Implementing an Employer Brand in North America

Implementing an Employer Brand in North America Its a global brand which is very well known in the automotive industry but its just as popular with its customers. The German-based company is better known for its tires but thats not all they do. Continental has over 40,000 employees, and we will learn how they are implementing an employer brand strategy in the United States. Weve been speaking to Tanya McNabb. who is Head of HR Communications, U.S. Canada at Continental and Ally Brown, who is a Senior Employer Branding Specialist at Continental. 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: Why they treat employer brand in the same way they do customer brand What Shaping the future of motion means Why they believe employer brand should be in line with the company mission Why they try to be organic on social media but are happy to give a hand when needed Their tops tips and pitfalls including why you should involve your senior leadership team on the employer brand journey You can connect with Tanya and Ally here.

Resume Portfolio - What is Included in a Resume Portfolio Folder?

Resume Portfolio - What is Included in a Resume Portfolio Folder?There are many elements that go into the creation of a resume portfolio. The ideal portfolio consists of a resume folder with your name and contact information printed on the front. It is meant to showcase your professional work history, which is vital for many employers.Be sure to include all work history information in the portfolio. Include any work experience that you have received while employed in a related position. Since most positions will require you to have prior experience, it is best to have at least one year of work experience. Include a resume template that includes a background check, a work history and your education.Make sure the portfolio is not too long. Short portfolios make the process of showing up to an interview easier as well as assist you in quickly submitting the portfolio. Be sure to include information that is easily understandable and well organized.If you have worked with many companies, particularly ones that are directly related to your job and business partners, it will be very beneficial to include them on your portfolio. Be sure to note any specific jobs that you have worked with.There are several ways to design a resume portfolio. You can print off samples from various sources online. Some examples include finding free printable resumes through sites like EzineArticles.com.In addition to a portfolio, you should also include some photographs that demonstrate your professionalism. Photos should be representative of your professional skills.Since a portfolio is often mailed along with an offer, it may be a good idea to add a few samples of your work, in case they are unable to send the portfolio as part of the offer. Photos can be included on the portfolio itself, as well as on a separate piece of paper.There are several websites where you can order an assortment of portfolios and other materials that can help you during the planning and execution of your resume portfolio. A portfolio includes a resume folder, the resume template and some photos. There are many ways to use these portfolio templates and samples.

4 Great Personal Branding Video Tutorials - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

4 Great Personal Branding Video Tutorials - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Here are 4 great videos to help you round out your personal brand using Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Blogging, and Email Marketing. Have a look at each and start applying the lessons learned to your personal brand today. Twitter Search in Plain English Successful Email Marketing How its Done How to Create a 100% Complete LinkedIn Profile Did You Know 4.0 If you know of any other useful videos please link to them in the comments section. Have a great weekend! Author: Chad Levitt is the author of the New Sales Economy blog, which focuses on how Sales 2.0 Social Media can help you connect, create more opportunities and increase your business. Chad is also the featured Sales 2.0 blogger at SalesGravy.com, the number one web portal for sales pros, the professional athletes of the business world. Make sure to connect with him on Twitter @chadalevitt.

Avoid Moving Home After You Graduate With NO JOB! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Avoid Moving Home After You Graduate With NO JOB! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning. Albert Einstein In order to achieve success when you graduate, you need to start college  off on the right foot. For those of you who hope to graduate in four years and have a degree that will matter in todays economy, it will be well worth your time to consider the following advice: Employment statistics show a difficult but improving job market. Even though the employment picture is improving slightly, many new graduates are still moving back home after college at unprecedented levels. The new grads find themselves in debt and unable to use their hard-earned degrees. The  jobs most commonly available (for those lacking sufficient hard skills) are waiting tables at local restaurants, working as an administrative assistant and in retail sales.  While there is nothing inherently wrong with any of these jobs, graduates often feel frustrated when their work is completely disconnected from their education: Underemployment has become the norm for graduates and the vague aspirations for greatness (and i ndependence) they had when they started college have now been washed away as they were forced to move back in with their parents:  Many college graduates today express disdain for their new post college role spending their free-time emptying their parents dishwasher and reporting to them about their daily affairs. Reality sets in fairly quickly for those who have no technical skills that the cool job at the tech start-ups in your area or anywhere are not within reach!   So the question remains, how can those of you who are starting college avoid falling into this scenario now that you see others ahead of you who somehow missed the boat in college.  In todays challenging economy there are two critical things you need to know (the sooner the better in your academic career) in order to set yourself apart from your competition and reach your goals when you graduate from college. Identify a person who holds the job/career you esteem and become an expert on how they got there! Find out the academic prerequisites (the hard skills) as well as the soft skills (character traits) that youll need to become an ideal candidate for this position. Heres the scoop:  If you are one of those people who already knows what your passion is (dance, medicine, theatre, computer programming) then your job is obviously a bit easier as you can interview someone in the field who you identify with and learn the criteria youll need to reach that position. For the rest of us who dont know our passion yet, relaxyoure in the majority!  Your challenge is to identify a growing industry that you find interesting, then seek out a person who models the kind of life you perceive having and request an informational interview. Learn about the area and thinkcould I be happy doing this job 80% of the time? Informational interviews vs. advice appointments Most people will be glad to give you minutes of their time to talk about themselves so dont be intimidated to ask them for an informational interview. Once you learn about their career path (including the skills needed to accomplish their job and the pros and cons of their position) see if you can envision yourself in that role and living their life. If you can imagine yourself in their shoes, youre now in a better position to prepare a plan for your academic pursuits. Once you know youre interested in a particular job/career then ask for an advice appointment. An advice appointment will allow you to ask the person more targeted questions that could help you get your foot in the door for an interview.  You could ask what associations they would recommend you join and what the ideal character traits are for someone seeking a career in that field. If you change your mind sophomore yeardont worry. You dont need to stick to this plan but at least youre beginning to have an awareness for what the end will look like when youre in the starting line! There will come a time when school will be over and you will be either in a strong position to market yourself for a job (because you have acquired some practical skills needed in the workforce) or you will be sorely disappointed that your degree is  merely good for your psychic income and will not help you gain entry to a field that interests you. Why not start thinking now so you get your wheels spinning. No one expects you to figure this out your freshmen year so by merely projecting forward youre already on the right track. Your antennas will be up through out college and consequently youll be more likely to meet people who steer you in the direction you want to go. Just remember 3 things 1. Learn a skill that will allow you to add value when you graduate!   2. Get some real world experience that shows you have the ability to apply these skills to benefit someone else 3.Get great recommendations! You might as well accept this fact now:  Youll need to acquire some hard skill to fill any job that will be rewarding, so you might as well accept that reality as a freshman so you avoid going through a competitive program, stressing yourself out with a full course load of intellectually stimulating material only to find out when you graduate that it would have been wise to have taken a fraction of those courses and combined them with skill based courses so you would have some practical knowledge when you graduate. Internships, volunteer work and community activity can also afford you the opportunity to acquire a hard skill.  Those who have all three  (skills acquired from real world experience and from their academics combined with great recommendations). Learning to code is one example of a skill based course that every college student should have.  No matter what job youre in, it will be beneficial to have some working knowledge of a few widely used programming languages. Speaking a foreign language such as spanish, arabic, russian or chinese is another practical skill that could add value to your resume when you graduate.  The more technically based course you can take the better.  Dont shy away from them because you dont have a strong background in math or science either.  You dont have to become a programmerbut you could make yourself more useful if you understand how to build a website and how to use social media for promotional purposes. Keep your mind open to possibilities with some focus on being able to make a contribution somewhere using your skills when you graduate.  The answer will come to you, you have four years to explore, ask questions, experiment, take risks and finally challenge yourself to balance your curric ulum with courses that broaden your mind and sharpen your skill sets for getting hired after you graduate. For those of you who bothered to read this entire article, Ill give you a simple tip that works and will make your life a lot easier.  Start pretending your looking for a job now.  Research jobs that intrigue you and find  job descriptions for your favorites.  See what the requirements are to fill that job and decide if thats really something thats realistic and exciting for you.  If your answer is YES then you can start planning your coursework with more focus and you will have more clarity going to your career service counselors for support. Author: 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.  Her coaching assists students and career changers to successfully match their needs, interests, passions, skills, and personal goals with the needs of a sustainable industry in a sustainable location.  She is a resource for print and online media and offers workshops for University Career Service Departments, Executive Recruiters, Outplacement Services, College Guidance Counselors and College Alumni Associations. See website for more details about Beth’s services  www.fromdiploma2dreamjob.com.  Beth’s Webinar was sponsored by George Washington University’s Career Services Dept. for their worldwide alumni association:  Leverage Your College Diploma.  You can follow Beth on twitter @BethKuhel

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Get Others to Embrace New Ideas

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Get Others to Embrace New Ideas For leaders who want to persuade teams toaccept new processes, the answer may be in the kitchen. In a study last year of 200 kitchens, Cornell University researchers found that those who left snack food and soft drinks out in the open were an average of 20 pounds heavier than their neighbors who kept only fresh food openly available. This what-you-see-is-what-you-eat diet shows that by changing circumstances, you can change behavior, which is key for getting teams to accept changes such as process improvement, says James C. Crimmins, author of 7 Secrets of Persuasion: Leading-Edge Neuromarketing Techniques to Influence Anyone. The lesson to executives is to think about the ways they can change the circumstances so that any new process for a team is the most natural the easiest thing to do, he says. Crimmins says its often easier toget people to changewhat they do rather than what they feel. So, if a team balks at new processes, dont think, How can I get them to change their minds? but rather, How can I get them to act differently? he says. If you look at the kitchen experiment, these people probably all had the same attitude toward soft drinks but they managed to change the behavior simply by changing the circumstances, he says. Adele Sweetwood is senior vice president of global marketing and shared services at SAS and author of The Analytical Marketer: How to Transform Your Marketing Organization. As someone who is well acquainted with change initiatives and trying to get employees to embrace new ideas and processes, she says that such efforts require a guiding coalition to be successful. If you bring those impacted into the conversation, identify what they will need to be successful, andempower them with the toolsand training, they will be more likely to engage, she says. As leaders, we spend a lot of time identifying areas for improvement, defining the details and then devising the solution. By the time we share the solution or change, we (read more here)

How to Transform Everyday Tasks into Resume-Worthy Quantifiable Achievements

How to Transform Everyday Tasks into Resume-Worthy Quantifiable Achievements Photo Credit â€" Flickr.comWhen it comes to resumes and LinkedIn profile reading, nothing screams “achievement” in my experience more than statistics and numerical figures.Why? Numbers let the reader see your bottom-line achievements without the need for fluffy adjectives and descriptive language.We All Have NumbersFor those in sales who are responsible for meeting quotas on a regular basis, coming up with quantifiable achievements is easier than for those who work behind-the-scenes in operations, technology, finance, etc.evalFor those in Sales, a quick peek into an online CRM tool or your own sales trackings will likely reveal statistics and rankings against your peers, the standing of your team or territory, or even how your company stacks up against the competition.For those not in sales, never fear. Numbers exist. They just require a bit more digging as they are hidden behind percentages, fractions, etc.Digging Up NumbersTake a step back and think about your goals for the pas t month, quarter or even year. Here are eight questions to get you thinking.? Did I Save money? By how much?? Did I save time? How long did a task take before versus after?? Did my company grow? Is it bigger in terms of employees, number of locations or profitability?? How is morale? Have I have contributed to more people staying versus jumping ship?? How many people have I promoted?eval? Do I interface with more clients or prospective leads than I used to?? Did I finish a project more quickly and with less money than originally projected?? Did I negotiate savings with a vendor or contractor? How does this benefit, or what is the bottom line impact of these negotiations on my team, organization or company?evalYour responses to these questions can transform figures into statistics ideally suited for an achievement-driven resume.Numbers that are ConfidentialSometimes your hands are tied â€" and exact figures violate codes of confidentiality. In these cases, rather than share exact rev enue figures, I work to translate these numbers into percentages.As an example, I recently worked with a client, who, under the terms of his severance agreement, was not allowed to disclose his private company’s revenues or the sales that his team had accomplished.Instead, his resume contains the following snippets:“Grew revenues 30% in 18 months”“Increased sales 2X year-over-year” “Catapulted this bottom-ranked team to the Top 5”This method allows clients to showcase their value while adhering to any agreements they may have with their company.Numbers are EverywhereSometimes you alone can take credit for an achievement. Sometimes you were a part of a larger group effort and it makes sense to share any accolades with your others or your team.evalIf your role contributed in even a small way to a much larger success â€" by telling the story and capturing the realities of it using numbers your career history takes on new meaning.More importantly â€" it can help the reader connect the dots as to exactly what you can do for them as a prospective candidate or new hire. Everything can (and should) be quantified â€" the results are sure to resonate with readers in a compelling way.

Summary Sunday Build It Before You Need It

Summary Sunday Build It Before You Need It The best time to build anything is before you need it! Thats true for your network, a savings account, a backup planwhatever. And the best time to begin thinking about your job search strategy is before you are in panic mode. The tools and lessons shared in this weeks summary are all about the things you need to do BEFORE you become desperate or employed for a long period of time. networking strategies for the long-haul tracking spreadsheet mistakes not to make during the job interview new LinkedIn features workforce trends happening right now! Good luck building it before you need it! Youll be glad you did! JOB SEARCH This Spreadsheet Is Exactly What You Need to Track Everything in Your Job Search by James Mayr | The Muse If you are not keeping track of jobs you apply to, when you followed up and where you are in the interview process its easy for things to slip through the cracks. This article spells out what to track and even provides a simple spreadsheet to use! 14 Vital Tools of the Modern Job Search by Mark Anthony Dyson, The Voice Of Jobseekers Mark digs deep in his list of 14 tools, traits, and skills. These may not be exactly what youre expecting but the information is exactly what you need! INTERVIEWING 5 Reasons I Didnt Hire You by Michael Tuso | Vault.com There are lots of nuggets in this article, way more than 5. If youve had lots of interviews but no job offers, definitely read this. And as Tuso concludes at the end, my biggest takeaway is that gratitude and the ability to learn are chief above all else. And that key realization, even in my own career, has changed everything. NETWORKING How to Make the Right Connections When You Don’t Already Have an “In” by Dorie Clark | Harvard Business Review If youre making a change and want to network with a new group of people, then please read Dories advice! Try ALL of her suggestions, particularly the last one   attract the right people to you. Learn what to do sooner rather than later. How to Get an Executive to Network With You by Kathy Robinson | TurningPoint Boston You know it can be difficult to network with busy executives (or anyone for that matter), but it isnt impossible. Theres the front door, the backdoor and the third door. Robinson writes: Alex Banayan, author of The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Careers, says that there’s always a way to get in front of busy people if you are creative and persistent about it. Thats the third door! Pick up some creative ideas listed in this article. Why Last Minute Networking Doesn’t Work â€" Mainly by Dorothy Dalton | 3Plus International It happens. You let your guard down and stop networking once youre secure in your job. But read why this is a terrible idea and how to fix it. Dalton cites experiences and recommendations from career experts. LINKEDIN New Features To Help You Start Conversations and Build Community on LinkedIn by Pete Davies | Official LinkedIn Blog Read about all the things you can do to build connections and stay top-of-mind with your network! Tag people in photos Reactions (like, celebrate, love, insightful, curious) Post a video Share a document Recommend a post in a group (they are making a comeback) Follow hashtags Let Recruiters Know You are Open To New Opportunities by Jessica Hernandez as a LinkedIn update WORKFORCE TRENDS An Unexpected Increase In Weekly Jobless Claims Following Mays Hiring Slowdown Causes Concern by Jack Kelly | Forbes The US has not had the expected job growth anticipated. We are also seeing an increase in unemployment claims. The article also notes several large companies have been involved in restructuring and layoffs. Let this be a reminder to always be ready. Is a recession on its way?

The Essential Resume Tool KEYWORDS

The Essential Resume Tool KEYWORDS Keywords are an essential piece to a well-written resume. Why? Because they are the words that describe what you do. They also let the reader know immediately whether or not you are a potential candidate for them. Keywords are buzz words or industry specific jargon that communicates a message about your qualifications, accomplishments, credentials or responsibilities. They are action-driven and demonstrate your value to the company. Each keyword has a message attached to it. For example:   Operations Leadership message is process performance improvements, operational compliance, cost reductions, safety implementation, etc. They help tell the story in conjunction with action verbs (created, developed, launched, delivered) to pack more of a punch and keep the reader interested. With companies receiving thousands of resumes per job opening, they have come to rely on keyword-searchable databases to weed out candidates that dont fit the position and save the candidates that do. These machines are programmed with certain keywords and receive hits for resumes that match the data. Keywords are also being used on job boards and professional networks like LinkedIn.   Hiring managers can go to LinkedIn and type in Pharmaceutical Sales Representative and if you have those words in your resume, you become a match. Keywords can be used throughout the resume. You can add them to your career summary at the top, or in your job description, and within your accomplishments to bring out your strengths. Here is an example of keywords within a career summary. I added bold so you could tell which ones they are: Dynamic executive leadership career of diverse organizations with a rich mix of finance, operations, internal/external processes, sales and business development. Intimate knowledge of financial processes, accounting practices, operating results and profitability. Expert in executing team-driven process improvements to increase revenue growth, operational efficiency, and overall profitability. See how keywords are peppered all through there? This resume will be able to stand up against company keyword machines. Take a close look at your resume and make sure it is keyword-saturated. If you need help with keywords, go to Amazon and buy a book of keywords. Definitely worth the money.