Thursday, May 28, 2020

Is IT the Most Connected Department in an Organisation

Is IT the Most Connected Department in an Organisation In large companies, its common for separate departments to maintain a level of independence and distance from each other, as they get on with their own responsibilities. Everyone this is, apart from the IT department of course. No matter how senior your role or the nature of your job, pretty much everyone in an organisation needs IT at some point or another. So could this make the IT staff the most connected employees in the company? Jive Software describe IT as being the Kevin Bacon of any organisation, as they are connected to pretty much everyone! Theyve put together this infographic looking at all of the different roles that the IT staff will encounter on a regular basis. Meet the IT professional: They provide tech  support throughout the whole organisation. They respond to support tickets. They are responsible for purchasing and supporting tools and software to help the  company function. They are connected to 100% of the company. Who  are they connected to? The CEO: The CEO is always on the go, so they rarely have time to work through tech issues. They will admit that they do not know much about computers including their own passwords sometimes! They are connected to 70% of the company. The intern: They are usually lumbered with the oldest, most out of date technology in the building. They have to learn to put up with common issues, without complaint. They are connected to 45% of the company. The lifer: Theyre one of the most long-standing members of staff, so they have witnessed the introduction of all major tech implementations in the company. However they will only adopt the new technology around 3-5 years after the rest of the company, due to routine and being stuck in old ways. They perceive themselves to be connected to 100% of the company, however are realistically only connected to 37%. The tech-savvy apologist: They think they know they know more about tech than they really do. They will rarely ask for IT help, even when it is necessary. They are connected to 60% of the company. The computer-phobic Hates all technology and has no idea how to use it. The idea of new software fills them with dread. The mobile worker Makes life very difficult for the IT department, as they are never in the building. The password challenged peon Insists on creating a new cryptic password for every single account without making note of them, which then leads to being locked out pretty much every day. The silent sufferer They are most likely having an internal rage every time their computer crashes, but they wont ever ask for help or inform the IT dept about the issue. [Top Image Credit: Shutterstock]

Monday, May 25, 2020

Interview Questions Reveal Employers Concerns - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Interview Questions Reveal Employer’s Concerns - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career You can address an employer’s concerns via your interview answers only if you understand where the concerns are coming from and what the employer wants to explore. Interview questions can be grouped by the interviewer’s needs. So, what are such needs? Similar to a personal investment, employers need to do their due diligence in order to explore and then understand what they are buying, as well as to ensure that their purchase will both grow and produce satisfactory results and that there won’t be any hidden surprises. First, the employer will want to validate that you’ll be productive on the job and that your skills will deliver as anticipated. If you’ve done this job elsewhere, were you successful? And if you ran into problems, how did you resolve them, and what did you learn from the process? Second, the interviewer will want to gain a clear understanding of how much you want this job. Are you strongly motivated and interested enough to perform well and make significant contributions? The interviewer will want to verify certain soft-skill issues such as your determination, desire to succeed, work ethic, and willingness to give 100 percent. Pertinent questions will prompt you for evidence and not just anecdotal stories. Third, the big question is whether the company can afford you. The interview would end promptly if the interviewer realizes there’s a significant gap between the candidate’s compensation expectations and the company’s ability to pay for this job. And fourth, the interviewer will ask a significant number of questions that assess whether you’d fit into the company’s culture. Of all of the other concerns, this is probably the most critical one, because it is psychologically based and left to the interviewer’s interpretation. For example, you might be asked whether you’re a team player and can bring evidence. Or whether you get along with people or would cause friction. Or whether your personality, values, attitude, and personal style would align with the corporate culture. Or whether you’re manageable and could align yourself with organizational policies? Or whether you’re flexible enough to live with constant change and adapt to it quickly. The interviewer’s questions can be the well-known, standard, typical interview questions or can be what is called behavior or situational questions. The latter types of questions pigeonhole you into a situation, and you’re asked to give examples from your past that show how you solved a problem or dealt with a specific circumstance. There’s no question that interviews can be challenging, andâ€"even with live practice with a friend, a family member, or, better yet, a qualified career coachâ€"not result in the desired outcome.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Document your Experience for a Successful Placement

Document your Experience for a Successful Placement The Importance of Self Reflection The Importance of Self Reflection Can you remember what the lecturer said in your management lecture 9 months ago? What about that really important conversation that you had in your politics seminar just after Christmas? Surely you can remember when The Queen stood on a boat in the rain for her Jubilee? In all likelihood, if you were to try to recall fine details of things that took place in the last year, the most recent events will be the most memorable. Throughout university, students attend lectures and make notes, so that when it comes to writing essays or revising for exams, things can be more easily remembered. Yet when it comes to work experience, the same principles of recording your learning for reflection at a later date are seldom applied. Document Everything youll Need it for your Job Applications I always advise my students to keep a diary of their placement year, to document their learning and progression. It may sound like an onerous task, but if you spend just a few minutes a week logging what you have done and the experiences you have had, you will benefit in the long term. A placement isnt just about the 12 months you are working for an employer the experience you gain is what will help you to stand out in the highly competitive graduate market. The net result of keeping a diary of your placement will mean you have a bank of evidence to call upon when making graduate applications. Those competency based questions, asking you to detail examples of leadership, problem solving, teamwork etc will be so much easier to answer, but only if you can remember what you actually did. The steep learning curve of your first few weeks will blur into the distance by the time you reach the end of your internship, so if you are starting a placement shortly, remember to take note of what is going on and reflect on your learning. Just because you do a placement, a positive graduate outcome is not guaranteed. You will still need to articulate in your applications and interviews what you have done whilst on placement, so in the same way that notes are made in lectures, maintaining a detailed account of your experience is a worthwhile activity. Make the Most of the Placement Experience You may find that your university already asks you to record your experiences, whether as part of an accredited module or as part of your PDP. If that is the case, you may see this as just another piece of university work and therefore have reluctance to do it. However, you have made the decision to take a placement because of the benefits it can have upon your early career. Dont keep a placement diary just because your university will give you a few extra credits do it for yourself so that you build up your portfolio of evidence enabling you to hit the ground running when the graduate jobs start opening up in the late summer. 0

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Lessons in Personal Branding from Jeopardy!, IBM, Watson - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Lessons in Personal Branding from Jeopardy!, IBM, Watson - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career On Jeopardy! last week, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, the two all-time top money earners squared off in a one million dollar championship against Watson, a new IBM computer designed to respond to spoken questions. IBM was looking for a dramatic way to enhance their brandalready riding high after defeating the worlds greatest chess players five years ago. Their goal was to demonstrate their latest advances in speech recognition and artificial intelligencea key to allowing computers to do more than store information. After months of promotion, the Jeopardy! man-versus-computer face-off took place over three nights. The day after the competition, the print edition of Stephen Bakers Final Jeopardy: Man vesus Machine and the Quest to Know Everything!, appeared in bookstores around the country. (see e-book story, below) To cut to the chase, the IBM computer won. But Although the 3-day event drew a lot of viewers, hundreds of YouTube videos, lots of press coverage, and the Final Jeopardy! book is selling very well, I wonder about the competitions long-term implications for the IBM and Jeopardy! brands. Likeability The issue is likability. Emotions play a major role in brand-building; emotions frequently outweigh facts. You can be right, and still be wrong, in other words. And thats what I suspect was wrong with last weeks championship, and why the event left me feeling distanced, rather than closer, to Jeopardy! and IBM. Rational versus emotion The rational, major step forward that Watson represented in problem solving and speech recognition was overshadowed by emotional discomfort watching two popular favorites steadily losing ground to the IBMs Watson. On the one hand, I can see how Watson will help physicians do a better job of helping doctors cure illness, yetI didnt enjoy seeing Ken Jennings and Brad Rutters increasing frustration. The event was also one-more example of the role of corporate technology in our lives. Nor did I really like the way the 3-day event was, basically, an example of a large corporation creating what amounted to an expensively-produced infomercial out of one of my favorite television shows. Im not an Apple Macintosh person, but as I was watching the championship, I kept thinking of the huge gap between the optimism of Steve Jobs MacWorld keynote speeches and last weeks event. Mostly, Im wondering if I was the only one who felt disenchanted by last weeks event, or if others feel this way, too. Positive publishing lessons On a related, but different topic, Amazon.com and Houghtin-Mifflin, did score some positive, creative marketing points with the Kindle eBook version of Final Jeopardy!. The Kindle version of Final Jeopardy! was on sale since early January, butin order to avoid giving the ending away before the televised event took placethe e-book version was sent without the last chapter! As a result, the Kindle version of Final Jeopardy! helped build awareness for the event without giving away the ending! A pretty slick technique, one Im sure were going to be seeing more and more of in the coming years. The delayed last chapter technique can be easily implemented by any self-published author tieing the launch of their brand building book to specific events like workshops, webinars, or conferences. How do you feel about the man versus machine event? What was your reaction to million dollar championship? Did you watch the event at all? Did you watch all 3 days? Did the event favorably or unfavorably influence your perception of the IBM brand or the Jeopardy! brand? Who came across the biggest winner? Please share your opinions as comments, below. Author: Roger C. Parker‘s Published Profitable blog offers over 1,000 tips for planning, writing, promoting, and profiting from a brand-building book.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

The Three Most Critical Executive Job Interview Questions - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

The Three Most Critical Executive Job Interview Questions In a Forbes article, George Bradt noted which three interview questions executive recruiters agree are the only true indicators of strengths, motivation and fit. 1.   Can you do the job? (strengths) 2.   Will you love the job? (motivation) 3.   Can we tolerate working with you? (fit) Regarding fit, Kevin Kelly, Heidrick Struggles CEO, made the point: “40 percent of senior executives leave organizations or are fired or pushed out within 18 months. It’s not because they’re dumb; it’s because a lot of times culturally they may not fit in with the organization or it’s not clearly articulated to them as they joined. Bradt suggests that, in preparing for interviews, job seekers should be ready to provide examples illustrating their strengths, what motivates them about the company and the position, and what makes them a good fit in terms of their own preferences and the companys needs. To pinpoint those examples and develop value proposition stories around them, read my post, Storytelling Propels Executive Branding and Job Search. Related posts: Prepare to Ace Brand Your C-level Executive Job Interview How Good Is Your Executive Brand Elevator Pitch? Executive Interview: What Questions Do YOU Ask? photo by tj scenes 00 0

Sunday, May 10, 2020

5 Tips for Job Search - Wish Upon a Job Part III - CareerAlley

5 Tips for Job Search - Wish Upon a Job Part III - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. A friend of mine found out that their job would be ending in 6 to 12 months. That sounded like more than enough time to find a great job with time to spare. Plenty of time to be patient and pick the best opportunity. Of course, that was 5 months ago and now it looks like their job will end in another 2 to 3 months. Where did all of that time go? Well I can tell you it was not spent looking for a job. When I asked her how many of her target companies has she contacted, she looked like I was speaking in tongues (target companies? her eyes seemed to say). Weve all been in that situation where we had lots of time to get something done and we squandered it, and then we scramble to make up for lost time. If you are serious about finding a new job, you must treat each day as if it was your last day employed. And if you are already out of work . . . This article is the finale of the Wish Upon a Job series with a focus on your job search lists. Collectively, your lists are a powerful tool. Individually they may be helpful, but they are kind of like a chair with one leg you might be able to balance for a minute or two but a chair with four legs is a lot more useful. My job search Mantra is more is more. Many job search specialists will tell you otherwise (everyone can have an opinion), but like any product on the market, if no one knows it exists no one will buy it. The more people who know you are looking for a job, the better the chance of finding one. Recruiters Their job is to find the best candidate for the job. Typically (unless they are on retainer), they do not get paid unless the company hires one of their candidates. Most recruiters will work with you to either help find a match between your skills and their job requisitions or in some cases convince a company to create a job based on your skills. At the end of the day they are being paid by the hiring company and there is a delicate balance between closing the deal and helping you maximize your compensation. There are a few rules of the road you should consider: You should not have to pay a recruiter to help you find a job. Look for recruiters in the state/region where you want to work. While many recruiters are national or international, most tend to recruit in their local market. Look for recruiters who specialize in your industry/field. They have the best chance of marketing your skills and finding a job for you. Dont let a recruiter pressure you into taking a job you do not want. Target Companies You likely have a list (even if its just in your head) of companies where you would love to work. If you dont, make one. This involves a little research, but in the end it will help you narrow the choices while improving your chances of finding a job. There are lots of advantages to creating a target list, not the least of which is maximizing your time. Most hiring managers will ask why you want to work at their company. If youve made your list, you already know the answer. Items to consider: Select companies in your industry. Include companies that have locations in the region where you want to work. Leverage existing lists (Best Companies to Work for, Most Admired Companies, Fortune 500, etc.). Much of the research has been done for you. Talk to people in your Network about the companies where they work. They will have inside knowledge about the corporate culture, compensation and career opportunities Research all of your picks. You can find salary trends, employee ratings, better business bureau comments, financial strength, etc. Network The value of your network cannot be overstated. Your network will provide leads, references and many time actual jobs. There are many tools out there, but my favorite is LinkedIn. It will help you identify and keep track of your network. It will also help people identify you as part of their network. If you are not already a member (basic membership is free), you should join now. Regardless of the tool you use, you should consider the following: Include friends, family, current and former coworkers, teachers/professors, etc. Let everyone in your network know you are looking for a job (more is more). Leverage you network to get interviews at your target companies. Leverage your network to put in a good word when you are interviewing at their company. Your network is your best source for references use them. Remember to reciprocate (dont ask others to do what you would not do yourself). Anti-Networking check you social network sites to ensure there is nothing that will come back to haunt you. Job Search Boards: I sometimes feel as if there are millions of job search boards. Of course there arent, but there are lots. You could easily get sucked in to spending all of your time searching and applying for jobs found on job search sites. This is not a good use of your time. Pick a few sites that are highly rated or meet your needs and balance the time you spend on job search boards against other resources (recruiters, your target companies and your network). Some boards are very useful and current while others have mostly outdated /or non-existent jobs. It is not always easy to tell which sites are the worst, but there is level of consistency in terms of the top rated boards. Best to consider: Look for articles that rank the top job boards Use job boards that focus on your industry/field and location Use saved searches to alert you of matching jobs You should not have to pay for a job search board General Rules of the Road: Look for jobs at or above your level (and salary). If you aim low, you will most likely wind up with a boring job with less pay. Remember to allocate your time across all sources (recruiters, companies, job search boards and your network). Use my one a day rule submit one resume or contact one recruiter every day (so little time, so many job applications) Today is the first day of the rest of your job search dont squander it! We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+ Visit Joeys profile on Pinterest.

Friday, May 8, 2020

Helping Out in Your Resume Writing

Helping Out in Your Resume WritingAre you having so much trouble writing your resume? What you can do is ask for a resume writing service. These services offer qualified and experienced resume writers who will help you get what you need out of your resume. What are the benefits?The first benefit is that you can get a professional resume writer to write your resume for you. If you don't know how to write a resume yourself, then that can be problematic. This is because you may be trying to find the right career path for you, which will be different from the career path you want to go into. As a result, the type of career you go into will differ from the resume you will submit with your resume to different employers.Another benefit of going with numerous resume writing services is that you will have an outline for your resume. This is so that when you need to do additional writing on it, you won't spend a lot of time trying to figure out what it says. This will save you time, as well as money. Once you have created an outline for your resume, you can focus on other tasks, such as expanding on the bullet points to make them flow properly.Your resume is an important part of getting the job you want. You need to make sure that it says all that you need to say. You have to prove that you can succeed in this industry, not just talk about yourself. If you have a writer at your disposal, you will have one on one support in your resume.When your resume is written by a professional, you can expect great things. When you are interviewing for jobs, you should have a great advantage. Your resume will give your employer a better impression of you and what you can do.having so much trouble writing my resume With a resume written by a professional, you will have one more person to compare it to. With so many different resumes out there, it is hard to know what one to choose. Having another person to look at your resume and offer their own assessment can really help you. So, if you are having so much trouble writing your resume, consider hiring a professional resume writer.When you hire a professional resume writer, you are giving them the power to rewrite your resume as they see fit. You don't have to have to give them everything that you want. They will still get all the information and add to it.