Thursday, July 30, 2020

CVs Résumés Get Them Right to Get the Job (Infographic) - CareerEnlightenment.com

Creators Bio: Colin Cuthbert is the Marketing Manager of Ayers, a finance and contractual worker the executives arrangements organization in Australia.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Get to the point fast to get better replies to business emails

Get to the point fast to get better replies to business emails Inboxes are crowded places. With the constant flow of email marketing vying for our attention, it’s more important than ever to get strategic about business email. Emailing eats up a quarter of the working day. That means that on average, we spend two hours a day clearing out the inbox. No surprise that so many of us fall into the category of “stress emailers.” We react quickly, skim emails, and respond either right away or not at all. (A USC study found that 50 percent of email replies are sent in fewer than 60 minutes.) I spoke to Tarzan Kay, a copywriter specializing in email marketing, who shared some simple tricks for highly effective emailing. “There’s so much great science to help us understand inbox behaviors, and how to get better, faster responses,” says Kay. “I limit emails to one subject, and keep them to a grade 7 reading level. Not because I don’t think my reader is smart, but because she’s incredibly busy â€" if she can’t digest it in 20 seconds or less, there’s a good chance it’s going into the ‘save for later’ pile. Later rarely comes.” Language is a powerful motivator, and an equally powerful de-motivator. Even a subtle turn of phrase can change the mindframe in which the remainder of an email gets read. “I sprinkle my emails with lots of feel-good ‘trigger phrases’ to warm up my reader and put them in the mood to reply. Starting an email with a simple phrase like ‘I like the way you’ve [insert admirable thing]’ can be the difference between a glowing reply and getting sent to trash.” (Grab her free “trigger phrases” cheat sheet here.) Here are Tarzan Kay’s top 5 tips for getting faster replies to business emails: 1. Write a straight-to-the-point subject line Subject lines don’t need to be stylish or pique curiosity. Save that for email marketing, or cold prospects that need to be courted. Subject lines are most effective when they’re crystal clear and affirm the body of the email. For example: “Speakers for Job Convention” is better than “Convention Ideas” “Sat Aug. 4 Meeting @ 10am” is better than “Meeting Time” 2. Get to the point fast and reaffirm the main idea Don’t assume the recipient remembers the subject to which you’re referring. Inboxes are chaotic, and it’s inconvenient to have to search through previous emails to pick up the thread. For example: “Very generous of you to offer me the corner office. I accept.” is better than “Wonderful. I accept.” “Glad you liked my presentation at last week’s job convention.” is better than “Glad you liked it.” 3. Play copycat to the recipient’s email style Some busy execs love to send zero-frills emails â€" one-liners with no greetings or small talk. If that’s the case, you can dispense with the foreplay as well. Say what you need to in as few words as possible. On the other hand, if you’re just getting to know someone, and his emails regale you with tales of last Saturday’s golf game, feel free to reciprocate. Bonus points if you can relate back with a tale of the famous hole-in-one you hit in the summer of ‘92. 4. If you need action on multiple items, number them If there are multiple questions that need answering, and they’re scattered throughout the email, it’s a lot of work for the recipient to comb through and answer each question. It’s quite likely at least one will slip through the cracks. Don’t make the recipient work too hard. Number your questions, and add bullets to action items, if you’ve included those as well. That way she can reply back in the body of your email, using it as a template. 5. Add formatting Most of us scan emails the same way we scan articles. This is especially true for group emails, where tasks are delegated to a few different people. Use bold text. Underline it. Write it in red. Highlight names. Your point will come off quicker. Anything in caps draws the reader in immediately. THIS WORKS great for highlighting the main call-to-action. Finally, shorter is almost always better. Say what you can in the fewest number of words possible. Comb through it before sending, and eliminate any extraneous words. You won’t win any literary awards, but you’ll most certainly get more helpful replies, quicker. Consider that your gold star.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

What Work-Life Balance Looks Like Around the World

What Work-Life Balance Resembles Around the World Work-life balance is an issue for individuals everywhere throughout the world. Having a harmony between vocation duties and time went through with friends and family is a significant compenent of a full, upbeat life and a few nations are more mindful of that than others, it seems.Heres a glance at how various nations rank regarding work-life balance.What is Work-Life Balance?There are a wide range of meanings of work-life balance. The greater part of them reach basically a similar resolution, however they stress various parts of the issue. For simplicitys purpose, Ill characterize work-life balance along these lines: The capacity to appreciate every one of four parts of a people life: work, family, companions and self. At the end of the day, the requests of a business shouldnt overpower a people capacity to appreciate a delightful individual life.How Can We Measure Work-Life Balance?Actually, theres an association that has done this for us. Its called the Organization for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD). This association has 34 part nations that cooperate, alongside 70 non-individuals, to advance monetary development. Some portion of its strategic to enable its individuals to structure arrangements to make their residents lives better and you got it more balanced.The OCED accumulates data from legitimate sources like the United Nations Statistics and National Statistics Offices. Some data likewise originates from the Gallup World Poll, an association that finishes assessments of public sentiment in more than 140 countries.To measure work-life balance, OCED positions the percent of representatives who are working extended periods characterized as 50 hours per week or more just as the normal number of hours daily of relaxation time in that nation, which incorporates time for recreation exercises, resting and eating.Legislation Affects Work-Life BalanceSome nations are more forceful than others as far as passing enactment that advances work-life balanc e. For instance: France has passed a law that permits representatives to dismiss work email when theyre not in the workplace. France has 25 governmentally ordered get-away days. The European Union has taken a break Directive that upholds a most extreme 48-hour week's worth of work, including overtime.As you can see, European nations are substantially more forceful than the United States on this front. One consequence of this is the way that in Germany and France, representatives take practically the entirety of their downtime. In the United States, nonetheless, representatives utilize just 73 percent of their accessible time off.Countries with the Best Work-Life BalanceAccording to the OCED, work-life balance is best in these 10 countries,in the accompanying order:1. NetherlandsThe nation positioned as the best for work-life balance, just 0.5 percent of representatives work extended periods of time, contrasted and the general normal of 13 percent, as announced by the OCED. The natio n additionally has a high youth fulfillment pace of 93 percent.2. DenmarkA study from InterNations found that Danes have the most limited work week (a normal of 39.7 long stretches) of nations overviewed. Besides, the state gives childcare to kids up to the age of six, and guardians are qualified for 52 weeks of paid maternity leave.3. FranceThe French appreciate five weeks least of paid get-away time. The law sets up the week's worth of work as 35 hours, albeit extra time does happen.4. SpainTraditionally, representatives delighted in a rest around noon, separating the workday. In any case, there have been moves to make the workday progressively adjusted to that of the remainder of the EU as of late. All things considered, the legislature is searching for approaches to improve work-life offset with measures, for example, expanding the quantity of nursery schools.5. BelgiumBelgian law specifies a greatest 8-hour workday and 40-hour work week. The nation has additionally observed an ascent in working from home and adaptable work options.6. NorwayAccording to the Human Development Index, Norway positions number one for in general correspondence. The nation likewise organizes training, requesting that understudies pick their vocation heading right off the bat. Moreover, Norwegians will in general have high employment security.7. SwedenEmployees appreciate a month and a half of excursion time in addition to occasions and days off. They additionally appreciate adaptable work hours and a wellbeing and vitality stipend. Guardians are qualified for 480 days of leave.8. GermanyGermany has maybe the most liberal parental leave strategy on the planet as long as three years for each kid. Germans additionally will in general work by and large shorter hours yet produce more in that time.9. Russian FederationAccording to the OECD, not many residents of the Russian Federation work extended periods of time at a pace of 0.2 percent. 70% of individuals between the ages of 15 and 64 are employed.10. IrelandThe OECD found that the Irish commit a normal of 15.3 hours out of each day participating in non-work, individual exercises. These including unwinding, resting, eating, and others.Countries with the Worst Work-Life BalanceThey likewise figured out which nations have the most noticeably awful work-life balance, which are as follows:1. TurkeyThirty-four percent of representatives work extended periods, as indicated by the OECD.Turkey is by a wide margin the nation with the most elevated extent of individuals working extended periods of time, with 34%. Besides, while Turkey offers paid maternity leave, it just does as such for about four months aggregate for one youngster or 18 weeks for various pregnancies.2. MexicoSixty-one percent of individuals between the ages of 15 and 64 have a paid activity, lower than the general normal. Almost 30 percent work long hours.3. IsraelIn Israel, 15 percent of representatives work extended periods of time. The normal fami ly extra cash per capita is additionally lower than the general average.4. KoreaWhile Korea as of late cut its most extreme working hours out of each week from 68 to 52, this is still significantly higher than numerous different nations. All things considered, the change may assist Koreans with seeing a superior work-life balance.5. JapanJapan has additionally made progress to improve work-life balance by restricting extra time to 100 hours out of every month and 720 hours out of every year. A 2017 review directed by Hays found that one out of four Japanese laborers was disappointed with their work-life balance.6. IcelandIceland is a costly nation, and numerous representatives work extended periods of time to get by. Be that as it may, Icelanders shouldn't work more than 48 for every week.7. South AfricaAccording to a Targus NoMoreExcuses Survey, 30 percent of South African respondents feel their managers dont esteem work-life balance. The review likewise found that 63 percent of bu sinesses dont grant remote working.8. AustraliaCensus information from 2016 found that 43 percent of Australians work over 43 hours out of each week. An Austrian Bureau of Statistics review from 2017 found that 35% of Australian men and 42 percent of Australian ladies felt noteworthy pressure or absence of time.9. Joined StatesThe U.S. is the main OECD without a paid parental leave strategy. It additionally has no governmentally commanded wiped out leave strategy or most extreme number of hours representatives may work per week.10. New ZealandA 2016 Census overview found that most New Zealanders worked somewhere in the range of 40 and 49 hours out of every week. The OECD additionally announced that 13 percent work extremely long hours.The Bottom Line: Work-Life BalanceIts fascinating to take note of that, as indicated by the OCEDs discoveries, 11.7 percent of representatives in the U.S. work extended periods of time and individuals appreciate a normal of 14.5 recreation hours in a d ay. (Were certain this number would change pretty significantly, however, in the event that the OCED sharpened in solely on working mothers, and furthermore controlled for where in the U.S. respondents lived.)Keep as a main priority that work-life balance is just one of the 11 factors the OCED positions on a for every nation premise. Be that as it may, it isclearthat numerous nations could improve to guarantee that their residents are living full, enhanced lives.

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

20 work from home tips from the experts - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

20 work from home tips from the experts - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach With more and more people seeking a better work-life balance and an increased sense of autonomy with their work, working remotely has been on a steady rise for the past few years. Despite this, only 5% of the UK workforce worked mainly from home in 2019. And since COVID-19 has brought upon a bigger work from home experiment than ever seen before, it comes as no surprise that many employees feel unprepared. Working remotely comes with an endless list of perks, but there’s no denying that it has its challenges too. After all, being surrounded by home distractions, lacking a structured routine, juggling childcare with work time, and suddenly being without the social aspect of office life certainly requires some adjustment. So, to help you settle into this new way of working, the career experts at StandOut CV quizzed some of the UK’s best entrepreneurs and brands, as well as leading remote-working companies, for their top tips for staying productive whilst away from the office.

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Does Your Motivation for Changing Careers Stink - Melissa Llarena

Does Your Motivation for Changing Careers Stink Does Your Motivation for Changing Careers Stink? “I want to stop reading and rotting and that’s why I want to leave law in pursuit of becoming a marketer!” Changing sectors takes extraordinary efforts and this reason will not move the mountains you need moved to successfully transition. However, you will gain traction if your motivation for the switch exhibits these four characteristics, it’s: 1) authentic, 2) positive, 3) specific, and 4) thoughtful.Authentic  You must believe in your motivation so search for a truth that you can share with a hiring manager. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be your primary motive it can be reason number three; it just has to be valid. Brainstorm your personal and professional motivations and then try them out on others to see if they pass this authenticity test; others can sense when a person lacks authenticity. For example, don’t lie by saying you always intended to become a marketer yet your career was sidetracked. Instead, talk about how y our clients are marketers and you are always intrigued by the problems they are solving…if this is on your list of truths.Positive Keep it positive or else your negative sentiments will be met by negative responses with regards to your candidacy. In the same way that you should not talk poorly about an old boss you should not talk poorly about your current or even a former field. Your rationale for moving must be positive. For instance, if you tell a marketing organization that you want to pursue marketing because you want to stop “reading and rotting” as an attorney then chances are you will continue to read and rot. The better approach is to emphasize the reasons why working as a marketer would complement your lawyer-quality research skills.Specific Point to a situation or moment when you realized that your skills could be better used in another field. If you recall the time when you first envisioned yourself doing something else then use that as your motivation for the swit ch. If, as an attorney, you approve promotional copy and it was that time when you were working on the Nike tagline, “Just Do It” that you thought to yourself, “I wish I were a brand manager” then share that moment with a hiring manager. Illustrate what you saw that brand manager do on the day you had this epiphany.Thoughtful As you learn about your new field incorporate your findings immediately as part of your rationale for the switch. For instance, if you currently work in a Spanish bank and you learned that there is a burgeoning industry in China then point to the firm in that hot sector that is opening a subsidiary in Guangzhou as part of your reason for why you want to make that leap (if its the truth). Using research findings in your motives shows that you are smart and a self-directed learner which a hiring manager will appreciate since youll have a steep learning curve to climb in a new field.