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Your #Career : 19 Terrible #LinkedIn Mistakes you’re Making…There Are Some Things you Just Shouldn’t Do on LinkedIn.

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Kim Brown is an Assistant Director for Syracuse University’s Career Services Department. She spends a good portion of her day looking over LinkedIn profiles for job seekers and students.

LinkedIn coffee

She makes sure candidates are putting their best foot forward on LinkedIn.  Here are the most common mistakes Brown sees job seekers make on LinkedIn.

Your profile is full of typos

Your profile is full of typos

John Lillis

Brown says she’s spotted typos in company names, job titles, and even in the user’s name.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn doesn’t have a built-in spell checker, but your browser might. Safari, Chrome, and Firefox underline misspellings in red. Bottom line, whatever you use: Be as careful on LinkedIn as you would be with a paper resume.

 

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You have no picture in your profile

You have no picture in your profile

LinkedIn

Adding a picture to your LinkedIn profile can make a world of difference to a recruiter. Studies have shown that LinkedIn profiles with pictures are much more likely to get clicked on than those without.

LinkedIn says you’re 14 times more likely to be viewed if you have a photo.

You have a profile picture, but it’s a photo of you and your significant other (or worse)

You have a profile picture, but it's a photo of you and your significant other (or worse)

Filckr / Huw Thomas

Do not get LinkedIn and Facebook confused, says Brown.

Facebook is for personal pictures, LinkedIn is for professional ones.

Brown recalls one student who came to her, frustrated because he couldn’t find a job. When she checked out his LinkedIn, she saw that he had chosen a photo of himself doing The Chicken Dance at a wedding. Oof.

Stereotypical, duck-faced selfies are another big no-no that Brown’s started noticing more often.

She also says she sees a lot of people link to their Facebook profiles from their LinkedIn pages. Don’t do this. It’s best to keep the two profiles separate.

 

You don’t have a background photo or any other visuals either

You don't have a background photo or any other visuals either

LinkedIn

You can now add a background photo to make your profile stick out, too. You should pick something that matches your brand, Brown says — for example, hers is of the SU campus — and make sure that your file is big enough that it doesn’t end up looking stretched and pixelated.

LinkedIn also allows you to upload all sorts of rich media — like documents, photos, links, videos, and presentations — to your profile, and if you don’t take advantage of that you’re missing out.

“Your LinkedIn isn’t just words anymore,” Brown says. “You should really be paying attention to the visuals you can add to your profile.”

 

You haven’t put any thought into your profile headline

You haven't put any thought into your profile headline

LinkedIn

Brown says she sees a lot of people simply put “Student at X University” as their lead LinkedIn headline. She also sees a lot of professionals who are looking for jobs with old titles as headlines.

You have a lot of room to be descriptive in this area of your profile!

“If you’re a job seeker and you have a [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][vague or outdated] title, I have no idea you’re looking for work,” says Brown.

So, it’s better for a student to write that they’re an “Advertising major at Syracuse University who has experience with nonprofit work” or for a job seeker to write, “Experienced advertising professional looking for a opportunities in the med-tech space.” Her official job title comes in the “Experience” section of her profile.

Even people with concrete job titles should use the headline space to give more detail about what they do and are passionate about. Brown’s headline, for example, reads “I help SU students and alumni to craft their career stories | Connector | Speaker | LinkedIn Trainer | CNY Promoter.”

Never, never write “unemployed” — highlight what you’re looking for, instead. 

 

Very Important: You’re not reaching out to people through LinkedIn Groups 

You're not reaching out to people through LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn can be a great tool for networking, but messaging a complete stranger can be awkward. Try finding people who are in a group you share in common. This helps break the ice, says Brown.

For example, if you’re a Syracuse University alumnus, message a fellow Syracuse person from the Alumni Network before sending a blind InMail.

But pick and choose your recipient carefully: You’re only allowed to send 15 messages a month to other group members.

 

You’re not personalizing LinkedIn connection requests

You're not personalizing LinkedIn connection requests

LinkedIn

When you connect to someone for the first time on LinkedIn, don’t just use the generic message option, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

Take a few moments to write something personalized, says Brown. It will make the recipient more open to your request and the message feel less spammy.

Also, never lie about how you know the person. Lying is almost a guaranteed way to kill your chances at connecting.

You’re “connecting” with people from LinkedIn on your phone

You're "connecting" with people from LinkedIn on your phone

LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s now has a whole suite of useful apps. The flagship lets you connect to people with a click—but you can’t customize the message.

“People will say to me, ‘Well, I didn’t personalize my message because I couldn’t on my phone,'” says Brown. “It’s not an excuse. Get on your computer and connect that way.”

Wiggle room: The nice thing about connecting via smartphone is that you can do it immediately after meeting someone, in which case a message isn’t as important.

You also run a greater risk of typos on your phone though.

You haven’t created a unique LinkedIn URL

You haven't created a unique LinkedIn URL

LinkedIn

“The head of business development for a big company contacted me, and he had his LinkedIn profile link in his signature,” says Brown. “It was [Joe]-[Smith]-8346974. Who would think [all those numbers] look okay? It looks terrible. Definitely customize your URL.”

To customize your LinkedIn URL, press the “Edit Profile” button. Click the gear symbol next to your URL, which will take you to a separate page where a “Your public profile URL” box will let you change the link. Try to get as close to your first and last name as possible. Avoid cutesy nicknames or usernames.

You never bothered to fill out a summary

You never bothered to fill out a summary

LinkedIn

Filling out the summary portion of your LinkedIn profile is crucial if you want to pop up in search results.

“The summary is the most important part,” says Brown. “Having search terms and key words in your summary that are related to the job you’re doing or want to do is going to make you more likely to be found by the recruiters and hiring managers who are searching LinkedIn for talent.”

You don’t “stalk responsibly” or take advantage of it when someone’s checking *you* out

You don't "stalk responsibly" or take advantage of it when someone's checking *you* out

LinkedIn

Any LinkedIn user can see who’s viewed their profile recently, but if you limit your public profile settings, less of your information will be revealed to the person you’ve checked out on LinkedIn. The trade-off: You won’t see as many details about who’s visiting your profile, either.

Getting insights can be super valuable, so being public is a plus. Just stalk responsibly.

“If you’re job seeking and you’re looking at the same person’s profile 59 times in a two-week period, you should probably make yourself anonymous,” says Brown. “Don’t be creepy.”

If you’ve noticed someone checking out your profile in a field or at a company that interests you, though, it can’t hurt to message them to start a dialogue.

 

You haven’t broken your profile out into sections

You haven't broken your profile out into sections

LinkedIn

It’s not just about your summary and work experience: You can add volunteering experiences, organizations you’re part of, honors you’ve received, projects you’ve worked on, and more to your LinkedIn.

A lot of profiles are just one long block of text, but breaking it into different parts makes it easier for people to scan and for you to highlight certain parts that you think are particularly important.

“Don’t be afraid to play around with the order of the sections,” Brown says.

For example, if you’re a recent grad and your course work is more valuable than any of your previous jobs, drag the “projects” section above the “experience” section.

You list “skills” that LinkedIn doesn’t recognize

You list "skills" that LinkedIn doesn't recognize

LinkedIn

Adding a bunch of skills to your profile is a good way to easily flaunt your chops and make yourself more searchable, but if you write something obscure that LinkedIn doesn’t recognize, it doesn’t do you much good.

When you start typing a skill on your LinkedIn profile, make sure it appears in the dropdown menu. If it doesn’t, it may be spelled wrong, or it’s not a frequently searched item, which won’t help your resume get found by recruiters.

Stick to the thousands of skills LinkedIn already has in the system and your profile will pop up more often in search results. You can also allow people to “endorse”

You don’t have (credible) recommendations

You don't have (credible) recommendations

LinkedIn

Brown says it’s important to have recommendations on your LinkedIn profile. But not just any old recommendation—it should come from someone who’s reputable and it should speak to your specific qualifications.

“A lot of times recommendations are really generic,” says Brown. “Such as, ‘Alyson would be an amazing asset to your company because she is a hard worker and a wonderful addition to our office.’ Well, great. How about something more detailed, like about that time you worked on a specific project together?”

Make sure the recommendation someone writes for you isn’t applicable to every other candidate.

Getting these recommendations may require asking for them. Navigate to the “Privacy and Settings” tab, then to “Profile,” and you will see a link for “Manage my recommendations.” That section will prompt you to send a message to a boss or coworker.

You’re not posting photos, posts, or work-centric updates

You're not posting photos, posts, or work-centric updates

LinkedIn

Don’t fill out your profile and then forget about LinkedIn. Radio silence on your feed is bad news.

More than ever before, the site makes it easy to keep your network up-to-date on what’s going on in your professional world through updates, photos, posts, and comments.

“Make it a point to once a week do something,” Brown advises. “Share an update with your network. Put up a photo of an event that you attended. Comment on someone’s post. You want to show up in the network feed, and the way you show up is by doing those things.”

You can solidify yourself as an expert on a topic by publishing posts, too, which often get thousands of views from professionals across LinkedIn.

You’re not engaging with your network

You're not engaging with your network

LinkedIn

“The ‘Keep in touch’ section is a lazy networker’s dream,” Brown says.

Under the “Connections” tab, LinkedIn makes it dead simple to find little ways to connect with people in your network. You can see congratulate someone on a work anniversary, new job, or switching cities.

There’s no excuse to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of maintaining a relationship.

You haven’t left yourself helpful little reminders or scheduled reconnection nudges

You haven't left yourself helpful little reminders or scheduled reconnection nudges

LinkedIn

Every time you connect with someone new on LinkedIn, you should get into the habit of feeling out information in the “Relationship” tab that will appear on their profile.

You can add notes about their interests, info about how you met, and even reminders to reach out to them again in a week, a month, or on a recurring cycle.

“Don’t worry, it’s only visible to you,” Brown says.

You’re not exporting all your contacts

You're not exporting all your contacts

LinkedIn

Want to make it easy to take your LinkedIn conversations off the site, or make sure that you’ll still have access to your contacts if you lose access to your account?

You can export all of your contacts into an Excel file with their name, job title, and email.

Go to the main Connections tab, press the gear symbol in the right-hand corner, and then click “Export LinkedIn Connections” under “Advanced Settings.”

Viola! There are a bunch of different file formats you can use when exporting

“This is one of the biggest ‘a-ha’ moments that everybody has when I teach LinkedIn classes,” Brown says.

BONUS: You’re not using advanced search tools when hunting for a job

BONUS: You're not using advanced search tools when hunting for a job

This one may seem a little obvious, but if you use the advanced search tab, you’re much more likely to turn up relevant career opportunities than if you just conduct broad queries.

Instead of just searching by the name of the company or person, you can search by keyword, industry, location, and more.

You can also save searches, save jobs you’re interested in, and even apply, right through the site.

You’re not taking advantage of the “Find alumni” option

You're not taking advantage of the "Find alumni" option

LinkedIn

Recently, LinkedIn has really amped up the way it lets you find people who went to your university.

You can see all the people who attended your college who studied a certain major or were in your year. You can even search for a specific company, and see all the alumni who worked there. This is great for networking, reconnecting, or planning reunions.

“You can use it for a ton, a ton of different purposes,” Brown says. “It’s like an in-depth yearbook.”

Businessinsider.com | July 17, 2015 | 

 

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#Leadership : The Most Paralyzing Blocks That Successful People Have Overcome To Be Happy In Their Work…Below Are the 6 Core Blocks that Successful Professionals Have Overcome to Be Happy & Well-Rewarded in their Work.

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Literally Every Single Client of Mine in the Past 10 Years Who is Stuck in an Unhappy Career is Struggling with at Least One of the 6 Common Blocks to Progress. On the flip side, the highly successful and happy professionals I work with who find joy, reward, and passion in their work have overcome these blocks, either intentionally or organically.

burnout

This week, I had a career consultation with a client that hit me right between the eyes. While I’ve delivered hundreds of laser-focused consulting sessions in the past, in this one, it was clear in literally 10 minutes why this individual had struggled for 20 years in her work as an attorney, and what she needed to do to change that. A powerful realization emerged for both of us – that how she internally conceived of, and viewed her work with divorce had been triggering significant pain and emotional trauma from her childhood.

 

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I’m seeing more clearly than ever that the way people speak and write about their work, the way they frame it and emotionally relate to it reveals exactly what’s in the way of their moving forward to a happier life. And from their responses to my Career Path Self-Assessmentsurvey (a specially-designed set of questions I wished someone had asked me when I was just starting out and that all professionals need to answer), they reveal striking clues about the pain, negative internal messaging and emotional struggles from the past that are now hampering their ability to move forward to craft a joyful livelihood.

Literally every single client of mine in the past 10 years who is stuck in an unhappy career is struggling with at least one of the six common blocks to progress. On the flip side, the highly successful and happy professionals I work with who find joy, reward, and passion in their work have overcome these blocks, either intentionally or organically.

I believe that it’s an inevitable part of our human condition to have developed subconscious mindsets, beliefs and blocks that will somehow, at some point, thwart and undermine our happiness and success unless we work to uncover and resolve them. I’ve faced all six of these blocks myself in my 30 years of professional life, and can attest to how damaging they are.

Below are the six core blocks that successful professionals have overcome to be happy and well-rewarded in their work. And these six blocks keep others stuck in career misery, confusion and paralysis.

Block 1: The outcomes you are striving for are, in some core way, conflicting with what you believe is good, right and true.

You simply can’t succeed if you’re in a tangle about the outcomes you’re focused on achieving in your work.

Years ago in my corporate life, I found that the marketing work I was doing felt very wrong to me. I was promoting products that I felt had no real meaning or benefit to customers, and our sweepstakes promotions were attracting people desperate to win big money because they couldn’t pay their bills. They didn’t want our products; they wanted to win money (I’d listen in to our telemarketing calls for the sweepstakes promotions and my heart would break). In the end, I hated the outcomes I was paid to achieve.

You will not achieve success (emotional, financial, professional or otherwise) if you can’t get behind the outcomes you’re bringing about in your work. Shift your work focus so that you’re proud of and fully behind the outcomes you’re striving for, advertising and promoting.

Ask yourself: What are the critical outcomes my work currently focuses on? Now…how excited and supportive am I, really, about these outcomes?

 

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Block 2: Your shaken confidence and faltering self-esteem have impaired your ability to see that you’re worth great money and respect in the workplace.

How well you’re doing professionally is inextricably linked to your relationship with and feelings about money and self-worth. If you feel, for instance, that you need to keep your service prices down to the bare minimum (where you’re not earning anything) because you aren’t sure what you’re worth (or you think that charging a lot is “bad”), you’ll most likely fail in your business.

There are ways to be of service to every budget, certainly, but you need to build a smart, flexible, multi-tiered business model that allows you to serve both those with and without access to money. You can do that many different ways including offering high-quality free materials and low-cost products as well as higher-cost services and programs. But in the end, you’ll go broke if you think that charging good money is a bad thing or that you’re not worthy anything to anyone.

In another example, as you’re going out in the world interviewing and applying for jobs, if you subconsciously doubt that you are worthy of being well-paid, you never will get the offers and recognition you deserve.

There are many ways to earn great money doing soulful, mission-driven work, but again, you need to be clear about your beliefs around what you “should” be earning and charging and how you feel about being wealthy or well-paid. If you have any shame about charging well, then you’ll need to heal to issues around self-confidence and self-esteem, and gain more clarity about the great skills and talents you have to offer.

Ask yourself: What do I feel I truly deserve in terms of compensation for my work? How do I feel about being well-compensated, even wealthy, doing this work? What holds me back from earning more?

Block 3: You persistently doubt that you are smart, talented or experienced enough to succeed at what you want.

My goodness, I’d be a millionaire if I had a dime for every person I’ve worked with who doubts the power and usefulness of her smarts, experience and abilities. Thousands of people I’ve worked with have suffered from some degree of “unworthiness” (and I have too). If you’re feeling that you really don’t have the talent, brains, expertise or experience to be valuable in the direction you long to, you’ll have to address this block proactively. You need to look first at where you got the idea you’re “nothing” or not enough, and secondly, you need a realistic assessment of what’s required to succeed in the field or direction you wish to pursue.

If you need additional experience or training, then go out and get it. Find a way. If you’re solid right where you are (with no need for more training or experience), stop yourself from your chronic put downs and from thinking you don’t have what it takes. Fake it until you become it (see Amy Cuddy’s powerful Ted talk for more on this). If you don’t know if you need more training or experience, do some exploratory online and in-person research with people, recruiters and hiring managers in the field and figure it out once and for all.

Ask yourself: Do I believe I have the talent and expertise (and worthiness) to be a tremendous success at what I long to do? If not, what step can I take today?

Block 4: You were culturally trained and taught that it’s not right or good to shine too brightly or stand out.

No matter what field or function you’re in today, you have to be able to broadcast in powerful, engaging ways what you’re great at (your “superpower”), and you have to do it both online and in person. You need other people to help you succeed and thrive, and to engage others, you need to talk about what you do incredibly well (and everyone has something that they’re amazing at). Become more comfortable sharing what excites and enthralls you, and stimulating others by your passion and your mission. If that’s too challenging, get some support to overcome this resistance.

Start by reading my book Breakdown, Breakthrough and Peggy Klaus’s book Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, and take steps to begin speaking and sharing about yourself and your work in engaging and compelling ways.

Ask yourself: Was I raised or conditioned to think that shining my light too brightly was garish, arrogant, unseemly or not humble enough? Was I shamed by my family when I shone too brightly? Was there someone else in my family I was told not to outshine?

Block 5: You have been taught that following your passion is a huge mistake – you believe it will hurt you or you’ll end up broke or miserable if you do.

The people who are the most successful and joyful (and empowered) in life have followed their passions, values, integrity and interests to a very high degree. They know what they’re made of, and they aren’t afraid to pursue an “unsure” path because they understand that the happiest lives are about being of use and making a difference in ways that matter. They know how they uniquely contribute and they won’t be stopped in delivering those contributions. Because of their indifference to the “sure” path, they are risk tolerant and have found great joy and security within themselves.

On the other hand, there are thousands of people who were taught and trained by their parents that following their passions for work would be a disaster – crazy, irresponsible and stupid. Many of these folks were potentially well-meaning authority figures who wanted security for their children. Sadly, their dogged insistence that “following your passion will lead to failure” generated a very negative result. These parents stripped their adult children of the ability to think for themselves, and live by their own beliefs, values, and standards, independently and confidently.

What to do? Complete my Career Path Self-Assessment and brainstorm every day for a full week about what you would pursue if money, time, support, etc. were no object. What would you research, explore and try on, and what new directions would you identify as desirable? Identify the visions you could, in actuality, commit to bringing into reality. And determine the activities that you’re passionate about that should remain as hobbies vs. endeavors you wish to explore making at a living in. If you don’t know, start talking to people doing work you’re interested in, and shadow folks engaged in what you think you want to do. Try on the professional identity. When you do, you’ll learn quickly if it’s for you.

Ask yourself: Do you believe that following your passion for your work will end badly? Who taught you that and what was their motivation and agenda?

Block 6: You think you must chuck everything and leave your old career totally behind to be happy.

This is the most misguided belief of all. You don’t necessarily have to leave your old identity and your old work completely behind to have a happier life. More often, it’s a pivot or a tweak – in direction, focus, outcomes, those you’re helping, and how you’re operating in the world – that will bring the most fulfillment, not chucking everything and completely starting over. In fact, the pain you’re feeling won’t go away if you just run – it will follow you wherever you go unless you learn how to BE different – and see things differently — in the world.

Take the time this month to brainstorm ways you can draw on what you’ve already learned, done and achieved. Identify 3 new directions that could potentially marry up and make great use of everything you are already, and everything you’ve learned and done. Understand who you are and the great skills, talents and abilities you already possess, and find new ways to leverage those.

If any of these blocks resonate with you, there’s work to be done. Don’t waste another minute being blocked and stymied in doing your best, most joyful and rewarding work.

For more about how to transform your career, visit The Amazing Career Project online course, Breakdown, Breakthrough and kathycaprino.com.

Forbes.com | July 16, 2015 | Kathy Caprino

Your #Career : Is It Ever OK To Accept A Job Offer And Continue To #Interview?…Picture this Job Search Conundrum: a Job Seeker has Multiple Hot Leads in Play. One of Them Extends an Offer.

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It’s Solid but Not Ideal, So the Job Seeker Tries to Hurry the Other Leads Into Additional Offers While Buying More Time to Respond to the First Offer. Eventually, that decision deadline can be pushed no further, and the other leads, while still interested, are not in a position to decide just yet.

  • Should you turn down the first offer, keep interviewing and run the risk that you don’t get anything else?
  • Should you accept the first offer and stop your search, forever wondering if you should have held out for something better?
  • Or do you accept the first offer, continue discussions with other companies, and take something else if a better offer comes? Is it ever OK to accept a job offer and continue to interview?

manage-irrational-employees

In general, it is a terrible idea to accept an offer and continue to interview.

While most work agreements are employment-at-will so you can quit at any time, you don’t want to be someone who quits shortly after accepting an offer. You do want your word to mean something.

In addition, being new to any job requires transition time. If you accept a role but haven’t 100% let go of the prospect of something “better” coming along, then you’re not really giving your new employer your full attention. During the inevitable awkwardness of adjusting to the new role, work environment and culture, you are not giving your best effort, and you may be too distracted to integrate fully. Your half-hearted acceptance is thus the start of a downward spiral.

Finally, it’s a small, small world. Confidentiality is paramount in the hiring process, but so many people are involved that you can’t lock things down 100%. If your new employer finds out you didn’t break off ties with previous prospects, this breach of trust could derail your stint right from the start, if not cause your new employer to cut ties immediately.

 

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That said, there are legitimate reasons why you still might interview even after accepting another job.

You can get closure on the other opportunities. You see your options fully play out, since clearly this new employer is not exactly right. You might even feel better about your new employer, if the other opportunities don’t end up as you expected.

You will have to manage the confidentiality very closely – when exactly are you going to complete these other interviews? If another offer does come through and you want to accept that, you need to make as little disruption for your new employer as possible – helping them secure your replacement, or helping with messaging around your premature departure. Keep in mind that your positive gestures may be rebuffed entirely – the risk of burning bridges when you renege on an acceptance or quit shortly after starting a job is high.

So proceed with caution, whatever you decide to do.

If you turn down an offer for other imminent, but still uncertain prospects, this is the time to really step up your search, including generating brand new leads. Seemingly imminent offers have a nasty habit of disappearing. If the other offers don’t pan out, having newer leads can distract you from regretting to accept that first offer.

If you decide to accept a job that is less than ideal and stop interviewing elsewhere, then don’t drive yourself crazy with what-if scenarios. It’s easy to convince yourself that some other offer would have been better, but that’s just fantasy. Embrace the new role you do have and make a go of it. Pour your energies into doing an amazing job and into changing over time the factors of the job you were less than ideal when you accepted.

If you accept the job but continue to interview, manage your risks in the immediate term as you sort out all the different options. In the longer-term, manage your career more proactively. You felt the need to accept an offer that is less-than-ideal. Why? If you felt you had no other alternatives, shore up your network, your job search technique, and your financial foundation so you increase your capacity to think and act long-term. If you needed to get out of your current company, take a hard look about what didn’t work before and make a plan to correct any shortcomings because the problems you had before might follow you to your new employer.

Did you accept a job before your job search fully played out? What happened?

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is co-founder of SixFigureStart® career coaching. She has worked with executives from American Express, Citigroup, Condé Nast, Gilt, Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey, and other leading firms. She’s also a stand-up comic, so she’s not your typical coach. Connect with Caroline on Google+.
Forbes.com | July 14, 2015

Your #Career : 7 Ways To Deal With Today’s Long Job Hiring Process…If you’re Looking for a Job, You Might have Sensed that it Seems to be Taking Longer to Snag an Offer Than in the Past. You’re Right.

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A Recent Study from the Employment Site Glassdoor.com Found that the Average Interview Process in the U.S. is Now 22.9 Days, Nearly Double the 12.6 Days in 2010.  It’s a maddening shift that’s only added stress for job hunters. I’ll provide tips on how to deal with this new reality in a moment, but first it’s important to understand what’s driving this change.

Interviewer3

On the surface, the trend towards longer hiring cycles seems counterintuitive. After all, as the war for talent has been heating up, you’d expect employers to act faster, not slower, to lock-in the best candidates. The unemployment rate just hit a seven-year low (at 5.3%) and the CareerBuilder jobs site says 49% of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in the second half of 2015, up from 47% last year.

So what gives?

According to Glassdoor Chief Economist Andrew Chamberlain, there are several reasons why the interview process is taking longer these days.

“Overall, the interview process has become longer largely due to the fact that more employers are requiring more comprehensive interview processes,” Chamberlain told me via email. “For job candidates, that basically means more hoops and hurdles they may have to jump through.”

Screening methods such as group presentations, IQ tests, personality tests and drug tests have gained in popularity, each lengthening the hiring timeline.

Chamberlain also noted that there’s been a marked change in the composition of the workplace in recent years, with a shift away from low-skilled, routine jobs and towards higher-skilled positions requiring more sophisticated skills. Hiring specialized and technical workers requires a more careful — that is, longer — vetting process.

Of course, hiring timelines vary according to job type and industry. Glassdoor says hiring decisions for entry-level jobs like retail sales clerks take less than a week, while the process for senior-level execs typically drags on for two months or more. If you’re a law enforcement candidate, you’d better have a holster full of patience: the average hiring time for police officers clocks in at a painfully slow 128 days.

Glassdoor says neither age, gender or education affect hiring time, though.

7 Tips for Job Seekers

Its report leaves little doubt that you should expect your job search to last awhile. Given that reality, here are seven ways to better manage the wait and, with any luck, cut the time it takes for you to get hired:

1.  Do your homework about the employer’s hiring process.Learn what you can before you apply. This will help you tamp down expectations.

Many companies now post information about their particular hiring process on the career page of their websites; some even offer online chats for prospective applicants.  You can also research the interview process by reading employer reviews on sites like Glassdoor.com or Indeed.com as well as by speaking with friends who work at your target employers.

 

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2. Ask about “next steps” at the end of each interview. Find out if more interviews will be needed — and if so, roughly how many, how soon they’ll occur and how they’ll be done (group, individual, phone, etc.). Ask the employer if you’ll need to provide any additional information such as references. Or, if appropriate, whether you’ll need to schedule drug testing. The more proactive you are about handling needed tasks early on, the less chance of delays happening on the back end.

3.  Do what you can to nudge the process along. While you can’t do much to control the employer’s internal decision-making process, there are a few ways to bolster your standing and help speed up a potential offer.

For one, send a compelling thank-you note that clearly explains why you’re the best person for the job. It’s not only the polite thing to do; the note will provide a reminder that you’re a savvy candidate who might get snatched up by a competitor if the employer doesn’t act quickly.

If you know someone who works for the employer, ask him or her to put in a good word for you. As I’ve written before, a strong internal reference is one of the most effective ways to best the competition.

Of course, it’s wise not to appear too eager. There’s a fine line between good follow-up and looking desperate. So demonstrate your interest by touching base at the agreed upon checkpoints, but resist the temptation to check in every time you get anxious.

4. Don’t read too much into employer promises. Even if you’re told “We’ll definitely have a decision by next week” or “You’re one of our top two candidates,” take such comments with a grain of salt.

Employers’ plans change. A hundred things that have nothing to do with you can delay the decision: The hiring manager goes on vacation; an internal project suddenly requires attention; the company becomes the target of a takeover.

It’s fine to take a moment to relish any encouraging comments, but then plow full steam ahead with the job search.

5. Adjust your expectations (and advise your significant others to do the same). Reset your mental time clock and plan on the process lasting two or three times longer than the employer indicates. If it finishes sooner, great. But in the meantime, you’ll have an easier time managing your anxiety during the wait.

6. Keep your job application pipeline full. When you only have one prospect, you’ll obsess over it day and night. The best way to keep your sanity during a long interview wait is by generating a steady flow of new opportunities.

Even if your dream job seems within reach, keep searching, keep networking and keep applying. That way, you’ll feel like you’re making progress and you may uncover other interesting job openings in the process.

7. Snag a competitive offer. Nothing speeds up the hiring process faster than letting employers know you have another job offer. Just like dating, you’ll appear way more attractive to potential suitors once they know others are seriously interested.

Of course, there are risks involved with this strategy, so use it wisely. Once you tell an employer there’s a competing offer, you start the clock ticking. That’s why this approach can backfire if the employer’s lengthy interview timeline can’t be easily shortened. Also, some employers might resent being pressured into making a decision before they’re ready.

But when presented in a non-threatening and professional manner, having a bird in hand is one of the best ways to force the employer’shand — and maybe even get a higher starting salary to boot.

Nancy Collamer, M.S., is a career coach, speaker and author of Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement and a contributor to Next Avenue. Her website is MyLifestyleCareer.com; on Twitter she is @NancyCollamer.

Forbes.com | July 14, 2015 | Next Avenue 

#Leadership : Top Signs Your Colleague Is An Empty Suit…Is your Manager, Employee, or CoWorker an Empty Suit? And How Would you Know If They Were? Here are Some Tell Tale Signs You are Working with an Empty Suit.

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Unfortunately, They Lack Knowledge of What They are Doing in Their Work Role. In the Worst Cases the Empty Suit Can’t Manage to Explain the Goals of the Department. In a weak attempt to do so will say something similar to one or more of the following:

The Office

There is nothing wrong with dressing well for the office, but the problem comes when it’s all style and no substance. Expensive suits from Hugo Boss or Armani are no substitute for business acumen. Women and men are each just as guilty in this. Such people could be found in any company from the largest like Apple AAPL -0.1% andMicrosoft MSFT +0.28% to small entrepreneurial offices. Nowhere is immune from this scourge, unless you work alone.

Here are some tell tale signs you are working with an empty suit.

1. Thinks fine clothing is a substitute for brains. They might dress in clothing they perceive as superior and frequently demean your appearance with snooty comments.

For instance: “OMG, why are you wearing those single buckle monk strap shoes, that’s so last season.”

Unfortunately, they lack knowledge of what they are doing in their work role. In the worst cases the empty suit can’t manage to explain the goals of the department. In a weak attempt to do so will say something similar to one or more of the following:

“You know, we do awesome things.”
“We’re the glue that holds the company together.”
“Optimize processes for better efficiency.”
“We’re like the people people.”
“It’s like we forward the empowerment goals of the company.”

 

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2. Talks primarily in platitudes. For instance, in response to “why aren’t any of the computers in the department working today?” says one of the following:

“These things happen.”
“It is what it is.”
“I can see that being a problem.”
“It’s nobody’s fault.”
“It’s a pity.”
3. Parrots the company line even to the extent of unwittingly sounding foolish to others.

On Monday, says: “Oh yes we are committed to providing our employees with the best training in the industry.”

On Tuesday, says: “No we can’t possibly spend money on training because we have to cut costs.”

When confronted about the obvious dichotomy will say one of the following to deflect:

“Not my decision.”
“We are all together in this.”
“My hands are tied on that one.”
“It’s the same everywhere else.”
“I’m doing what my boss told me to do.”
4. Never takes responsibility for errors. For instance, fails to purchase the necessary beverages for the office party, despite multiple requests from the boss to do so. In defense, says one or more of the following:

“I agree we could have done better.”
“Things take time.”
“These things happen.”
“We can’t always get it right”
“I don’t recall being asked.”
Note the lack of “I screwed up” or anything else taking personal responsibility.

 

5. Shows no original thought. Just when you think your empty suit colleague might have provided an insightful suggestion, you actually realize that you’ve heard it before. Where? Likely one of the following:
You made the same suggestion last week (now its being passed off as new.)
It’s recycled from the CEO’s group webcast.
Your colleague suggested it yesterday. The “suit” now takes ownership after ridiculing the idea previously.
The idea has failed many times but the empty suit is too dumb to understand.
The suit saw the idea watching reruns of Seinfeld; thinks no one will notice.
By now you should have identified if there are any empty suits in your work group. If it’s your boss there is no alternative than to find a new job or else suffer in silence as the empty suit leads your department down the road to well deserved obscurity.

If it’s one of your coworkers then be sure not to work on any teams with them if you can help it. And if you are lucky enough to have no empty suits in your team then pray that it stays that way.

In the meantime, don’t forget to plug your brain in as you put on your business clothes.

Simon Constable is a New York-based writer.

 

Forbes.com | July 14, 2015 | Simon Constable 

#Leadership : The Daily Habits of 35 People at the Top of Their Game…Nearly 3 Dozen Successful Leaders Share the Rituals they Say Help them Succeed in Business & Life.

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When it Comes to Achieving Success, Actions Speak Louder than Words, Connections or Opportunities. Think about the importance of your daily habits, for example. Do you run five miles every morning because you value being fit and healthy? Or is it your regular routine to watch three hours of television every night because you feel the need to escape? Without a doubt what you achieve in life depends on your actions. Take it from 35 founders, entrepreneurs and executives who have achieved great things and credit simple daily rituals for helping them do it. Here are their quotes on what helps them get more out of business and life.

1. Hold back-to-back meetings in one location.

If I must have multiple meetings throughout a day, I often aim to set them back-to-back in one location. This way, I maintain efficiency and focus throughout the meetings, setting the pace according to the agenda and maximum time allotted [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][while] knowing we must get straight to the points at hand since the next meeting is impending. Additionally, placing these meetings back to back enables me to maintain a clear frame of mind during the times before and after the block of meetings, since I am freed from the constant self-reminders to be punctual to the next meeting.

– Tiffany Pham, founder and CEO of MOGUL, an award-winning technology platform for women.

2. Read voraciously.

My first job at Warner Bros. was preparing a daily press packet without internet. I had to read everything physically, clip pertinent articles, copy and distribute them to execs. This job taught me the power that one garners by knowing everything that’s going on in business and the world — who’s doing well and might be a candidate for a sale of a popular Warner Bros. TV series or movie and who is in trouble and might be a candidate and need a hit TV series or movie. One needs to be able to converse with other executives intelligently about their business.

–Eric Frankel, founder and CEO of AdGreetz, a cloud-based SaaS platform that empowers brands such as Intel, NBC and Toyota to deploy relevant, personalized video messages that build stronger customer relationships and increase engagement, activation and revenue.

3. Constantly triage your to-do list.

“The role of the CEO is really to keep the team focused on the most important topics, and it’s important that you do the same for yourself.”

–Vikram Aggarwal, CEO of EnergySage, a solar-marketplace company that recently secured a $1.5 million Series A round of funding and announced a partnership with Green America.

 

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4. Unsubscribe mercilessly.

I get a lot of unwanted email from folks who’ve subscribed me to lists that are irrelevant to me. I combat this clutter daily and find it’s a useful way of removing one distraction from my day.

–Apu Gupta, CEO of Curalate, a platform for marketing with images that works with 650 brands, reaching millions of consumers a day.

5. Block time on your calendar according to tasks.

It is so easy to fall into daily distractions, forcing you to play catch up the next day. This cycle can go on forever. Time blocking keeps me on track. I schedule a time frame where I am responding to emails, and then the next hour is blocked for meetings, etc.

–Jayna Cooke, CEO of EVENTup, an online marketplace for event venues that has listed more than 15,000 venues and attracts more than one million consumers a month.

6. Connect with your passion.

Every week I check in and participate with the product and technology teams. Even as the company has grown, I have forced myself to make time to stay connected. As an engineer, I personally enjoy participating in the technology challenges and love to learn about the solutions our team comes up with. Not only does it keep me up-to-date on latest ideas, but it also gives the team an opportunity to see the bigger picture and ask “why?” Not all startup CEO/founders are technologists, but each CEO has a passion. Staying connected with your passion will keep you engaged, even when your job evolves into bigger strategic thinking. Sometimes you have to let yourself have fun with the things you love.

–Alex Muller, CEO of GPShopper, a developer of mobile apps with a focus on the retail industry and annual revenue growth of 50 to 70 percent.

7. Limit the time spent on email every day.

It’s easy to get caught up answering emails all day and feeling like work is being done but by the end of the day realize that no progress has been made on strategically pushing the business forward. You just spent the whole day fighting fires and solving immediate problems but the to-do list remain the same as the day prior. Email can also be a bit of disruption given that it comes in in random intervals and thus can take focus away from projects and work that requires a continuous block of time and thinking. As a result, it is really important to invest blocks on time on email every day also block off times where email is not checked. I do not let email become the “default” work item because it eventually [becomes an] insidious kind of semi-procrastination.

–William Hsu, co-managing partner of Los Angeles-based VC Mucker Capital, which was ranked as the number two accelerator in the U.S. by Seed Accelerators Ranking, a joint study by MIT and Rice University.

8. Spend one hour outside every day.

As a digital-only company, almost all of my time is spent in an office in front of a computer. This is why I make it a rule to be outside for at least one hour a day. Be it walking my dog, riding my bike or just sitting at a patio with friends, I find being outside as a form of meditation. No matter if it’s broken into 20-minute chunks or late at night, the fresh air helps me relax, release any stress and restart my mind for the next challenge.

–Alex Matjanec, CEO of MyBankTracker, a Brooklyn-based personal finance and banking hub, which helps more than 1.5 million visitors a month make smarter banking decisions.

9. Use technology for Personal Relationship Management (PRM).

Every CEO has a to-do list or actions that they need to accomplish daily. While we have many strategic objectives and initiatives that we work on, one daily habit is to target relationships to accelerate or organizations progress. These include clients, partners, internal team members and board members. I weekly schedule an agenda of engagement with each of these relationships via a PRM tool, CallPlease which allows for real-time daily prioritization of these relationship interactions. I leverage the mobile CallPlease app on my iPhone and since it is a team-based system my executive admin can also support these interactions via a web console through its workflow.

–Kris Snyder, CEO of Vox Mobile, a Cleveland-based enterprise mobility solution provider with annual growth which trends above 30 percent, a recent funding round closing at $6.7 million, and consistent inclusion in Gartner’s MMS Magic Quadrant. Snyder is also the founder of the Global Enterprise Mobility Alliance (GEMA).

10. Prioritize key employee objectives.

I know that even my best employees have a range of focus and performance. In addition to motivating them through traditional recognition methods I’ve found that letting them know that their personal objectives are important to me earns their best efforts and loyalty. In the past this has included sponsoring night classes not directly related to their job and helping an employee secure a book deal with a major publisher.

–James Roche, CEO of Houseplans.com, a San Francisco-based stock home design site which has grown 25% year over year.

11. Focus on two to three things a day.

I can’t multi-task. It creates too much chaos.

–Tim Eisenhauer, president of San Diego software provider Axero Solutions, a profitable bootstrapped company with hundreds of customers playing in the crowded enterprise software market with huge venture-backed competitors.

12. Have a family dinner.

We may be co-founders, but we are also mom and dad to three daughters. No matter how hectic running a fast-growing startup is, we make sure to shut off the cell phones and have a family dinner with our girls. While many CEOs are still going strong at 6 p.m., we’re passing the green beans and focusing on what matters most to us — our family. What’s most amazing is how many of our business and marketing ideas have come from our twin 8-year-olds and our 11-year-old right at the dinner table.

–Scott and Missy Tannen, founders of Boll & Branch, a New York based company with a line of accessibly priced luxury bed linens which launched in January 2014 with first-year revenue topping $2 million and more than a $10 million run rate in its second year in business.

13. Get home on time.

I try and be religious about the time I leave my house in the morning for work and the time I get back. It helps balance things and ensures I am present, both physically and mentally, with my family.

–Jeff Braverman, CEO of snack and candy store Nuts.com which has grown revenue to $35 million, up from $1.5 million in 2002.

14. Exercise every day.

I try to run every day and science now shows a positive correlation between running and creativity. It has helped me maintain a sense of balance, it grounds me, and offers an outlet on my most stressful days, and allows me to lean into risk and uncertainty. What I find is that many people, especially executives, take the workouts off the calendar when they get busy or are dealing with a particularly stressful time in their careers or lives. It should be opposite. The more stressed out you may feel the more important it is to carve that time for workouts that nourish not only your body but your soul as well.

–Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods which has grown gross sales to $130.2 million.

15. Every morning read 20 to 30 unsolved customer support tickets.

I think proactively knowing about customer problems can really help you build a long-term intuition about the important things you need to get right when you build your company. And it helps you build empathy with the people that ultimately have to do the hard work of working through those customer problems.

–Suhail Doshi, CEO of Mixpanel, an analytics platform for mobile and web which helps companies gain insights into user activity and leverage this data to build better products. Mixpanel now tracks 50 billion actions people take in applications per month.

16. Check KPIs first thing in the morning.

As an organization grows, it’s easy to let a little distance get between the CEO and the day to day. By checking KPIs first thing in the morning, I already know the answer tohow we’ve been performing and can immediately move on to the why. I’m in a better position to ask my team important questions, and we can all work more efficiently and effectively.

–Michael Ortner, CEO of Capterra, a web service that has helped companies such as Coca-Cola, Walmart and The Home Depot find and purchase business software.

17. Be unpredictable.

Successful people predict trends but they are original and innovative. Have your own workflow, stick with it or break the rules, but try to stay ahead of others by gettting away of patterns.

–Serban Enache, CEO of global stock photo site Dreamstime.com, which has been used by more than 11 million users since its launch in 2000.

18. Always ask why.

So much of work becomes too focused on the what–the plan we’re writing, the project we’re trying to complete on time, the deadline we missed. We don’t ask “why” enough and it’s the best way to get context for the stuff we’re trying to get done. I’ve found asking it of myself is as important as asking it of the people I work with. It’s critical to staying grounded in what’s most important. I try to keep asking why until I can’t go any deeper. Then get going.

–Jay Simons, president of software company Atlassian which offers team collaboration products including JIRA, Confluence, Bitbucket, and HipChat which are collectively used by more than 48,000 companies worldwide.

19. Allow enough unscheduled time during the day to think, react or write.

This enables me to gets things done on the same day instead of allowing the guilt pile to build up. I keep blocks on my schedule to avoid over-scheduling each day… I am significantly more productive when I am not forced to multitask. Studies have shown that multitasking leads to inefficiency. By creating pockets of time in which I can work alone, I am able to accomplish tasks on the same day and also leave time for collaboration.

–Dr. Walter S. Scott, founder, executive vice president and chief technical officer of satellite imagery company DigitalGlobe, which provides images and geospatial content to U.S. government defense and intelligence agencies, international governments, every major online mapping platform such as Google and other commercial customers.

20. Exude positivity.

I’ve made it a habit to be a positive, enthusiastic source within my company. Even in the morning “hi” or “welcome” has huge ripple effects across the organization at scale. It seems so simple, but has the power to make employees feel valued and appreciated.

–Kris Duggan, CEO of BetterWorks, an employee-related goals platform that recently closed a $15.5 million Series A round and is more than doubling active users every quarter.

21. Prioritize a daily to-do list.

I’m a zero-inbox CEO. Occasionally I don’t get there, but each night I give it my all to power through via all available gmail shortcuts and give folks the responses they need as quickly and efficiently as possible. I hate feeling like a delay on my response might prevent Omada employees from quickly progressing their work.

–Sean Duffy, CEO of Omada Health, a digital-therapeutics company that was selected by Fast Company as one of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.”

22. Talk to people.

This is often described as “managing by wandering around” but don’t under-value it. Having random conversations with different people across the organization will really help you keep your ear to the ground on what is really happening. Be respectful and don’t interrupt people who are working but catching someone making a coffee in the kitchen, give them a big smile and learn a bit about their day in a friendly, non-creepy way. You will easily stay on top of the pulse of the organization.

–Jonathan Cogley, CEO and founder of IT security company Thycotic which ranks at the 2,671 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in 2014, up 760 spots from 2013.

23. Prepare budgets by initiatives and expected outcomes rather than by functions.

Thinking about spending this way keeps me focused on how each dollar contributes to building the company.

–Mike Zivin, cofounder and CEO of Whittl, an online appointment booking platform for neighborhood businesses, which recently raised a $3.3 million series A round with backing from GrubHub co-founder Mike Evans as well as GrubHub’s first VC, Origin Ventures in Chicago.

24. Get coached.

Olympic athletes have coaches — so should CEOs. I have had a coach for years, Ed Batista, who I work with at least biweekly to recognize and improve my weaknesses.

–Douglas Merrill, former CIO of Google and now CEO of ZestFinance, a big-data startup that uses more than 100,000 data points about an individual to figure out if he or she will pay back a loan.

25. Keep a close eye on the competition.

I use the first 15 minutes of each day to read competitive web sites and any press they might be receiving. Knowing what our competition is doing or thinking is critical to our ability to both win and keep business.

–Darin LeGrange, CEO of Aldera, a company that provides health plans (insurers) with the back-office technology that handles billing, claims processing, coverages, and more.

26. Get moving.

I am a huge believer in walking, and in moving around in general. At the very least, I make sure to get up from my chair every hour, and walk the office. Not only does this get the blood flowing, it helps me see what the team is working on and helps spur the spontaneous discussions that lead to new ideas and innovations. I also love to do walking meetings. Instead of going into a conference room, we’ll walk around our neighborhood, a mix of businesses and beautiful old houses and apartment buildings. I find this brings out more natural and authentic discussions, and keeps people in the moment – you can’t mentally check out like you can if you’re sitting at a table.

–David Kalt, founder and CEO of Reverb, a marketplace for musical instruments and gear that has raised about $5 million in funding and expects to do $130 million in transactions this year, up from $40 million last year.

27. Read the news about your industry first thing in the morning.

“The first thing I do once out of bed is read 15 to 30 minutes religiously. I jot down anything interesting for rumination vis a vis healthcare [such as] Netflix’s god mode, or Jaguar’s brainwave tracker. It’s amazing how many dots you can connect by just reading.”

–Ahmed Albaiti, founder and CEO of Medullan, a digital health innovation company that works with payers, providers, and pharma on patient engagement.

28. Adjust your perspective.

Every Tuesday at noon San Francisco administrators test the emergency alarm system, which I now use as a marker for a notable time in each week. Every Tuesday at Noon, I deliberately try to “let go of all things negative, retain all things positive, and march forward to a better week, and a better you!” Though this started as a personal habit, it’s become a company-wide event, across multiple time zones.

–Neha Sampat, CEO of digital tech solutions provider Built.io, which powers innovation at the intersection of enterprise mobility and the Internet of Things (IoT) for startups and Fortune 500 companies. Sampat also co-founded KurbKarma, was named a “San Francisco Business Times 40 under 40″ honoree, as well as one of “50 Women in Tech Dominating Silicon Valley” in 2015.

29. Get to inbox zero.

“Anything that’s not actionable immediately, I get out of my inbox. This frees me up to think and focus on the tasks that I know will take up most of my time, like building a team of amazing people who are smart, thoughtful and motivated who are trying to achieve something. That is the number 1 most important thing in building a company as I truly believe a company is only as good as what is made up of. ”

–Rick Morrison, CEO of Comprehend Systems, which works with big names in the life-sciences industry, such as Boston Scientific, Astellas, and AstraZeneca, modernizing and improving the quality in their clinical process through cloud-based tech.

30. Make a daily “top three” to-do list.

As CEO, my to-do list is never ending, so it’s important for me to prioritize. Typically, I’ll make a daily list of the three most important things I need to get done that day. It really helps to make my day more manageable. As a morning person, I tend to complete those activities before noon, which then gives me time to address other urgent items that come up during the day.

–Ratmir Timashev, CEO of Veeam, a data center backup company founded in 2006 which now employs more than 1,500 employees around the world and brings in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, with its sights on reaching $1 billion in revenue in the next five years.

31. Get up to speed with direct reports first thing.

Informally, I call each of my direct reports between 7 to 8 a.m. daily to catch up and get updates on various parts of the business.

–Michael MacDonald, CEO of nutrition and weight-loss company Medifast.

32. Plan your work and work your plan.

I think Evander Holyfield said that. But anyhow, I use [the project management app]Trello to manage my day-to-day. It’s color-coded between Hiring, Investor, Legal, Sales/Marketing/Press, Product, Admin, and JFDI. Every Sunday night, I get my week prepped by looking at my calendar and my Trello board. Then, every morning, I take a quick look at the Trello board and mentally prep myself for the day.

–Jason van den Brand, co-founder and CEO of online mortgage refinancing startupLenda, which graduated from Silicon Valley-based 500 Startups last year. Since then, the company raised its first round of funding, has been growing 40 percent month over month since December, and recently passed the $40 million mark in loans financed through the platform.

33. Keep a short to-do list.

I keep my to-do list short. Every morning I write down the three most important things I need to do that day to move the needle forward. This helps me to make sure I’m playing more offense than defense. It’s so easy to get bogged down in email and other people’s to-do lists that when you look up at the end of the day you realize you didn’t make any progress on the things that are most important. Keeping my to-do list forces me to prioritize and do just the things that are most important.

–Ethan Austin, founder of the online fundraising website Give Forward, which has raised more than $150 million and hosts 20,000 active fundraisers at any given time.

34. Take time to reflect.

As a CEO, you can’t be afraid of the decisions you make. But it’s just as dangerous to have full confidence in your decisions. Every day I reflect back on the effects of my decisions that day and how I can improve upon them in the future.

– John Yung, CEO of cloud application management platform Appcara which is used by customers including Sysorex, AIS, HP Cloud Services and Intermedia.

35. Be consistent and proactive.

I was an avid bodybuilder back in my college days and to succeed you had to be religiously consistent day after day with diet, nutrition and training. I applied the same in business. It takes time to create great products and a stable business so I’ve learned to succeed you have to remain consistent especially when you truly believe in something. It’s a two-edged sword that if not tamed can also have negative ramifications, so I also try to be proactive to know when to change angles when the need arises.

– Payman Taei, is CEO and founder of Visme a DIY online tool that has empowered over 200,000 businesses and non-profits create better presentations and infographics. He is also the founder ofHindSite Interactive an award-winning web agency that helps companies improve their online presence with effective websites.

What daily habits help you achieve more in business and life?

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Image: Getty Images
Inc.com | July 13, 2015 | 

BY CHRISTINA DESMARAIS

Contributor, Inc.com

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#Strategy : 5 Ways To Use Life’s Challenges To Make You Better, Not Bitter…The “My-Life-Fell-Apart-at-Age-26 Club” is a Group that No One Wants to Join, but When We Do, we’re Always Eager to Meet the Other Members & Hear Their Stories.

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That Email was from Courtney Clark, and while our Stories Weren’t Quite the Same—I was Widowed at age 26 & She was Diagnosed with Cancer—we could relate to one another. But Clark’s story didn’t end after she beat Melanoma. Since then, she’s had two more recurrences of cancer. And as if that wasn’t enough to deal with, she also survived a brain aneurysm. Yet, rather than become bitter about the hand she’s been dealt, she chooses to spend her time teaching others about resilience.

Courtney Clark

The “My-Life-Fell-Apart-at-Age-26 Club” is a Group that No One Wants to Join, but When We Do, we’re Always Eager to Meet the Other Members & Hear Their Stories. So when I got an email a couple of weeks ago with a subject line that said, “My life blew up at age 26, too!” it caught my attention.

That email was from Courtney Clark, and while our stories weren’t quite the same—I was widowed at age 26 and she was diagnosed with cancer—we could relate to one another. But Clark’s story didn’t end after she beat Melanoma. Since then, she’s had two more recurrences of cancer. And as if that wasn’t enough to deal with, she also survived a brain aneurysm. Yet, rather than become bitter about the hand she’s been dealt, she chooses to spend her time teaching others about resilience.

Clark, who describes herself as the luckiest unlucky person in the world, is the author of The Giving Prescription, a book that describes how helping others provides physical and emotional healing to anyone going through traumatic circumstances. She’s also a keynote speaker and the founder of a nonprofit.

After several conversations with Clark, I wanted to know her secret to bouncing back after adversity. I asked her how has she’s handled so many health issues without turning into an angry, bitter person. Here are Clark’s five strategies for facing change and overcoming life’s challenges without resentment:

1. Concentrate on the Bull’s-Eye

Life is full of urgent activities—like that email that just pinged onto your computer as you were reading this sentence. In our busy lives, we often get distracted from the tasks that are really important, and start trying to do 25 other things, too.  But those 25 things put together are less important than the bull’s-eye. Particularly in times of challenge, you have to focus on what’s most important, and let the rest go.

 

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2. Be Willing to Go with Plan B

We’re told that successful people have plans. That’s true, but the really successful people are the ones who know what to do when their plan doesn’t work out. The key is learning how to let go of a plan that isn’t serving you.  I was diagnosed with cancer at 26 and learned that biological children weren’t likely in my future. Four years later, I met my teenaged son at a volunteer event. Motherhood doesn’t look like I expected, but my son is the child I was meant to parent. We have to let go of Plan A to make room for Plan B.

3. Focus on How You Deal, Not What You’re Dealt

Why did hundreds of people survive the Titanic, but Molly Brown is the only one who became infamous for it? Molly commandeered her lifeboat and organized months-long volunteer efforts on behalf of the other Titanic survivors, rallying everyone around her. Two people can be dealt the same issue, with dramatically different results.  Your life story isn’t about what happens to you, it’s about what you do from that moment on.

 

Forbes.com | July 13, 2015 | Amy Morin

 

Your #Career : Do #Employers Care About College Grades? … The Short Answer: Yes. Companies see GPAs as a Threshold to Manage their #Recruitment.

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Employers Want to see a GPA of 3.0 or Higher, & Many Put the Floor at 3.5.  Checked in with Dan Black, the Director of Recruiting for the Americas at professional services giant Ernst & Young, which Hires thousands of new U.S. grads every year. He says, Absolutely, he expects to see a GPA on a résumé. “Grades Certainly Do Matter when We’re Recruiting Students,” he says. “It’s really one of the only indications we have of a student’s technical ability or competence to do the job.”

workaholics-2

At the end of my son’s freshman year at UCLA, his grades are not what I would have hoped. I won’t print his average here but suffice to say it’s not a 4.0. He did get an A in a history course but his performance in two required science classes was sub-par. This summer he’s making good money teaching tennis at a local camp where he’s worked before, a job where academic performance doesn’t matter. But what about next summer or the summer after that, when he may try to land a paying internship at a consulting firm or ad agency? More important, what effect will his GPA have on his job prospects post-graduation?

I talked to career services directors at four schools—New York University, Brandeis, Rochester Institute of Technology and Purdue—and they all agree: Employers do care about grades. Students shouldn’t think that just because they’ve mounted the admissions hurdle, they can slack off in class. To be sure, many small employers won’t expect to see a GPA on a résumé, but most large companies will. According to a 2013 survey of more than 200 employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 67% of companies said they screened candidates by their GPA. NACE, A Bethlehem, PA non¬profit, links college placement offices with employers. Its members tend to be big companies with an average of 7,500 people on the payroll, including Kellogg, Procter & Gamble and Bank of America.

 

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I also checked in with Dan Black, the director of recruiting for the Americas at professional services giant Ernst & Young, which hires thousands of new U.S. grads every year. He says, absolutely, he expects to see a GPA on a résumé. “Grades certainly do matter when we’re recruiting students,” he says. “It’s really one of the only indications we have of a student’s technical ability or competence to do the job.”

The career services directors I spoke to all say that Employers Want to see a GPA of 3.0 or Higher, & Many Put the Floor at 3.5. But Black says there is no hard cut¬off. Even a student with a 2.1 could get a job at Ernst & Young if he had a good reason for his lagging marks, like being called up for military service in the middle of a semester. Or a student with a 3.2 could beat out an applicant with a 3.9 if the student with the lower grades were working 30 hours a week to put himself through school and at the same time serving as class treasurer. “I’m always looking for people who can juggle multiple responsibilities,” says Black. One thing Black says that startles me: he has gotten to know the schools where he recruits, like U. Penn., so well that he can evaluate what it means for a student to get a B in a class with an especially tough professor.

According to Trudy Steinfeld, head of career services at NYU, the companies that care the most about grades are investment banks, professional service firms like Ernst & Young and pharmaceutical companies. Even if a student is not applying in one of those areas, if he has a GPA over 3.0, she recommends he include the average on his résumé. Do include honors like cum laude and membership in Phi Beta Kappa, she adds.

Manny Contomanolis, head of career services at Rochester Institute of Technology, agrees. He also says it’s important to be honest because at least a third of the time, employers request a copy of a student’s transcript. Black of Ernst & Young agrees. “Nobody gets hired at EY from campus without an official transcript.”

At Purdue, career offices head Tim Luzader says many large manufacturing corporations like General Motors, Ford, John Deere and Caterpillar, recruit on campus and they all want to see grades.” They see GPA as a threshold to manage their recruitment,” he says.

What should you do if your grades are lousy? There are a few possibilities. At Purdue, students have the advantage of some 30 career fairs a year, where they can stand face to face with company recruiters and sell themselves. “They can tell their story, whether they were working while going to school or whether they had a disastrous freshman year but have done better lately,” says Luzader. Steinfeld agrees with Ernst & Young’s Dan Black that students can compensate for bad grades with a compelling story that they can put on their résumés, like describing an internship where they did an analysis of workflow issues and improved productivity by 20%. Another fix, suggested by RIT’s Contomanolis: If the GPA in your major is better than your overall grades, only list that, or list both numbers.

What about small employers or startups? Do they care about GPA? Not as much. But if your grades are good, go ahead and list your average on your transcript. Dean Iacovetti, director of recruiting at Apprenda, a software company outside Albany, NY, says he doesn’t expect to see GPAs on résumés, but if he does, and it’s a strong one, he takes notice. “If there’s an individual graduating with a 3.5 from Cornell,” he says, “that’s someone I’d like to see.”

 

Forbes.com | July 8, 2015 | Susan Adams 

#Leadership : 29 Famous People who Failed Before they Succeeded…Consider This: Some of the World’s Most Successful People have Failed — Sometimes More than Once.

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Rejection Can Feel Genuinely Devastating. But before you retreat into your tear-stained hovel to plot a new, anonymous life as a subsistence farmer in rural Australia (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), Consider This: Some of the World’s Most Successful People have Failed — Sometimes More than Once.

Jay-Z

Instant success isn’t the only kind of success.

We’ve put together a list of indisputably successes, from movie stars to scientists, who experienced massive failure before they found fame and fortune.

Weaker people might have given up. Instead, these folks remained focused on their goals.

Scroll on to see the underdogs who went on to change the world.

Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star because his editor felt he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”

Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star because his editor felt he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

AP Photo

Several more of his businesses failed before the premiere of his movie “Snow White.” He went onto become the guy who redefined American childhood.

Oprah Winfrey was publicly fired from her first television job as an anchor in Baltimore for getting “too emotionally invested in her stories.”

Oprah Winfrey was publicly fired from her first television job as an anchor in Baltimore for getting "too emotionally invested in her stories."

Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

But Winfrey rebounded and became the undisputed queen of television talk shows before amassing a media empire. Today she is worth a cool $3 billion, according to Forbes.

 

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Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts multiple times.

Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts multiple times.

Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP

He went on to create the first summer blockbuster with “Jaws” in 1975, has won three Academy Awards, 4 Emmys, 7 Daytime Emmys, and his 27 movies have grossed more than $9 billion.

R.H. Macy had a series of failed retail ventures throughout his early career.

R.H. Macy had a series of failed retail ventures throughout his early career.

YouTube/A&E Biography

But at the age of 36, Macy launched R.H. Macy & Co., which grew to become Macy’s, one of the largest department store chains in the world.

Soichiro Honda’s unique vision got him ostracized by the Japanese business community.

Soichiro Honda's unique vision got him ostracized by the Japanese business community.

Getty Images/ The Asahi Shimbun

Honda was a mechanical genius who idolized Edison and rebelled against the norm. His passion for aggressive individualism was more fit for the United States, and he found himself alienated him from Japanese businessmen, who valued teamwork above all else. Honda then boldly challenged the American automotive industry in the 1970s and led a Japanese automotive revolution.

Colonel Harland David Sanders was fired from dozens of jobs before founding a fried chicken empire.

Colonel Harland David Sanders was fired from dozens of jobs before founding a fried chicken empire.

AP Photo

He traveled across the U.S. looking for someone to sell his fried chicken, and after finally getting a business deal in Utah, Kentucky Fried Chicken was born. KFC is now one of the most recognizable franchises in the world, with over 18,000 locations.

 

After having trouble adjusting to the culture and his classes, Dick Cheney dropped out of Yale — and then returned, only to drop out for good.

After having trouble adjusting to the culture and his classes, Dick Cheney dropped out of Yale — and then returned, only to drop out for good.

AP Photo/Richard Drew

George W. Bush once joked: “So now we know if you graduate from Yale, you become president. If you drop out, you get to be vice president.”

Sir Isaac Newton’s mother pulled him out of school as a boy so that he could run the family farm. He failed miserably.

Sir Isaac Newton's mother pulled him out of school as a boy so that he could run the family farm. He failed miserably.

Getty Images/Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller

Realizing her son was not meant to till the land, she let Newton finish his basic education and was eventually persuaded to allow him to enroll in Cambridge University. Newton went on to become one of the greatest scientists of all time, revolutionizing physics and mathematics.

Vera Wang failed to make the 1968 US Olympic figure-skating team. Then she became an editor at Vogue, but was passed over for the editor-in-chief position.

Vera Wang failed to make the 1968 US Olympic figure-skating team. Then she became an editor at Vogue, but was passed over for the editor-in-chief position.

Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

She began designing wedding gowns at age 40 and today is one of the premier designers in the fashion industry, with a business worth over $1 billion. (She also found another way back into skating, designing costumes for skating champion Nancy Kerrigan.)

 

Thomas Edison’s teachers told him he was “too stupid to learn anything.”

Thomas Edison's teachers told him he was "too stupid to learn anything."

AP Photo

After that, things stayed bleak for a while, as Edison went onto be fired from his first two  jobs, for not being suitably productive.

Edison went on to hold more than 1,000 patents and invented some world-changing devices, like the phonograph, practical electrical lamp, and a movie camera.

When Sidney Poitier first auditioned for the American Negro Theatre, he flubbed his lines and spoke in a heavy Caribbean accent, which made the director angrily tell him to stop wasting his time and go get a job as a dishwasher.

When Sidney Poitier first auditioned for the American Negro Theatre, he flubbed his lines and spoke in a heavy Caribbean accent, which made the director angrily tell him to stop wasting his time and go get a job as a dishwasher.

Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP

Poitier worked on his craft and eventually became a hugely successful Hollywood star. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor (“Lillies of the Field,” 1963) and helped break down the color barrier in the American film industry.

As a child, Albert Einstein had some difficulty communicating and learning in a traditional manner.

As a child, Albert Einstein had some difficulty communicating and learning in a traditional manner.

AP Photo

Of course, Einstein’s communication and behavioral problems were not indicative of a lack of intelligence. He went on to win the Nobel prize in physics for the discovery of the photoelectric effect, and his special theory of relativity theory corrected the deficiencies of Newtonian physics.

 

In one of Fred Astaire’s first screen tests, an executive wrote: “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little.”

In one of Fred Astaire's first screen tests, an executive wrote: "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little."

AP Photo

Astaire went on to become a Hollywood and Broadway legend.

J.K. Rowling was a single mom living off welfare when she began writing the first “Harry Potter” novel.

J.K. Rowling was a single mom living off welfare when she began writing the first "Harry Potter" novel.

Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP

Rowling is now internationally renowned for her seven-book Harry Potter series and, in US currency, became the first billionaire author in 2004.

Charles Darwin was considered an average student. He gave up on a career in medicine and was going to school to become a parson.

Charles Darwin was considered an average student. He gave up on a career in medicine and was going to school to become a parson.

AP Photo, File

But as Darwin studied nature, he found his true calling and traveled the world to uncover nature’s mysteries. His writings, especially “On the Origin of Species,” fundamentally changed the world of science by spreading the discovery of evolution.

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting, “The Red Vineyard,” in his life, and the sale was just months before his death.

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting, "The Red Vineyard," in his life, and the sale was just months before his death.

Getty Images/Self-Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh

If he had given up his artistic career after it proved to strain his financial and emotional well-being, the art world would be missing hundreds of paintings from a true master.

After Harrison Ford’s first small movie role, an executive took him into his office and told him he’d never succeed in the movie business.

After Harrison Ford's first small movie role, an executive took him into his office and told him he'd never succeed in the movie business.

Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP

Ford’s career went on to span six decades, and has included timeless starring roles in blockbuster films like the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” series.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, had his first book rejected by 27 different publishers.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, had his first book rejected by 27 different publishers.

AP Photo

Dr. Seuss became a legendary children’s author known around the world for classics like “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham.” His books have sold over 600 million copies.

 

Lucille Ball appeared in so many second-tier films at the start of her career that she became known as “The Queen of B Movies.”

Lucille Ball appeared in so many second-tier films at the start of her career that she became known as "The Queen of B Movies."

Getty Images/Mondadori Portfolio

Then she got her big break when CBS picked up her and her husband Desi Arnaz’s vaudeville act and turned it into the highly influential sitcom “I Love Lucy.”

Winston Churchill was estranged from his political party over ideological disagreements during the “wilderness years” of 1929 to 1939.

Winston Churchill was estranged from his political party over ideological disagreements during the "wilderness years" of 1929 to 1939.

AP Photo

At the outbreak of World War II on Sep. 3, 1939, Churchill was appointed to the British Admiralty, thus ending his “exile.” The next year, he was elected prime minister at the age of 62.

A young Henry Ford ruined his reputation with a couple of failed automobile businesses.

A young Henry Ford ruined his reputation with a couple of failed automobile businesses.

AP Photo

However, after conducting a search, he was finally able to find a partner who had faith in him. Ford proved he had learned from his mistakes when Ford Motor Company forever changed the automotive industry and culture with his assembly line mode of production.

 

While developing his vacuum, Sir James Dyson went through 5,126 failed prototypes and his savings over 15 years.

While developing his vacuum, Sir James Dyson went through 5,126 failed prototypes and his savings over 15 years.

Getty Images/Derek Hudson

But the 5,127th prototype worked, and the Dyson brand became the best-selling bagless vacuum brand in the United States. He is now worth an estimated $4.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Stephen King grew so frustrated over his attempt to write the novel “Carrie” that he threw away the entire early draft.

Stephen King grew so frustrated over his attempt to write the novel "Carrie" that he threw away the entire early draft.

AP Photo/Elise Amendola, file

King’s wife Tabitha found the manuscript in the trash and took it out. “Carrie” became a hit and launched his career. His novels have since sold over 350 million copies.

Carey Mulligan was rejected from every single drama school she applied to. An auditor at Drama Center London told her to be a “children’s TV show presenter” instead.

Carey Mulligan was rejected from every single drama school she applied to. An auditor at Drama Center London told her to be a "children's TV show presenter" instead.

“They were like, ‘Go home! Or at least experience something other than boarding school,'” she recalls. She did, and has since gone onto starring roles on Broadway (“Skylight,” “The Seagull”) and in Hollywood (“An Education,” “Shame”).

 

NPR icon Terry Gross was fired from her first teaching job after approximately six weeks.

NPR icon Terry Gross was fired from her first teaching job after approximately six weeks.

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

A newly graduated English major, Gross did what many of us do: she took a teaching job in Buffalo’s toughest inner city junior high. “I couldn’t keep the students in the classroom, I couldn’t teach them a lesson, I couldn’t do anything,” she told Marc Maron onstage at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Her tenure lasted all of six weeks.

Gross then discovered radio, and her long-running interview show, “Fresh Air” now reaches more than 5 million listeners on 450 stations.

 

Saul Bellow’s college English professor, the famed Norman Maclean, said he showed no signs of literary greatness and ultimately dismissed him as “a dud.”

Saul Bellow's college English professor, the famed Norman Maclean, said he showed no signs of literary greatness and ultimately dismissed him as "a dud."

Elise Amendola/AP

Bellow — who went onto write masterworks like “The Adventures of Augie March” and “Humboldt’s Gift” — ultimately won the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, a Guggenheim, and the National Medal of Arts. He is also the only writer to win the National Book Award for Fiction three separate times, and received the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

 

 

Lady Gaga got dropped by her record label, Island Def Jam, after 3 months. Upon receiving the news, she “cried so hard she couldn’t talk.”

Lady Gaga got dropped by her record label, Island Def Jam, after 3 months. Upon receiving the news, she "cried so hard she couldn't talk."

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Now, Stefani Germanotta is a pop icon, the winner of six Grammy awards and a Songwriters Hall of Fame award. She’s a regular on Billboard’s Artists of the Year lists, is known for her activism (LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS prevention), and is worth $59 million, according to Forbes.

Ang Lee failed Taiwan’s college entrance exams — twice. Then he tried to go to acting school, but his English wasn’t good enough.

Ang Lee failed Taiwan's college entrance exams — twice. Then he tried to go to acting school, but his English wasn't good enough.

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

“I was always in shame that I could not focus on books,” Lee told ABC News. “And I failed the college examinations. My father was my high school principle…That was bad.” In theater school, he fell in love with the stage, but his English wasn’t good enough.

Now, he’s an a three-time Academy Award-winning director, and the man behind mega hits like “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” “Life of Pi,” and “Brokeback Mountain.”

A young Jay-Z couldn’t get any record label to sign him.

A young Jay-Z couldn't get any record label to sign him.

REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Growing up in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, Jay-Z worked to perfect his flow, his lyrics, and his references. When he couldn’t get a single bite on his first CD, he and his friends sold the record “out of the boot of their car next to Gray’s Papaya.”

Now, the musician — who’s also an investor and entrepreneur —  is worth $550 million, according to Forbes.

 

Businessinsider.com | July 9, 2015 | RACHEL SUGAR, RICHARD FELONI AND ASHLEY LUTZ

http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-people-who-failed-at-first-2015-7?op=1#ixzz3ffzwOouq

Your #Career : 20 Words you Should Never Put On your #Résumé …Avoiding Overused Terms can Help #Job Seekers Convey their Message & Stand Out From the Crowd.

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While Any Large Companies Use Automated Résumé Screener Software to Cut Down the Initial Pool of Job Applicants, Loading your Résumé with Meaningless Buzzwords is Not theSsmartest Way to Get Noticed. 

Woman Using Laptop at Home

Get ready to start hitting the ‘delete’ button.

“Nearly everyone is guilty of using buzzwords from time to time, but professionals are evaluated increasingly on their ability to communicate,” says Paul McDonald, senior executive director for professional placement firm Robert Half.

One of the major problems with using buzzwords and terms, according to Mary Lorenz, a corporate communications manager at CareerBuilder, is they have become so overused that they’ve lost all meaning.

Another issue, she explains, is that many of these words don’t differentiate the job seeker from other candidates because they’re so generic. Instead, Lorenz says job seekers should speak in terms of accomplishments and show rather than tell.

“Avoiding overused terms can help job seekers convey their message and stand out from the crowd,” McDonald says. Here’s what you should avoid:

1. ‘Best of breed’

1. 'Best of breed'

When CareerBuilder surveyed more than 2,200 hiring managers last year, it found “best of breed” to be the most irritating term to be seen on a résumé.

“Anyone can say they are ‘best of breed,’ a ‘go-getter,’ a ‘hard worker,’ or a ‘strategic thinker,'” Lorenz says. “Employers want to know what makes the job seekers unique, and how they will add value to the specific organization for which they’re applying.”

 

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2. ‘Phone’

2. 'Phone'

Career coach Eli Amdur says there is no reason to put the word “phone” in front of the actual number.

“It’s pretty silly. They know it’s your phone number.” The same rule applies to email.

3. ‘Results-driven’

“Instead of simply saying that you’re results-driven, write about what you did to actually drive results — and what those results were,” Lorenz suggests.

 

3. ‘Responsible for’

3. 'Responsible for'

Vancouver Film School/Flickr

Superfluous words like “responsible for,” “oversight of,” and “duties included,” unnecessarily complicate and hide your experience says Alyssa Gelbard, founder and president of Résumé Strategists.

“Be direct, concise, and use active verbs to describe your accomplishments,” she suggests. Instead of writing, “Responsible for training interns …,” simply write, “Train interns …”

5. ‘Highly qualified’

5. 'Highly qualified'

Mays Business School/Flickr

McDonald saying using terms like “highly qualified” or “extensive experience” won’t make you seem better-suited for the job — in fact, it could have the opposite effect. Instead, he suggests you focus on the skills, accomplishments, and credentials you bring to the role.

6. ‘Seasoned’

6. 'Seasoned'

Flickr / mhaithaca

“Not only does this word conjure up images of curly fries,” says Rita Friedman, a Philadelphia-based career coach, “it is well-recognized as a code word for ‘much, much older.'”

 

7. ‘References available by request’

7. 'References available by request'

Flickr / Timothy Krause

This outdated phrase will unnecessarily age you, Gelbard says. “If you progress through the interviewing process, you will be asked for personal and professional references.”

8. ‘NYSE’

8. 'NYSE'

Flickr/Hans Watson

Vicky Oliver, author of “Power Sales Words” and “301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions,” says you should spell out any acronyms first and put the initials in parentheses. For example, “NYSE” would read “New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).”

“For starters, acronyms are capitalized, and all caps are harder to read than upper and lower case,” she explains. “It’s also really difficult to wade through a piece of paper that resembles alphabet soup.”

 

9. ‘Team player’

9. 'Team player'

TaskRabbit

“Who doesn’t want to be a team player? If you’re not a team player, you’re probably not going to get the job,” McDonald says.

But using this term isn’t going to make you stand out from other candidates. “Instead, use an example of how you saved a company time, money, and resources on a team project or in collaboration with others.

10. ‘Ambitious’

10. 'Ambitious'

“Of course you would never say you’re ‘lazy’ either, but calling yourself ambitious doesn’t make any sense on a resume,” Friedman says.

“It can imply that you’re targeting this job now, but will quickly be looking to move up in the company because you won’t be satisfied in the role, leaving the employer stuck with doing a new job search in the very near future.”

11. ‘Microsoft Word’

11. 'Microsoft Word'

Gvahim/Flickr

Yea, you and everyone else.

It’s assumed that you have a basic proficiency in Microsoft Office, Gelbard says. Unless you have expert proficiency, there’s no need to include it on your résumé.

12. ‘Interfaced’

12. 'Interfaced'

Kimimasa Mayama/Reuters

“Words like this make you sound like an automaton,” Oliver says. “Most recruiters would rather meet with a human being. Keep your verbs simpl

 

13. ‘Hard worker’

13. 'Hard worker'

War Production Co-ordinating Committee

It’s true that a company is less likely to consider you if you haven’t worked hard or don’t come across as someone who will put in what it takes to get the job done, but that doesn’t mean writing “hard worker” will convince hiring managers of your efforts.

“Give concrete examples of how you’ve gone the extra mile, rather than using a non-memorable cliché,” McDonald suggests.

14. ‘Honest’

14. 'Honest'

Screenshot

Honesty is one of those things you have to show, not tell, Friedman says.

“It’s not as if there are some other candidates out there vying for the job who are describing themselves as ‘duplicitous’ or ‘dishonest.'”

15. ‘Punctual’

15. 'Punctual'

Daniel Goodman / Business Insider

Being punctual is great, but it’s also pretty basic to holding down a job. Don’t waste the space on your résumé.

 

16. ‘@’

16. '@'

Flickr.com/IntelFreePress

Unless it’s in your email address, avoid casual texting language like @.

“A resume is a formal document and is often the first impression a potential employer has of you,” Gelbard stresses. “Business language should be used to reinforce that first impression and text-style or casual words should be avoided.”

17. ‘People person’

17. 'People person'

Flickr

Cliches like “people person” are impossible to prove, Oliver says, and recruiters have heard these phrases so many times they’re likely to feel their eyes glaze over as soon as they see them.

18. ‘Hit the ground running’

18. 'Hit the ground running'

Facebook/Baylor-University

“This one is a pet peeve of mine,” McDonald says. “The expression is unnecessary and doesn’t add value. A recruiter isn’t going to be able to place you if you’re not eager to start the j

 

9. ‘I’

19. 'I'

AP Images

Avoid using personal pronouns like I, me, my, we, or our, Gelbard says.

“A person reviewing your resume knows that you’re talking about your skills, experience, and expertise or something related to the company for which you worked, so you don’t need to include pronouns.”

20. ‘Successfully’

20. 'Successfully'

Dogma / Wikimedia, CC

“It’s generally assumed that you were successful at whatever you are including on your resume,” Gelbard says. “There is no need to say that you successfully managed a marketing campaign or successfully led annual budget planning.”

 

Businessinsider.com | July 10, 2015 |  

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/words-to-never-put-on-your-resume-2015-7?op=1#ixzz3fa2ozOJF