How To Introducing the New Calendar

How To Introducing the New Calendar Weve had a calendar in JibberJobber for a number of years, but it recently underwent some significant changes. The best way to get a feel for it is to go look at it.  You can get there from going to Tools/My Calendar or, you can add it to your homepage as a new widget!  Go check it out and play around with it.  Find something missing?   Let us know by clicking on Contact at the bottom-right of any page. Heres how to get there click Tools, then My Calendar: Or, from the home page, click on Manage Widgets, and then add the Calendar (its at the bottom of the list): Then youll see the super-fast, cooler looking calendar, which has a lot of options (day/week/month views, show/hide different kinds of things, etc.): This is a great enhancement for two reason: speed and aesthetics!  Enjoy! How To Introducing the New Calendar Weve had a calendar in JibberJobber for a number of years, but it recently underwent some significant changes. The best way to get a feel for it is to go look at it.  You can get there from going to Tools/My Calendar or, you can add it to your homepage as a new widget!  Go check it out and play around with it.  Find something missing?   Let us know by clicking on Contact at the bottom-right of any page. Heres how to get there click Tools, then My Calendar: Or, from the home page, click on Manage Widgets, and then add the Calendar (its at the bottom of the list): Then youll see the super-fast, cooler looking calendar, which has a lot of options (day/week/month views, show/hide different kinds of things, etc.): This is a great enhancement for two reason: speed and aesthetics!  Enjoy!

6 Things Few People Know About LinkedIn

6 Things Few People Know About LinkedIn LinkedIn has always been proud of the fact that they are neither Facebook nor Twitter. Since its beginning, the company has prided itself on being career-focused. So, they were not concerned with things most social platforms desire. For example, “explosive viral growth” is not in the interest of LinkedIn.In fact, some of their policies seem to prevent users from becoming “too big”. Read these 6 things few people know about LinkedIn to learn how and why they do what they do.1. There Is a Limit on the Number of Connections You Can HaveThat’s right. Remember all those connection invites you blindly accepted at the beginning of your LinkedIn account from all over the world? You knew then that they had nothing to do with your career, but you accepted anyway. You wanted to be social. You never knew what could happen. Well, once you hit 30,000 connections you can no longer accept connection invites.LinkedIn’s reasoning: “This limit was set to keep LinkedIn working smoothly for all our members. Exceedingly large networks impact site reliability and member experience.”So, if you were planning on going viral with your connections, think again. It looks like you will just have to work on your followers. There is no limit on the number of people who can follow you.2. You Can Get Your Account Restricted for Tagging the Wrong PeopleMaybe that reads a bit harsh, but it has happened. If you tag a person in a post and the following happens:It upsets the person you tagged The person complains to LinkedInThey will either suspend your account briefly or remove the post entirely. There will not be a warning. It will just happen and you will have to write to LinkedIn to find out why.LinkedIn reasoning: (Note the picture. Being more specific than “violating terms of service”, in short, do not tag people if you do not know whether or not they want to be tagged.)3. Don’t Even Think of Posting About a Competing Business ModelThe reality is 94% of recruiters use Lin kedIn to screen candidates. Therefore, recruiters are some of the most important people on LinkedIn. It should come as no surprise to anyone that when a friend posted about his idea for a business that involved recruiters networking, the post was quietly removed from the feeds of his connections; mostly recruiters.LinkedIn never gave any reasoning as to why this happened.Still, I would be naive to say, “I don’t know why.” It is just business, even if not always a very social type of social media platform.4. You Have a Limit on the Number of Searches You Can DoRecently, after 10 years of having a LinkedIn account, I found out there is a limit on the number of searches I can do before sending messages. Why did this happen? I went from using LinkedIn as “Mr. Job Seeker” to “Mr. Commercial User” of LinkedIn.LinkedIn reasoning: “If you reach the commercial use limit, your activity on LinkedIn indicates that you're likely using LinkedIn for commercial use, like hiring or p rospecting. This limit is calculated based on your search activity since the first of the calendar month.”In short, I went from finding jobs for myself to finding jobs for others at Find My Profession. My activity looked like that of a person working for a company. Now, LinkedIn would prefer I pay to use their Premium services.5. The Invitation Limit for Linkedin Applies to People, Not RobotsLinkedIn states the following in their LinkedIn Help section: “If you've sent a large number of invitations, your account may be limited from inviting more members. This is generally due to many of your invitations being rejected or ignored by the members you've invited.” This makes sense, but what about auto-invites?I have more than 22,000 emails on my phone from a Gmail account. When I uploaded the LinkedIn app some years ago, I made the mistake of syncing my email data to the LinkedIn app.The LinkedIn app then went about inviting all the people in this 22,000-sized email list to connect with me. I know this because of the people who accepted. Lots of them did and I have no idea how many were ignored or rejected. I also know the email list contains some people who do not like me. Some days, I get messages that people accepted my invitation to connect and I have no idea when/if I sent the invite.However, at no time in the last decade have I ever been told by LinkedIn that I sent too many invites. From 2007 to 2018, I can safely estimate my account has sent more than 28,000 invites, automated and sent by me. I realize some of these folks were invited to create LinkedIn accounts, first.So, spamming is not ok once you have an account. It is ok when LinkedIn uses your account to do it for you.6. Tagging People You Do Not Know Will Get Your Account RestrictedWe already know that tagging people maliciously will get your account restricted. So, what about tagging people you do not know, even when the intention is positive?Recently, a friend explained that she had started a new job and was looking for people to connect with that would be interested in her new role. She posted and tagged a few people that were offering grants to nonprofit organizations. She had just become president of an NPO that could use the grant money, and to her, it made sense to reach out.Although tagging people looking to do business with you sounds like common sense, if you do not know them, your account can get restricted.Why Most of These Things Can Only Be Discovered Without WarningWe all have ideas on how to use LinkedIn effectively, but rarely do we stop and ask, “Is this permitted?” Above all, let’s be honest: No one reads a Terms of Service section until they make mistakes.When you do, you find out the world of social media platforms is complex and LinkedIn’s struggle to never become Facebook requires stopping certain behaviors, more than allowing everyone to do whatever they want.LinkedIn is still, above all, the best tool for connecting with companies and find ing work. However, some discretion is required to achieve a balance between “too much” and “not enough”.

Why People Are Living a Minimalist Lifestyle

Why People Are Living a Minimalist Lifestyle Youve probably been reading about it and now you are interested. The idea of living a minimalist life has become more popular in the last 5 years. Minimalism is more than just a fad though. It is truly a lifestyle that can have many benefits for those who choose to embrace it. A minimalist lifestyle is living with less and practicing mindful living. The good thing is that there are many resources that you can find, from books, podcasts and zero waste blog to help you know more. If you are wondering why so many people are embracing a minimalist lifestyle, here are some of the benefits of minimalism.  To focus on the most important A minimalist lifestyle is living with less. So often nowadays, people are too materialistic. We place value and worth on a person based on how many cars they have, how big their houses are, etc. But when you embrace minimalism, you are forced to make decisions on what is truly important in your life and let go of those that do not benefit you. To have more freedom Have you ever wanted to pack up and move to another place, even to another country? Those who live a minimalist life can have an easier transition. Because they only have the most important things with them, they will not be afraid to leave for a long trip or even live in another country. To be free from financial worry Some people own too many things, even things that are unnecessary. You dont need to have several luxury cars or hundreds of shoes. Because of materialism, many people are in debt. With minimalism, you realize that you only need a few pieces of clothes and shoes. You can even sell your other things to pay for your debt. And you will think twice before making another purchase because you will think hard if these things are really necessary. To be rid of things that do not add value to their lives If you go through your house right now, you might be surprised to know that there are many things there that do not benefit you. You may have gifts that were given to but you never used. If you have not used them in the past six months, it might be time to let them go. Getting rid of these things will allow for space for the things that are necessary and beneficial for you. To help take care of the environment One of the things that attract people to a minimalist lifestyle is the benefits it has for the environment. People become more conscious of the decisions they make. They want to achieve zero waste. They make changes in their daily life. Its not just about buying less but buying smart. From bringing eco-bags when grocery shopping, having a reusable coffee cup with you all the time, to even learning how to do bokashi composting, all these are helpful to the environment.

How Making Toast can make you a Problem Solver - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How Making Toast can make you a Problem Solver - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Take 3 minutes and draw how you make toast. Grab a pen and paper and start drawing. Don’t use words. Just your artistic skills. Draw the steps you would use to make toast. Have some fun with it. For this initial 3 minute exercise do this solo. For the next time you do this consider adding a few people to the mix. Also, consider using post-it notes to draw out each step. That way you can re-arrange as needed. I suspect you will learn a little about yourself. After you are done with your drawing take 3 more minutes and read the rest of this post. And, finally, make a comment here. I’m curious to know how many steps you needed to make toast. Why Toast? Almost everyone has made toast or at least seen someone make toast. This post was inspired from a great TED talk by Tom Wujec. Where he discusses the idea of Systems Design and uses Making Toast as a way to facilitate the process. He provides much more detail in the 9 minute talk. I have excerpted some of his ideas here and added a few of my own. The gist is that there is a simple way to help people think about how they think both individually and in groups. By taking a common process, such as making toast, as extrapolating it out there is a certain elegance in Discovering Visual Thinking What you may not discover on your first pass is that there is a magic number for the steps (nodes) required. There is also a differentiation in whether you do this solo or as a group. What you may discover is that you are an excellent artist and perhaps an excellent maker of toast. What you may also discover is your perception and affinity around a systems model of thinking. Have some fun with this. It’s an easy way to get yourself and others thinking. Key Takeaways Everything has Nodes and Links Between 5 and 13 node is the sweet spot for individuals Between 11 and 19 nodes is the sweet spot for groups (Because it’s participatory it avoids “map shock”) People are intuitive know how to break complex things down in simplified tasks (nodes) A Visual Revolution The ability to create moveable nodes and links is the key. Start with a simple drawing … your first 3 minutes here. Then collect, refine, iterate a few times and you will start to see patterns emerge. As these patterns emerge they show the systems model of thinking in action. There are a few items that will come from the systems oriented thinking. They can be represented as good, better and best. The individual or solo efforts are good, but when combined with others in a group effort the iteration and synthesis creates the best overall solution. Good: Links Nodes Better: Iteration Best: Synthesis The simple act of visualizing the problem can lead to a deeper understanding of an issue which can lead to a solution. The example here is to Make Toast.which is a simple, yet effective, metaphor to get people thinking. What else can I make? You can use this model to think about any business or personal challenge. Whether you do this as a solo effort or enlist some trusted advisors is up to you. Start with  â€œHow Would You Make Toast” because it is a great icebreaker to get you thinking. It’s also a great way to get yourself or a group warmed up for solving bigger, more pressing challenges. For example, if you are looking to make an improvement in something look no further than what you are working on right now. What’s making it hard to complete? What’s making it easy? Take a few minutes to draw out the process (again with no words) and see if you can come up with a model that either improves upon or otherwise confirms the model you are using is the best at this point in time. Other projects could be related to almost anything. Perhaps your customer service department is considering a new offering, or maybe your manager has asked you to help on-board a new employee, or perhaps you are just trying to imagine which job you should take. Envision it, imagine it, draw it. Then evaluate, iterate and re-draw as necessary. In the end this is just a tool. The only way to get better at it is to use it. You may find this isn’t the best tool for your tool belt, but at least you’ll know another way to consider when faced with a challenge. For more information on Tom Wujec’s model see DrawToast.com  â€" where he details the process and offers a free guide to get you started. Stitching the Picture Together Those that can draw and visualize their problem situations, whether they are theoretical or actual, have a increased probability of coming up with a solution to a pressing problem or challenge. Those that learn this skill and can apply it effectively … even under pressure … will Stand Out in their Career. This is especially true for those that have the flexibility of make these kinds of visual maps on the fly. The only way to do that is with practice. What will you start on first? Let us know in the comments if we all can put some group think behind it to speed your efforts. I’m sure the people that are regular readers of the Personal Branding Blog would be happy to help. What kinds of problems will you visualize? Get your pen and paper out and start to think about them visually. Ask yourself … How Would You Make Toast?  and get started. Then bring a few friends into the mix and see what is really possible.

How to Improve Your Professional Writing Skills for the Workplace (and Why Its Important) CareerMetis.com

How to Improve Your Professional Writing Skills for the Workplace (and Why It's Important) Unless you are a freelance writer and pen words for a living, you probably haven’t given ‘how to improve your professional writing skills’ much thought. Most of us are adequate writers and get along just fine by making use of spellcheck and the 3rd-grade grammar rules we still remember.I before e except after c, right?evalBut what if you were told that business writing skills, or lack thereof, could significantly affect your rise up the career ladder? Read on to find out why being able to write well is still so important and how you can sharpen this ability in just 3 simple steps.Why Does it Matter? Writing = CommunicationThe act of communication is usually linked with talking. After all, our words are the main way we share thoughts, feelings, and ideas with one another. However, there are other types of communication as well.The nonverbal eye roll, the irritated sigh, and even the classic ‘I’m bored’ yawn we let out in meetings are all forms of communication. So are the ideas that we write down on paper, send through a text, or shoot out in an e-mail.If you have weak writing skills, you have poor communication skills, plain and simple.This isn’t to say that ‘talk is cheap.’ You need to be able to express yourself verbally at work. When this ability is paired with excellent professional writing skills, the options for promotion and achievement are endless.Other reasons why you should strive to improve your business writing abilities:You’ll snag better jobs since you’ll be able to craft a strong cover letter and resume.Employers will see you as more intelligent and credible.Influencing others will come to a lot easier than it did before.You’ll be able to build trust and rapport with people quickly.Your organization and record keeping skills will improve.You will feel a boost in confidence.Standing out amongst your co-workers will happen naturally.More If you’ve ever studied for a test without knowing foundational knowledge, you know how hard it is to succeed without strong fundamentals. The same is true for writing. If you’re wondering how to improve your professional writing skills, the best place to start is the square one.You have a couple of options here.If you’re into e-Learning, try a quick Google search for free online business writing courses. Shopping around on Amazon or used bookstores for business writing or general writing textbooks/workbooks is also a good option.evalNight classes, professional development courses, and workshops are other good starting points for ‘refreshing your memory’ of some of the simpler concepts. You might learn some new things as well!2) Hone in Your on a Specific SkillOnce you’ve improved your all-around writing skills for the workplace, you’ll want to pick one or two skills to work on. Although this might seem counter-productive, in the grand scheme of things, making small improvements can be a game-changer. This is the case in any field.Let’s take a profession al basketball player for example. During training camp, Lebron James and his teammates work on a variety of skills. Early on his career, he needed to work a lot on the basics, such as perimeter defense and shooting three-point shots. Now, Lebron is considered one of the greatest to have ever played the game, but that doesn’t mean he’s perfect.If you asked a group of sports experts what they consider Lebron James’s weakness to be on the court, free-throw shooting is an answer that would probably come up once or twice. Making technical free throws is something the star athlete seems to struggle with A common cliché dictates that a smart man learns from his own mistakes while a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. This saying has a lot of truth to it, especially when we relate it to the workplace. There is no room for repetitive mistakes in business if you are trying to advance to the next level.Of course, perfection isn’t always obtainable, but learning from the misha ps of others when it comes to professional skills can put you ahead of the game.Here are some common business writing pitfalls to avoid:a) Using buzzwords and acronyms when you write:evalEvery field has jargon and buzzwords that are personal to what they do. Teachers talk about IEPS and brain breaks while tech gurus are likely to mention AI and API.We often get so comfortable using these kinds of buzzwords and acronyms that we assume everyone knows what they mean. This can lead to a breakdown of communication in the workplace. Make sure the documents you create contain explanations for abbreviations and are jargon-free. Doing so will improve not only the quality of your work but also your readers’ understanding.evalb) Talking about lots of things in one e-mail:This is one that a lot of us are guilty of. Because our world focuses on getting as many things done at one time as possible, it is natural to want to get all that you have to say across with one click.However, when it comes to business e-mails, you should try to stick to one topic per message. This will help your reader do two things: understand what you’re trying to say much easier and stay organized.c) Delivering bad news through written communication:Although sending emails or texts to communicate important news is becoming more and more common, you should avoid doing this if you feel what you have to say is bad or might upset the reader.If you need to provide feedback that isn’t all positive, lay someone off, or make a switch in roles, do it in person. No amount of improvement to your professional writing skills will help you address these types of issues through e-mail. Some things are better-said face-to-face. d) Using ‘texting language’ or ‘slang’ when communicating through writing:Every area of the country has it’s own lingo so to speak when it comes to verbal communication. In the South, it isn’t uncommon to hear someone say “hey, ya’ll” or “what ya’ll doing?” Comm unication experts consider a lot of these ‘errors’ as part of dialect, but that doesn’t mean it is appropriate for business writing for all audiences.Similarly, ‘WYD,’ emojis, and other text-talk shouldn’t be a part of your professional writing or e-mails unless your office culture permits it. It’s important to be able to make the switch when it comes to your work. Always write in a way that comes off as both professional and credible.e) Writing at the last minute:evalThere is a reason why we have first and second draftsâ€"the first draft usually belongs in the trash can. Proofreading and editing are an important part of the writing process because it is almost impossible to get a document, e-mail, letter, or blog right the first time.Waiting to send out an e-mail on Friday at 4:50 when you’re ready to rush out the door will greatly increase your chance of typos. Creating a post for social media Sunday night (right before it is due) could lead to embarrassment if som ething is ‘off.’ If at all possible, give yourself some time between crafting a message and actually hitting send or submit.Looking at it a second time with a fresh pair of eyes will help you improve your professional writing skills and convey the right message.

Six Tips For Uncovering Salary Information About a Job

Six Tips For Uncovering Salary Information About a Job Trying to gather some competitive data on salaries for a particular job function? Here are six strategies you can use to gather important salary information. Knowing your market value before you start interviewing will help you craft a sound negotiation strategy later on if you are selected for the position.Speak to industry contacts. They may be able to shed light on salary ranges for positions in various industries and at various professional levels.Review job postings. Many job boards list salary ranges; this information can help you decipher the going market value for similar jobs.Contact recruiters and professional associations in your field to benchmark positions. Recruiters will know what the market will bear based on recent placements. Professional associations may have survey data to help you better understand your market value.Refer to salary sites such as Payscale, Salary.com, and Glassdoor. Payscale combines salary report data and scrubbed self-reported data to create sal ary ranges for various positions across multiple industries and geographies. Salary.com pulls information from salary sites used by many HR departments, and Glassdoor culls self-reported salary data.Be aware that every job has unique factors such as geography and industry that influence salary level. If you are an IT professional in financial services and you are seeking an IT position in a not-for-profit, chances are the salary range will be lower. If you were working as an analyst in Columbus, Ohio, and you are now seeking a similar position in Boston, Mass., chances are salaries will be higher.Try to determine the flexibility of the employer you are dealing with. Is it a large company with strict salary ranges or a smaller company that determines salaries on a case-by-case basis? Knowing this ahead of time can help you figure out how much wiggle room you will have during the negotiation phase.

CPS Work in Resume - Common Mistakes and Tips to Avoid Them

CPS Work in Resume - Common Mistakes and Tips to Avoid ThemWriting up CPS work in a resume is not a difficult process. You should know some tips on how to write up a resume and also know about a few of the most common errors that applicants make while writing up a CPS work in a resume. These mistakes could have an adverse effect on your job application and your chances of getting an interview. Therefore, it is important to avoid these errors so that you can land that dream job in CPS.One of the biggest mistakes that many applicants make when writing up CPS resumes is to use capital letters to show their educational achievements. Capitalization is a necessary tool when writing a resume but it should be used with care because it can create several negative effects. Some of the worst effects are included in this article, so don't think that it's just a question of grammar, think about it for a moment.If your resume is written with capital letters, it will make you look more confident an d professional than your competition who have lower-case lettering. It's almost certain that your prospects will assume that you are higher on the totem pole and that the opportunity will definitely go to you. The worst part is that this can be attributed to the fact that you already have the experience and education to do the job well.The second mistake that many applicants commit is writing 'I' instead of 'we'. They write a few sentences about themselves and then use that space to give off the impression that they have all the qualifications to get the job.In a nutshell, writing up CPS work in a resume is very easy if you use correct grammar and spelling and make sure that you add all the information correctly. The following tips will help you out with that. Always start your paragraphs with the most important fact that you would like to tell in your resume. That will ensure that you don't miss out on anything important and you get to write up all the information in the first para graph.The third mistake that many applicants make when writing up CPS resumes is that they start the next paragraph too quickly. If you don't write the data in the first paragraph you will surely forget some of the points that you would like to make in the next paragraph. By starting your paragraphs as you speak, you will keep yourself from having a lot of confusion and it will create a clearer picture to what you are trying to say.The last mistake that many applicants make when writing up CPS resumes is that they leave spaces where they have to add a period between every item that they write. With just a little bit of practice you can become a good writer who knows how to create a clear and easy to read resume.