4 Signs You Are Ready to Add Author to Your Resume

4 Signs You Are Ready to Add Author to Your Resume4 Signs You Are Ready to Add Author to Your Resume These days its easier than ever to publish a book. With the advent of self-publishing, almost anyone with the dedication to commit fifty-thousand words to paper can add Published Author to their list of credentials, and theres no denying the impact that a book can have on your career. When was the last time you saw an expert interviewed on TV whose name wasnt listed alongside their book title?The book is often one of the final steps in establishing your position as an expert in your field , as a place where youve compiled your knowledge and research into one package that will hopefully help others. But with more books in the market than ever before, its important to make sure that youre notlage writing the book for the sake of writing a book.A clear understanding of your goals for writing the book, as well as a strong author platform, will increase your chances of t he book positively impacting your career. Think youre ready to take the leap? Read on to be sure.1. Youre already contributing content. If you arent already speaking regularly or writing articles on a given topic, its going to be an uphill battle to find the content to fill an entire book. More importantly, the demand for your content remains untested. Whether youre recording a podcast, writing blog posts, or building a social media following, its important to pay attention to the kind of content that your followers respond positively to before putting pen to paper. Which topics get the most shares, the most listens, the most downloads, etc.? Without that knowledge, youre taking a bigger gamble on your book than you need to.2. You understand your audience. Knowing your audience goes hand-in-hand with the testing of your content. Take advantage of whatever analytics you have access to. Pull demographic information from your social media accounts or through Google Analytics on your we bsite to get a general idea of who is consuming your content.Take it a step further by surveying attendees at speaking events, responding to comments, or A/B testing content. What are the pain points your audience is experiencing? How are you helping them?A book is a large investment of time, and without really understanding what makes your audience tick, you cant guarantee theyll make the jump from short-form posts to buying and reading your book.3. You can answer 3 critical questions. Before you start writing, take some time to reflect. Thoughtful answers to these questions will not only motivate you to finish the book but will also make the outlining and writing process much easier, as you can always refer back to them.4. You have a clear goal for the book. With all of these building blocks in place, the last step is to objectively identify your goal for writing a book. Yes, its nice to have a book on your resume, but how specifically will you leverage it?Are you hoping to charge more for speaking engagements? Do you want to get those coveted television interviews? Are you an entrepreneur, hoping the book will grow your business? Do you want to make an impact on peoples lives?Writing the book is only half the battle. Publishing and promoting your book well require time, dedication, and research. Clearly identifying your goal for the book should inform all your choices going forward, and there are going to be a lot of them. From which publisher to work with to your launch strategy, keep this goal front of mind to ensure everything ties back to supporting it.As CEO of Greenleaf Book Group, Tanya Hall drives the companys growth efforts and fosters a culture built around serving authors. Learn more about Greenleaf Book Group at www.greenleafbookgroup.com and connect on Twitter ( GreenleafBookGr & TanyaHall ) and facebook inc .

The comma that paid workers $10 million

The comma that paid workers $10 mioThe comma that paid workers $10 millionIn a world of texting, email and casual sign-offs, good language still counts. Observe this high-stakes grammar lesson A U.S. appellate court decisionbetween a Maine dairy company and its delivery drivers came down to a punctuation mark. One missing Oxford comma in Maines state law could cost Oakhurst Dairy about $10 million in overtime pay.For those who arent familiar, the Oxford or serial comma is one of the most controversial punctuation marks among language lovers. Its the last comma in a series, but some people think it shouldnt exist. As language blog Grammarly notes, its the difference between, I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty, and I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty. Those two sentences mean very different things.In 2014, three truck drivers filed a class-action lawsuit againstOakhurst Dairy for missing overtime pay. In its decision on March 13, the court reversed a lower court decision and sided with the truck drivers, arguingthat Maines overtime rules were written too ambiguously. Maines state law says that overtime does not apply in the following situationsThe canning, processing, preserving,freezing, drying, marketing, storing,packing for shipment or distribution of(1) Agricultural produce(2) Meat and fish products and(3) Perishable foods.Grammar warsThe entire case hinged on the missing Oxford comma in the law between for shipping and distribution. The Associated Press, which is widely used in many newsrooms, argues against using the Oxford comma in its guidelines.Proponents say it adds clarity. Between saying myfriend, a clown and a congresswoman, or my friend, a clown, and a congresswoman, some, like these drivers, would say that the former situation means that my friend is a congresswoman.Without an Oxford comma, the drivers contended that packing for shipment of distribution of was defining the single activity of packing- ergo, not them. Delivery drivers distributed food but they didnt pack them.They argued that they were exempt from the overtime exemption.Oakhurst Dairy argued that distribution was written to be a separate activity, so it did include the scope of the drivers work.Maines own legal style guide says not to use Oxford commas. But these guidelines also emphasized clarity above all commas are the most misused and misunderstood punctuation marks in legal drafting and, perhaps, the English language. The style guide says commas should be used thoughtfully and sparingly.In the end,the judges sided with clarity and agreed that there was enough ambiguity in the drivers favor. The Oxford comma, we can now safely say, has been vindicated.

Extend Your Job Search Beyond the Basic Job Boards

Extend Your Job Search Beyond the Basic Job BoardsExtend Your Job Search Beyond the Basic Job BoardsExtend Your Job Search Beyond the Basic Job BoardsDont confine your job search to the basics. Use this job search help to get creativeTWEETYoure in the market for a new job. You love your career field, but its time for that next step. Everyone knows that in 2016 you dont pick up the local newspaper and circle job notices in the classifieds. What do you do? You surf the same online job boards that everyone else does.Eventually, youll begin to feel like a very small fish in an extremely big pond. What can you do to create better focus for finding a job? Embrace your industry.Check out industry-specific job boardsWith the ease of creating online job boards, more and more of them are popping up and many of them are industry-specific. Are you a menschenfreundlich resources professional? Head to websites like humanresourcesjobs.com. Do you work in the airline industry? Take your pick from si tes like avjobs.com, flightattendantcareer.com, or airlinejobfinder.com to name a few. If your dream is to be the head brewer at an up-and-coming craft brewery, you can head to carreersinbeer.com. Regardless of your industry, there is probably one or more industry-specific job board out there that can help you get a jump on those jobs that may not be posted on all of the standard job sites.So what else can you do?Dont settle for being a spectator on your niche job boardHeres a piece of job search help many people dont think abobut create a profile and get your resume out there. This is a dedicated space where employers in your industry are posting jobs and looking for available talent. What better place to boast your credentials? By putting your resume out there on one or more industry-specific job board, youre getting your name in front of the people you want to impress. While youre at it, dont forget to add connections to your Linkedin page, portfolio website, or any other relevan t link that will help separate you from the pack.Join professional organizationsIf you love your profession, immerse yourself in it. Most industries have professional organizations, most with local chapters. Join one and get out to some networking events. Yes, these memberships may cost a little money, but the connections you make and the insights you can gain will be well worth it.If you arent certain what organizations are in your area, your local chamber of commerce should be able to help you track down the right group. If that doesnt work for you, the U.S. Department of Labor has a site dedicated to professional organizations.Attend industry related conferencesIf you dont want to commit right away to joining an organization, check out conferences. You may find something local or get a chance to travel someplace new. Once there, take it in for all its worth. Dont be a wallflower. Talk to people, both attendees and presenters, if possible and dont be afraid to talk about your stre ngths in the field. By attending a good conference in your field, you can get a feel for new trends, learn something new to add to your resume, and make face-to-face connections - all components that can become job search help. Put yourself in the best possible position to discover the right opportunity and be discovered by the right employer.Not sure where to start? Head to allconferences.com to get an idea of what is out there in your field.When youre on the hund for that next great career step, you cant rely on the same few job sites that everyone else embraces. By all means, keep your eye on them. Theyre the biggest tools for finding a job for a reason, but dont limit yourself to just those listings. While they pull in many of the job postings that are out there, they inevitably miss a few that may have been posted on niche sites. Industry specific job boards, organizations, and conferences can help narrow the focus for both you and the employer.Let TopResume help you write the next chapter of your career. Heres how.

Report How some employers are putting women at risk of miscarriage

Report How some employers are putting women at risk of miscarriageReport How some employers are putting women at risk of miscarriageTo safely carry a baby to term, pregnant employees in physically demanding jobs may seek accommodations from their employers. But their requests are not guaranteed to get approved. A recent New York Times investigation into the public records involving workers with miscarriages demonstrates the high stakes of what can happen when these requests get denied and the mother and babys health get put in jeopardy.How pregnancy discrimination can cause miscarriagesIn the report, multiple women who worked at a Memphis, Tennessee warehouse for a Verizon contractor - first owned by New Breed Logistics and then by XPO Logistics - spoke out about how their employer denied their request for a lighter workload and suffered miscarriages as a result of their work. Some even got rejected in spite of doctors notes recommending otherwise.Their stories are harrowing and di sturbing. Erica Hayes, for example, told the Times that she pleaded to work with lighter boxes during her pregnancy and got repeatedly denied by her supervisor. She kept working because she had to. My job welches on the line, she said. One day blood-drenched her jeans and she fainted coming out of a bathroom, the report detailed. She ended up miscarrying. It was the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life, Hayes said about the experience. Verizon said it opened an internal investigation in response to The Times inquiry.Some people can work during their pregnancy without needing accommodations, but when the job is more physical, doctors acknowledge there is a risk of losing the baby. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, workers who do extensive occupational lifting can experience a modest increased risk of miscarriage.But your employer does not necessarily need to follow your doctors advice. Under federal law, companies dont necessarily have to adjust pregnant womens jobs, even when lighter work is available and their doctors send letters urging a reprieve, the Times details, citing how the Pregnancy Discrimination Act only has to accommodate pregnant employees requests if the employer is already doing so for other employees similar in their ability or inability to work.If your employer is already treating your non-pregnant employees terribly by overworking them, they do not have to treat pregnant employees any better.Under the 1978 federal law, employees must treat employees similarly, but not necessarily well. In 2013, over 5,000 pregnancy discrimination charges were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.In every congressional session since 2012, a group of lawmakers has introduced a bill that would do for pregnant women what the Americans With Disabilities Act does for disabled people require employers to accommodate those whose health depends on it. The legislation has never had a hearing, the Times n otes.

This is the biggest obstacle you will ever face and how to overcome it

This is the biggest obstacle you will ever face and how to overcome itThis is the biggest obstacle you will ever face and how to overcome itThe other night on Instagram Live, I was asked an interesting question by a good friend, Trent Shelton.Dean, whats the biggest obstacle youve had to overcome in your life?I spent a good amount of time thinking about it. Ive been broke. I lack a college education because I never had enough money to pay for one. My parents divorced and got back together multiple times during my childhood. I have dyslexia. I later went through my own divorce. Ive made mistakes in my career. The list goes on?- ?as it does for all of us.But which of all these challenges, I wondered, was the most difficult to overcome?Eventually, I came to a surprising answernone.The biggest obstacle Ive ever had to overcome in my life has actually been my own perspective?- ?the lies I used to tell myself about why I wasnt achieving my dreams.In fact, thats the biggest obstacleallof us face our own perspective. Its the most dangerous thing standing between you and the life you want to live.Heres how to overcome it.Use your obstacles as fuel rather than allowing them to become anchorsHeres the thing about your perspective youre in control over it.The best way to overcome your obstacles, then, is to convince yourself that theyre not actually scary, depressing, or limiting roadblocks designed to keep you down. Instead, theyre sources of energy and fuel you can use for inspiration. In this sense, we shouldwantto confront obstacles because theyll give us the inspiration we need to improve and be better versions of ourselves.Of course, making that kind of mental switch is difficult to do. Its difficult recognizing, in the moment, when your perspective is working against you?- ?let alone flipping it on its head to make it workforyou.You can start, though, by listening for when that little voice in your head says, If only that didnt happen, Id be so successfulIts that self-pity, that victimization, which holds us back and gives the obstacles we face their paralyzing power. Youmustcombat it. That starts with recognizing it for what it is. Only then can you use it as fuel. Consider the daughter who grows up with an alcoholic father, and later in life resolves to never drink.Thatsusing adversity as fuel to overcome the problem.If you really want to overcome obstacles, you have to prove your fears and if onlys are a lieThe truth about the challenges you face in your life is theyre only as strong as you allow them to be. That any one obstacle could be strong enough to completely ruin you is, itself, a lie.So are self-pitying statements like, If only this hadnt happened, I could have done X.The key to overcoming your obstacles, then, is identifying those stories and those excuses as lies. And lies, as it happens, are much easier to combat than things we perceive as absolute truths.Youre in control of the story of your lifeFor example, think about John Paul DeJoria. He didnt graduate high school. He had dyslexia. He got his girlfriend pregnant at a young age and made a living selling encyclopedias door-to-door. When his baby turned 21 months, his wife left him. Three months later, he and his daughter were homeless.Later that same year, he came up with a new way of selling hair products. He went on to create Vidal Sassoon. Later, he created Patron tequila, which is now the best-known tequila on the planet. Hes one of the richest men in the world.Or, consider another story. For this now well-known man, his teachers in high school told him he would never amount to anything. He was known as the dumbest kid in school. He dropped out in ninth grade.Now, hes one of the richest men on the planet. His name is Richard Branson.Both of these men could have accepted suboptimal stories for their lives. They could have cowered before the obstacles they encountered, believed the lies, and given in to something lesser. But they didnt. They took co ntrol of their perspective, used their obstacles as inspiration, and in turn became the authors of much different, more inspiring stories.I know in my life, as soon as I made the conscious effort to flip the script on the stories I was telling myself, I became the me I am today?- ?enthusiastic and inspired and confident.Sure, its harder to do this?- ?to combat the lies to use your obstacles as fuel?- ?but its worth it.Forecast out five years from now. Do you really want to be telling yourself the same story youre telling yourself today? The one that hints at all the things youcouldbe doing, if only things had gone differently?Absolutely not.This article was originally published on Quora.

The Ultimate Business Intelligence Resume Trick

The Ultimate Business Intelligence Resume Trick Business Intelligence Resume and Business Intelligence Resume - The Perfect Combination Many geschftliches miteinanderes never implemented the complete suite on account of the quantity of integration and customization to the applications. Intelligence is the secret to Success. In the modern environment, not only have you got the complexities of structured data, youve got to manage unstructured data. As its a mix of the two, it features the most flexibility. If so, consider to make the most of new small geschftlicher umgang intelligence tools that do not carry the baggage of lots of the traditional small geschftsleben intelligence tools with all their complexity and huge quantity of implementation price. Youre likely to find the company requirements down to quite a precise level, and youre likely to get very joyful small business people on account of the prototyping techniques and what they entail and how what they bring to the table is clarity. The application of a company intelligence solution would help achieve far better procurement decisions since everything thats involved in the procurement process as seen from the larger picture of the entire organization would help bring out a good deal of changes in a wide array of business matters. Nowadays youve decided your company requires a business intelligence solution, among the initial things youre likely to need to do is procure a tool to really make it possible for you to implement that solution. A business analyst is understood to be an individual accountable for making every decision and tactics to attain the aim of a project or company program. Although business intelligence analysts are wanted in virtually every market, you might have a hard time landing an interview if your resume includes information thats irrelevant or poorly formatted. If you consider it, business intelligence actually runs on a very simple principle. Due to how business in telligence is such a wide term, its often utilised in difference ways. When crafting a resume to submit an application for a business analyst position, one of the most difficult aspects is figuring out how to get started. Most businesses theres an on-going small business transformation exercise to improve current business procedure, validations etc.. Your resume objective will play an essential role so leave a fantastic first impression by boldly stating what you mean to add to the business. Because of the built-in business intelligence tools included in the tool, you have the ability to contrast all your valuation questions quickly and easily with your customized profile questions. There are various design tools and software program programs easily available within the global market nowadays. Do everything you can to convey your experiences to fit the particular job youre applying for. There are a lot of forms of resumes for scrivener jobs on the web, as well covering almost the full accounting segment. Selecting an incorrect form of resume format will induce job loss. Thus the file format is essential in organizing an acceptable display of your continue. Each resume format has their very own own set of advantages and drawbacks for assorted sorts of job hunters, so make sure that you select wisely. Selecting the right resume format is important when you want to acquire the necessary job. Business Intelligence consist of unique techniques and techniques that enable an institution to collect, evaluate and access the required small business information for decision-making. Procurement decisions have tremendous influence on the full small business. An ERP functional consultant is required to understand about the industry environment and process. He should be able to improve the business process instead of customizing the ERP system to the existing business process. The functions of a scoreboard program application closely resemble that of digital d ashboards or company intelligence dashboards that are normally employed by managers especially in companies with many departments. Offering quick accessibility to information, its available with smart reports, dash boards together with business intelligence tools. So as to accomplish this, its crucial to find the providers of the ideal printing company. Benefits of using Business Intelligence Software There are plenty of benefits of using business intelligence program. Business intelligence analysts might be picked from inside the company where theyre already employed. Use strong action verbs to outline precisely what you bring and the way you can add to the success of the hiring company. Decisions and selections made in the procurement procedure will have tremendous effect on the whole business particularly on sales, especially in the event the products are shown to be defective. By Judith E. Glaser A concept whose time has arrived, Conversational Intelligence is the secret t o success in life and company.

How to Proclaim Email Debt Forgiveness (or Email Bankruptcy, If Things Have Gotten Drastic)

How to Proclaim emaillele Debt Forgiveness (or Email Bankruptcy, If Things Have Gotten Drastic) In todaysworkplace, email is afact of life. Gone are the days of predictable phone calls and regular in-person chats to check in. The bulk of communicationnow happens through email.Often, one message may contain 10 more or recipients all of whom seem to reply all to sharethe smallest of details. Thiscan leave your inbox jam-packed with unread and unanswered messages.Email Debt Forgiveness DayAt some point, this backlog of emails can become downright embarrassing. The good news is, theres hope In 2015, the Reply All podcast declared April 30 to be Email Debt Forgiveness Day.(Ed. Note Were a little late this year, but Angelas got some good points, doesnt she?)Email Debt Forgiveness Day is a time when you can respond to all the emails youve been too nervous to respond to, regardless of how much time has passed. Emailsthat qualifyinclude ones that produceanxi ety at both the thought of responding and the thought of the length of time thats passed since you received it.You can now put that worry out of your mind and respond without the fear of a negative reaction. Simply explain the situation when you fire off that email.(And you may want to include a link to an online article about this special day, just in case your recipient hasnt heard about it.)Declaring Email BankruptcyIf your inbox has grown to the point of no return, however, then Email Debt Forgiveness Day may not be enough to fix your problem. In this case, you might want to consider email bankruptcy.You can declare email bankruptcy by deleting all the emails in your inbox that are older than a certain date. Once the emails are deleted, you send a message to everyone who has emailed you. Explain the situation, and that youre officially declaring email bankruptcy. Let them knowthat if they still need a response to their message, they should resend their original email.Making the Most of Your Clean SlateBoth of behauptung tactics can help you start over with a clean slate. Once you have that slate,there are a few guidelines you need to follow if you want to keep your inbox manageable going forward.First, cut back on email altogether by not hitting the reply all button. This is such an enticing little button. It keeps everyone on the email string informed, and it gives you credit for your contribution.But in reality, reply all is very rarely helpful.Usually, it just creates many moreunnecessary and unread messages.Next, schedule a set time of each day that you willdevote to email and put a 24-hour response time policy into place. This sound hard, I know. And often, you dont have all the information you need to respond to an email within one dayIf that happens, you can still stick to your policy by letting the send know that you received their message and are working to find an answer.See? That wasnt as hard as you may have thought.Last, its a good idea to lea rn to use the features and tools your email program offers to help keep things in order. Flags, categories, tabs, and automated out-of-office replies can all be invaluable in keeping you organized and ahead of the email game.To be competitive in todays workforce, you must not only be great at your job, but also great atmanaging your online communications. Dont let email get the best of you and if it already has, then its time toforgive those debts or declare bankruptcy.A version of this article originally appeared on The Memphis Daily News.Angela Copeland is a career coach and CEO at her firm, Copeland Coaching (www.CopelandCoaching.com).

How to Quit Your Job Nicely

How to Quit Your Job NicelyHow to Quit Your Job NicelyThis post on how to quit your job nicely can easily be called, NEVER burn bridges. But the focus here is to avoid dramatic reactions and explain how to quit your job with dignity. We want you to stay on a positive career path. Even though you may feel some bridges need burning down, we challenge you to stop and reconsider.Why explain how to quit your job nicely?All people who quit a job need to protect their business relationships going forward in their career. So, you hated your boss. But you had many other colleagues in the company. What about them?Burning your bridge with the boss or company may also sever your relationship with former co-workers. After all, they have to protect their relationship with the company they still work with. We live in a smaller, well-connected LinkedIn resume world. Careers are lasting longer and peoples memories are enhanced by online content that lives on Google for years. Besides, we usually do l eid quit jobs. We quit the people we work with.There is no valid long-term reason why an employee of a company should go out in a dramatic blaze of glory. Leave that stuff for the movies. Yes, you may feel strongly that some bridges need burning down, but overreacting in the short-term can leave you with long-term negative consequences for your career.Quit with a professional emailWords are very powerful. If you choose to write a resignation letter, leave the emotion out of it. Avoid writing emails with sarcasm, venom, or subtle passive-aggressive tones. Do not go into explanations about your feelings. Above all, do not email everyone in the company, including the people you do not work with.Stick to a simple resignation letter that shows you are neither petty nor childish. Go out with your head held high.Try something new...Keep the complaints off GlassdoorThis author will probably be met with disagreement on this approach. But I write this because, at first, Glassdoor made sense. People never had an outlet to express why companies were unfair. It was all done anonymously and in public forum.But just like anything created with a good intention, it is killed off by fanatical abuse. When business advice for complaints becomes, Just say thank you, the usefulness of a platform is lost. Social platforms that allow for people to complain about companies and bosses, also invite retaliatory and angry responses. It may seem safe at the time. But if what you write on Glassdoor sounds like what you said when you burned the bridge at work yesterday, everyone who knows you also knows who wrote it. It is easy to figure out.Keep your Glassdoor review to yourself. If you really want some sort of vindication, start your own company and do it better. Stay positive. You will always be the bigger person that way.Give the company time to prepare. Go out with a smile.Stop and think before you storm out of the office for good. Think about this for a momentWhat are the short-term be nefits of burning bridges at work?What are the long-term benefits?After you have written your answers down, write out the answer to this questionDo they compare to the long-term benefits of showing employees respect?In the past, the many people I had seen burn bridges apologized several years later. The anger felt from that burnt bridge, and the people involved, were hurting their career progression. It was an attempt to fix a burning bridge. And even though an apology was accepted, the trust between the former colleagues was broken. You dont get trust back once it is broken.Another problem was that the colleagues who dealt with some sort of wrath in the workplace after you had quit suddenly, no longer trust you. They do not hate you perhaps they hated the job also. But the bridge burner was seen as someone who could not be trusted during challenging times. Many business connections were lost because you did not know how to quit your job nicely. You left people in a jam. By human na ture, we are all not big on giving people second chances.Remember above allCooler heads always prevail. Quit nicely. Dont burn career bridges. You can never rebuild them once they are lost. And you never know if your career path will circle back around to needing old colleagues again.

How to Start a New Job on a Good Note - The Muse

How to Start a New Job on a Good Note - The MuseHow to Start a New Job on a Good Note Youve done all the hard work and totally rocked your job search. You got a great offer- and you even negotiated a better salary. Kudos and congrats Now, you show up on your first day, ready to knock it out of the park. But like so many new hires Ive coached, you arrive to a lukewarm response. Theres no marching band heralding your arrival. In fact, your anfhrer is in nonstop back-to-back meetings for the next two weeks and left absolutely no instructions for what youre supposed to do in the meantime. Dont despair. Here are eight tips to help you hit the ground running- even if you have absolutely no direction.1. Get to Know Your JobEven without your manager on board the first day (or more), you can start drilling down into what your job is all about. How? Pull out the job description originally listed for the role, and highlight what it describes as your key outcomes and deliverables. Note anything you have specific questions about, and ask your colleagues to help you better understand until you get some face time with your boss. Find others in the organization who have the same job title, and ask to meet with them to discuss how to get started successfully.2. Find Other NewbiesDont reinvent the wheel as you start your job. If there are others on the team who have started in the past six months or so, go chat with them Ask about the most important things you need to know about working there. Find out what went well for them when they first started, and what they would do differently based on what they know now. Get their suggestions about how you can get started swiftly and successfully, and add those things to your startup plan. 3. Get to Know the OrganizationYou did a lot of research on your way to getting the job offer. Now that youre in the position, start learning about the company in new ways. Comb through the organizations internal website and review pages for departmen ts including training, IT, HR, business development, sales, marketing, and customer service. Read about the organizations value and culture. Learn more about how exactly the company does what it does, and start thinking about how youll fit in. Also, review the org charts to get a sense for the names and roles of key leaders. Read personal messages or videos published by executives. This will help you develop a feel for leadership messages and themes you can bring into your own work. Then, if its published, review the organizations financial information. Immerse yourself in the key manahmes and success metrics for the next 12 months. Connect the work youll be doing with the big-picture goals of the organization. Finally, learn as much as you can about your own department. What big projects are priorities right now? How does your team measure success? Who are the key players? This will help you indoctrinate yourself quickly to your immediate work group. As you do all this, jot down qu estions or observations to share with your manager when you eventually get some one-on-one time. 4. Get to Know the IndustryIf youre in an industry thats new to you, youll experience a learning curve. Ask your new colleagues to recommend publications, blogs, or other media sources that will help you get familiar with the business. Get a sense for the other players in the industry, as well as your companys direct competition. This will help you develop ideas and speak intelligently about how you can bring a competitive advantage to your organization and department. 5. Befriend the AssistantsEven if your boss isnt around in the early days, theres still plenty to learn about how things get done. After all, youll need to figure out details from how to order your laptop to where to send work for printing. Based on what you know about your job, make a list of the work processes you might need to learn. Then, turn to the people around you for answers. If there are administrative or executi ve assistants, make them your best friends. They know tons about how the organization is run, what the managers expect, and how the processes of the business work. They can point you to the right people to have conversations with and help you avoid any booby traps you might inadvertently step into.6. Figure Out the Seven Most Important RelationshipsNo matter what job you have, successfully completing your work will require relationships with others. Now that youre getting more familiar with the organization, identify the seven most important relationships essential to doing your job well. Seven is a good number to start with its a realistic goal to accomplish, but wont overwhelm you.Obviously, one will be your manager- but who else do you need to get to know? The graphic designer? The digital content expert? A team lead from a department youll work closely with?Start reaching out to schedule one-on-one conversations with these colleagues. Introduce yourself as a new member of the te am, ask for 20 minutes on their calendar, and tell them that youre looking forward to working with them. Then, during the meeting, find out what exactly they do and ask how you can help them be successful. Your new colleague will appreciate your initiative and effort to build relationships. 7. Update Your LinkedIn ProfileNow that you officially have the new job and the title, take some time to revamp your LinkedIn profile. Update your employer, title, industry, and location, if needed. Build a brief description of your new job in the employment section, revise your summary, and update your contact information. Then, once you start meeting your new colleagues, connect with them on LinkedIn as well 8. Create a 90-Day PlanYou may not have time to complete all these steps before your boss sits down with you- but theyre all important for your success. So, sketch out a plan for learning the ropes, meeting with colleagues, developing relationships, and hitting those short-term milestones w ithin your first 90 days. If your boss is up for it, schedule a regular weekly update with him or her so you can share your plans, report on your success, and clarify direction for moving forward. In my experience, most onboarding experiences leave a lot to be desired. If your new employer hasnt mastered that process, take heart. Using these tips, you have lots of options to get up and running quickly- and meaningfully- in your new job.Photo of woman typing courtesy of Death to the Stock Photo.

Johnson Johnson Launches New Platform to Be More Transparent to Job Seekers

Johnson Johnson Launches New Platform to Be More Transparent to Job SeekersJohnson Johnson Launches New Platform to Be More Transparent to Job Seekers 13 Innovative Companies Hiring Now If you are searching for a job , you are probably familiar with this scenario you fill out an application online, attach your resume and cover letter, then you click Submit. Anticipation grows as you wait, and wait. Excitement turns to doubt and then confusion. Did I end up in the application black hole?Being in job search limbo is never fun- wondering if a real person, instead of a bot, read your application or reviewed your resume. Johnson & Johnson understands the frustration and is working to address that.Today, Johnson & Johnsonlaunched a new digital experience aimed at bringing much more transparency to every job binnenseeker in the U.S. The Shine platform allows candidates to check up on the progress of th eir application, get information on what to expect next and browse content relevant to the hiring stage theyre at.Now when you apply to a job at Johnson & Johnson, you can see what stage of review it is at, understand how long the process may take, and get insight into what Johnson & Johnson is looking for in its candidates . This is a major step towards transparency and helping informed candidates have as much visibility into their job prospects as possible.We asked over 100,000 actual candidates what their biggest frustrations were with our hiring process, said Sjoerd Gehring, Johnson & Johnsons VP of Talent Acquisition and Employee Experience. Over and over again, candidates told us that they hate the lack of control, the feeling of confusion and the way in which the process often feels so impersonal and transactional. They told us they want transparency, progress updates, helpful content and real-time support- and thats exactly what were hoping to introduce with Shine.