Loading a Camping Trailer and Your Daily Duties

Loading a Camping Trailer and Your Daily Duties I have vivid dreams usually about three a night is what I remember. They are usually very active and involve running, or saving something, or intense thinking. Last night one of my dreams went a little like this: I was under a pavillion at a campground and there were about 100 people milling around getting ready to leave. They were in various stages if breaking camp. I was watching someone who took the initiative to load the trailer we had brought there were coolers, sleeping pads and bags, backpacks an duffel bags, camp stoves all the usual stuff youd expect to see there. There was were also a couple of queen mattresses. Not the normal camping gear, but hey, when I camp on my back porch with my kids I love to bring up a mattress instead of use a little camping pad. Who am I to judge someone who brings a queen mattress to a long camp out? Anyway, I was watching the guy loading the trailer and he was making steady but slow progress throwing the bags in, then the pads, then this, then that. All the while, the mattresses stayed out of the trailer. Eventually I thought, if he doesnt put the mattresses in, they arent going to fit anywhere, and hell have to unload the trailer, put them in, and then reload everything! I didnt have time to tell him my mind moved on to the next dream, but the whole time I was thinking, DUDE the mattresses!   Do the mattresses!! The reason Im sharing this is because you have a list of things to do today. Think of today as your trailer, and the list of things as camping supplies. You have to fit your list of things into today, right? Ill tell you what your queen mattress is right now: it is reaching out to humans. Calling them, emailing them. Not in a group or list, but individuals. A lot of the job seekers I talk to would rather send mass emails or group messages than reach out to a single person and ask for a call, meeting, or meal. But that, my friends, is networking. We need to make individual connections and have conversations with individuals. You can do all kinds of other things in your job search look for job openings on job boards, polish this resume, work on that cover letter, do research on LinkedIn, even poke around JibberJobber looking at stuff those are not necessarily bad things. But if you spend all of your time doing that, youll fill the trailer and still have the big mattresses left which means youll have wasted time and energy. Get the big mattresses in first MAKE THE CALLS, every single day, to individuals. Once you have done that, then you do the other stuff (try and do it by order of importance). Over the years Ive written a lot about this topic. Heres one of my favorite posts: Stop hiding and actually start your job search. Loading a Camping Trailer and Your Daily Duties I have vivid dreams usually about three a night is what I remember. They are usually very active and involve running, or saving something, or intense thinking. Last night one of my dreams went a little like this: I was under a pavillion at a campground and there were about 100 people milling around getting ready to leave. They were in various stages if breaking camp. I was watching someone who took the initiative to load the trailer we had brought there were coolers, sleeping pads and bags, backpacks an duffel bags, camp stoves all the usual stuff youd expect to see there. There was were also a couple of queen mattresses. Not the normal camping gear, but hey, when I camp on my back porch with my kids I love to bring up a mattress instead of use a little camping pad. Who am I to judge someone who brings a queen mattress to a long camp out? Anyway, I was watching the guy loading the trailer and he was making steady but slow progress throwing the bags in, then the pads, then this, then that. All the while, the mattresses stayed out of the trailer. Eventually I thought, if he doesnt put the mattresses in, they arent going to fit anywhere, and hell have to unload the trailer, put them in, and then reload everything! I didnt have time to tell him my mind moved on to the next dream, but the whole time I was thinking, DUDE the mattresses!   Do the mattresses!! The reason Im sharing this is because you have a list of things to do today. Think of today as your trailer, and the list of things as camping supplies. You have to fit your list of things into today, right? Ill tell you what your queen mattress is right now: it is reaching out to humans. Calling them, emailing them. Not in a group or list, but individuals. A lot of the job seekers I talk to would rather send mass emails or group messages than reach out to a single person and ask for a call, meeting, or meal. But that, my friends, is networking. We need to make individual connections and have conversations with individuals. You can do all kinds of other things in your job search look for job openings on job boards, polish this resume, work on that cover letter, do research on LinkedIn, even poke around JibberJobber looking at stuff those are not necessarily bad things. But if you spend all of your time doing that, youll fill the trailer and still have the big mattresses left which means youll have wasted time and energy. Get the big mattresses in first MAKE THE CALLS, every single day, to individuals. Once you have done that, then you do the other stuff (try and do it by order of importance). Over the years Ive written a lot about this topic. Heres one of my favorite posts: Stop hiding and actually start your job search.

Employer Branding An Inside Out Approach

Employer Branding An Inside Out Approach How do you communicate an employer brand from the inside out? It all starts from within your organization. Were with Kristin Dudley, a keen producer of stories that attract and engage, as well as the Founder of Co-Create LLC. In this episode, well learn what impact employee stories have on talent attraction, how to go about capturing the best workplace moments and well find out what candidate chemistry is all about. Have a listen to the interview below, keep reading for a summary and be sure to subscribe to the Employer Branding Podcast. Listen on  Apple Podcasts,  Stitcher Radio,  Google Play  or  SoundCloud. In this episode well learn: About Kristins journey from Comcast to Co-Create. What Kristin means when she talks about the employer brand from the inside out. About the 4 key steps to communicating  your employer brand from the inside out. Why video is key when it comes to showcasing your employee experiences and the employees who make up your culture. Why you should never ever make assumptions as an employer brand professional. What ROI metrics are key to Kristins employer branding efforts. Why LinkedIn can be a key tool for attracting the right talent for your company. Why Gen Z need to be understood so that we can rebrand work as a more loveable place to work. Connect with Kristin on LinkedIn.

5 Ways to Avoid Your Resume Getting Trashed

5 Ways to Avoid Your Resume Getting Trashed Thanks for sending in all of your resumes over the past week in preparation for Job Search Boot Camp!   Ive loved looking at them.   After reviewing all the resumes, I wanted to share 5 big picture ways to avoid your resume getting thrown in the trash. These are just the first step of having a polished rock star status resume.   Without these, you wont make it far. 5 Very Basic Things You Need to do with your resume Make it pretty. Put your references on a second page by themselves. Finish your sentences.   Tell me more.   Show quantifiable value that you added. Keep it to 1 page! Cut cheesy interests and bullshit about crappy jobs. Shout Outs! Most Likely to Call for an Interview: Jen Deweerd from Ontario, Canada Overall favorite resume: Katie Garton, Syracuse, New York

How a Direct Recruitment Model Saved Epsilon £430,000

How a Direct Recruitment Model Saved Epsilon £430,000 It is likely that before reading this article you would not be aware of the company “Epsilon”.   This is despite Epsilon’s status as the world’s largest permission-based email marketers and a leading marketing services provider with over 4500 employees and revenue just shy of $1 billion.   The figures may not necessarily stand out, but as a leader in one of the largest “growth sectors”, the Epsilon brand should be a familiar name.   Here lies the first challenge! Based in London I have been managing Epsilon’s direct recruitment on the international side (EMEA APAC) for less than two years, and in that time we have seen some fantastic results.   Like many in-house recruiters, my remit was to implement direct recruiting to save costs and improve the quality of hires (so nothing too demanding then!).   My brief agency background certainly helped with this, but the tools and methods used have contributed to the overall success. To a lot of recruiters, the volume hired will seem very low, hiring around 50-60 vacancies a year (though 2013 is on target for about double that).   However, the real challenge comes with the difficulty of each position. The talent pool we need to recruit from is quite small due to the hyper-tight market that Epsilon operates in, that also has an extremely low unemployment rate. Couple this with some difficult office locations and multiple languages requirements, and you have a real challenge on your hands. Most of our vacancies are for marketing professionals, whether email, database, direct, digital or creative. There are also some very technical roles, client services and sales positions ranging from junior to VP level. Implementing a Direct Recruitment Model Obviously, there are many other benefits to an internal recruitment model, but the cost is always going to be a major reason for a business to shift to this model.   Large sums were spent on agencies and we wanted to reduce fee expenditure, especially on the more senior positions. From the beginning, this was a very ‘hands-on’ role where I was sourcing multiple positions directly, especially in the UK where I decided to cut the use of agencies immediately.   Initially, the tools at hand were pretty basic.   I had a career site, a kind of ATS, access to a Monster CV database and LinkedIn “Talent Finder”. There was a referral scheme already in place that was proving very successful in the US. As I was cutting the use of agencies it was important to talk to the business, assess their requirements, talk about key competitors, sources of candidates etc, to ensure they received the service levels they had been accustomed to.   After filling some initial key vacancies I focused on a more structured and strategic approach to internal recruitment, using a variety of tools: Tools Methods I Use to Recruit: Currently, the key methods I use for sourcing and attracting candidates include: Professional networking Sites LinkedIn, Xing (Germany) and Viadeo (France) CV Databases Monster, Brand Republic CWJobs Job Board Advertising â€" A couple of generic sites (Monster Totaljobs mainly), but I make use of many niche sites dependent on the positions such as Only Marketing Jobs,   Marketing Week, Jobserve Design Week to name a few Epsilon Careers page Employee referrals Events (not so much in the UK but we made a key hire   in Germany via the DMEXCO event) Social Media â€" Basic use of Twitter I admit LinkedIn has been an amazing tool for targeting staff at competitors that fit seamlessly into the business.   This made the initial transition from an agency model to in-house model much easier. The volume of applicants we were naturally attracting online when I joined was quite low.   This has significantly improved since using the various niche boards as it helped to increase brand awareness in the sector.   Job boards primarily attract active candidates but we try to be smart with our job postings mixing things up with postings that have added features to attract or target passive job seekers. Recruitment Technology, Process Talent Pooling When I joined Epsilon too many candidates were dropping out of the process with our existing recruitment/ATS system.   The candidate experience was pretty bad so I needed an alternative to quickly improve how we managed applicants.   Also, moving to an in-house recruitment model inevitably means more administration. In line with the theme of general cost-cutting, I opted to experiment with a new free recruitment system called Qandidate.com. It’s a pretty intuitive system so didn’t take long to get to grips with. The application method is much simpler for candidates who can also apply with their LinkedIn profiles.   This simplified candidate experience solved the ‘drop off’ problem; instantly we saw an improvement in the numbers of relevant candidates completing applications.   Our jobs are displayed on search engine optimised ‘mini-sites’ which has helped attract more direct applications (there’s a lot more we can do around SEO in our wider recruitment strategy). One of the things I’m looking to develop further in 2013 is to create a larger pipeline of future candidates.   Qandidate has a talent pool function which allows me to match interested applicants against different roles within the business either now or in the future, but I’m also looking at other methods/technologies to complement this such as newsletters, social media etc. Results â€" 100% Retention Savings of £430,000+ to date Our key results from the switch to direct recruiting include: In the UK, no agencies have been used since I kicked off the in-house model back in April 2011 In 2011 we achieved a 70% reduction in our cost per hire (approximately £140,000 in savings overall) compared to the previous year. In 2012 no agencies were also used in France, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong or Spain. In 2012 ‘hypothetically’ we saved approximately £350,000 compared to using the old agency model.   This figure was calculated by the cost of if the direct hires had been completed through agencies at the PSL rates.   Our spend on job boards, LinkedIn etc is relatively low, so taking into account all factors and salaries, the savings are closer to £290,000 which is still pretty substantial. We still use agencies in Germany, Japan China where recruitment can be a bit trickier; although this will decrease as we gather more local expertise during 2013 (Japan is especially difficult, any tips here greatly received!) Furthermore, the above has been achieved with a 100% retention rate of UK direct hires since April 2011.   This is a metric a lot of people ignore but a ‘bad’ hire is often responsible for a large portion of recruitment costs.   By ensuring the right cultural fit, we’ve managed to recruit great people who want to stay in the business. The Future â€" Employer Brand, Video Stories Although we are happy with the results of switching to an internal recruitment model there is still a lot of work to do.   It is essential to further increase the general brand awareness of Epsilon as a place to work. We are currently exploring different strategies such as a more effective use of social media and the creation of video content to give a better insight into life at Epsilon. Developing a mobile-friendly careers site job adverts will be crucial moving forward, as more people begin to spend their time viewing jobs on a mobile device.  Getting more out of our referral scheme is another aim. Overall I’d like our attraction strategy to be more brand and ‘story’ focused. 2013 is looking to be an exciting year! If you’re an in-house recruiter and you have any specific questions on any of the above, or tips you would like to share with me, I’d love to hear from you.

#DebutTalk Live Twitter Chat Recap Millennials and Money - Debut

#DebutTalk Live Twitter Chat Recap Millennials and Money - Debut Often, millennials are labelled entitled, yet were the generation least likely to own a house of our own.  The National Housing Federation has stated that youd need an income of almost £130,000 a year to afford a mortgage on the average home. With the mean salary in London hovering steadily at £34,000 a year, this, err, doesnt bode well.Which brings us on to the topic of our last #DebutTalk: Millennials and Money. Talking about money isnt just about discussing the best money management tips. Our #DebutTalk participants dived deep this week, talking about their money insecurities, challenges, and what they think the future of finance will look like. Lets take a look at the best insights: Q1. What is the biggest money challenge for millennials? A1. Finding affordable accommodation that is both livable and within 40 miles of anything #DebutTalk â€" Matt Thomas (@MattfromDebut) February 9, 2017 A1. I have no idea when Ill be able to afford a house *ever*. And Im bleeding money in rent. Its massively overwhelming #DebutTalk â€" Brenda Wong (@brendaisarebel) February 9, 2017 @DebutCareers A1. High rents, especially in London; salaries haven’t grown enough to keep up, except in a small number of sectors #DebutTalk â€" Zaki Dogliani (@ZakiDogliani) February 9, 2017 A1: For me it was having the pressure of becoming completely independent asap. Stop asking parents! #DebutTalk https://t.co/fKWUhmgQjO â€" Cristina Astorri (@Ascrissy) February 9, 2017 A1. Using your income to pay rent and bills and then having your disposable stack looking slim like Shady. No room for enjoyment. #DebutTalk https://t.co/tmXJCJH0mV â€" Alex Ekong (@andthenalexsaid) February 9, 2017 Q2. Would you rather spend money on experiences or things? A2. Ive lived a nomadic life, so Id much rather spend money on experiences. Apparently this is a millennial thing #DebutTalk https://t.co/73YF4LZNeN â€" Brenda Wong (@brendaisarebel) February 9, 2017 A2: I would definitely rather spend money on experiences. For example I save up quite a bit for travelling #DebutTalk #wanderlust https://t.co/IDffIffwAo â€" April Roach (@aprilroach28) February 9, 2017 A2: I mean. If I could afford diamonds I could be tempted. But with a package holiday being cheaper Ill take that! #DebutTalk ??? https://t.co/Z9wi8otLcm â€" Monique Perks (@MoniquePerks) February 9, 2017 A2. My lifetime spend on gig + festival tickets says experiences. Imagine having bare stuff but nothing to tell your grandkids. #DebutTalk https://t.co/vWctL5TExv â€" Alex Ekong (@andthenalexsaid) February 9, 2017 A2: definitely experiences! But bcs of deadlines me always trying to catch up with work aka no time, I end up getting things #DebutTalk https://t.co/e8lRppfbdu â€" Sorfina Shamsudin (@SorfinaMusic) February 9, 2017 Q3. Have you ever used alternative banks like Monzo, Loot or Atom Bank? A3: Sadly no. But thats because I had it set up for me when I was younger by my parents and have never changed! #DebutTalk https://t.co/Tu2CcH0Kbe â€" Monique Perks (@MoniquePerks) February 9, 2017 A3. No, but they sound very intuitive and cool. Only a matter of time before big banks develop to catch up. #DebutTalk https://t.co/YSneezcFNQ â€" Alex Ekong (@andthenalexsaid) February 9, 2017 listen. LISTEN!!! Let me tell you about the Gospel of @monzo #DebutTalk https://t.co/lRxm5kCli4 â€" Ben Donkor ?? (@FR314) February 9, 2017 I tried so many virtual banks before to (1) budget money, (2) consolidate finances, and (3) be part of my quantified self project #DebutTalk â€" Ben Donkor ?? (@FR314) February 9, 2017 Just when I lost hope, @monzo comes through. Did I have to wait ages while it was in closed beta? Yes, but it was worth the wait #DebutTalk â€" Ben Donkor ?? (@FR314) February 9, 2017 Now Im at a point where instead of wasting of money like I used to Im investing it. And *this* is the Gospel of @monzo. #DebutTalk pic.twitter.com/RdOInqemNN â€" Ben Donkor ?? (@FR314) February 9, 2017 (now, do I still overspend on @Dominos_UK ? sure, but thats besides the point. @monzo WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE . ) #DebutTalk â€" Ben Donkor ?? (@FR314) February 9, 2017 Q4. How clued up do you feel you are about your finances? Did you get enough information at school/university? A4. Went to a private, posh school. My goodness, NO ONE knew anything about the value of money. We werent really taught either #DebutTalk https://t.co/OYiTmbGeRU â€" Brenda Wong (@brendaisarebel) February 9, 2017 @DebutCareers A4. Probably not. E.g. I can’t remember learning about tax returns, which it took me ages to fill out last month. #DebutTalk â€" Zaki Dogliani (@ZakiDogliani) February 9, 2017 A4: No information whatsoever was given to us at uni. It was a given that parents had to pay for most of it. #DebutTalk https://t.co/iMgDzfO1Jz â€" Cristina Astorri (@Ascrissy) February 9, 2017 A4: not as much as Id like/expect to be! Things like taxes, interest rates investment are words I only ever heard from family #DebutTalk https://t.co/71KvyMecqy â€" Sorfina Shamsudin (@SorfinaMusic) February 9, 2017 A4. Things beyond general personal finance is murky. My school didnt teach it and I frequently google terms/tips #DebutTalk https://t.co/CTCTSvUQxM â€" Fumi (@FumiETC) February 9, 2017 Q4: very little education about it. Most underestimated personal finance fact? Get a pension as soon as possible! @DebutCareers #debuttalk â€" Michele Trusolino (@MrTruso) February 9, 2017 Q5. Does the state of your finances ever affect your mental health or relationships with other people?   A5: I do worry about money a fair bit. About the future. But I dont think it puts strain on my relationships. #DebutTalk https://t.co/BRc6WdsdWW â€" Monique Perks (@MoniquePerks) February 9, 2017 A5: Sometimes, anxiety creeps in, as my future plans might be in danger: Ive some money saved, but #DebutTalk pic.twitter.com/NWL5VA22Db â€" @AndreaTorti90 (@andreatorti90) February 9, 2017 A5: unfortunately often people associate their personal value with their net worth. So no money= no value. WRONG! #debuttalk @DebutCareers https://t.co/Tnt4c3CNN0 â€" Michele Trusolino (@MrTruso) February 9, 2017 A5. No but I think good management and not ignoring/putting off is key, you feel more in control and can then forget about it #DebutTalk â€" Matt Thomas (@MattfromDebut) February 9, 2017 A5a: like how socialising = food it can also mean sacrificing your groceries meals for 3 days for that 1 fancy birthday meal #DebutTalk https://t.co/L3TmUzjgS0 â€" Sorfina Shamsudin (@SorfinaMusic) February 9, 2017 A5b: I used to avoid social gatherings bcs I didnt know how to balance my daily life w/ the occasional splurge it made me sad #DebutTalk https://t.co/L3TmUzjgS0 â€" Sorfina Shamsudin (@SorfinaMusic) February 9, 2017 Q6. What is the best piece of money management advice youve ever heard?   @DebutCareers A6. Beware plastic. Cards make it easy to lose track of how much you spend a week, especially contactless. Use cash #DebutTalk â€" Zaki Dogliani (@ZakiDogliani) February 9, 2017 A6. Keep a log, as best as you can. And dont ever avoid looking at your bank balance. #DebutTalk https://t.co/Blth535CXy â€" Brenda Wong (@brendaisarebel) February 9, 2017 A6: Budget! Track your savings. I check my bank account a lot, so it’s a never a surprise to me if Ive over or under spent. #DebutTalk https://t.co/RKdcrGKrkj â€" April Roach (@aprilroach28) February 9, 2017 A6. Dont spend money on something unless you can afford to buy it three times. Saved a fair amount with that little gem. #DebutTalk https://t.co/1KVNMCYt5W â€" Alex Ekong (@andthenalexsaid) February 9, 2017 The next #DebutTalk is on Company Culture, and will be guest-hosted by FDM Group. See you there! Announcing our #DebutTalk host for this week, @FDMGroup! A company that champions great company culture. https://t.co/AqTyJ7vMjQ pic.twitter.com/dYfg4NyzNq â€" Debut (@DebutCareers) February 14, 2017 Download the Debut app and get Talent-Spotted by amazing graduate employers! Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter

3 Productivity Tools to Help You Reach Your Job Search Goals Faster - Sterling Career Concepts

3 Productivity Tools to Help You Reach Your Job Search Goals Faster 3 Productivity Tools to Help You Reach Your Job Search Goals Faster If youre like most busy people, youre always looking for ways to increase your productivity. If you can find a way to limit your distractions in whats become a distraction-filled world, and stay focused on a single task at a time, youre well on your way to getting more done faster in your job search, but its not always easy to get there. Thanks to technology today, there are a plenty of tools out there that can help. Here are 3 of my favorite productivity tools to help you limit distractions and stay focused on your job search: Productivity Tool #1:  Rescue Time Lets get the distractions out of the way first because even while technology brings us so many great productivity tools, it also brings us tremendous distractions. RescueTime helps you track your time on your computer and your mobile devices and identifies where you where youre spending (ahem…often wasting) a lot of your time. RescueTime will: Alert you when youre spending a certain amount of time on an activity Allow you to block distracting websites during focus time Keep track of what you accomplished throughout the day Identify how much time you spend on a variety of activities, including email and meetings You can sign up for a Lite account, which is completely free or their premium service for added features. Productivity Tool #2:  Focus Booster Pomodoro App The Focus Booster app is based on the Pomodoro Technique, which is a long-standing productivity technique that uses a timer for focused work periods, usually 25 minutes, followed by a break of 3-5 minutes. After you complete 4 work periods, you get a break of 15-30 minutes. The idea is you stay completely focused on the task during the work period. The app keeps a time sheet for you and produces a report that allows you to track your productivity and identify ways to become even more productive. There are a lot of apps that can help you execute the Pomodoro Technique, but you can check out Focus Booster. The app is free for up to 20 sessions per month or you can pay a reasonable yearly fee for unlimited sessions and extra features. Productivity Tool #3:  Focus @ Will Now heres something different, but scientifically proven to increase focus and productivity and if you love music, this is going to be great news for you. Focus@Will uses human neuroscience and music to help you focus, limit distractions, get productive and retain more information. All you do is answer a few questions and the software will determine the right music to put your brain in a flow state that makes you super productive. Theres a free 2 week trial, so you can see if it works for you. So theres three to consider.   Give one or more of these tools a try and let me know what you think and if you have a favorite productivity tool of your own, share it with us in the comments below!

Resume Writing - Technical Skills For Job Hunting

Resume Writing - Technical Skills For Job HuntingMany resume writers think that resume writing has nothing to do with technical skills, but the opposite is true. It is much easier to land a job in the tech industry if you have a good technical skill set. The reasons are simple: The more technical your knowledge, the more your application is going to stand out from other candidates for the job you want.To start, when it comes to getting a job, technical knowledge is very important. There are many cases where employers were unaware of the technical issues that an applicant might have had. For example, if you had done some work for one company and worked for another, they may not have been aware of your technical knowledge.Most people would be surprised at the level of technical knowledge required for their career. If you want to apply for a job in the computer field, it is going to be necessary to have a lot of experience. There are many things you can do to help land a job in the comp uter field.One of the ways you can help yourself to get a job in the IT industry is to provide as much detail as possible on your resume regarding any technical issues you may have. The first thing you should do is provide a statement that includes your name, and a short paragraph stating some technical information about your resume. This is usually the most important part of your resume. A good tip is to focus on the most relevant technical details about you, without providing too much information.You can write some extra technical details about yourself after this statement. Provide the reason why you think your technical skills will be useful to the employer. What examples of the work you did to show how creative you were? How could you have contributed to some of the company's current projects?If you can provide some examples of the work you did that show that you had a high level of technical knowledge, then you may be able to include some extra details about those technical de tails. By providing more technical details, you are showing your potential employer that you are likely to be a valuable employee.Sometimes you will find that employers don't ask about your technical details, but rather what skills you have that will help them make their computers run faster. Another way to put these types of questions is to describe any jobs you have done that included designing computers or software. Another tip is to provide a brief paragraph on the role you played in the development of a new product.Finally, don't forget to have some extra jobs on your resume for which you have worked for jobs in marketing that provided experience for applying for a job in that field. Some companies even hire candidates that have no formal education in computers, but they are able to see that you are a 'team player'.