JibberJobber Enhancements Last Nights Release and Updates

JibberJobber Enhancements Last Nights Release and Updates Last night my team did a release, which means they updated JibberJobber with new and improved stuff.  Ive been talking about this release for a long time, but it got stuck in the QA process as my QA team has been intent on releases without bugs. Just minutes after the release an outplacement firm in Australia emailed me and said Nice work looks great!  This is just minutes after the release it was pretty cool that someone noticed that quick! I asked him what he noticed, and it is exactly what I want to blog about today.  Below this list of enhancements that will impact you is a list from my QA team, reporting what has been fixed/released. Thing One: Action Item Notifier (on top-left of every screen) This is an enhancement that really enriches your experience with JibberJobber.  Now, on every page, youll be able to see how many Action Items you have pending in the next two weeks.  This makes JibberJobber more of a follow-up tool.  I talk about follow-up and nurturing relationships a lot and weve provided tools and reports for you to see what you have coming up, but this is the most blatant, in-your-face enhancement to show you exactly what you have so things dont slip through the cracks.  Youve probably already noticed this, when you login, on the top-left: The 6 means that I have six Action Items coming up in the next two weeks.  Click on that little icon and you will see those six Action Items in this view: Here are some things to help you get more value out of this widget: #1 this allows you to click and drag to resize this view. #2 this closes (or, hides) the widget. #3 notices each Action Item is listed with a checkbox to the left that way you can close multiple Action Items at once, or you can print one report with all that you have checked. (NOTE: You can close or edit each one when you mouse over an Action Item, icons will appear on the right to close or edit) #4 these are the actions you can take for each of the checked Action Items. For example, click on three of them, then click the close icon (the clock), and those three will be closed.  Easy. This enhancement should make your JibberJobber experience much richer! Thing Two: The Log Entry and Action Item screen is cleaned up.   We removed some of the superfluous wording and white space, and made it more compact.  This should make it easier to add a Log Entry.  This was a small, marginal change, but I think the impact will be big, and make it easier for you to create Log Entries and Action Items. Notice we moved much of the stuff (create an Action Item, associate this to other Contacts, Companies and Jobs, etc.) to the bottom.  It works pretty much the same, but its just cleaner. To create a Log Entry, simply put in a date, the title, and the details/comments.  To create an Action Item, or associate Contacts, Companies and/or Jobs, simply click on the icons on the bottom.  Cleaner, more intuitive, easier. Thing Three: more use of the width of your monitor This is the first of a few changes to use more of your monitor.  A while back we did a UI enhancement which left, for some wide monitors, a few inches of white space on each side.  I hated that JibberJobber needs space!  So we opened up the List Panels and then extend from one end to another, without inches of wasted white space.  There is still more to do here, and were working on it.  This was just the first step. Other Things: This is the list from my QA team. It might not make sense to you, but its all important stuff. Import contacts (bug with companies): there was an issue when you imported Contacts, with Companies, but the Companies didnt import and associate right.  This should be fixed. Bug of custom fields on Jobs (reported by Chris R) Bug on IE uploading images: apparently Internet Explorer was having issues with the super cool way we bring in images on a Contact or Company. Bug on email2log (when was adding the secret email as other contact): Sometimes when you used the Email2Log feature, JibberJobber would create a new record for your own ultra-secretive email address which was not supposed to happen.  This is now resolved. Bug on email2log (about formatting): In a prior release we kind of goofed up some of your Log Entries created by the Email2Log feature stripped spaces between paragraphs.  This made the Log Entry look all bunched up.  This is now fixed. Change of wording to Coach Dashboard: We are going to change a lot of the functionality here, but for now we needed to change this from My Coach Landing Page to Coach Dashboard.  Very small change but will make it more intuitive. This is for anyone who coaches others, or is an accountability partner. Log Entries and Action Items Report To remember the session variables: when you customize the Log Entries and Action Item report, we didnt save your preferences we are now. Allow edit on Log Entry view in the shadow box: when you opened a Log Entry to view, there wasnt much more you could do than view or print.  Now you can easily edit it from right there. Pre-populate fields correctly when I add a Contact after a search: on my weekly webinars I noticed that if I did a search for a Contact that doesnt exist, like searching for Fiiiiiirst Naaaaame, I would click add Contact and then it would enter it in all lower-case.  This was a pain because Id have to change the first letter to upper-chase each time.  Bleh.  This is now fixed.  Another really small enhancement, but you can see the level of detail were going for. New interface on import contacts from file: We spent a lot of time cleaning this up and making it more intuitive.  Its still not the most intuitive thing in the world, but its getting closer.   Bug with payments of one year with Paypal: we had a problem with people who upgraded for one year on Paypal the system wasnt recognizing the upgrade and they sometimes emailed us (before we could manually upgrade them) asking WHAT THE HECK?  This was an issue of trust if you pay us money, and you dont get upgraded, what else wont work??  Fixing this non-high-profile bug allows you to trust us more. Minor wordings and change of tool tips throughout the system: when you mouse over things, we cleaned up the little messages you see. This release represents about 25-30 work orders, and Im sure we came up with another 50 things to fix, clean, or change since we started this last project Have things you would like to see?  Let us know! JibberJobber Enhancements Last Nights Release and Updates Last night my team did a release, which means they updated JibberJobber with new and improved stuff.  Ive been talking about this release for a long time, but it got stuck in the QA process as my QA team has been intent on releases without bugs. Just minutes after the release an outplacement firm in Australia emailed me and said Nice work looks great!  This is just minutes after the release it was pretty cool that someone noticed that quick! I asked him what he noticed, and it is exactly what I want to blog about today.  Below this list of enhancements that will impact you is a list from my QA team, reporting what has been fixed/released. Thing One: Action Item Notifier (on top-left of every screen) This is an enhancement that really enriches your experience with JibberJobber.  Now, on every page, youll be able to see how many Action Items you have pending in the next two weeks.  This makes JibberJobber more of a follow-up tool.  I talk about follow-up and nurturing relationships a lot and weve provided tools and reports for you to see what you have coming up, but this is the most blatant, in-your-face enhancement to show you exactly what you have so things dont slip through the cracks.  Youve probably already noticed this, when you login, on the top-left: The 6 means that I have six Action Items coming up in the next two weeks.  Click on that little icon and you will see those six Action Items in this view: Here are some things to help you get more value out of this widget: #1 this allows you to click and drag to resize this view. #2 this closes (or, hides) the widget. #3 notices each Action Item is listed with a checkbox to the left that way you can close multiple Action Items at once, or you can print one report with all that you have checked. (NOTE: You can close or edit each one when you mouse over an Action Item, icons will appear on the right to close or edit) #4 these are the actions you can take for each of the checked Action Items. For example, click on three of them, then click the close icon (the clock), and those three will be closed.  Easy. This enhancement should make your JibberJobber experience much richer! Thing Two: The Log Entry and Action Item screen is cleaned up.   We removed some of the superfluous wording and white space, and made it more compact.  This should make it easier to add a Log Entry.  This was a small, marginal change, but I think the impact will be big, and make it easier for you to create Log Entries and Action Items. Notice we moved much of the stuff (create an Action Item, associate this to other Contacts, Companies and Jobs, etc.) to the bottom.  It works pretty much the same, but its just cleaner. To create a Log Entry, simply put in a date, the title, and the details/comments.  To create an Action Item, or associate Contacts, Companies and/or Jobs, simply click on the icons on the bottom.  Cleaner, more intuitive, easier. Thing Three: more use of the width of your monitor This is the first of a few changes to use more of your monitor.  A while back we did a UI enhancement which left, for some wide monitors, a few inches of white space on each side.  I hated that JibberJobber needs space!  So we opened up the List Panels and then extend from one end to another, without inches of wasted white space.  There is still more to do here, and were working on it.  This was just the first step. Other Things: This is the list from my QA team. It might not make sense to you, but its all important stuff. Import contacts (bug with companies): there was an issue when you imported Contacts, with Companies, but the Companies didnt import and associate right.  This should be fixed. Bug of custom fields on Jobs (reported by Chris R) Bug on IE uploading images: apparently Internet Explorer was having issues with the super cool way we bring in images on a Contact or Company. Bug on email2log (when was adding the secret email as other contact): Sometimes when you used the Email2Log feature, JibberJobber would create a new record for your own ultra-secretive email address which was not supposed to happen.  This is now resolved. Bug on email2log (about formatting): In a prior release we kind of goofed up some of your Log Entries created by the Email2Log feature stripped spaces between paragraphs.  This made the Log Entry look all bunched up.  This is now fixed. Change of wording to Coach Dashboard: We are going to change a lot of the functionality here, but for now we needed to change this from My Coach Landing Page to Coach Dashboard.  Very small change but will make it more intuitive. This is for anyone who coaches others, or is an accountability partner. Log Entries and Action Items Report To remember the session variables: when you customize the Log Entries and Action Item report, we didnt save your preferences we are now. Allow edit on Log Entry view in the shadow box: when you opened a Log Entry to view, there wasnt much more you could do than view or print.  Now you can easily edit it from right there. Pre-populate fields correctly when I add a Contact after a search: on my weekly webinars I noticed that if I did a search for a Contact that doesnt exist, like searching for Fiiiiiirst Naaaaame, I would click add Contact and then it would enter it in all lower-case.  This was a pain because Id have to change the first letter to upper-chase each time.  Bleh.  This is now fixed.  Another really small enhancement, but you can see the level of detail were going for. New interface on import contacts from file: We spent a lot of time cleaning this up and making it more intuitive.  Its still not the most intuitive thing in the world, but its getting closer.   Bug with payments of one year with Paypal: we had a problem with people who upgraded for one year on Paypal the system wasnt recognizing the upgrade and they sometimes emailed us (before we could manually upgrade them) asking WHAT THE HECK?  This was an issue of trust if you pay us money, and you dont get upgraded, what else wont work??  Fixing this non-high-profile bug allows you to trust us more. Minor wordings and change of tool tips throughout the system: when you mouse over things, we cleaned up the little messages you see. This release represents about 25-30 work orders, and Im sure we came up with another 50 things to fix, clean, or change since we started this last project Have things you would like to see?  Let us know!

Living By Your Rules, or Someone Elses How To Know The Difference

Living By Your Rules, or Someone Else’s â€" How To Know The Difference Whether you see yourself as rule-maker, rule-breaker or rule-follower, at some point in your life, you’ve probably realized that some rules were definitely made to be broken! From the moment we first learn to say the word “no”, we start realizing we have the power to carve our own path as an autonomous individual.   Living by your rules, not theirs, is clearly an option. But, how do you know you are truly the one making the rules you live by and not letting all the taught and learned expectations, standards and ideals of others secretly rule you? And when you aren’t breaking the rules you should be, how do you go beyond them and live without limits? Here are some signs you may not be living by your own rulebook.   Do you worry about what others think? feel stuck or limited about the choices you have in life? keep your true desires hidden and secret from the world, and even yourself? fight, react, confront or resist rules and expectations, rather than calmly question them? Basically, anytime you feel you must either align with a rule or resist and fight a rule, you are still playing by the rules! In other words, it’s the same coin, just different sides.   If you truly desire to create your own way in the world, it’s time to throw that coin away and go beyond the rules. Get comfortable with being judged People will judge. No matter what you choose. So, choose what works for you! Most of us try to follow the rules (or at least try to appear that we are) to avoid judgment, especially from the people we care about. If people in your life judge you now, they will probably judge you tomorrow. And, it’s not your job (or your ability) to change their point of view! Spend your time with people who encourage you and are grateful for you, no matter what. Realize that judgments from others are just opinions or perspectives that they choose to take; it isn’t personal and isn’t actually relevant to your life. You may have heard the Polish proverb, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” Those judgments are their monkeys, not yours. Question everything One of the most empowering steps you can take to help you live by your own rules is to question everything you think you know, believe or have learnedâ€"including everything you think you know about you! Every thought, feeling, emotion, reaction, and self-critical attitude was pretty much a learned behavior at some point. If you start asking, “Is this my point of view, or someone else’s?” and “Is this really true for me or about me?” you will begin to have a greater sense of the difference between what you have bought from others, and what is actually yours. What is true for you will tend to make you feel a lot lighter, whereas what is false tends to weigh on your mind or shoulders.  Become brutally honest with yourself Self-honesty is going to be your best friend in the quest to live a life of your own making. It may take time to develop that level of vulnerability, because we have mostly been taught to be rule-followers, and not look beyond.   Just like strengthening a new muscle, you must practice, practice, practice! Let these questions become part of your daily routine: “If I were truly choosing for me, what would I choose?” “What else is possible for me I have never considered?” “What do I truly desire to create in my life and the world?” You may or may not receive instant inspiration or answers to these questions, but asking questions daily keeps your mind open and your attention on creative ways forward, rather than getting mired in limited and polarized concerns of right/wrong or good/bad. That is the trap of blind rule-following.  Choose again, and often. Ever heard the phrase, “You’ve made your bed, now lie in it”?   That’s a gem from our grandparents’ generation, and I urge you to throw it out. If you make a choice that goes awry, just make a different choice. If you make a choice that’s great, you can choose something even greater. This isn’t an excuse to be a total flake and not follow through on promises or appointments.   But if a choice you make isn’t working, you don’t have to live with it forever, you can change it and choose again. For every choice you’re considering, get in the habit of asking: “If I choose this, what will it create in my life?” and “If I don’t choose this, what will it create?”   and “What choices do I actually have that I’ve never considered?”   Look at past choices and ask: “Did that choice create what I desire? If not, what different choice do I need to make? If so, how does it get even better?” Not only do we have a natural instinct for knowing what choices will work for or against us â€"and we’ve all made those choices we knew we shouldn’t, and it turned out exactly as bad as we knew it wouldâ€"we also have choices available that we haven’t thought of yet. And if you aren’t willing to open your mind up to the possibility, there’ll be no space for them to come knocking. Still not sure what to choose? Easyâ€"just choose! See where it leads you and then make another choice. As Dolly Parton says, “It’s okay to change dreams in the middle of the stream.”   It’s getting moving along the stream that counts, you can course-correct as you go!  Be willing to say “*$#@ it!” and do it anyway Living by your own rules isn’t about being comfortable. In fact, it can be very uncomfortable and unfamiliar. But beyond your comfort zone is also where the true fun and freedom is. What abilities and unique differences about you have you kept hidden and secret? What brilliance have you not been sharing with the world? And what choice could you make beyond your comfort zone today (even if it’s just a little) that would lead you closer to living life on your terms, with no limits? Living by your own rules is not about having the answers for everything or playing everyone else’s game a bit better than before. It’s about knowing you are on your own playground. It’s constantly being open to new possibilities, questioning every limit, discovering your brilliance and never buying into a single judgment about youâ€"even the ones in your own head. Judgment, doubt, limits, “should” and “should nots”. They’re the old rules. The rules do not apply. This guest post was authored by Amanda Holland Amanda Holland is an anthropologist and film-maker by training, and a writer, editor, and communications coach by trade. She has always been fascinated by diversity, difference and creativity and their ability to affect profound change. As a Right Voice for You facilitator, a specialty program from personal development organisation Access Consciousness, she engages people to see their difference and use it to create greater in their own lives and the world. Freelancing since 2012, Amanda works with individuals, businesses, companies, entrepreneurs, experts and thought-leaders across the globe who are changing paradigms in education, health, business, money, relationships and more. Find out more about Amanda at www.amandahollandwrites.com

Minimising and Preventing the Influence of Unconscious Bias in Recruitment

Minimising and Preventing the Influence of Unconscious Bias in Recruitment Here at Pure, we really value the importance of recruiting people who will be a great cultural fit for an organization but we also recognize the need to balance this with ensuring that unconscious bias does not mean a business unintentionally discriminates or misses out on employing fantastic talent. Everyone has unconscious bias, it isn’t intended, it is based on social backgrounds and life experiences which can shape our views and influence our decisions without us even realizing. However, this can impact on recruitment and people management decisions as people unintentionally categorize, stereotype or favor people they feel an affinity with. As well as the potential to miss out on hiring a great candidate and impacting on the ability to build and maintain an inclusive workforce, it can also affect an organization’s overall talent pipeline. People are more likely to leave if they are unconsciously overlooked for career progression and development. This can lead to a less diverse senior team and as McKinseys ‘Delivering Through Diversity’ report showed, there is a statistically significant correlation between a more diverse leadership team and financial outperformance. So while gut feelings, shared values, and cultural fit are still important, there also needs to be an awareness of minimizing and preventing the influence of unconscious bias. Here are just some of the things organizations can consider. Staff training The best tool to begin tackling unconscious bias is to make more people conscious of it in the first place. Raising awareness of what unconscious bias is and the impact it can unintentionally have on recruitment, workplace culture and business success will engage more people to look for ways to counter it. There is a wide range of training courses available, both on and offline, which can help people to identify their own bias, find out more about the potential legal implications and work together to challenge and reduce bias in recruitment and across the business as a whole. Inclusive job descriptions Recent studies, including by software company Textio, have shown that many words commonly used in job descriptions are unconsciously seen as more masculine, such as competitive, dynamic and driven, while terms such as supportive and collaborative are more associated with women. Excessive jargon and acronyms can alienate people from outside of the industry, even if they have the skills and experience required, and not everyone would comfortably align themselves with being an ‘expert’ even if they have the desired level of experience. LinkedIn studies and an internal benchmark report by Hewlett Packard have also shown that an extensive list of essential requirements can impact on the diversity of applicants. This is because women only tend to apply for jobs if they feel they meet every requirement, whereas men will apply even if they only meet some. Before advertising a job description, read it again with unconscious bias in mind, ensure there are a mix of both masculine and femini ne associated words, and only include what really is essential criteria, making it clear what is desirable but not vital. Name blind recruitment Removing certain information from candidate applications can help to prevent unconscious bias at the shortlisting stage. As well as identifying factors such as age and gender, even someone’s name can influence our thoughts by conjuring up perceptions or an association with someone we like or dislike. Other factors such as the name of the university someone went to or their personal interests can also spark unconscious bias. What pieces of information can be excluded depends on the type of role and what you are looking for in candidates, but it is worth exploring what can be removed at this stage to help the team evaluate applications just on skills and experience. Diverse hiring committee Because unconscious bias can involve unintentionally being drawn to hiring people like ourselves, making recruitment a team effort can help to prevent this. Ideally, an interview panel will comprise a diverse team of people for a balance of different perspectives, but even having two people rather than just one can make a difference. It can also be really helpful to include people who are not so invested in the appointment, for example from another part of the business. However, even when it is a group effort, it is important to be aware of the potential for conformity bias. This is where people unconsciously follow suit and conform to the views of the majority of the team if they think they are favoring a particular candidate. Interview templates and criteria Having a structured interview process which is the same for all candidates will help to ensure the process is as fair as possible. Agree some set questions in advance and create a clear, objective scoring system for everyone in the recruitment process to follow. Including competency-based interview questions, as used by Pure’s expert recruitment consultants, will help to keep the focus on establishing whether candidates have the relevant experience needed by asking for examples of when they have demonstrated particular behaviors or skills. However, there does need to be a balance between structure and providing a good candidate experience. Candidates still need to have the chance to shine, to ask their own questions and if the interview is too rigid and formulaic it may not reflect the overall culture of the business. Outside perspectives Helping to prevent unconscious bias during the recruitment process is another area where working with an external recruitment agency can really add value. Our expert consultants can help by advising employers throughout the process and handling initial applications to create the interview shortlist. They can also sit in on interviews to provide a more diverse recruitment panel and an external perspective.

Making career decisions based on wanting kids, or not

Making career decisions based on wanting kids, or not My friend Liz just got an offer to be director of a groundbreaking, high profile, psychology program. Its a lucrative, five-year contract. Liz is 35 and single and has tons of time to devote to her career. But shes not sure if she wants to take this offer because what she really wants is children. Like many women in this age group, Liz spent her 20s and early 30s building her career. She has lots of experience meeting men she can manage and very little experience meeting a man she can date. (Conversation we had when the last guy stopped talking to her at dinner: Me, Dump him. Liz, But you said talk isnt constant when youve been together a while. Me, Three weeks is not a while.) Her current job would be great if she had a guy lined up for kids because she could work part time, which would allow her to stay on her career path and spend a lot of time at home. But alas, there is no guy lined up. Her current job is good for online dating, too, because she can work from almost anywhere so she can conduct a broad search across county lines, (and because she can peruse Match.com from her office unnoticed.) But Liz is antsy to have a child and even with the Internet, dating is not a fast process. So she is thinking of taking things into her own hands. She has contemplated telling a boyfriend that she is using birth control when she is not, and getting pregnant that way. But she cant get past the conversation shed have with her teenage kid: Mom, why didnt my dad stick around? Because I tricked him into having a kid. Liz has two, non-boyfriend options: buying sperm from a bank or buying a baby from Asia. Both options cost about $30,000, which is a good argument for taking the new, high paying job. The ongoing cost of childcare which, for a single mom in her neighborhood, would be about $400 a week is another good reason to have a high paying job. Her current job would not provide enough income to fund this baby venture. But once shes the director of the program, she couldnt work part time, she couldnt move, and she probably couldnt even find the time to date. So for Liz, this job decision is loaded. Its the decision between holding onto the dream of a spouse and kids and a part-time job, or giving up the dream for more practical measures and going the child route alone. Liz calls me every day to discuss her life, which has become somewhat like a horse race. She tells me that this months boyfriend might be in love. He took me to his parents house for dinner. She thinks itll be a really good sign if he takes allergy pills so he can sleep over in her cat-infested bed. Then marriage is a real possibility. Last week, she got herself another month to make the decision about the directorship. By then, maybe Ill know. But she sighs a deep sigh, and we both know that when it comes to giving up a career for a family (or vice versa) really you never know.

What Resume Writing Service Should I Use?

What Resume Writing Service Should I Use?What do you think when you hear someone ask 'what resume writing service should I use'? You probably think of a resume as being a piece of paper that you turn in to a job agency and that there is no way to change the format and that it will be the same as every other person's. Well, I have some very good news for you!There are many different ways to write a resume, and some of them will be more effective than others. The trick is to figure out which type of resume you should be using.What you need to do is to research all of the different companies that you may be applying to, and compare the look and feel of their websites with how you might want your own website to look. That is something you can do yourself; no need to hire someone to do it for you.Another thing you can do is to take a course on the different types of resumes. It is really not as hard as you might think, and you will learn a lot about how to make your resume unique. You mig ht even find that some of these courses can be for free and others will cost you.When I first started learning about the process of writing a resume, I was taught by a guide. I did not think he was so great at the process because I had read many books and courses and I knew what to do. After all, I am sure that is how he made his money and it made sense to him that he could teach me something that would help me out.One thing I want to point out to you, though, is that the most important part of how to choose what resume writing service should I use is to determine if they will actually teach you the skill or not. Not all of them do. Just look for a company that will actually show you the process and explain it to you in a clear and simple manner.What resume writing service should I use? I chose a company that used a business card and resume templates that were connected to an internet site that was used to provide all the skills needed to apply for a variety of jobs. You fill in the information and they submit it to various companies, some of which are freelance and some of which are traditional.The average company takes about one day to do a set of searches for jobs, then they submit them in bulk to a number of companies. Since each company has a certain set of requirements and pays a different rate, this makes the typical company that most people are dealing with the right thing. The downside is that it can be expensive, but not to worry; with a resume writing service like this you get the best of both worlds.

Malcolm Gladwell Seminar on Career Success

Malcolm Gladwell Seminar on Career Success A week ago I had the opportunity to see Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers; staff writer for the New Yorker magazine) present his ideas on the secrets of success. Below are some of the points that really struck me and how applicable they are to the career cycle . . . What makes a person successful? Effort. Malcolm Gladwell discussed how we overlook the hard work of success. We see others succeeding and think they are overnight success stories and we dont see the effort it took to acheive those goals. There needs to be intensive preparation before break-through success â€" preparation must be put in first! At times we are frustrated when we are in in the midst of searching for the career that is right for us. It is not always an easy path to the right career, it can take a lot of time and effort. When you see others who have found the best career for them, know that it took quite an effort for him or her to reach that goal. When you find the job or career path you want you have to figure out the effort that is required to get there and then go put in that effort. 10,000 to master your field. Malcolm Gladwell discussed the 10,000 hour rule.  In order to get to the top of our field, we must spend at least 10,000 hours (roughly ten years) of committed practice to that field. The practice needs to be focused, intensive and organized. It cannot just be 10,000 hours of sitting on the sidelines! Identify your weaknesses and practice them. Do not just practice what you are good at â€" practice in order to overcome your weaknesses. One approach to looking for that next job is to find the job that will allow you to grow in an area you are weak in and, thus, put you in a position to get your ideal job. Understand what your long-term career objectives are. How are you going to get there? How are you going to shore up your weak areas and gain those skills that you lack? When you are putting your career plan together, remember to strengthen the weak areas through experience. Look at your interests to find what you love. Malcolm Gladwell discussed how  talent really begins with a love of what you are doing. Find joy in  completing a task. Do you enjoy what you are doing for a living? Does work feel like work? What are some tasks outside of work that you truly enjoy doing? Can you do those for a career? Do you want to do those for a career? Some people are able to turn one of their interests into a career. It may not seem obvious at first. Make a list of your interests. Could any of these be a career option for you? Sometimes there are literal translations of interests to career: interest in caring for children = childcare worker enjoy making websites = website designer love  reading = English teacher Also think about more than just a literal translation of your interest. For example, you love sports, but have a background and experience in finance. Are there finance jobs available with a sports team or a sports equipment company? In this way, you are able to use your skills in an industry tied to your interests. Committment, not just Talent, lands the job. Malcolm Gladwell discussed how you need to have more than talent to be successful you need the commitment. While you need to have creativity and innovation to be successful we tend to focus on the talent piece rather than on the attitude that is needed to cultivate that talent. There needs to be more than talent to be successful â€" there needs to be a commitment toward meeting a goal.   This requires effort. Just being good at something doesnt mean you will be chosen for the job. Rarely is the most talented person chosen for a specific position. Instead, the most likely candidate to get the job is the person who is able to demonstrate not only the talent they possess but also the effort they have applied in the past to develop that talent. These candidates can also discuss how the combination of talent and effort was used to make the company successful. If you are gifted in software programming, but you can not demonstrate the effort you applied while utilizing your talent, a hiring manager is less likely to take a chance on you I have more notes from Malcolm Gladwell to share with you so stay tuned!

Im on BBC - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Im on BBC - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I was interviewed recently for the BBC Radio 4 program In Business with Peter Day. They were doing an episode on happiness at work: A British professor at the Wharton Business School in Philadelphia has done some research appearing to indicate that US corporations with the happiest employees have a financial performance notably better than lower ranked companies. This is either blindingly obvious or a great mystery, and investors seeking more than merely quantitative data on which to base their decisions are getting interested in these league tables of Best Companies to Work For. The real question seems to be: Is happiness in the workplace (that may be so beneficial to a company) created by healthcare and staff karaoke sessions and subsidised canteens, or is it deeper than that? You can listen to the whole program here. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related