are compelled to do simply because of who you are:   It unfolds over time and isn’t automatic. It requires effort to learn who we are and then, to act upon this knowledge in ways that enable us to realize the potential our identities hold. Knowing that finding your identity and your life purpose requires life experience and is a process should help alleviate some anxiety about not fully knowing what it is early in your career.   No one becomes an expert or fully self-aware overnight: Most people take years to discover their unique purpose and arrive at their purpose from enduring hard work, exposure to a variety of tasks and a commitment to ascertaining what they can do to have an impact. Becoming an expert at a task can lead to your purpose. Many of my clients express feeling overwhelmed and disconcerted that they don’t know what their passion is and therefore are paralyzed in taking an internship or job for fear it won’t lead them directly to their “passion” and they’ll go through life and never find their calling.   Here’s what I suggest: Let go of the notion that your chief objective is to find your passion and this will free yourself up to channel your energy in alternative career philosophy that’s more adaptive…to discover where there’s a problem you can help resolve and become a part of the solution! Ultimately this work may lead to your calling. Find the need A passion can be derived from seeking out experiences that afford you an opportunity to develop and hone skills you can use to help solve problems. To lay the groundwork for a passion to grow, the first task is to consider where there’s a need that hasn’t been met. When you’re focused on adding value to your team and filling a gap that hasn’t been met you may find yourself being more appreciated.   Feeling appreciated is a strong motivator: It can lead to your finding more areas where you can put your team’s goals first, earn recognition for your contribution, feel appreciated for your contribution and this positive cycle continues until voila! …you’ve discovered youre passionate about your work! We can strategically think of ourselves as brands and analytically assess, refine, design and live our lives with greater consciousness. Who am I? What makes me special? Is there a pattern to my life? What is my gift? Where am I going? What is my message? Our self-confidence and self-awareness increases as we focus on self-improvement and strive to answer these questions. As we experience life more and navigate our way through challenges we discover what makes us happy, what inspires and we gain clarity about who we are and who we are not! Your interests It can also come from what originally you think is an unpleasant or negative experience such as the rejection from a professional school or loss of a job. I remember thinking that since my father and all my brothers were lawyers and my mom was a stay at home mom the logical choice of a career was the practice of law and specifically becoming a litigator like my dad. Although my LSAT scores were decent enough to gain entry to many law schools, they weren’t remarkable enough to get me admitted to the top three schools I was “passionate” about attending. I eventually accepted my relative “defeat” and decided to work for a year and explore other areas that interested me. In hindsight I’m thrilled that I didn’t attend Law school as I would have been stuck in a field that would have honed my skills as a debater rather than as a counselor, coach and advisor.   As I’ve matured, I know that I am much more suited to be writing, advising, educating and coaching vs. in the courtroom litigating cases. The alternative path I chose allowed me to combine my passion for marketing and psychology doing what I love doing today as a career coach. The “dream” career path for me as a lawyer would have led me to a path that would have made it difficult to stay home and raise my two children and impossible for me to fulfill my life dream to help others catapult their life dreams.   The career path was indirect, unclear and yet necessary in order to reach my career destiny. The lesson here is that there are many ways to skin a cat and there are equally many ways to approach your career path. Just get started and keep your focus on identifying needs that you can fill, have a positive attitude, be flexible at work and never give up!!!! One can learn from my situation that what at the time was a disappointment (not having scores that would get me into Harvard, Yale or Stanford) ended up being a huge blessing!   If I had followed the path of my siblings and my father of going to law school, I would have unknowingly forgone the opportunity to develop my marketing and other entrepreneurial skills that I gained by pursuing an MBA and working as a computer sales rep, marketing consultant, legal recruiter, H.R. executive intern, strategic planner and finally as an author and career coach.  All of the skills I gleaned over the years prepared me for the career I have today which ultimately is my calling!   I didn’t know that these steps would have resulted in me choosing to become a career coach: In fact this field wasn’t even in demand earlier in my career. The lesson one can glean from my story is that you can’t always know what career will be most suitable for you at the beginning of your career path.   You don’t need to fear that you’ll miss your true calling because you don’t know “your passion” in college or even after you graduate.   Passion is something that can grow over time and can evolve from developing competence in your work.   What you do need to challenge yourself to identify and develop skills that are in demand so you will be able to find different jobs that will provide you both real world experience and financial security. Overtime, an outgrowth of your commitment may lead to finding your passion. Cal Newport’s, (a recent Ph.D graduate from MIT and Professor of computer science at Georgetown) wrote in a recent NY Times article, Follow a Career Passion?   Let it Follow You,  sums up my point beautifully.   Cal wrote: “Passion is not something you follow. It’s something that will follow you as you put in the hard work to become valuable to the world.” This alternative career philosophy suggests that fulfillment comes over time as you become better at your job, build valuable skills and become more engaged in making a contribution to your job.   The traits that lead people to love their work are general and aren’t necessarily tied to a job’s specifics. These traits include a sense of autonomy and the feeling that you’re good at what you do and are having an impact on the world. Author: Beth Kuhel, M.B.A., C.E.I.P (Certified Employment Interview Professional) Beth is Founder and President of Get Hired, LLC.   She advises students on how to bridge the gap from school to career.  Beth is the co-author of  From Diploma to Dream Job: Five Overlooked Steps to a Successful Career  (available on Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/dp/14687082) Her coaching assists students to successfully match their needs, interests, passions, skills, and personal goals with the needs of a sustainable industry in a sustainable location.  Beth is also a resource for print and online media and offers workshops for University Career Service Departments, High School Guidance Counselors and College Alumni Associations. See website for more details about Beth’s services  www.fromdiploma2dreamjob.com

College Internship To Full-Time Job Success Story Julia Dalton - VocationVillage

College Internship To Full-Time Job Success Story Julia Dalton - VocationVillage This success story is part of a series profiling people who leveraged their college internship experience into a full-time job. This interview features Julia Dalton, a product development and marketing professional.Julia, what college did you attend?Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MOWhat year did you graduate from college?2005Where did you complete an internship?The company was called MonsterCommerce. It was a smaller startup company of about 20-30 people who provided ecommerce software, web design and online marketing services to small businesses looking to establish an online presence.In 2006, MonsterCommerce was acquired by Network Solutions and the products and services are now available under the Network Solutions brand.How did you find/land your internship?Prior to the summer after my junior year at SLU (Saint Louis University), I visited the career center within our business school in search of internships. After reviewing a number of internship openings available, I saw th e MonsterCommerce internship description and decided it was a position something I might be interested in. I then worked with the career center counselors to perfect my resume and applied for the internship.The next morning at 9 am I received a call from the CEO of the company to schedule an interview. Later that week, I found myself in the MonsterCommerce office participating in an interview with their CEO and HR manager. Within a few weeks, I had accepted an internship offer and immediately began working with the company.What type of work did you do during your internship?I performed a variety of tasks when I first started, including client services, billing, writing, and online marketing. After several weeks I transitioned into a role working with Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising campaigns as well as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which is another online marketing tactic. I stayed in the online marketing department for the majority of my employment, eventually being promoted to the Director in my second year of full time employment.What was one significant thing you learned about working during your internship?Because we were a small company in terms of the number of employees, things moved very quickly, decisions could be made as a result of a conversation as opposed to several meetings, and employees at every level had many responsibilities. One of the most important insights I acquired while working at that company was the fact that people are truly your most important asset. Motivating people and creating an environment where people welcome challenges and are passionate about what they do is something that a lot of companies fail to do well.At MonsterCommerce, the motto was truly “work hard, play hard.” With a small team, each person has to carry their own weight and then some, so in order to be truly effective, you have to build a team and a sense of community. To do this, MonsterCommerce would do things such as planning a number of fun events thr oughout the year, providing a wide variety of snacks and games within the office, and maintaining a “Culture Committee” whose purpose was to focus on cultivating an enjoyable work environment.The leaders of the company were also able to recognize that building a team of like minded people who will excel at a challenge isn’t just hiring the best of the best, but also remaining diligent at maintaining a productive team. That requires frequent evaluations and feedback with team members and enough discipline to let an employee go when expectations and standards are not met.How did your internship lead to a job offer?At the conclusion of my summer internship, I was offered a part-time position with the company since I was still finishing up my last year at SLU. I continued to work at the company while going to school and focused on continually asking for more challenges and important projects. Upon graduation, I was offered a full time position in their Online Marketing department, focusing specifically on Paid Advertising and Pay Per Click (PPC). Within the first year I was promoted to the Team Lead of the department and then eventually the Director.Throughout the course of my employment at MonsterCommerce, I became good friends with the owners of the company. After remaining with the company for a year following the acquisition by Network Solutions, the owners left the company to start a new venture. The close relationship with the owners and my history of performance at MonsterCommerce has allowed me to once again be part of a startup company, this time being one of the leaders as opposed to coming in as an intern and working up the ranks. Our new company is called Juggle.com and I lead much of our online marketing and project management functions within the company.Any words of wisdom you would like to share with current college students?Keep an open mind about the jobs and internships for which you apply. Sometimes the best jobs are things you may not ha ve experience with, or may not be 100% in line with your major, but those facts should not prevent you from applying. I had no real experience in online marketing or ecommerce before applying to MonsterCommerce and that position has led to the career I have had for 7 years now.Broadening your idea of what jobs might be interesting to you can and will provide you with more opportunity to find something you love and around which you can build a career.Julia, thank you for sharing your advice and experience.. Julia is now VP, Product, at CrowdSource.. Read Another College Internship Success Story . Go To List of College Internship Success Stories

3 Thriving Education Tech Trends

3 Thriving Education Tech Trends It’s no secret that technology has changed the way we communicate â€" and education is no exception. In fact, many schools and educators are embracing e-learning techniques to engage students and bring more innovative teaching styles to the classroom. Here are a few thriving technology trends happening in today’s classrooms and some benefits you may want to consider. Interactive Surveys for Better In-Class Engagement Show of hands, how many people would like students to be more engaged in the classroom? Investing in a classroom response system makes for easier, more accurate audience feedback. Since these systems are perfectly crafted for all sorts of questions â€" multiple choice, open ended, ranking, QA â€" it can be an easy way to quiz students on what you are covering each day. Looking to take roll call? Just check on the answers submitted in class to see who was either present or absent. This is especially helpful for large classes. Classroom response systems could be used for: Asking icebreaker questions on the first day of class Automatic grading for pop quizzes through the classroom response system Collecting feedback on sensitive topics that people may not want to raise their hand for Gamification Makes Learning Fun If you are looking to boost engagement in the classroom, look no further than gamification. Gamification is an approach to learning that combines the appeal of video gaming to lesson plans in an attempt to captures students’ interests and maximize their enjoyment of learning. Low-tech gamification has been around for years. Earning stickers for class participation is a prime example. And the trend is continuing to evolve as many schools are stressing STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as their core curriculum; especially as they train students for the next generation of tech careers. While still in its experimental stage, the benefits of gamification include: Increase d collaboration as student teams learn to solve problems together. Instant feedback as students complete assignments. This may also help students assess possible improvements in real time, rather than waiting for a graded paper, and focusing only on the score at the top of the page. Real-time progress reports as students set goals and work to reach them. Greater autonomy as students are given new opportunities to showcase their knowledge. Second chances. When pupils get a bad grade, it’s hard to impress on them that it is not game over. Video games allow players to try again until the puzzle is solved. Bring Your Own Device Millennials are often referred to as digital natives. This is doubly true for members of Generation Z who have never lived in a world without the Internet or smartphone technologies. In short, students are comfortable using these technologies to research and communicate, and it’s time to welcome these devices into the classroom. The benefits of implementing a BYOD policy into the classroom include: Increased participation as students feel complacent joining in online discussions, performing research or completing homework on their favorite devices. Personalized instruction from teachers and tutors as pupils reach out for homework help via text messages, video calls or social media. Cost savings as schools no longer have to invest in a computer for every student, but rather base their spending on need. Individualized learning as pupils are encouraged to do their own research and learn at their own pace. Compatibility with classroom response systems from mobile phones, customized URLs or even social media. From Chalkboards to Touchscreens Obviously technology has made great strides in the past few decades. Isn’t it time for education to catch up? Continue to inform yourself on the hottest tech trends in teaching and see what works best for your students. Image credits. Main.   Student.

Writing Tips For a Good Freelance Resume

Writing Tips For a Good Freelance ResumeYou need to create a quality freelance resume that will tell the potential employer how good of a writer you are. If you haven't done this before, it can be difficult and frustrating to figure out what goes on the page. The first thing to do is to be aware of what skills you should have. For example, if you are a writer, look at your writing skills and if they are poor, go back and improve them.Look at your writing skills and see if they are up to par with the requirements of the potential employer. Remember that these will be the basis for the resume. Some skills that you want to concentrate on are being organized, persuasive, written well, clear and concise. You also want to see that you have the ability to think on your feet.For the writing skills, here are some ideas for you. Write a short story about yourself. Try to relate yourself to the topic. This will help you to create a unique voice and you should be able to find a sample of it on t he Internet.Remember to pay attention to how you can use these skills in your writing. For example, try to get the point across as clearly as possible. Be creative. You can practice your skills over again until you feel confident that you can get it right every time. You will find that once you are confident, you will be writing fast and efficiently.Another thing that you need to look at is your writing skills. If you are not the best, you may be able to go back and improve your skills. Even if you are not the best at writing, you will still be able to learn to write better and this will benefit you and your potential employer.One way to ensure that you make the impression on the potential employer that you would like is to look at your email and spam folders. It is always nice to meet the person and they will get nervous when you don't show up! Having a piece of writing in there can show that you can deliver in a positive manner.In addition, if you do decide to include a piece of w riting in your resume, then you want to be sure that it is relevant to the job that you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a software engineer position, then you need to include something that relates to the type of programming that they would need. For this reason, don't just write about programming languages but rather relate the topic to the position you are applying for. That way you will make it more interesting and they will remember you.Finally, be sure that you edit your freelance resume before you send it off. Make sure that it doesn't just read like one long letter but rather has something that makes it stand out. Just because you are a freelance writer doesn't mean that you should be content with the next letter that you write to them.

Laying the Foundation For Our Children

Laying the Foundation For Our Children We owe it to ourselves and to our children to develop a connection with our community. Become involved and step outside of our own selfish needs and wants, if only for a few hours a month. Not only is this extremely gratifying, it will makeyou a better person. One day as I was delivering a workshop to help transitioning job seekers understand how to spread the word that they were seeking employment, I asked the question Who do you know? I asked them to begin writing down the names of people that they could talk to. One man was staring at me so I asked him if he had a question. With anger in his voice he told me that he lived in the country; his closest neighbor was a mile down the road. He continued by saying his only family was his mother who lived in a retirement home. He alsodeclared that he did not keepin touch with his co-workers. Hedenied thatany of these people could help him anyway. I tellthis one story as an example of the hundreds of similar excuses I have heard as to why people cant talk to anyone- they dontknow anyone.(Yes, thereis another underlyingissue here, fear. I wont tackle thatnow.) I grew up ina magical neighborhood offamilies with children. We ranged in age from 2 to20. In the summer, we wouldall play flashlighttag in a barn forhours. In the fall, we would wait at the bus stoptogether. In winter, we would sled or ice skate en-masse. I grew up expecting that is the way it should be. My parents were active in the community. We belonged to church and I sang in the church choir. Westayedat the after-service coffee hour much longer than Iwould have liked. My mom volunteeredwith numerous organizations. We could continue to pull inside our garages andnever step foot on the front porchto meet ourneighbors (oh,you dont have onefunny,I guess they stopped putting those on houses when our society felt they wereno longer important). We could continue to lead insular and isolated lives. We could continue to accumulate stuff to fulfill our needs. But,I believe that would be a huge mistake. This world issmall and getting smallerand flatter. Interpersonal relationships are the crux of how we will developand compete. So set the example, let your families know,school is about getting good gradesAND more. Force them to join an activity Volunteer with them Enjoy your community Lead by example Our teensand societyare Narcissistic, help them to understand how they fit in the bigger picture.

Career QA What Do I Need to Know About Changing Industries

Career QA “What Do I Need to Know About Changing Industries” Career QA: “What Do I Need to Know About Changing Industries?” Most working professionals will confess that their careers have taken widely divergent paths from the original goal… and these shifts include changing industries. And for some people, their work background looks like a checkerboard of hop-scotch moves that seem, from the 10,000-foot level, almost impossible to have even imagined from the start. But below the surface, some of these moves make sense when you start looking at the flowing underground river of skills that have helped transport those folks from Point A to Point B. Changing industries is not as difficult as you might think.   It does require some strategic thinking and proactive steps to get there, however. Here are some sure-fire ways to help leapfrog into changing industries: Assess your current skill sets.   Many skills are transferable. You need to take a good, long look at what skills you do possess, and examine what the new industry requires.   Then be honest.   What percent of your existing skill sets match the ones necessary to do the new job?   If you have gaps, don’t despair.   It’s what you do next that matters most in changing course to a new direction. Identify connecting activities.   Changing industries can be easy if you know what you need to do to gain the right skill sets.  New skills can be acquired through connecting activities such as taking classes in that job field or new job function, joining professional organizations relevant to that field, and volunteering within those organizations to put those skills into action. Build your network. You can have a stellar background and skill sets, but if you don’t have anyone to send your résumé to, you’re going nowhere really fast.   Contacts inside of target companies can help pave the way for your candidacy for job openings by assisting in making the case for your ability to do a job.   These “helping hands” are a critical piece of the changing industries puzzle.   The more they know about what you are capable of, the more willing they will be to go to bat for you. Always keep a look out for how you might add skills while you are in your current job.   Sometimes, it’s easy to become complacent in a current workplace. Things are going well, you like what you do, and the work you are doing is positive. But you should always be one step ahead and be thinking of your next move even if you are happy with your current job.   Understand where your skill gaps are, what skills need to be updated, and even understand where you might acquire thought leadership ideas at industry conferences so you can bring back new ideas to the workplace, and therefore enhance your own skill sets in the process. The takeaway here is that you should always be gaining skills to roll into your next job.  Successful people are always in continuous learning mode, and remain open to gaining experience and knowledge. Understanding how to roll those skills in changing industries is the key. Ask yourself:   If I want to switch to _____ field, what do I need to do to get there?   Then set a plan in motion. And if your current employer is unwilling to pay for the classes/conferences/training/certifications, don’t  be afraid to invest in yourself. It can pay off in spades later as you will be well-equipped to be changing industries when the opportunity arises. Got a question about a job search? Email me at [emailprotected] or post a comment at the end of this article.  Selected topics will be posted in following weeks.