How to Build a Robust Employer Brand

How to Build a Robust Employer Brand When you see the letters SAS you might be thinking of the super-skilled British army force, or an airline or even a shoe brand but in this instance, we are referring to the B2B tech company. Its been doing employer branding for years before most organizations were concerned with employer reputation. Shannon Allen and Allison Bonner Bogart talk about their experience with EVP and recruitment efforts at SAS. Shannon Allen is the Head of Global Branding and HR Communications at SAS and Allison Bonner Bogart is part of the Global Lead Team for Employer Branding and Recruitment Efforts at SAS. 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 youll learn: Why its employees want to come to work every day Why employers need to ask How are we changing the world? What curiosity matters means for them More about its storytellers page What its EB Creative Playbook is You can connect with Shannon and Allison here.

How to Brand Your YouTube Account for Your Job Search - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Brand Your YouTube Account for Your Job Search - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career YouTube is the largest video-sharing site on the planet, but it’s often overlooked as a platform on which to build your personal brand. Job seekers carefully craft their Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages to portray their professional selves, but often they overlook the power of the video. If employers want to really get a sense of who you are, video is simply more effective at communicating this than words on a page. YouTube can be an excellent resource to point recruiters to you, so they can get to know you during the job search. Check out these tips for successfully branding yours. Decide how to brand yourself. If you’ve already been branding yourself as an expert or professional in a particular field, continue with that theme on your YouTube page. Click on your username in the top right corner, and select “Settings.” From here, you can link your account to your Twitter and Facebook (ideal for video sharing), customize your URL, and manage your videos.   Use this page to adjust your settings and learn the ropes when it comes to privacy, playback, and monetization. Customize it. Click your username and select “My Channel” from the drop-down list. Select “Channel Settings,” where you can customize your bio and layout. Include a professional avatar and customize your page to make it consistent with your other social networking sites by uploading your own background image. Under the “Info and Settings” tab, give your channel a title, add a description, and include tags with keywords so others can find you, such as “marketing,” “finance,” or any other words to suit your personal brand. Create quality videos. The most difficult part of creating a YouTube page may be coming up with the content, but chances are you already have a breadth of knowledge you could turn into an interesting and helpful YouTube video. Consider taping an introduction, offering advice in your field, or interviewing a fellow professional.  Autoshare your videos on Twitter and Facebook, and link to them on your blog or website. Spend time promoting your videos, but also peruse YouTube for accounts similar to yours, and add relevant videos to your “likes” or “favorites.” YouTube can be an excellent resource for beefing up your professional online brand, and can allow employers to catch a glimpse of the person behind the website, Facebook, or Twitter. For more information on creating your personal YouTube brand, check out YouTube’s tips here. How have you worked with YouTube to enhance your personal brand? Share your tips below. Author: Heather R. Huhman  is a career expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder president of  Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers. She is also the author of  Lies, Damned Lies Internships  (2011),  #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle  (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for  numerous outlets.

Looking To Improve Your Personal Brand Ask These Questions - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Looking To Improve Your Personal Brand Ask These Questions - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Finding long-term success from your personal brand is no easy task. Without careful maintenance procedures, the brand you worked so hard to establish could quickly take a turn for the worse. Similar to a machine, the more important part of owning your personal brand is maintenance. While this may seem like a relatively simple task, it’s likely to fall to the wayside when you’ve truly created something beneficial. Continually seeking to improve your established brand has a number of benefits, from increased influence to staying ahead of competitors, continual improvement isn’t something you should be forgetting. Brand maintenance doesn’t have to be a challengeit really only requires an inquisitive thought process. Stay on top of your brand by asking yourself and those around you the following strategic questions: 1. Ask yourself what you have to offer to others. Initially, this may seem like a silly question but sometimes even the best personal brands lose touch with your product or service. If you’ve built your brand around one of your skills, be sure you’re actually doing your best to showcase it. Finding your niche is crucial when it comes to building your personal brandingwithout it, there’s no chance of standing out from the crowd. 2. Ask trusted contacts how they describe you. Your brand thrives on the perspective of others, therefore their input is necessary for improvement. Contact trusted individuals within your network and ask them how they describe you to someone who doesn’t know you. This will give you a unique perspective and an opportunity to see what people are keying in on. 3. Ask yourself which qualities you admire most. If you admire loyalty as a trait, how can you ensure your brand models this? Sometimes it takes looking at the qualities other corporate and personal brands showcase to truly understand what matters most to you. 4. Ask trusted contacts how you can better display your brand. Without feedback, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to improve who you’re reaching. Reach out to your network and ask for critical advice on how to improve the way your brand is displayed. This might mean rethinking your personal marketing materials or attending more events. Whatever the case may be, it’s your duty to adapt. 5. Ask yourself your core values. Your brand’s foundation should be built on core values. While these vary from brand to brand, it’s important to regularly touch base with them to ensure your messaging is successful in showcasing what your brand values most. 6. Ask yourself who your audience (or audiences) is. Knowing and understanding your audience will allow you to identify the ways in which you go about reaching them. If your brand has changed over time, it may be time to reconsider who your target audiences is and adapt a new way to reach them. 7. Ask yourself how you plan to handle the competition. Staying ahead of your competitors is an important aspect of a successful brand. While there’s certainly no set standard for getting ahead, continued innovation and adaptability will be beneficial. Always be on the lookout for what your competitors are doingthen plan accordingly. 8. Ask yourself if your brand is more than just you. Your personal brand shouldn’t just be about who you are. Focus on looking for ways to help others with your expertise. This may be taking part in forums, speaking at events, or even offering coaching free of charge. 9. Ask yourself how you can showcase your brand in online and offline contexts. In this digital age, the heightened focus on online brands is starting to contribute to the loss of an offline brand context. A successful brand should be versatile and take precedence with both an online and offline perspective. Your brand should run deeper than just what you’re blogging about, be sure you’re making face-to-face connections, as well. 10. Ask yourself how well you’re reaching others. Take an analytical perspective with your brand and research how well you’re actually reaching your target audience. Whether your reach is heavier from a certain platform, online, or offlinetake measure to improving the areas where you’re lacking. Consistently looking to improve your brand will present you with beneficial results. It’s never too early to start looking for ways to improve. Most importantly, never forget to ask those who matter most to your brand. How have you worked to ensure your brand is always improving? Author: Heather R. Huhman  is a career expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder president of  Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for job search and human resources technologies. She is also the instructor of  Find Me A Job: How To Score A Job Before Your Friends, author of  Lies, Damned Lies Internships  (2011) and  #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle  (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for  numerous outlets.

How to Overcome The Infamous 3pm Slump #MotivationMonday

How to Overcome The Infamous 3pm Slump #MotivationMonday Weve all felt the infamous afternoon slump. Youve had your lunch, youre feeling pretty relaxed and motivation has plummeted. But as you feel your mouse cursor creeping toward the most recent cat video STOP! Ive compiled a list of things you can do to overcome your afternoon slump and keep the remainder or the day perfectly productive: 1)  Step away from the screen: Getting away from all screens will give your mind a break from the stressors of the day. Take a walk outside or  around the office and return to your desk when you feel fresh. Its important to take proper breaks throughout the day. 2)  Snack time! Simple yet effective have a snack! Eating something will not only boost your energy but also your productivity. 3)  Switch up what youre doing If you have a long to-do list and are struggling completing something due to lack of motivation, why not switch tasks and start working on something new? This way, your brain will feel stimulated and your 3pm slump will disappear! 4)  Housekeeping: If youre feeling unmotivated why not switch up and do some digital housekeeping? Clean up your desktop and files, sort out your emails and look through your notes this way youll feel like youve had a break but the time will have actually been spent doing something productive. 5)    Rosemary: Its been proven that the scent of Rosemary actually energises the body, so why not grow a pot of Rosemary? This point may seem a little weird but could work wonders for your afternoon motivation when youre feeling tired or unmotivated. Its also been proven that having growing plants in the office improves the atmosphere 2 birds one stone! Have any other handy tips for beating the 3pm slump? Let us know on Twitter @UndercoverRec

Writing For Resume Key Points For Improvements

Writing For Resume Key Points For ImprovementsIn order to improve on your writing skills for resume key points for improvements, you need to begin by making sure that you are focused and committed to doing your job. Once you become focused and dedicated, then you will be able to produce professional, clear and concise content that will be able to grab the attention of the reader and move them along towards your first objective, which is to make a good impression. If you want to be effective with your writing, then you must avoid this trap of laziness. In order to do this, you need to first identify what it is that you are going to write about.In order to write professionally, you need to first decide what you are going to write about. Write a good outline that outlines what you will be covering. After outlining, you need to pick the best time for you to write. Sometimes, a good idea will come to you that you can use, but sometimes, you need to take action on it.Next, you need to dete rmine who you are writing for, what their background is, their specific people, where they came from, what their dreams are, what they hope to achieve, etc. The more detailed you can get in writing the resume, the better. By writing more detailed, you can also become more efficient at writing, as well as help the reader understand the content better. However, if you cannot get very specific about this information, then you should not worry about it.Once you have these critical information at hand, you will also need to provide answers to the most commonly asked questions. Avoid writing your resume without answering the question. You need to have a better idea of how to answer this question, or it will be almost impossible to land a job. It is also essential that you have a positive mindset when answering these questions. When you have a positive attitude, it will make it easier for you to focus on the content and not on how your answers could make or break your chances of getting hi red.Finally, you need to focus on the content you are going to write. Think about the ideas that are likely to come to you, and choose which ones you will focus on. Do not just throw together something because it sounds nice to you. A well written resume is a reflection of your skills and experiences and should represent you as a professional. You can get into the mindset of being confident and professional with all of your work and you will be able to make the most of the situations you find yourself in.Another good tip is to always choose the most appropriate way to communicate. Although it may seem obvious, it does seem a bit obvious to some. By saying something clearly and succinctly is often the best way to express yourself. For example, you can say something like, 'I am a great communicator, and am interested in working in a highly public industry. Please feel free to contact me with any career-related questions.'If you think that you are good at writing, then you might want t o consider changing the way you write your resume content. Instead of writing about a specific skill or experience, you can instead write about the things that you believe. As long as the words you write about represent you as a professional, you will be able to come across as professional. This is especially important when the job that you are applying for requires you to be in a different industry.Using these tips when writing for resume key points for improvements will help you write a more effective resume. You should also be certain that the people that are reading it does not immediately take it and put it in the trash. By starting off strong, and addressing the specific needs of the reader, you will be able to make the reader remember your resume for many years to come.

5 Easy Ways To Make A Better First Impression

5 Easy Ways To Make A Better First Impression Easy Ways To Make A Better First Impression You’ve heard the saying “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s particularly true during your job search Certainly, having the right skills, experience, and, in some cases, education is essential. However, recruiters and employers may not notice if you don’t make a good first impression. Good enough to make them want to learn more. Recruiters and employers meet you different ways. It might be when they receive your resume. It might be when they view your profile on LinkedIn. Since you have no way of knowing, it’s important to cover all fronts. Replacing your task-focused resume and bare-bones LinkedIn profile will certainly make you more marketable. (Think achievements-based, strategically written resume and robust, optimized LinkedIn profile.) In the meantime, there are a few simple steps you can take to make a better first impression. LinkedIn Background Photo Put a background photo on your LinkedIn profile. The beginning of last year, LinkedIn changed the interface. One of the changes was the addition of a background photo. A year later, many people still have the bland, blue, background because they have failed to put up something else. Leaving the default background in place makes you look unsavvy, technology challenged, and, worst of all, generic. There are a lot of choices, make one today. Dated Email Address AOL was one of the early email providers. It was cool to have an @AOL email address 20 years ago. I had one before most of my friends had email. It isn’t cool today. Neither is @Yahoo. Either makes you look out-of-date, even old. Keep your old @AOL or @Yahoo email for friends and family. Adopt a new, more modern email address, like @Gmail, for your job search. If you need to use numbers because your “firstlastname” is taken, don’t use digits that reveal your age. Objective Statement Not much makes your resume look more dated than an Objective statement. The possible exception is using a Times New Roman font. For one thing, employers aren’t interested in YOUR objective, they are interested in what you can do for them. In addition, you’re wasting valuable resume real estate that can be filled with information that will be relevant to employers LinkedIn Photo If you don’t have a LinkedIn photo already, get one. If you come up in a recruiter’s or employer’s search on LinkedIn and they don’t see a photo he or she will wonder, why. Are you hiding something? Too lazy to bother? Maybe not savvy enough to realize the importance? Many will just move on. While you may choose to invest in a professionally-taken photo, you don’t need to. A clear head shot, preferably smiling, in business attire is fine. Check it out on photofeelercom to get objective feedback before you post. LONG emails In most cases, e-notes have taken the place of cover letters. The key is to get the employers attention and sell yourself in a concise manner. You don’t want them to have to scroll. Just as with resumes, recruiters and employers will be scanning, not reading, your email. Try to limit your content to 99 to 120 words. It’s more difficult to write a brief note than a long letter, but it will be worth the effort.

7 Damaging Power Gaps That Keep Professional Women From Reaching Their Highest Potential - Kathy Caprino

7 Damaging Power Gaps That Keep Professional Women From Reaching Their Highest Potential Part of Kathy Caprinos series Accessing The Most Powerful You   In the past 15 years of coaching and training professional women around the globe, I’ve seen firsthand that thousands of women have spent years building careers they thought would make them happy, only to wake up and realize they are very far from where they want to be, without a clue as to what’s in the way. Thousands are expending great amounts of energy hiding the fact that theyre scared, sad and demoralized, shuffling through each day trying in vain to build a better, happier professional life. Many have achieved some degree of success, but they’re still not thriving in their work or in their roles. And they feel they’re not where they should or could be in terms of impact, responsibility, leadership, or compensation. My research has revealed that, while there are irrefutably numbers of critical institutional, organizational, cultural and societal barriers to ultimate success for women today, most professional challenges, are related in some core way to a lack of internal or external power that causes steady “leaks” in confidence, vision, and authority. These leaks affect womens ability to make the headway necessary towards building a more authoritative and rewarding professional life with the impact and fulfillment they long for. Ive made it my lifes work to help women close those power gaps, for good. Ive found that while some men experience these specific gaps, they hit women harder and have more long-lasting negative effects for women than for men. And women process these gaps very differently from men. I refer to these challenges as “power gaps” because I see them as just that â€" gaps in our power that steal from us what we need most to succeed: energy, confidence, clarity, commitment, connection, and influence. The longer the gap remains unaddressed, the wider it comes, and the more damage it does to our internal sense of confidence and control. In a recent study, 98% of those surveyed indicated that they are experiencing at least one of these gaps, and 75% are facing 3 or more at the same time. The 7 most damaging power gaps I’ve experienced in my own life and witnessed in thousands of professional women around the world are: Power Gap #1: Not Recognizing Your Special Talents, Abilities and Accomplishments What you tell yourself: “I’m not special or talented in any way.” A corollary to this gap: The impostor syndrome: I feel like an impostor for what I dont know and how I dont fit in here. Im afraid Ill be found out and fired. In reviewing thousands of responses to my Career Path Self-Assessment survey, Ive seen the number of women who simply cant answer this question: What are my special talents and abilities, and how do I stand apart from others in my field? Literally over 90% of the professional and executive women who come to a coaching or training program with me leave this question blank and tell me that they have no idea how to answer it. If you cant name your special abilities and talents, then you cant leverage them fully or effectively monetize them. And you wont thrive in your work. Further, the impostor syndrome that so many women live with today is a corollary to this gap. When we believe deep down that well be found out (ridiculed, punished, rejected or fired, for example) for what we DONT know, or what we believe or value that goes against the grain, then we live in fear. And that fear prevents us from being able to leverage what we DO know, and what were passionate about and believe in. Power Gap #2: Communicating From Fear Not Strength What you tell yourself: “I can’t speak up confidently or with authority.” A corollary to this gap: It feels wrong to take the credit, even when I deserve it. Women often struggle with how to communicate their accomplishments and abilities in a clear, confident way. They fear theyll sound like theyre bragging or that theyre trying to grab too much of the credit for the great outcomes they produced or supported. Our society does indeed have a  clear gender bias  when it comes to how we view forceful, assertive women, but we need to address that through power, not weakness. Ive seen that so many women were raised by parents (sometimes well-meaning and sometimes not) who taught them not to be too showy, not to appear too confident or to try to stand out. I had this in my own upbringing the message that it was unseemly for me to think too highly of myself. Sadly, this is so very damaging to womens psyches, and this message is the opposite of what many men are taught in their childhoods. If you shy away from speaking compellingly about what youve done and achieved, youll lose critical chances to claim new roles, projects and opportunities that will grow your influence and impact. And I guarantee you that many of your male colleagues and competitors are not shying away from speaking up powerfully about what theyve accomplished. Power Gap #3: Reluctance to Ask For What You Deserve What you tell yourself: “I feel I deserve a raise and promotion, but I’m afraid to ask and don’t know how.” A corollary to this gap: Do I truly deserve more? Im not sure. The majority of women I work with are stymied as to how to ask for a raise or promotion, or even how to determine the very first step to figuring out what they should be asking for. And no matter how much theyve accomplished, many are not sure they deserve to be rewarded and recognized through higher compensation and promotion. An interesting research study showed that 57% of men right out of their MBA program negotiated their first very salary out of school, whereas only 7% of the women did so. This creates a pay inequity from the very first step in our careers. Without believing in your worth, knowing how to ask for what you deserve, or building a strong case for it, youll very quickly fall behind your competitors and colleagues, and have to work years more than they do to ever catch up. Power Gap 4: Isolating From Influential Support What you tell yourself: “I’m hate networking and connecting with strangers. It’s so awkward and uncomfortable.” A corollary to this gap: I have nothing important to share or contribute. This year, as Ive increased my  focus on how introversion versus extroversion is viewed in our workplaces, Ive started to track the number of introverts who are asking to join a career coaching program or course with me. This year alone, over 75% of my clients and course members have self-reported as introverted and shared their belief that their introversion is perceived negatively by their bosses and colleagues. They also feel that their introversion has gotten in the way of their networking and expanding their sphere of influence and connection. But many professionals â€" both introverted and extroverted alike â€" cant stand to network and feel its fake and uncomfortable. Part of the issue is that many women cannot recognize what theyve done as valuable or exciting, so they feel they have nothing to share when theyre networking or connecting with others. I realized (after leaving my own corporate life and my VP role that crushed me) that the reason I hated networking and struggled to talk about my job was threefold: 1) I didnt connect at all with the actual work I was doing, 2) I wasnt proud of the business outcomes I was supporting, and 3) and finally, I was ashamed of the type of leader and manager I felt I was forced to become in that role. That made networking and talking about my work with others very difficult. In the end, its impossible to network powerfully when you hate what you do. Without building a powerful support community that can help you grow, and without expanding your network of colleagues past and current, youll severely limit your access to exciting new opportunities and roles. You need to find at least one aspect of your work that you can feel excited to talk about. Power Gap 5:   Acquiescing Instead of Saying “STOP!”   What you tell yourself: “It’s so unfair what I’m going through, but I can’t challenge it.” A corollary to this gap: I dont have control or influence over what happens to me in my life. I regularly speak to large groups of women and when I ask attendees to raise their hands if theyve ever experienced or witnessed behavior that they feel is unfair, unethical or worse, virtually all respondents hands shoot up in affirmation, every time. Most of us whove ever worked in an organization for any amount of time have personally witnessed behavior that made us deeply uncomfortable or afraid, and we went home that night struggling with how best to handle it.  A recent study revealed  that 81% of women and 43% of men had experienced some form of sexual harassment during their lifetimes. The truth is this: If you stay silent in the face of unfair, unethical or illegal behavior to you or to others around you youre contributing to its prevalence and continuation. And most likely, if youre a woman, youll be on the receiving end of it at some point and it wont end well. We need to claim more power and influence to speak up against what is unfair, unethical and unjust and claim more power over what happens to us and around us. Power Gap 6: Losing Sight of Your Thrilling Dream What you tell yourself: “I have no idea what would make me happier or how I would even get there.” A corollary to this gap: I dream of doing something different, but theres just no way. Many women I hear from know what they  dont want  in their jobs and careers but cant name what they do want. Thats a challenge that will keep you trapped in a miserable career or situation. If you cant name what you long for, or if youve lost sight of a dream or vision that used to excite you, you wont muster the bravery or power to make the necessary changes to leave this bad situation behind. When women tell me that they simply have no idea what they want to do, but they know its not their current career, I relate deeply because I lived this for years in my corporate life hating what I was doing but not understanding there is a way out, without losing everything in the process. But there is a way and it requires embarking on the finding brave path to uncover what you long to do, and break it down into doable, digestible steps to explore and try on that new direction without risking everything. Power Gap 7:  Allowing Past Trauma To Define You What you tell yourself: “I’m devastated by what’s happened to me and I can’t get over it.” A corollary to this gap: Ill never be truly successful because I failed so miserably before. This final power gap is incredibly potent and keeps so many women from moving forward to a happier life and career. Theyre shattered by whats happened to them in the past and simply cant move beyond it. This includes dealing with a toxic or  narcissistic manager  whos crushed their self-esteem, or being fired or laid off in a way that makes them question everything theyve ever been or done. It also includes failing at a project or endeavor that leaves them feeling ashamed, insecure, and less than. Ive found that when were experiencing deep challenges in life, we humans tend to look only at whats at the tip of our noses, and we forget all that we are and all that weve accomplished before this moment. We begin to listen more closely to detractors, and take in too much around us that tells us were not good enough. In reality, theres no way to escape pain and failure in our work-lives â€" at some point, well all feel it.  The question isnt How do I avoid failure? because we cant. The key question that will move you forward beyond feeling like a failure is this: How can I use all that Ive learned from this experience, and grow even stronger and more competent? When you can access the power necessary to view your failures as opportunities to expand your capabilities and your vision, then nothing can stop you. Ready to close your power gaps? The strongest gap-closing step you can take is to review the 7 gaps above, and if any resonate with you, choose the one that generates the most internal pain and shame. Then, starting today,  take one small, doable micro step each day to begin to close that gap so that its no longer secret, painful, or shameful. Face it bravely, get outside help to be accountable, and take actions that will finally help you recognize and leverage your special talents and abilities, and feel more confident in all that you are and offer. As Einstein so wisely said, We cannot solve a problem on the level of consciousness that created it. Its time to shift our consciousness, and find brave every day to close the gaps that keep you from your highest and happiest potential. To assess if you may be experiencing one or more of these power gaps, take Kathys Power Gaps Survey, work with her in a Close Your Power Gaps program, and tune into her weekly Finding Brave podcast.