High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 8 Things to Do Daily to Be Happier & More Successful

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 8 Things to Do Daily to Be Happier & Live with Less Regret:"A good place to start is to take inventory of the things in your life that bring you joy or which have caused you regret."

• 9 Reasons Companies Should Hire Introverts, Not Extroverts: "Creativity is a problem-solving response by intelligent, very active, highly emotional, and extremely introverted persons."

• To Land a Great Job, Talk About Why You Love Your Work: "candidates interviewing for a job should highlight the meaning they derive from their work, and recruiters looking to attract job candidates should emphasize that their employees do work they love."

• 3 Powerful Goals for a Healthy & Happy Future: "I’ve read that common regrets of those on their deathbed are that they didn’t spend enough time with family or friends, that they traveled more, or took more chances."
• Top 3 Fears That Keep Midlife Professionals Trapped in Unhappy Work: "But fear about career change disguises itself in a myriad of confusing ways that we don’t recognize as fear."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 10 Career Milestones to Hit Before Age Thirty

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 10 Career Milestones to Hit Before Age Thirty: "Introduce yourself to the highest-ranking executive in your organization. Let them know what you do for the company and offer your services if they ever need help from your department."

• 10 Mistakes Smart People Never Make Twice: "If you keep the same approach, you’ll keep getting the same results, no matter how much you hope for the opposite. Smart people know that if they want a different result, they need to change their approach, even when it’s painful to do so."

• 5 Great Questions to Ask at a Networking Event: "Instead of competing with these folks, imagine the result of asking questions that encourage them to freely share that information. You can create a networking environment in which they're talking, you're listening and everyone is feeling heard."

• How to Deal with the Know-It-All in Your Office: "When I was in seventh grade, a new girl joined my class. Let’s call her Selena. She came from a big city, and she knew it all — what to wear, the words to songs, how to talk to teachers."
• How to Succeed as an Introverted Leader: "according to new research, many introverts may be shying away from leadership positions in which they'd actually excel, because of misplaced fears about their potential and capabilities."

Four Tips to Build a Network if You're an Introvert

At whatever point you happen to be in your career you likely understand the importance of building a supportive, encouraging, and challenging network around you.

This network can be made up of former college roommates, colleagues, your ex-boss, best friends, and family.

Some of us, however, are introverted or shy and might find it more difficult to work through the anxiety to build a network that can support us as we look to achieve our career goals and dreams. What do you do then?

Here are four tips an introvert can take to begin to build a strong and supportive network.

Begin with one. Don’t be overwhelmed. Start simply and work to develop a single relationship. You might find yourself more comfortable communicating with someone one-on-one, rather than attending a group. Identify someone from your job or school and invite them to join you for coffee for a few minutes. These simple interactions are the first steps in forming deeper bonds that can lead the relationship to a place of mutual support. In addition, this simple step can motivate you reach out to others or take on some of the other ideas noted below.

Use Social Media. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn can provide a great, low-anxiety, way to develop relationships with some of your contacts. You have time to carefully craft a message to someone or to consider a response to a post or a question by someone else. Social media also makes it easier to reach out to others and expand your network, starting with a simple initial “friend” request or follow. With social media it’s never been easier to expand your network beyond those you are already close to.

Start a small group. There are many opportunities to join groups, both in-person and virtual, through a variety of sources but for the introvert it might make good sense to start your own group with a few people you already know. You could start a book club with a handful of friends and open things up for them to invite others. Soon you’ve expanded your circle and widened your network while also making some new friends and building community.

Enlist the help of friends. Finally, of course, let your friends know that you are interested in building your network. Ask them to introduce you to others in their networks who might share similar interests with you. Again, the power of social media can help ease the anxiety around introductions and facilitate getting to know someone a little before meeting up in person.

If you’re an introvert or experience social anxiety these suggestions can help ease the way to building an effective network to help you attain the success in your career that you’re looking for.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Handle Stress During a Job Interview

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Handle Stress During a Job Interview: "Remind yourself that stress in an interview is not only normal — it’s necessary. Prepare yourself for stress while you train yourself to do a great job."

• How to Sidestep the "Nos" and Be Persistent in Your Career: "You will have people around you who can’t see how big your life is going to be. You have to sidestep them."

• 5 Skills You Need But Rarely See in Job Postings: "on the next resume or cover letter you write, make sure you pair those technical talents of yours with examples of ways you’ve deployed them collaboratively."

• Why Introverts Are Actually A Lot Better at Sales: "Inbound or email marketing, however, demands an ability to research a customer, see the world from the customer's perspective, and adapt to the customer's situation and specific response--all skills that come easier to introverts."
• 5 Ways to Put Mindfulness to Work in Your Life: "Simple things like noticing the sensations in your body or your breath as you brush your teeth, drink water, wash dishes or drive home from work… anything you do every day on a regular basis will work."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: The Introvert's Guide to Networking

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Charisma on Command offers some useful ideas for networking, particularly for those who might be more introverted. Take a look.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Pursue Your Dreams While Keeping the Day Job

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• Pursue Your Dreams and Keep Your Day Job: "The people who build and actually achieve their biggest dreams aren't those that cut the cord rashly and irresponsibility. Instead, they're the ones you have the discipline and determination to use their current situations to support their ambitions."


• Networking at Large, Intimidating Events: "Your mission is to focus on making merely three solid contacts at this conference. You can make two of them by looking at the person to the right and the left of you once you sit down. Yes, it can really be that easy."


• Building a Mentally Strong Work Team: "Teach employees how to become mentally strong on an individual and team level.... Don’t be afraid to talk about issues like mental health, personal development and resilience in the workplace."


• How Attitudes about Work are Changing: "A third of workers worldwide agreed that it was okay to leave a job they weren't happy in within the first month, while two-thirds believed it would be better to stay for a year to avoid having a negative impact on their career."


• 6 Ways to Be Smarter in Your Job Search: "Not all companies will post opportunities to job boards, and aggregators don’t typically pick up the postings from company sites. It’s important to visit company career sites regularly to keep up with news and openings."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Networking, Finding Meaning, and Introverts

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 14 Ways to Be Better at Your Job in 2013: "Lending expertise, time and effort to other teams will help you get to know other aspects of the business as well as help you connect with people across the company."


• 5 Interview Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid: "Preparation doesn't mean a quick skim of the job description and a glance at the employer's website; it means at least several hours spent thinking through likely questions and practicing your answers to them."


• 5 Key Networking Tricks to Help Land You a Job: "(m)ake a point to attend industry conferences, so you have a chance to make a good impression. It's even better if you seize the opportunity to make a presentation, organize an event at the conference, or blog or tweet about the program."


• Finding Meaning at Work, Even When Your Job is Dull: "Work can, however, provide an array of meaningful experiences, even though many employees do not enjoy those in their current job. So, what are the sources of meaningful experiences at work?"


• 3 Tips for Introverts in an Extrovert Workplace: "Introverts shouldn't have to succumb or change themselves to succeed or take on a leadership role... Introverts bring different and great strengths to the table, like less micromanagement and more insight and contemplation."