High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 15 New Ideas for Your LinkedIn Profile

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!

• 15 New Ideas for Your LinkedIn Profile: "On LinkedIn, you’ve got more room to maneuver and more space for adding keywords. You can provide more information than you can on your CV. Amplify the things that matter most."

• Do You Have Determination?: "Perhaps you’ve resigned yourself to things being one way. But you shouldn’t give up hope. Enlist a partner who may have a different perspective and energy to get back on track."

• 3 Tips for Re-Engineering Your Office: "An elegantly elevated desk best enhances an employee’s output when it’s surrounded by the right stuff. If that stuff is other desks, consider their arrangement."

• How to Make Gratitude a Way of Life: "There are many ways to cultivate a disposition of thankfulness. One is to make a habit of giving thanks regularly—at the beginning of the day, at meals and the like, and at day’s end."
• 5 Inspiring Books to Give Businesswomen This Holiday:"Among my favorite gifts to give (or receive) are books. And below is a list of inspiring books, many of which I have given or plan to give to the women whose support I can't imaging doing business (or life) without."

5 Things to Do While You Await a Job Offer

After you have a job interview or two the time between the interview and hearing back from the company on a decision can feel excruciatingly long. It can be easy to fall into despair or to be tempted to seek out updates on your application.

Instead of using this time to worry or think about all the things you wish you’d said differently in the interview, focus on the following things to manage the time while you await word back from the interviewer.

Be patient. This can be difficult but resist attempts to contact the interviewer or employer about your application status. Many companies will disregard your application or remove you from consideration if they feel they are being rushed in their decision. Cultivate gratitude for the opportunity to interview for the position and identify some things you might have learned from the process about the company or supervisor that can help you in future interviews or deepen your knowledge of the position should you be offered the job.

Take care of yourself. Don’t sit around the house waiting for the phone to ring. Be active. Take that run or get on your bike. Walk the dog. Eat well, get enough sleep, and avoid excessive alcohol. Meditate or pray. Meet up with a good friend for lunch. See a movie. Do things you enjoy and that are healthy for you and avoid the temptation to become discouraged while you await that phone call or email.

Take a class or sign up for an online course. Continue to develop your knowledge and gain more skills in an area of interest, or simply add a new hobby by signing up for a class or taking an online course. Strive to be a continuous learner and you will find more opportunities available to you. You might even meet someone in a class who is looking to hire someone like you. 

Polish up your resume. Revisit your resume and make any necessary tweaks to highlight your strengths and areas of success. Add information about that class or course you’re taking. Ask for feedback on it from a friend, colleague, or career coach.

Actively seek out other job opportunities. Continue to seek out other opportunities by keeping your eye on job boards and listings such as those on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, or Indeed. You never know when the right opportunity will come along so plan to regularly seek out jobs of interest and attend events where you can expand your network and learn about opportunities.

Incorporating these strategies will enable you to manage the time while you await a job offer more appropriately and productively.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Why a Safe Life is a Mediocre Life

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!

• Why a Safe Life is a Mediocre Life: "There’s a lot of risk and mystery in taking the first step. The inherent risk in taking a first step is found in embracing when you’ll fall, not if you’ll fall."

• 8 Daily Rituals That Keep You Laser Focused: "By taking short breaks, ideally about once an hour, you give your mind a chance to decompress and relax so it can refocus and concentrate again."

• 5 Skills to Put on Your Resume to Boost Your Appeal: "whatever the job they were trying to fill, communication skills and customer service skills were among the most sought after."

• How to Use Vlogging to Give Your Personal Brand an Edge: "Vlogging is growing at an outstanding rate for a good reason. People are invested in their favorite brands and the personalities behind them."
• 3 Things to Consider About Your Income and Retirement:"These are three key components to help ensure that we don’t run out of money. Make sure they are all taken into consideration when developing a plan."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 4 Tips to Explain the Gap on Your Resume

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 Fast Company provides four tips for explaining gaps in your resume when at a job interview, starting with being upfront about the gaps. Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: The Art of the LinkedIn Profile Picture

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!

• The Art of the LinkedIn Profile Picture: "LinkedIn members who include a photo on their profile receive 21 times more profile views than those who don't, and profiles with a photo are 36 times more likely to receive messages."

• The Connection Between Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness: "Mindfulness has become the corporate fad du jour, a practice widely touted as a fast-track to better leadership. But we suspect that not all the benefits laid at its feet actually belong there."

• 10 Things to Add to Your Resume and 10 to Drop: "To put your power into your resume, you have to get rid of the Corporate Zombie Speak language in it and replace it with your own human  voice."

• 10 Tips to Motivate Employees Without Resorting to Money: "People want to have control over their own work. Instead of being a “helicopter boss,” give your employees the chance to make decisions."
• 9 Straightforward Ways to Achieve Big Things: "In order to avoid the unknown, most people bail on their dreams. Which is why you’ve got to find clarity and understanding to achieve your biggest goals."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Signs You Need to Take a Pause in Your Career

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!

• 5 Signs You Need to Take a Pause in Your Career: "If someone makes a remark that you're on your phone all the time, or you notice that you can't slip away without checking your email first, you may be getting too much screen time."

• Writing Your Resume When Your Job Title Doesn't Reflect Your Responsibilities: "Use your résumé headline, summary, and brief stories about accomplishments to demonstrate how well you can meet hiring managers’ needs."

• This is What the Best Candidates I Ever Interviewed Had in Common: "I was always impressed with the applicants who listened close enough to what I said to ask an unrehearsed follow-up question."

• 12 Lessons from the 100 Most Creative People of 2017: "artists are infusing entertainment with social impact. In the corporate world too, the human factor is at the core of our advancements."
• 5 Things You Need for a Successful Mindset: "Grit helps us push past the desire to give up, especially when things get rough. Fortunately, it can be learned and continually developed over time."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Get the Life and Career You Really Want

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 Get the Life and Career You Really Want: "You summon up all your energy and your creativity. You're not afraid because when you only have today, what are you afraid of? You have nothing to lose. You give it your all."

• 5 Steps to Achieve the Life You've Always Dreamed Of: "It starts by creating a vision of who you want to become. Seeing is believing, so walk by sight and believe that your best days are ahead of you."

• Send This Email When You're Running Late to a Job Interview: "if you’re worried about it working, know that it’s inspired by one of the best messages I received from a candidate who was going to be late for an interview."

• How to Fire Someone Gracefully: "If you need to talk about how you feel, talk about your emotions with your mentor before having the conversation with your employee. This will allow you to keep a cool head and stay collected, especially if the employee becomes emotional."
• 8 Things You Should Never Put On a Resume: "Objectives or statements of purpose take up space that could be put to better use ― and your cover letter is where you should really expand on what you have to offer."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: What to Do When You and Your Boss Aren't Getting Along

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!

• What to Do When You and Your Boss Aren't Getting Along: "Am I working on the issues that my boss wants me to be working on, in the way they want me to be working on them? Have I been disregarding their feedback?"
• 10 Powerful Ways to Empower Your Employees: "Contrary to conventional wisdom, boundaries don't restrict team members; they empower them.
• The 4 Attributes You Must Develop to Achieve Everything You Want in Life: "If you finally want to live with more intention and purpose in your life or become an entrepreneur now and not later, then your extraordinary life is on the other side of your life-planning design process."
• Want Your Resume to Stand Out? Try This One Tactic: "Try getting back to basics. Work on a carefully crafted resume that highlights your results as well as your authenticity."
• How to Become the Leader You Need to Be: "Millennials are turning up ready to take their positions in management, but leadership doesn’t come easy and organizations could suffer as a result."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 3 Ways to Inspire Your Employees or Co-Workers

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!

• 3 Ways to Inspire Your Employees or Co-Workers: "If you would like your team to feel more excited about their job, get to work on time, meet deadlines, participate at meetings, etc., you have to do those things first. It's hard to motivate others to do something you aren't doing yourself."
• Improve Your Resume By Turning Bullet Points into Stories: "Tell compelling before-and-after stories. What were your previous places of employment like when you started there? What were their biggest challenges, and how did you help meet them? How are those organizations better because of you?"
• Why Mindfulness is the Ultimate Habit for Success: "In any moment when we are being mindful, our mind functions optimally because we can see our thinking objectively. The reactive thoughts that arise in any given moment no longer control us."
• Three Pieces of Advice to Building Confidence for Public Speaking: "The single biggest reason people are concerned about public speaking is because they worry what other people think of them. The quicker you start learning how to fix that issue and be comfortable with yourself, you become a much better public speaker."
• Four Myths Most Bosses Believe About Employee Engagement: "In the vast majority of cases, engaged employees are happy, and happy employees are engaged."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Practice Mindfulness Throughout Your Work Day

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 Practice Mindfulness Throughout Your Work Day: "When you get to the office, take 10 minutes at your desk or in your car to boost your brain with a short mindfulness practice before you dive into activity."
• 7 Tips to Build a Business While Working a Day Job: "Read your vision aloud every morning and evening, focusing completely on the end result -- your vibrant, flourishing business."
• 12 Habits of the Most Productive People: "People who are highly productive have established clear goals and a vision for what they want to achieve long term."
• 7 Things Successful People Do on Monday Mornings: "Start with these tips and see that Monday can be your best friend and biggest motivator—if you let it."
• 10 Items to Ban from Your Resume: "Résumé objectives never help and often hurt. Not only do they feel antiquated, but they're all about what you want."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 3 Resume Myths You Shouldn't Believe

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

The video below from Fast Company tackles three resume myths that should be discarded.

3 Tips for Building Up Your Resume

There is a lot of competition out there for jobs and job seekers need to find ways to stand out from the crowded field.

One important way to stand out is with a compelling resume highlighting skills, abilities, and experience that might be unique to you and particularly suited to the positions you are applying for.

Here are 3 tips to developing that "stand out" resume:

1. Learn a language. Many companies today are looking for employees that speak additional languages as they compete in a global marketplace. Take a class at a local community college, find a tutor, or learn a language through your library. Many community libraries offer free language-learning resources.

2. Start a blog. If you don't already blog you might consider starting one. You can set up one easily and inexpensively with wordpress, blogger, or tumblr. Pick a subject of particular interest to you or blog about one of your hobbies. Employers are interested in hiring people with good communication skills and blogging is one way for you to demonstrate these skills.

3. Teach a class. Another way to demonstrate your communication and leadership skills is to teach a class. You do not need to be affiliated with a school or have a specific degree to teach a class or a seminar. You simply need to be knowledgeable about a subject of interest to others. Many libraries, city recreation departments, churches, and continuing education programs at community colleges welcome community members to propose and lead a class.

These are just three ways to build up your resume. What other ideas do you have?

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Amazing and Worthwhile Careers

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

• How to Build a Career Worth Having: "In my experience, people who are successful in finding—and maintaining—meaningful work approach their careers like a grand experiment."

• The Simple Secret to an Amazing Career: "I've had a variety of jobs and businesses in my career so far, but they've all had two things in common: I've done what I loved at organizations where I could grow."                                                      
• Do You Need a Resume in the LinkedIn Era?: "When you are actually applying for a job, however, neither LinkedIn nor a professional landing page can replace the résumé. A strong résumé is still the gateway to an interview."


• Are You Ready for a Career (R)evolution?: "Going forward sometimes demands that we revise our tactics. Often a subtle evolution in your perspective can lead to a revolution in your actions."


• 5 Key Insights for Changing the World: "If it doesn’t exist already, then you are going to have to create it, eventually.  Don’t wait for permission or a phone call.  Instead, start something new." 

The Career Change Resume

Preparing a resume as part of a career change can be a challenge. Slight content changes and simple reformatting can help retool your resume, giving it a better shot at grabbing the attention of an employer in a brand new field.

Without prior experience in the industry you’re targeting, consider hobbies, school, clubs, or other non-work situations where you were able to gain pertinent skills. Skills can be much more valuable than prior positions, so it’s important to cite specific examples. To give you an idea read the following:

• Works well under pressure. Supervised a volunteer group through a series of “get out the vote” initiatives in the final days of the 2012 election. Increased new voter turnout by 20% in the district.
• Thrives in a team setting. Led three committees at Forgotten Harvest, resulting in record-breaking donations and recruiting in 2011.

Remember to use key words from the new job description in your resume and cover letter. When describing prior employment, consider what your prospective new employer will be looking for. Here are a few examples:

• Attorney transitioning to sales: Managed a client-focused law firm; successfully negotiated hundreds of agreements.
• Banker transitioning to a non-profit: Implemented fundraising effort for local shelter, resulting in $30,000 for new equipment.
• Secretary transitioning to sales: Responsible for distributing department sales quotas and tracking sales activity.

Change is good in this job environment, so try and get that across on your resume. Show that you’re passionate about your new endeavor. After all, the purpose of the resume remains the same—to get the interview!

Posting a Resume on Twitter

It’s true that a 140-character resume (sometimes called a “Twesume”) can’t replace a full resume for conveying all of your experience and attributes. But, if they’re well thought out, 140 characters can grab the attention of an employer or help with networking. Some companies are using Twesumes, and social networking in general, to get a sense for a prospective employee’s character, friends, sense of humor, and ability to interact with others. And, creating such a concise communication is a great exercise for keeping your most important message top of mind.

If you want to give it a shot, the first step is to get your Twitter account set up. Include a professional-looking picture and make sure to have at least a few followers.  Include as much information in your tweet as possible, within the 140-character limit. Try to include a career goal, one accomplishment and/or skill, and a limited bio. Provide a link to your actual resume so those interested will be able to get more information.

Becoming familiar with Twitter language will help you condense your message. Here are some of the more commonly used abbreviations:

·         DM – Direct Message (a private message to someone you follow)

·         RT – Retweet (posting a message written by someone else)

·         CC – Carbon Copy

·         B4 – Before

·         BC – Because

·         EM – Email

·         LI – LinkedIn

·         TY – Thank You

Using a hashtag (#) provides a way of grouping similar messages together and could increase the likelihood of your Twesume being found by recruiters. Visit hashtags.org to learn more about how to create and most effectively use them.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Taking Risks and Standing Out

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

• Finding a Job Through Networking Groups: "You might not hear about a job opportunity day one in networking, but if you pay attention and make your intentions of finding a job known,opportunities will find you."

• Why Getting Comfortable With Discomfort Is Crucial to Success: "[A]s every successful person will tell you, it’s only by being willing to make mistakes and try something new that you can ever accomplish more than what’s been done before."


• How to Stand Out in a Crowded Job Market--Forget the Traditional Resume: "[F]or those who are willing to stand out, there is still a ton of opportunity. The first step to standing out and getting your dream job is to start thinking of your resume as one of many tools that you may use to get a job. Then, you must find a novel way to approach companies that you’d like to work for."


• How to Get Hired for Your Dream Job: "
  Your employment career will be a journey not a final destination. Furthermore, what may be your dream today may change tomorrow. A dream job is a job that is helping you progress toward your dreams

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• Preventing Rejection at Work: "[W]e all thrive on being connected to others. Don't let your office become a place where people feel threatened by rejection. Instead, bring your conversational intelligence to work."