Month: December 2013

Facebook: Can people tell that I’ve looked at their Timeline?

Facebook answers this question and includes a separate question that it words slightly differently, “Can I know who’s looking at my Timeline or how often it’s being viewed?”

“Your Timeline is your collection of the photos, stories, and experiences that tell your story.”

The links to the questions above and the following list of questions are on a Facebook.com page titled “Common Myths About Facebook.”

“Will Facebook ever charge for service?
Do advertisers have access to my personal information?
Does Facebook sell my information?
Can people tell that I’ve looked at their Timeline?
Can I know who’s looking at my Timeline or how often it’s being viewed?”
Can people see my private messages on my Timeline?
What personal information is shared with sites that use social plugins?
The app I’m using says I need to download something, fill out a survey or sign into Facebook again to see special content. Is this true?”

“No, Facebook doesn’t let people track who views their Timeline.  Third-party apps also can’t provide this functionality. If you come across an app that claims to offer this ability, please report the app.”

Source: Facebook.com

The Power of Paradigms in Jobs and Business: Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Walmart

The Power of Paradigms in Jobs and Business: Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Walmart

In 1964, the Italian company Olivetti created a new paradigm when it invented the first personal computer. At the time, computers and the peripheral equipment to make them useful took the space of a couple of refrigerators.  The Olivetti desktop computer was far too expensive for a large consumer market.  However, the computer was a successful product for sale to businesses and universities.

Apple built on this paradigm to create the affordable personal computer.  In addition to advances in technology, the difference between the Olivetti desktop computer of the time and Apple computers is the price.  The Apple paradigm is to make the operating system and the hardware priced for a personal use.

For a period, Apple wandered from this paradigm and began to make and sell computer applications to schools.

The company suffered from this shift away from its original paradigm as a company that strictly made a personal computer company that ran on Apple OS.

Steve Jobs refocused the company on its original paradigm as an end-to-end device/OS maker.  Apple sold its educational software division.

On Monday, Aug 20, 2012, operating under the original paradigm, Apple became the most valuable company in the world.

Companies that create and sell software applications for businesses and colleges have existed since the 1950’s.  Bill Gates and Paul Allen used this paradigm to found Microsoft as a company that created software to sell to manufacturers of personal computers.  Other companies made the hardware.  Microsoft wrote the operating system.  Although now Microsoft makes devices and online services, the company is still primarily a software service company.

Google’s paradigm is collecting data and selling advertising.  Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google with a paradigm for creating a search engine that builds a database of user behavior and selling contextual advertising based on that user behavior.   Other manufacturers have built search engines into a website.  The Google paradigm extends the offer of payment and placement of the Google search engine and the Google advertising to any website publisher.  The relationship between Google and its millions of publishers dynamically powers the essential collection of user behavior data and Google’s placement of advertising on millions of websites.
Facebook’s paradigm is enrolling middle-income shoppers in a membership website.  Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with the paradigm for creating a membership site for college undergraduates.   From this paradigm, Facebook built a membership site that targeted not only more highly educated members but also a group old enough to shop and soon to become higher-income wage earners.  Then Facebook opened the site up to a general audience that rapidly grew from the college undergraduates to their friends and family members.  With a base of college-undergraduate members, Facebook’s created a meeting place for people who are middle-income shoppers.

The people who go into a company and create a new paradigm are rare.  Once a company is in place and has established ways of doing business, a person with a new paradigm creates risk to the established model.

Walmart’s paradigm is to increase profits through logistics.  Sam Walton started as an employee of a variety store.  He then purchased Ben Franklin variety stores and later founded Walmart.  He changed the paradigm of the variety stores through deep discount purchases of non-traditional items for quick resale.  He then opened large-scale deep discount stores.

However, other variety stores such as Kresge (Kmart) and Woolworth (WoolCo) had transitioned to discount stores.  These retailers bought products at lower costs through volume purchases.

Choosing locations in rural markets where rent and labor was less expensive, Walton was brilliant at cutting costs and making wise product choices.

The new paradigm that Sam Walton brought to his retail stores was to perfect logistics.  He could literally pay nothing for the products that he sold to retail customers, because Walton would receive and sell the products before having to pay the bill for the goods or store operating costs.  As Walmart moved into more competitive markets, it was through logistics that Walton could sell at lower prices than less efficient local competitors were.

Today nearly every large company focuses on demand planning and logistics. At the Walton College, University of Arkansas, there is a Depart of Supply Chain Management.  Walmart may still have the most effective supply chain system in retailing.

Use Twitter for Urgent Updates–Jobs and Breaking News

Twitter is the emergency radio of social media.  Co-founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey spent his time after school listening to emergency dispatchers.  He liked the short bursts of correct information that the dispatchers would send to taxi, fire, ambulance, and police departments. The speed, accuracy, and brevity of these dispatchers fascinated him.

While in high school, Dorsey wrote dispatch software that taxi companies still use today.

The format of short bursts of accurate, immediate information led him to create the Bootstrap application on which Twitter runs.  Some celebrities who have a Twitter account also use this Bootstrap application for their own website.

Where I see Twitter play important roles have been in and crisis situations where people send bursts of information for anyone to read.  Twitter breaks the news with information from people who are on the seen often before news crews learn of the events taking place.

Since you can follow anyone, pick people who are involved in events that interest you. These are news sources, places in areas that are hotspots for activities (sports events, political activities, entertainment news).

For job hunters, you should follow people who give frequent updates on the job market and job tips.

Shop Twitter for urgent updates.

Shopping for LinkedIn Groups

Shopping for LinkedIn Groups: The way to pick LinkedIn Groups is to select groups based on your business and career needs.

Some groups are great for creating many connections.  If you want to connect with people, join large groups.  In the connect page on LinkedIn, there are seven options. One of the options is that you are a member of the same group as that person.

Colleague
Classmate
We’ve done business together
Friend
Groups
Other
I don’t know …

Some groups are great for getting information on how to do things.  These groups have names that include products, services, or applications.  You can look at the discussion in these groups and see the type of discussions they have.  If the members are asking questions on how to do things and getting good responses, you have found a great group for do-it-yourself or research.

If you are looking for a lot of great discussion, you might look at company or school alumni groups.  These groups are great for chat purposes and are great for researching questions about company histories.

If you want to promote your company or your career, some groups have discussions that are more open.  Look to see what type of discussion is taking place in a group.  Some huge groups limit discussions to only a select group of three or four people.  These groups are great for making connections.  They are useless for getting any questions answered.

The Biggest Job Hunting Mistake You Can Make Is Not Trying.

Hunting for jobs take a lot of work. It is easy to let up and take your search lightly. Finding a job is like building a business. Even when business is slow you can make preparations for when business will return. Here are some things you can do during a lull in activity.

1. Send a thank you note to your friends and references to thank them for their support and let them know that you remain active in your search effort.

2. Make your resume tighter. Reduce the accomplishments in older jobs and increase the list of accomplishments in recent jobs.

3. Get on your professional network and review your group memberships.

4. Build your database of company contacts. Making a direct application to an employer is far better than applying through a job board or a membership site. There is a company research page on the tab “Companies” at the top of this JayWren.com website.

5. Buy career books or get a library card and check out books that will help you hunt for a job.

6. Work on your skills.  There are YouTube videos on nearly every subject imaginable.  There are nearly 900 links and articles on this website to help you with your career.

7. Keep your chin up.  Work on your attitude through videos on YouTube.com, books, and websites.  Hunting for a job is tough work.  Be tough on yourself to work hard in your job hunt but never get down on yourself,

8. Avoid negative people.  Stay in touch with people who always have a positive attitude and who will urge you to stay focused.

9. You are your greatest asset.  Eat healthy.  Get daily exercise,

10. Remember that tough times pass.  You may just need to work really hard to move through them.

12 Ways to Increase Your Mental Skills

12 Ways to Increase Your Mental Skills

There is nothing magical to greater mental power.  You do not have to buy anything.  You just need to follow some simple steps.

1. Live in the present moment.  Focus on what is in front of you.  This focus enables you to make good decisions and take the best actions.  Leaders live in the world around them and not in the crumbling castles in their head.

2. Let go of the things people have done to you.  Ruminating on past wrongs drains your energy.

3. Let go of guilt. Carrying around guilt lowers your self-esteem and steals your confidence. There are only two things you can say about guilt.  Either you were wrong and you will try not to do it again, or you were not wrong, so you are not going to worry about it.

4. Let go of fear.  Fearing the future cripples your mind and imagination.  When you are afraid of the future, take a deep breath. Most of the things we fear never happen.

5. Make new mistakes.  Everyone makes mistakes Smart people only make a mistake once.  Mistake made. Lesson learned.  Move on.  However, if you never make any mistakes, how much are you really trying new ways of doing things and how much can you really be learning?  Allow yourself opportunities to try to new things and do not punish yourself for being less than perfect.

6. Focus on the process not the goal.  Create the goal.  Create a plan to reach your goal.  Continually update the plan.  How things turn out is beyond your control.  How well you do the process is something you can control.  A retail goal is to make sales.  A store can plan to increases its sales when it increases the number of shoppers in the store and the amount of time each shopper spends in the store. Retail stores focus on the process of getting and keeping shoppers in their stores.

7. No one controls the results, but people do control the process.  Even with a perfect process, stores may miss their sales goals because of things out of anyone’s control:  the weather, a catastrophic event, a sudden shift in the economy. The point is not to make excuses for missing sales goals.  The point is focusing on the process.  If the weather or a catastrophic event weakens a store’s sales, the store can stay open longer hours when things return to normal.  If the economy is weak, stores can carry a wider assortment of less expensive products.  Stores can change their process.

8. Practice, practice, practice, and continue to practice.  From practice comes powerful instincts and heightened intuition.  Great companies continue to train people.  Great employees practice new skills.  Great performers and athletes practice during practice and practice after practice.  The purpose of practice is to raise a skill level.  Yet what really happens is that practice creates instincts and intuition to work at a higher level under pressure.

9. Embrace consistency and assess change.  One of the business clichés is to embrace change. Depending on what is changing, change may feel stressful or change may feel exhilarating.  Sometimes change is good.  Sometimes change is way to get lost in the wilderness.

10. Leaders value relationships as much as they value tangible assets.  It is a lot easier to lose a client than to get one.  Pleasing other people may sound shallow, but pleasing other people is the reason for repeat business.

11. Limit your daily activities.  Leaders set priorities based on the things they can get done today.  This process removes anxiety over things beyond their control.  Focusing on today’s priorities empowers the leaders to follow the process from their plan.

12. Hang out with other people.  I need advice from real humans.  It is so easy for me to believe my thinking, because I have always heard it.  When I isolate, I become inefficient.  I spend too much time at my desk.  I overlook deadlines and let important matters go unattended.

Job Social: The Company Office Party

Before you head to the company office party, make plans.  If you have experience going to trade shows, you may find that you can use the same plans for attending an office party that you have used for attending trade shows.

Make plans to meet with people.   If you expect to see people you do not ordinarily see, call them to let them know that you would like to meet with them for a moment to thank them for their work.  If you work in demand planning and the data applications people are at the party, meet them to strengthen your relationship.  You are not at the party to talk about work, but you can use the party for an opportunity to express your appreciation.  Just take time to say thank you.

Turn off your cell phone.  If you feel pressed to check in for a call, an email, or a text during the office party, leave the party briefly to take a break to check for messages.

Lighten up and have fun.  The office party is fun.  Enjoy yourself.  If everyone wears regular office attire, wear your best office attire.  Maybe buy something new for the office party.  Buying and wearing a new blouse or new shirt may help you have more confidence.  Don’t make it flashy.  Just make it new and nice.  If a new tie or scarf gives you confidence, you should buy it as an investment in your career.

Stay on the move and mingle.  If you do not recognize someone at the party, introduce yourself.  Offer to introduce the person to other people.   If the person is new and is nervous, these people tend to remember people who took time to greet them.  Yet when you sense that a conversation slows, excuse yourself to speak with other people.

Cliques are comfortable.  People cluster in groups with other people they know.  There are three things to consider about cliques.

  1. If you are spending too much time in your clique, move around.
  2. If someone you do not know steps into your group of friends, introduce yourself and introduce the person to your friends.
  3. If you see someone you would like to meet and the person is in a group of people speaking, wait until you see a lull in the conversation to introduce yourself.

Listen and ask questions.  People will appreciate your interest in them and their job.

Make the office party your opportunity to make contacts and strengthen relationships.  You can have a great time and show people your terrific skills to work with other people.

The 30-60-90-Day Plan for Jobs and Job Interviews

Before you go to a job interview, put together a 30-60-90-day plan.

You can write the presentation in Word or PowerPoint.

Some people use Excel.   If you can keep the presentation to two or three columns, you might use Excel.  From what I have seen, people load Excel with so many columns and rows that the audience has trouble understanding the presentation.

With a 30-60-90-day plan, you can do three things.

When interviewing, you can use your plan to see whether your plans fit the company and whether the company fits you as a person.

You can show the hiring company that you are right for the job.

When you start, you can begin with a head start at your new job.

In the first thirty days, you need to learn the job.

If you have experience, you might be able to assume full responsibility in 90 minutes.   If you are a trainee in an entry-level job, your first week to thirty days is training.

Even if you are able to step right into a job, you will need to learn a great deal.  Get to know the other employees.  Immerse yourself in the company culture.  You will find new systems and that the new company does things differently.  A good way to start your new job is to become a sponge.

  1. Ask questions.
  2. Listen to what everyone has to say.
  3. Read all the company material on your responsibility.
  4. Keep all the material you receive.  You may need it later.
  5. Ask your supervisor how you can work together.
  6. Discuss with your supervisor how the company fits together as a culture and as an organization.

A dangerous pitfall for experienced people is to do things the way they did them at their former employer.

Treat each task as though it is new. Ask yourself whether you know how to do your new job or whether you are doing what you did at your old company.  If the two are different, you can fail to do your new job well.

After the first thirty days, you should work with more freedom.

Your confidence and comfort are higher.  When you speak with your supervisor, discuss your activities and plans.  Ask your supervisor for feedback on your priorities.  If there are things that you need to have finished during your first thirty days on the job, add those things to your daily schedule to get them done as quickly as possible.  Show your supervisor how you are tracking on the things you are doing.

After sixty days on the job, you are working independently.

Your work is up-to-date.  You have successes you can show your supervisor.  You have scheduled your activities into the weeks and months ahead.

In your 30-60-90-day job interview presentation, you can show a list of things you will have completed during the first ninety days.

After ninety days, your skills and knowledge are high.  You can add a matrix to your presentation to show how you will manage your job and future projects beyond the first ninety days.

SWOT SUCCESS ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

If plan with this amount of detail, you will learn whether the job is correct for you. You will show the hiring company that you are right for the job. When you start to work at the new company, you have a head start.

19 Top Job Interview Questions

19 Top Job Interview Questions

You can never know what questions an interviewer will ask you. However, here are some of the more popular questions.

  1. Why are you leaving your current job?
  2. What is your greatest achievement?
  3. Who was the best supervisor you have ever had?
  4. Who was the worst supervisor you ever had.
  5. What makes you the best person for the job?
  6. What is your greatest strength?
  7. What is your greatest weakness?
  8. What are your long-term goals?
  9. What do you plan to do the first 90 days on the job?
  10. What do you do to grow professionally?
  11. What qualities to you seek in building a team?
  12. What are your career passions?
  13. What did you want to become when you were a kid?
  14. What is your typical day?
  15. What is your greatest failure and what did it teach you?
  16. Have you ever told a lie?
  17. Whom do you most admire?
  18. What is the most difficult problem you ever had to handle and what did you do handle to the problem?
  19. Where did your parents work?

Add to these questions some other questions to ask yourself some questions before you go to the interview.
The first questions are the things you will do for the hiring company.

  1. What five things you will do for the company the first 30 days on the job?
  2. What five things you will do for the company the first 60 days on the job?
  3. What five things you will do for the company the first 90 days on the job?

The next questions are how your professional goals will do for the company.

  1. What are your short-term professional goals that match the short-term company goals?
  2. What are your long-term professional goals that match the long-term company goals?
  3. What goals do you have that can create innovation at the hiring company?
  4. What professional development goals do you have that will make you more effective for the company over time?

The next questions are what you want to work for this company.

  1. What do you think of the company’s products?
  2. What do you think of the job place?
  3. What do you think of the company’s mission statement?
  4. What do you think of the company’s business sector?

Writing out these questions and writing out your answers will help you be ready to show the hiring manager how you are the best person for the job.

How to Avoid Panic When You Lose the Internet

Internet addiction or digital addiction is so powerful that people walk into walls, fall down stairs, and crash their cars while using smartphones and tablets. People read GPS directions while driving. How can anyone see where to drive if they are reading a phone? I have been in meetings that ban cell phones and seen people use their phone to check the time when there is a clock on the wall.

Google returns 68,100,000 links for the search terms “Internet addiction.” Digital addiction is so subtle. It tells us that constant Internet connection is akin to breathing. Internet addiction creates denial.  We just connect with the Internet naturally. We just breathe naturally.

Do you ever notice that you feel irritable and distracted when you can not connect to the Internet? For some people, losing an Internet connection in a coffee shop can create the same anxiety they feel when they lose an Internet connection at home.

Can you take a walk without your smartphone?  Can you watch television without also having an Internet connection?  Has your smartphone pulled you out of a meeting demanding that you use it?

Police can spot drivers using smartphones the same way the police spot drunk drivers.  Smartphones users may drive too slowly or too fast.  Their driving speed increases and decreases.   They weave in their lane or they weave in and out of their lane.

Four ways to enjoy your day without the Internet.

  1. If you are walking, take note of your surroundings.  If you are in a building, remember the colors of the walls and the floor.  Notice the people you pass and what they are wearing.  Nod to the people you pass.  If you know them, say, “Hi,” and say their name.  Remember the lighting and the type of flooring.  Remember the smells of where you are.
  2. If you are in a waiting room, take a book or some magazines.  Take a notepad or legal pad to write things.  If you have some letters or notes to send, a waiting room is a place to find time to write them.
  3. If you are in a shopping line, remember the color of the hair of the people around you.  Guess the age and height of the other shoppers.  You might even realize that you know someone you had not noticed.  Glance at the items in their carts.   You might remember something that you need or some new item you would like to try.
  4. If you are in a meeting, pay attention to what people are saying.  Take handwritten notes.  When you have something to say, take part in the meeting.

Enjoy your time on the Internet.  Enjoy your time without the Internet.  All the things in your life are important.  Make the Internet just one of them not all of them.

Job Power through Free Websites

Free Websites:  Membership sites and websites give different benefits.  Nearly every career professional I know has a profile on at least one membership site.  Some of these professionals have their profile on several sites.  They put their names on the list among hundreds of millions of other professionals and businesses.

Membership sites are terrific to build your career and promote your business.  However, these sites have limitations on the types of material and the size of the post you can make.

Websites are more dynamic than profiles on membership sites. There are over forty free web publishing platforms that include free web hosting.  None of these web-publishing platforms is any more complicated than using a personal computer.

Here are some instances where I have published on free web platforms.

  1. Tumblr.com (http://jaywren.tumblr.com)
  2. Blogger (http://jaywrencpgcareers.blogspot.com)
  3. Blogger (http://jaywren.blogspot.com)
  4. WordPress (http://jaywren.wordpress.com)
  5. Medium.com (https://medium.com/@jaywren)

WordPress free web publishing platform remains the leading choice among web publishers.  However, since Yahoo bought Tumblr.com, Tumblr has rocketed to the top in terms of the platforms of interest.  Here are the rankings based on Google Trends for December 2013

 Tumblr.com     46
 Wordpress.com     29
 Blogger.com     25
 Weebly.com     15
 Medium.com      2

I love Tumblr.com for four reasons.

  1. The theme I use, “The Minimalist,” is so clean and professional.
  2. Tumblr.com provides links with my self-hosted website so that all of my new posts also appear on Tumblr.com.
  3. There are a lot of my favorite bloggers and major publications that use Tumblr.com.  I get their feeds when I sign into my Tumblr.com account.
  4. People who use Tumblr.com are a different audience from the people on the other places I post content.  I get a great new audience.

If you have decided to build a career or business website, there is no need to pressure yourself to make your website huge. Some website content is little more than the name of a company or person and the contact information.  However, these sites still come up in search engine results.

Allow yourself more freedom in your topic choice than you would in a letter or a resume.  One of the reasons for using websites is to get more freedom to publish more about yourself or your company. Here are some subjects to help you get some ideas for what you might publish on your free website.

  1. Your resume
  2. Pictures of your business or your work.
  3. Samples of your work
  4. All the things that would make your resume too long
  5. New skills you are learning
  6. New services and products from your company
  7. Your new job when you get one
  8. New clients or customers you have signed
  9. Nice things about people and companies who have helped you
  10. Detailed discussions of volunteer work that would help you get a job or charities that your company supports
  11. A list of the clients or products you have managed and the successes you have had with each one

As you write more articles, search engines will list your website more often. You or your company will create more impressions for the public to see as you add pages to your website.

Although you focus on material that will promote your career and your interest, you can write articles about any subject.  Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, is probably the most famous blog writer in the world.  This year (2013), “Forbes” and “Time” listed Mullenweg as one of the most influential people under age 30.  On his personal website, Mullenweg writes about the his digital and investment businesses and the tech sector, but he also writes about music, photography, and other interests.

Choose the website platform that works for you.  Just remember that there are over forty completely free platforms on the Internet.  You can use these website to build your business and your career by simply putting a website online.

Turn Job Shopping into Job Hunting

Turn Job Shopping into Job Hunting

“I must create a System, or be enslav’d by another Man’s.”  -William Blake

Shoppers buy products that are easy to find and are popular with other shoppers.  When I go to the supermarket, I shop.  I buy the things that the store has on hand.

The people who buy products for resale decide what products to buy based on the amount of profit in a product and how quickly a product sells.  If a buyer invests in a product that sells for a 50 percent profit and takes six months to sell, the buyer might consider the product a good investment.  If the product sells for a 1% profit and take six months to sell, the buyer might consider the product a risky investment.  On the other hand, if the buyer invests in a product that returns a 1% profit and sells in one week for weeks on end, the buyer will more likely see that product as a lower risk.  The buyer can sell that product four times before the bill comes due from the supplier.

The less space a product takes on the shelf is also important.  Retailers try to make the most profit possible per square foot.

The place where the retailer is most likely to sell the most products is at the checkout stand.  The simple reason is that everyone must go through the checkout aisle to buy any products.

Chewing gum, mints, and popular magazines take little space, sell very quickly, and get the premium spot in retail stores.  Retailers place these products at the checkout stand where every customer must go before leaving with any purchases.

So when I go shopping, I am buying things that buyers consider a good investment.  In most cases, shopping satisfies all my needs and wants.

When I hunt for a product, I take my efforts to a higher level.  I want something that buyers may not consider a good investment and do not regularly stock.

Buyers value customers as much as they value profit on an individual product.  I moved to Sacramento from Houston.  While living in Houston, I developed a taste for Tab colas.  When I moved to Sacramento, I discovered that most retailers do not even carry Tab and that the bottler shipped Tab only in six-packs and not in twelve-packs.  The price of a six-pack of Tab was the same as the price of a twelve-pack of Coca-Cola.

To get all this information, I had to do some hunting.  I spoke with the store manager at the Raley’s market where my wife and I regularly shop.  I called the buyer at the Raley’s headquarters.  I called the vice president of sales at the bottling company that made the Tab.

I became a product hunter.  The bottling company agreed to bill the store where I bought Tab the twelve-pack price for two six-packs of Tab.  The store began to stock Tab, which invariably sold out as soon as the product came in.  In response to the out of stocks, the store began to keep a back room stock for me to pick up when I was in the store.

Retail shopping and job shopping are similar.  Job shoppers go to the regular places everyone shops for jobs.

  1. Job boards
  2. Corporate Recruiters
  3. Company websites
  4. Current contacts in their networks

Job shoppers find the jobs that hiring companies promote the highest.  Job shopping may fit your needs.  You may find that you can pick from a variety of jobs.

However, you may not want to settle for what you find from job shopping.  Just as I found when I moved from Houston to Sacramento and attempted to buy Tab Colas, you may need to go to the job sources to get the job for you.  You may need to become a job hunter.

A job hunter decides what to hunt for and where to find it.  If a job hunter wants to work as an aviation mechanic, the job hunter goes to an airport or airplane factory.

Job hunters decide what concessions or compromises to make.  A job hunter who is willing to live anywhere will have more places to apply for a job.  Job hunters who accept contract, full-time, part-time, or temporary work increase the number of jobs for which they can apply.

Job hunters take a direct approach to get a job with a specific company.

  1. They create or expand their list of contacts who work for the company or have worked for the company.
  2. This list has no value if job hunters do not use them.  Job hunters introduce themselves or ask other people to introduce them to people who work for the company.
  3. Through these introductions, job hunters build professional relationships who can help them know more people at the company.
  4. They work with these relationships to get recommendations for the job they are seeking.

Building relationships in job hunting takes time.  Some trails lead nowhere.  Job hunters track more than one opportunity at a time.

Job hunters know that no matter how many relationships they make at a company, pursuing a career at that company may just never happen.

  1. Yet there are always other companies and realizing when a trail is a dead-end is discouraging but helpful information.
  2. Relationships at a company along a dead-end trail are sometimes the relationships who lead to the next opportunity.
  3. Job hunters look for opportunities within opportunities.  As their contact list grows, they look for overlaps in connections.  A person who cannot help them can connect them with the person who can.

Job hunters take action.

  1. Job hunters call people.  If a job hunter needs to speak with someone, the job hunter picks up the phone and calls that person.
  2. Job shoppers send emails asking people to call them.
  3. Job shoppers are passive.  They feel no need to be resourceful.
  4. Job hunters are fearless and aggressive.  They do not ask other people to take action.  Job hunters act.

Not everyone needs to become a job hunter.  The role does not fit everyone.  However, there is a whole world of opportunity that exists only for the job hunters.

Listening Power

Listening Power

People prefer to think that they are smart.  Most people also like to think that other people think that they are smart.  Sometimes I can impress people more when I ask intelligent questions about what they have to say than saying anything.

People enjoy discussing things they like and people they like.  People may even enjoy discussing things they do not like.  People may also enjoy discussing people they do not like.  Whether people enjoy the conversation depends on how much they agree with the conversation.

The best way I can know what people like is to listen to them.

I do not discuss some things.  As a headhunter, I have found that applicants often talk too much about where they are interviewing.  They are giving away information that competitors and recruiters can use.  They are also discussing the confidential information of their perspective employers.

In giving career counseling to an executive, I told him to keep his interview activities to himself when meeting with hiring companies.  I specifically told him that two of the companies with whom he had interviews were competitors and not to tell either about his interviews.  Imagine my surprise when I learned that he had boasted to the president of one of the companies that he was also interviewing with the competition.

When the applying executive began to discuss the high level of interest of the competitor, the interview ended on that spot.  In trying to impress the hiring president, the applicant blundered into boasting about things that were inflammatory and threatening to his potential employer.

When talking about other people, I find that it is often just better not to take part in the conversation.  If I need to rail about how terrible another person might be, I often find that it is better just to vent on paper.  One way to get things out of my system is to write a letter to the person who is making me angry.  I can write everything I wish to say to the person.  Then I mail the letter to myself.  When I receive the letter, I usually find that I feel foolish to have been so upset in the first place.

Most people prefer a discussion to a lecture.  Captivating speakers may spend time selecting their words.  They may practice their timing.  They may have become experts on their subject.  They may research their material to check for accuracy.  They carefully think about their audience and may add or remove material based on the audience.
I can apply these things to my speaking one on one.  I prefer that people believe what I say.  I prefer that people find the conversation interesting.  I can also limit my comments to the things that are interesting to the listener.

I can pay attention to body language and facial expressions.  People send signals when they are restless.  They may not stand still.  Their eyes may wander.  When people are restless, I can do four things.

  1. I can just be quiet.
  2. I can ask them a question to draw their attention back to the conversation
  3. I can excuse myself and give the person space.
  4. If I know them well, I can ask them if they are okay.

To continue to speak without an awareness of a listener’s state of mind is pointless and could weaken my relationship.  If the person is not listening to what I am saying, I do not gain anything from talking with the person.  If I continue to talk when the person clearly prefers not to listen may even irritate the listener.

There are times when there is power in saying less.   It is not the amount I speak, but when and why I speak.  I can listen to let other people know I appreciate their intelligence.  I can keep private information private.  I can speak about things I know are correct.  I can respect other people when I sense that I am wasting their time or making them uncomfortable.

The Power of Giving Recognition

The Power of Giving Recognition

People who give compliments and recognition are people I remember.

For several years, I have sent out a newsletter.  Two people have regularly given me thanks for my work in creating and publishing that newsletter.  One of these people is a senior executive at The Walt Disney Company.  The other person was the Vice President of Sales at Nestle at age thirty-two and today places more C-level executives than any other corporate recruiter in the country.

In the past week, I got a marketing email from one of my favorite clients.  The president of that company has been a loyal client and friend for twenty-five years.  His company did a terrific job on the email.  I sent him a note, complimenting him on his marketing campaign.

The best boss I ever had moved through levels of greater responsibility rapidly.  He was a four-star Admiral.  I once showed him some work I had just completed.  He said that the work was outstanding.  Then he said, “Of course, I would expect no less from you.”

I have read that the words people most like to hear are the words in their name.  When I greet people, I say their name.  Names are great for communication, so that people know that you are speaking with them.  More important is that, when I say a person’s name, I am giving them recognition.

I compliment a person on their appearance to give them self-confidence and to let that person know that their presence adds value to my day.  A receptionist in my office taught me a nice way to compliment people on their appearance.  What she said was most comfortable for her was for someone to compliment something she was wearing.  I try to remember that suggestion whether I am complimenting a man or a woman.

The real winners in giving recognition are the people giving the recognition.  These people attract people to them.  I remember people when they take time to give me recognition or a compliment.  I find that especially is the case when I have done a large job and few people have said anything about the work I have done.  I also find that I remember people who have repeatedly thanked me for my work or told me I did a good job.

Digital Marketing for Your Job: Do the Risks Outweigh the Rewards?

Digital Marketing for Your Job:  Do the Risks Outweigh the Rewards?

You have worked hard to create an Internet presence.  You have created a LinkedIn account, a Twitter account, and a Facebook account.  You have polished your profile on these accounts.  You have carefully selected people for your connections.  You value your relationship with each person you have added as a connection.  These are the people in your business, career, and social network.  They are classmates, co-workers, bosses, clients, friends, and family.

You have connected your LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook accounts so that what you post on LinkedIn appears on all three accounts.

Late one night, you are reading through the updates on LinkedIn.  You see something that disturbs you, perhaps a political article or some religious or social statement.  You decide to post your opinion on this subject on your LinkedIn updates. The next morning you realize that what you posted is true but inflammatory.

You go back through your accounts and cut the comment.  To your horror, you realize that your comment has created a thread of comments among people who completely disagree with your comment.

We all can say things that we regret.  When we say these things in the privacy of our homes, we can more easily correct our wrongs.  When say regrettable things in the office, we may find that we can correct our wrongs as long as we do not make a habit of saying regrettable things.  When we post something on the Internet where hundreds or maybe thousands of people can read our comments, we suddenly find ourselves in situations that we can not correct.

In the media, broadcasters often work in teams of broadcasters who help each other review what they write.  These broadcasters also may have editors with distinguished histories of cutting inappropriate statements.

Here are some good things to remember.

  1. If what you are writing makes you wonder whether the material is proper, your instincts are sending you a warning sign that you should heed.
  2. You have nothing to gain from posting anything you could regret.
  3. The things you write on the Internet become public records.  People may come across comments years from now.  By that time, you may have changed your point of view and have different friends and associates who find your comments offensive.
  4. You may not know you have offended someone and how that offense may have hurt you.
  5. Stay off membership sites when you feel tired or angry.  A weary mind and bad moods can make us say things we regret.
  6. Avoid politics and religious discussions on membership sites.  Membership sites are not political rallies or churches.  They are places people go to learn what is current in business and in people’s lives.
  7. If you can’t say anything nice, do not say anything at all.

Marketing through social media definitely helps build careers and businesses.  The most important thing you can write in social media is your profile.  Make it correct and positive.  As for updates and comments, limit those to things that draw people to you.

Job Power: Get Digital.

Get digital.

Among business people, digital skills have become common place.

Some business executives may still consider anything on a computer either a programmer’s task or a clerical task and beneath the requirements of their job.

However, most executives I know use a smartphone to thumb through text messages, news, and emails as a routine part of the day.

Students learn computer skills as part of the learning process.  By that statement I mean that first students must learn how to use the school’s computer and computer programs before the student can begin to study.  So to learn social studies, the students first develop computer skills.  These computer skills are skills that the student will use in other parts of the curriculum and are skills that the student will be able to use when going on to college or perhaps into a job.

School districts have used computers for student testing for some time. More recently, school districts in Virginia and California have purchased iPads and partnered with Pearson School to teach social studies. Khan Academy is a nonprofit educational service that teaches through its own website and through YouTube videos.

The greatest benefit I see from digital-based study programs is accessibility.  Teachers only have so much time.   Even parents only have so much time.  Students can study when they can reach a computer.

There is no age limit on being a student.  There is do-it-yourself study for every subject under the sun.  I still study every day.  I make studying part of my job.
There is a fork in the road for digital skills.   One leads to programming. The other leads to use.

Developing a vocabulary for programming terminology is helpful and fun.  If you develop a minimal vocabulary for computer languages you will have some understanding in a conversation among programmers and other co-workers. Contributing to a conversation is just one part of building your career.

What developers have done with network applications is fantastic for porting your work to remote locations.  For my work, I use a PC, a laptop, a Chromebook, and an Android smartphone.  I have always bought the least expensive products.  I love them all.  I have networked them to connect with each other anywhere.

I prefer the Google Chrome browser for work.  Windows Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox have some fantastic capabilities for personal, professional, and developer use.  However, Google has integrated the Chrome browser, the Android smartphone OS, and the OS for Chromebooks.  I now find it easier to use the Chrome browser over all other browsers just because the Google system synchronizes everything and provides enough free storage for anything that I need.  I can reach my bookmarks, applications, and files on any computer with a Chrome browser.  Chrome browser works across any operating system as well.

If you are lucky enough to own a gorgeous Mac, an iPad, or an iPhone, you have beautiful and fantastic devices.  You also have a tub full of harmonically integrated, free Apple apps.  Apple devices have fantastic work applications also.

Getting digital with my job is a lot of fun and very productive.   I enjoy learning new ways of doing my job.  Actually, new computer devices and applications have made me love my job all over again.  I can work from nearly any place that I can use my computer.   When I need a new application, I can usually find one for free.  I get more work done in less time.   The digital creation is rewarding because it looks finished, polished, and clean.  I can see the results of my work immediately.  I know that I am doing work people will respect for its appearance as well as its content.

Jobs: How to Negotiate Anything from Pay Raises and Promotions to Job Offers

How to Negotiate Pay Raises, Promotions, and Job Offers

Whenever you negotiate anything, do your research.  For example, when negotiating a pay raise, research the salary range of your job.

If you have an open, comfortable relationship with the human resources, simply ask for the salary range for your job.  Some companies publish internal information on salary ranges.  Some companies even post salary ranges on public job listings.

If you have the actual amount of the salaries in your company, ask for the pay raise in the increments of pay.  If your company pays once a month, ask for a monthly pay raise that matches what your company actually pays for a month of work.  If your company pays you once each month, you get twelve payments a year.  If your company pays every four weeks, you get thirteen payments a year.  Knowing the difference is important.

The arithmetic works like this.  A monthly salary of $1000 per month is an annual salary of $12,000.  A four-weekly salary of $1,000 (4 X 13 = 52) is an annual salary $13,000.

Knowledge from the Internet

On the Internet, you can research salary ranges for your job.  Some companies do not show their compensation ranges to their employees.  To learn the value of your job, click on the “Salaries” tab at the top of the page on JayWren.com.  You will find a custom search engine built on multiple compensation sites.

Negotiating promotions is a fundamental part of your career.  If you want your career to grow, make promotion negotiation an ongoing progress.

  1. Watch for internal job postings.
  2. When you see internal job postings, check your skills and education for a match.
  3. If you do not have skills or education for a job that you seek, get them.
  4. Apply for positions you would like to have.
  5. Ask your supervisor for support in applying for a promotion.
  6. Periodically update your supervisor on your accomplishments.
  7. If proper, discuss your accomplishments with other managers in the company.
  8. Treat everyone with respect.  Your coworkers may someday be your boss.
  9. When you go in for a performance review, write your own review of your performance.  Give a copy to your boss.
  10. Do your research.  Network within your company.  Say great things about yourself.

When you interview, you are negotiating for getting a job offer.  Some people start negotiating the terms of an offer before they even get an offer.  You should know the range of compensation and the details of a job during the interview process.  However, before you can negotiate the amount of a job offer, you must first go through an interview process and get an offer.  In other words, you are negotiating for an offer.

Apply the same principles of any negotiation in the interview process.  Do your research.  Show the hiring managers how their company benefits from hiring you.

Layout the Details

To prepare yourself for negotiating the details of a job offer, you can use a comparison chart.  You can use nearly any word processing document or spreadsheet to create this table.  You can use a pen and paper as well.

Here is a sample:

Details Current Job Job Offer Difference
Salary
Bonus
Car
Investments
Retirement
Vacation
Health Ins
Dental Ins
Life Ins
Job Title
Job Function
Commute
Location
Travel
Job Interest

Once you have created your comparison table, you can begin a meaningful negotiation.  If you believe that your table can help you as a presentation in your negotiation, you can give a copy of the table to the hiring manager.

10 Ways to Reduce Job Stress

10 Ways to Reduce Job Stress 

I benefit several ways when I relax my mind.

  1. I think more clearly.
  2. I make better decisions.
  3. I feel better.
  4. I make other people feel better and help them think more clearly.
  5. I am healthier.  My heart rate goes down.  My blood pressure goes down.
  6. I have more energy.  The weight of stress leaves my body.
  7. I feel refreshed.
  8. I have greater focus.
  9. My intuition is greater.
  10. I think at a higher level.

Every season has things that cause stress.  Rather than list those things and give them attention, I will move on to the ways to find comfort in times of stress.

Learn to relax.  You can seek professional help in learning to relax.  You can find relaxation methods on the Internet.  You can read books on relaxation.  You can subscribe to magazines and newsletters on relaxation.   All of these methods are excellent.  They teach you to relax.  They reinforce your belief in relaxing and remind you to relax.

Relaxation methods are simple.  You do not have to join any organization or follow any teacher to learn simple methods of relaxation.

One popular method is to repeat a meaningless phrase silently.  You can create you own phrase.  Settle on something simple, one or two syllables.  Choose soft sounds.  Use the same phrase every time you practice this relaxation technique.  Close your eyes.  Just allow the phrase to float through your mind.  If you find that your mind has wandered from your phrase, simply let it return softly.

Use breathing as a form of relaxation.   Breathe in slowly.  Breathe out slowly.  For the first minute, simply focus on your breathing.  Think about the sound of your breathing.  Think about the physical sensation of your breathing.

You can add methods of counting as you focus on your breathing.  Close your eyes.  Breathe in to the count of four.  Then breathe out to the count of four.  As you breathe in, silently count, “one, two, three, four.”  As you breathe out, silently count, “one, two, three, four.”  This method of relaxation may help you fall asleep.

The quickest relaxation method is to count to ten.  Sometimes just counting to ten becomes so comforting that I may just continue to count to ten.  Counting to ten helps me find space before I say or do things I regret.  I clear my mind.  I have better judgment.  I let each number come to my mind slowly, softly.

During your work breaks, leave the workplace.  Take a walk.  Sit in your car and listen to things that help you feel calm.  Go to a quiet restaurant.  Visit stores where you can browse quietly.  If you have time, go to a museum or a park.

Find a place where you can sit quietly.  Release thoughts of work.  Whatever ideas come to your mind, just allow them to pass.  If someone joins you, accept their presence quietly.  If they say something, smile and tell them that you are taking some quiet time.  They are welcome to stay and join you.  Then close your eyes and sit quietly.  If the person then speaks, just continue to sit quietly.  Once they get the point, they might like to join you in quiet time.

Be a cheerful friend.  Other people are more pleasant when I am more pleasant.  I can set the tone in my relationships.  When I meet people who are unpleasant, I can avoid them.

When people say things that disturb me, I try to let the comments pass.  If you comment, you will increase the issue in your mind and in the mind of the other person.

Drink water and eat healthy.  As you drink more water, you will drink the less sugared and caffeinated drinks.  Also, as you drink more water, you will eat the less.

Energy drinks may give you a boost in energy.  They can also make you feel manic and jumpy.  For energy, eat a piece of fruit.  Bananas can quiet your hunger pangs and your nerves.

Melt like ice.  Sit quietly.  Close your eyes.  Imagine your fingertips and toes melting.  Imagine your hands and feet melting.  Imagine your scalp melting.  Slowly let your imagination melt your arms, legs, and face.  Then relax and let you body melt into a calm pool of water.  Enjoy the calm being like water.

Make Cyber Monday a Great Day on the Job.

While everyone else is sneaking peaks at deals, make Cyber Monday a great day to focus on finding a job or doing a great job.

This day is a giveaway day for many of your competitors.  They are falling into the cyber pit of Internet deals.  Move ahead of them.  Use this day to find a job or do your job.

Claim some recognition on this day.  Send your network an update on your job search or send your boss an update on your progress at work.  Turn Cyber Monday into your job marketing day.

Make your browser history a success tracker. Fill you browser history with research for your job search or with research for your work projects.  When you come across great ideas on the Internet, act on them.  If you see a job listing, apply for the job.  If you see a great idea for your job, send a link to your boss.

Make your desktop your success sheet.  Fill your desktop with shortcuts to job listings for your job search.  If you have a job, fill your desktop with shortcuts to great ideas and successful projects you have in progress.

Let your competitors throw away a day.  While your competition is making a list of deals to find, make a list of opportunities you have and act on these opportunities.  Beat the competition.  Make Cyber Monday a great day to find a job or do your job.

Tis the Season to Get a Job!

Jobs are always in season.  I have had applicants accept offers on nearly every day of the year. There are holidays year round.  If hiring managers have a need to hire a person, they continue the recruiting process until they make that hire.  If you going through a lag in activity, you can do things to create more activity in your job search.

Register with temporary agencies.  Many temporary jobs become careers. I have made permanent hires that started as temporary referrals.  I have a friend who started in a temporary job seven years ago.  He did a great job.  The company then funded his job as a full-time job.  He is still working for the same company.  He is in a larger role.

Look for seasonal jobs, part-time jobs, and full-time on the Internet.  There are listings for part-time work at all levels.  You can search Google for “part-time executive jobs,” “part-time director jobs,” and “part-time manager jobs.”  You will find listings for part-time work for nearly every job imaginable.

Continue to contact people right through the holidays. Most people are still working. Whether they are working or not, nearly everyone is reading email either to stay ahead at work or simply from habit.

Reconnect with your recruiter network.  Remind them that you are still out there.  Add new recruiters to your list of contacts and connect with these recruiters.

Expand your connections through referrals.  Remember to ask for referrals from each contact you make.  People do not always think to offer help with referrals.  However, some people will be very helpful to give you names of contacts who can help you.

Work with your career team.  These are the people you really know.  These are co-workers, bosses, people you have managed, friends, and family.  If you call them to give them updates, they may have ideas that will land you a job.

Review your resume and online profile for keywords. Use action words and nouns. Action words show your accomplishments.  These words are verbs.  Nouns are names.  Search engines look up names.

Remember that no matter what the season, you are responsible for your career.  There are jobs out there in a very competitive market.  The people who work the hardest at getting jobs are the people who are most likely to get a job.  In you are in a period of inactivity, you can create activity with the suggestions above.

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