Livestock Feed Sales Representative

Livestock Feed Sales RepresentativeLivestock Feed Sales RepresentativeLivestock feed sale representatives use their knowledge of animal nutrition and ausverkauf skills to market feed products to dealers and livestock production facilities. Duties Livestock feed sales representatives are responsible for marketing a manufacturers feed products to dealers such as local feed, farm, and hardware retailers. Feed sales reps may also sell directly to horse farms and livestock production facilities. Livestock feed sales reps must constantly educate themselves about the livestock feed industry and their companys specific product line. They must also aggressively seek out new prospects and work to develop additional sales accounts in their designated territory. fruchtwein livestock feed sales representative positions are field-based, requiring frequent travel throughout designated territory to market products. Sales reps also must visit retail locations to provide training and marketing mat erials to the dealers sales staff. Participation in industry trade show events or conventions may also be required. Sales reps must maintain detailed records of their sales, develop prospect lists, file expense reports, schedule visits to dealers, prepare sales presentations, and provide ongoing customer service and support to their clients. Sales reps generally have a flexible schedule, but their work hours often include nights and weekends. Career Options Many livestock feed sales representatives specialize in offering a line of feed products for one major species such as horses, cattle, sheep, or poultry. Representatives may also specialize further by offering products which target a specific segment of the species. Equine feed sales representatives, for example, may concentrate on offering feed products designed specifically for either wertzuwachs horses or breeding stock. Livestock feed sales representatives can also use their skills and experience to transition into other related career paths such as veterinary pharmaceutical sales, known to be an extremely lucrative field. Veterinary pharmaceutical sales reps market animal drugs and supplements directly to veterinarians. It is also possible to transition to pet product sales, part of the $50 billion dollar a year pet industry. Pet product sales reps can offer a wide range of products to pet boutiques and other retail outlets. Education Training Livestock feed sales representatives can come from a variety of educational backgrounds. While there is no specific educational requirement for those entering this career, most manufacturers prefer that their sales rep candidates have a degree in marketing, business, animal science, agriculture, communications, or a veterinary related field. A masters degree further enhances your chances of advancing to a supervisory role, such as a position in sales management. Prior experience working in retail feed sales environments, such as a feed or farm supply sto res, is beneficial. A sales rep should be extremely familiar with the animal species for which they are marketing products, as they will be dealing with professionals in the field. New sales rep recruits generally go through a company-sponsored training program before entering the field. Sales training can last anywhere from a few weeks or several months. The sales management team also provides continuing education for sales reps as new product lines are developed and introduced to the market. There are several membership groups for those in the sales industry. One well-known group of sales representatives is the Manufacturers Agents National Association (MANA), which offers market research studies, continuing education opportunities, and local networking events for manufacturers agents. A highly regarded certification program is provided by the Manufacturers Representatives Education Research Foundation (MRERF). The MRERF offers certification as either a Certified Professional Manu facturers Representative (CPMR) or as a Certified Sales Professional (CSP). Salary Compensation for livestock feed sales representatives can be based on commission, salary, or (most frequently) a combination of the two. Sales reps also usually benefit from some type of bonus structure that rewards outstanding performance upon the achievement of certain sales milestones. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the middle 50% of sales representatives earned between $48,540 and $99,570 per year during a 2008 salary study. The lowest 10% earned less than $34,980 per year and the highest 10% earned more than $133,040 per year. The median wage for sales representatives was $70,200. Those individuals working in field sales positions often receive additional compensation and benefits such as an expense account for entertaining clients, paid airfare and hotel stays, and use of a company vehicle. Job Outlook Sales representative job opportunities are expected to grow as fehlte nicht viel as the average (about 7%) for all careers, so competition should remain keen for available positions. According to the BLS, job prospects will be best for those holding a college degree, expertise in the field, and solid marketing skills.

Career lessons from James Corden and Carpool Karaoke

Career lessons from James Corden and Carpool KaraokeCareer lessons from James Corden and Carpool KaraokeOne of the fruchtwein anticipated segments of late-night TV in recent years is Carpool Karaoke on CBSs The Late Late Show with James Corden. In case youre unfamiliar with the recurring segment, host Corden usually drives around an A-List singer past or present as they sing along to said singers prerecorded hits. Its simple, addictive and brilliant.And since life lessons pop up in the most unexpected places, Carpool Karaoke might also provide you with some career inspiration.Delight your captive audienceIf you think about it, on some level both Corden and the singer in question are trapped in a car together. The fact that they manage to transform the experience into instantly viral entertainment is the magical part. It is called captive market syndrome, said Maiden Manzanal-Frank, Founder, CEO Senior Consultant of Global Stakes Consultant. People ride on the car/limo or bus and the re are entertainment, connections, and harmony that forms between strangers because of being stranded in one place. Its an interesting notion to think that while you cant choose your co-workers and are for all intents and purposes stuck together for the foreseeable future, you can decide whether you harmonize or create dissonance instead.Make them feel secureWhile Corden frequently pokes fun at his singing abilities, he also belts em out with the best of them. Its interesting to try to guess whether its Corden who makes his guests feel comfortable enough to sing naked without autotune or editing or vice versa. In the work world, you might be the office star or the one who still soaks it all up and hopes for that next big promotion. Its important to realize though that while reflected glory can be fleeting, making those you work with feel comfortable enough to shine is a valuable talent in and of itself.Show your admirationLets face it, James Corden is famous. He even has his own TV show The thing is though, that he has no problem being a fanboy either. Whether hes belting it out with Sir Paul McCartney (and weeping at times) or trying to keep up with Adele, hes clearly second fiddle in the equation and hes just fine with it. While kissing-up is never a great career move, letting someone know you think theyre great is always a smart move.Let the cracks showIn his song Anthem, the late great Leonard Cohen famously sang There is a crack in everything, thats how the light gets in. Perfection is overrated. Dont believe me? How much more fun is it to hear Corden and celebs warbling their tunes together and missing high notes rather than hearing the shiny packaged radio version? So much more fun If you struggle with something it doesnt make you a failure, it makes your ultimate success that much more impressive.Choose your greatest hitsLike most singers, we all have B-sides or the songs that never quite became hits. On Carpool Karaoke, Corden rarely picks the songs no one knows and instead focuses on the top 10 nearly every single time. While you may have had a passion project at work, it might not be the best idea to highlight it in your year-end review if no one else ever heard about it. Instead, try listing the projects or papers or career highlights that set you apart as a star.But reinvent them from time to timePlay your best tunes over and over and over again in different formats with a different audience, said Manzanal-Frank. While tooting your own horn can be annoying, testing out your formula for success until you hit the perfect recipe can help you fine-tune it.

GPS Helps Robots Get the Job Done

GPS Helps Robots Get the Job Done GPS Helps Robots Get the Job Done GPS Helps Robots Get the Job DoneGlobal Positioning Systems (GPS) help us find where we are and where were going. They can also do the same for robots, which could have impact on fields from manufacturing to agriculture.Recently, Carnegie Robotics and Swift Navigation announced the two companies were teaming up to create products that will incorporate GPS into robotic equipment. This could lower the cost of robotics and automation in cars, trucks, military equipment, and vehicles used in surface mining.This month, the two companies introduced Duro, a ruggedized version of Swifts Piksi multi dual-frequency Real Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System receiver. They unveiled the Duro in May at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems Internationals Xponential 2017 show in Dallas.Duro is built for the outdoors, and has positioning accuracy within one centimeter. It can upgrade software in the field, and is protected against weather, moisture, vibration, and unexpected issues that can happen when used outdoors for extended periods.Being outdoor-friendly makes the robot applicable in many fields including maritime, outdoor industrial work, agriculture, and mapping.The GNSS sensor is protected against weather, vibration, dust, and the unexpected. Image Swift NavigationPrecision is key, says Rob Hranac, vice-president of geschftlicher umgang development for Swift Navigation. The GPS in most cell phones can be off by a meter or more.To successfully navigate and perform tasks, we need to be much more precise, he says.These robots, Hranac says, are precise to within one centimeter thanks to the RTK GPS. The Piksi takes less than a minute to get into centimeter-accurate mode, and can maintain that while in motion. It currently has an ethernet connection future models will feature an in-build cellular modem and SIM card support.Hranac says the potential applications of robotics such as these are exciting to see. So much innovation is happening and we have a front-row seat to it.GPS and automation, and the major interest from automotive companies, could have a major impact on the trucking industry, where there is a shortage of drivers and turnover is high. Several companies, including Starsky Robotics and Embark, are creating self-driving truck technology.The GPS also works for precision parking of large trucks in crowded docking ports. Theres a real push to automate in trucking right now, says Hranac. Its a big focus for robotics.Gold Mine for Mining CompaniesRio Tinto, one of the worlds largest metal and mining companies, uses self-driving trucks at four of its Australian mines.The massive trucks are made by Japanese company Komatsu. GPS shows precisely where the trucks, which are used for hauling mined materials, are controlled remotely from Perth, hundreds of miles away from the mines. These trucks can also sense obstacles, and their speed and drehort are tracked by the GPS.Robots Down on the FarmDuros military-grade exterior protects the navigation system from weather, dust, immersion in water, and vibration.That is why we partnered with Caregie says Hranac. They know what outdoor robotic systems need to work. But it also meets our core goal of being easy to deploy.That makes a robot such as this a fit in agriculture, including smaller farms that might not have gotten into robots before. Robots are already being employed in harvesting, but they can also be used for other tasks such as watering or applying pesticides.The old way was, if you had insects, youd go and dump pesticides on the entire field, says Hranac. But you can now fly a drone over, take snapshots of the chlorophyll, and use a robot like a Duro on the ground to apply pesticides only in affected areas. That saves time and money, and less pesticide going in the ground. For Further Discussion So much innovation is happening and we have a front-row seat to it.Rob Hranac, Swift Naviga tion

Unusual Places to Advertise

Unusual Places to AdvertiseUnusual Places to AdvertiseIn the past, billboards, TV ads, radio spots, print ads and direct mail packs were the options you had at your disposal as an advertiser. Thats history. These days, the question is not where should I advertise? but where shouldnt I advertise? Whether youre in an advertising agency, or youre someone with a product or tafelgeschirr that needs to be promoted, think about these 10 unusual places to put your advertisements. And never, ever think it cannot be done. At one time or another, no one was advertising outside of traditional spaces these days, its the norm. Oh, and there is no mention of toilets because its a commonplace to advertise these days. 1.Foreheads and Other Body Parts People want to make money, fast. Theyre often willing to do some bizarre things to get that money. One way is to get yourself tattooed (permanent or temporary) with a logo or website address. Sites like Lease Your Body and Bald Logo promote this. 2.In Video Games The price of video game production now equals that of big budget movies. And just like movie studios, the game manufacturers are looking for ways to fund the development. It also ads reality to games set in the present day, or even the future. Could your brand live inside a video game? 3. Manhole Covers Cities are also looking for money to help them balance and ever-decreasing budget. Manhole covers offer excellent opportunities to capture the general public unaware and work well in big cities like New York and Chicago. 4.Baggage Claims The baggage claim carousel is surrounded by people with nothing to do but stand, and stare, at the bags going around and around. Any time you have a captive audience, and its on brand, take advantage of it. 5.Checkout Conveyor Belts Once again, the checkout conveyor is noticed by hundreds of people every day. And if its in hundreds of stores, its reaching a lot of people. wildwestfilm Union took advantage of it to great effect. If you have a client that involves moving anything, from cars and trucks to people, this is a good spot to catch people. 6.The Bottom of a Shoe Who is looking at the bottom of anyones shoe? Well, everyone is. Most people, when relaxing, prop one foot up across their knee, or up on a table, or in various other viewable places. The Supra brand shoe offers a sole that doubles as ad space. Think about it. Is that a great place for your product or service? It could really make people stop and stare. And with smartphones, people can access web addresses instantly, so it could be the perfect place for a URL. 7.Lamp Posts, CrossWalk Poles, and More When pedestrians hit the button on a crosswalk pole, theyll be waiting to cross for at least ten seconds probably longer. Thats a captive audience just begging to read something or be entertained. Lamp posts, telegraph poles and anything else protruding in a disruptive way from the ground will always make a good spot to grab someo nes attention. 8.Meat Thats not a spelling error. There is now a legitimate way to advertise on raw and cooked meats, using a new laser etching technique. Could be a great way to sell barbecues, crock-pots, frying pans, or numerous other products. It doesnt even have to be about food what about an ad for a gym? Turn yourself into the ultimate piece of man meat. 9.Cars There are millions of cars on the roads and millions of people looking for ways to help pay for gas. One way both parties can be a winner is through car advertising. Via magnetic signage or custom wraps, cars can become moving billboards for a product or service. 10.CAPTCHAs You have probably experienced at least one CAPTCHA this week. Its one of those little boxes you type a word, number or phrase into, letting a website know youre human. They can be something more fun though. It could be the name of your brand that is typed in, or a proof point about your service. Think about it.

Use Personnel Assessments Wisely in the Interview Process

Use Personnel Assessments Wisely in the Interview ProcessUse Personnel Assessments Wisely in the Interview ProcessUse Personnel Assessments Wisely in the Interview Process HerrenkohlUsed wisely, on-line personnel assessments can add a lot of value to the interview process.They can help you to clarify an A-Player Profile for your role, identify skills that are key for top performance, reveal weaknesses that you would have missed in some job candidates, and focus on people who have the talents to be big producers in a particularly role.Here are some specifics to considerAssess the job before you assess people.In my upcoming book, How to Hire A-Players, I talk about a company that hired and fired three sales managers for a sales management position.Then I worked with them to create an A-Player Profile for the job. Before we abfluged assessing job candidates, we assessed the job itself and found that this company had been intentionally hiring the wrong people by committing some common i nterview mistakes.The CEO thought he needed a hunter who could prospect for new business.In fact, the job primarily required someone who could sell and manage multiple projects after the sale.Strong prospecting skills were less important for this role. After we defined this profile, we captured it in an assessment instrument that showed the specific talents and skills needed to perform well in the role. With that in place, we could assess every job candidate and see how they measure up to this job.Obviously, different jobs require different skills.If youre hiring a new CEO, you need someone with very strong analytical and leadership skills. If youre hiring salespeople, you need assertive people who know how to prospect for and close business.For a customer service role, you want fantastic people people who can quickly build trust and rapport, stay focused on customers, and follow through to resolve their problems. In most every job, you want people with strong motivation, drive, and work ethic.Using the right assessment tools, you can pinpoint the specific skills that are key to high performance in a role and measure them.Focus on skills that relate to performance.One reason to assess the job before you start assessing people is that you only want to measure skills that relate to job performance. Used correctly, personnel assessments help you to be mora objective about the people you interview.If youre hiring people to work in your warehouse, they dont have to be great conversationalists but they do have to be responsible and have a great work ethic.Too often interviewers overlook good people because of a superficial resume review or a negative first impression. Instead, figure out the skills that predict top performance, measure them with assessment tools and focus on them in the interview, and then make more objective hiring decisions.Use assessment tools to sharpen the focus of your interviews.Some of my clients insist on assessing job candidates before the y ever interview them.Others interview people between first and second interviews.Either way, use personnel assessment results to sharpen your focus during face-to-face interviews, particularly if youre the only one doing the interview.Lets say your sales position requires a real hunter who can find and close new business without much assistance.When you assess a finalist for the position, the assessment reveals a profile better suited for post-sale account management. Immediately you know to dig into the persons past accomplishments in generating new business.Often you find that such a person, despite their strong interviewing skills, cannot tell you in detail about their accomplishments in business development.This is a perfect example of how assessments add value to the entire interview process by helping you to focus on the right questions to ask.In addition, there will be candidates who dont immediately impress you face-to-face but whose assessment results are very strong.In th is situation, the assessment helps you to keep your wohl reaction in check. Instead of assuming that the person cant do the job and finding reasons to support your emotional reaction, the assessments help you to keep an open mind.When you work to stay objectivewith your interviews and hire people based on the link between their past accomplishments and your A-Player Profile, your hiring results improve.Assessments improve but dont replace strong interviews.Keep in mind that even well-designed personnel assessments dont take the place of interviewing. Instead, they make the entire interview process more valuable and effective.A great hiring process collects a range of different insights about candidates, compares that data to the requirements of the job, weeds out weaker players and focuses on hiring the best people.Assessments are an important but never the only part of that formula. If youre looking for a rule of thumb, assessments should never be more than 1/3rd of the hiring deci sion.What people have accomplished in their past as revealed by resumes, interviews, and reference checks always form the majority of the hiring decision.Use a tool that is designed for pre-employment screening.Finally, keep in mind that while there are many tools out there that are appropriate for use in training or coaching, when it comes to hiring you have to use tools that are specifically designed for pre-employment screening.Look for tools that allow you to assess the requirements of the job first, before you start assessing people. Your assessment provider should be able to provide you with data that demonstrates the tools you are using are commercial grade.There are a lot of tools out there.Make sure that you use one which is well designed and vetted.Author BioEric Herrenkohl is the author of the upcoming book How to Hire A-Players (John Wiley Sons, April 2010) and is President of Herrenkohl Consulting. Herrenkohl Consulting helps executives create the organizations they ne ed to build the businesses they want. To receive Erics free monthly e-letter Performance Principles, go to www.herrenkohlconsulting.com.

Best Skills for Resume - a Quick Outline

Best Skills for Resume - a Quick Outline Best Skills for Resume - Is it a Scam? Moreover, make certain youve got a positive attitude and are self-motivated to do the job. The skills section on a resume is among the most important sections. You may find below a list of the greatest skills you may put on your resume based on the kind of job that you are applying for. Review their About Us page and see whether your soft abilities or attributes are aligned with the firms core values. What is included on your resume will change depending upon what sorts of positions you would love to fill out an application for. Each word on your resume can be a trigger for a question via an interviewer, and youll frequently be requested to provide examples of the skills which youve referenced. Combination resumes are a combination of the chronological and functional formats, including chronological listing and a combo of sections that concentrate on your skill sets. The Honest to Goodness Truth on Best Skills for Resume Hiring managers search for job candidates who are going to be able to manage a number of projects and deadlines with minimal supervision. You might want to reduce careers which are getting outdated. You should only consist of information that is beneficial to the job which you are applying for. Review the job posting and determine the important words. Things You Wont Like About Best Skills for Resume and Things You Will If youre elend certain which skills that you want to share, consider your prior experiences. The perfect way to learn a new skill is to determine the way the skill can be learned from your prior set of skills. As stated earlier, assessing soft skills is significantly more difficult. The most suitable technology skills are example within it. The significance of specialist communication skills cant be overstated. As an example, jobs like engineering need a substantial number of technical skills to perform, and technical skills are ge nerally hard skills. The large number of college organizations and part-time positions gives students the opportunity to hone their leadership abilities. GenM digital apprenticeships get students the abilities and work experience they have to begin their careers. landsee our enterprise analyst resume. The sphere of management demands a variety of particular skills. People management skills are vital in any job which requires you to interact with people. Therefore, organizational and management skills are crucial in the effective management of somebodys workload. Depending on the help of our expert sources, here are a couple of broad sorts of skills your resume could include, together with unique approaches to express them. Wherever you opt to place your skills on your resume, be certain to tailor your list of skills to the specific job. Hard skills that are relevant to the job ought to be listed first. Keep in mind, the majority of the distinctive skills that you set on your resume needs to be job-related skills taken from the work description and your best transferable skills. Heres What I Know About Best Skills for Resume Rather than arranging a schedule of your everyday activities based on how much time it will take you to fulfill each endeavor, work on a schedule which allows you to accomplish your tasks based on the energy and focus you will expend in doing this. There are a lot of various sorts of healthcare assistants. You must keep your resume short and sweet, but still consist of enough high quality information to produce an impression. Perhaps your skill set is wholly different. First off, you must rate your present circumstance. Employing the Box Skills Kit, you can construct any sort of custom Skill you desire. Creating an expert combo resume is not quite as easy as it appears. If youre using mobile phone, you might also utilize menu drawer from browser.

Dr. Karie Willyerd and 5 Ways to Stay Productive to Accelerate your Career in 2013

Dr. Karie Willyerd and 5 Ways to Stay Productive to Accelerate your Career in 2013 With a little mora than two weeks left until the new year, most people are even busier than usual. Gifts must be bought, living rooms decorated, spare bedrooms cleaned out and coordination of what festivities will take place during the holidays and where. So, if your partieal to-do list is spilling over, why should your professional list be any different? For most people it isntthe workloads are much worse. With so much to do and so little time, how can you handle it all without 1) having a complete meltdown from being stressed and overworked or 2) throwing in the towel in defeat? The time between now and 2013 is a crucial period because it most likely will affect how you jumpstart the new year. Dr. Karie Willyerd, VP of Learning and Social Adoption at SuccessFactors, talked with Recruiter.com about how workers can use this important time to accelerate their career growth in 2013. Check out Willyerds reasoning on the benefits of staying productive over the next couple weeks and tips to do just that1. What are the most common things that affect productivity during this time of year?Quite a few things affect end-of-year productivity, including the rush to complete goals due by the end of the year, quarter close for those in sales, holiday parties, personal and family obligations for celebrating the season, finding the perfect gifts, planning time off at the break,and thinking ahead to the new year and preparing for it. Add to that shortened daylight hours in the northern hemisphere, weather challenges, and if youre a traveler, a battle at the airport with inexperienced fellow travelers, its no wonder theres an increase in depression around this time of year.2. Why is it important to remain productive as each year closes? As any sales person will tell you, deals come together at the end of the qu arter, and way more come together at the end of the year. Since everyone supports sales in one way or another, making sure those last few deals can get in under the wire can make a big difference in share price. Additionally, many companies measure performance on an annual basis concurrent with the calendar year. A common mistake managers make during performance review is only to remember your most recent accomplishments or really your most recent screw up so make sure to avoid this common issue by ending the year with a bang. 3. Do you recommend employees take any specific productivity courses?Two of the programs I think are especially good for productivity improvement are Take Back Your Life by McGhee Productivity Solutions and The Five Choices to Extraordinary Productivity by Franklin Covey. The first offers very practical tips for getting on top of your schmelzglas and how to configure Outlook to manage the 100+ emails a day the average employee gets. The second offers great adv ice about choosing where and how to focus on the things that matter.4. How can employers/companies help their employees remain productive during the end of the year/winter holiday season?First, avoid the things that squelch productivity, like impossibly unattainable goals stretch is good, impossible is notmicromanagement, uncomfortable working conditions (heres a Scrooge take on that), and constant reminders of failures. Do motivate people to close out the year with a bang, celebrate successes, and encourage them to give the final level of effort.5. Is there anything else you would like to add? Some experts advocate that work is more like a sprint than a marathon. The end of year is a good time to decide how you will train for running a lot of sprints, with restorative periods between those sprints. The training for running sprints is different than the training for running marathons, and if you try and run at sprint speed for marathon distance, you wont make it. Take some time to plot how you will preserve and renew your energy for 2013 corporate sprints.Dr. Willyerds 2013 Employee Resolutions and TipsLook Back to Look Forward by Documenting Your 2012 AccomplishmentsAvoid the recency mistake. A common mistake managers make during performance review is only to remember your most recent accomplishments or really your most recent screw up so make sure to avoid this common issue by looking back over the past year and documenting your accomplishments. Pulling together a good catalog of your successes in 2012 by looking through your emails, your calendar or your performance goals system and make sure you track the highlights from your year. Ask yourself how you contributed to the business? What are your strengths and how did they extend your value within your company.Update Your LinkedInRefresh your erreichbar presence and contacts. If you are not already on LinkedIn, take the time now to create your profile. Most organizations will not even consider you as a pros pective employee without a LinkedIn presence. Most potential employers will use it to find out about you before the interview process and to do reference checks on you so you want to make sure it is in pristine condition and really maximize it for the job you want and highlight your unique skills.Link in with more people. I suggest people set a goal for themselves. For example, commit to linking in with 50 new contacts over the holiday break. Recruiters and companies make evaluations on how much you are willing to learn and how you work based on who and how many people you are connected to on LinkedIn.Make 2013 the Year of Twitter for Workplatzset up a Twitter account and when someone you admire says something great, start to reply. Start to build a little bit of a relationship that you would normally not be able to connect with live and build relationships that way. If you are already on Twitter, consider setting up a second Twitter account just to monitor industry news in your fie ld. This is a great way to access the top news in your industry. Its a great way to make the news more digestible.Take Control of Your EmailSet up rules and use tools to help you take back your productivity that is stolen by email. Get over the guilt of reading and responding to every email. The average person gets 100 emails a day and the average manager gets 150. If you become really focused on being responsive to every email you will never get caught up in it.In addition to setting up your own Outlook rules, look for productivity and enterprise social tools like Jam that allow you to share and connect directly with small teams in custom groups (private or public). Within groups it is easy to tag people with actions and filter your alerts. If you and your teammates all make a resolution to do this, it can really cut back on email traffic and save you a lot of time.Find the Right Mentor for YouTake the extra time over the holiday break to identify the right mentor for you, but reme mber not to reach too far. Think about who you admire and reach out to them. I suggest people look for someone who is five to seven years ahead in his or her career at most because they can remember what is what.

How being different can always beat being better

How being different can always beat being betterHow being different can always beat being betterI always thought that the best wins at anything. That might be true for sports. But not for life and business.If youre trying to build a profitable business or stable career, you might be approaching it all wrong. At least, I was. And I think that the common belief about success is also totally wrong.I get it when it comes to sports. Theres only one place at the top. And to get to the top, you have to be the best. I only applaud that. In fact, Im inspired by athletes like LeBron James, Christiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams, and others.But business is different. Instead of being the best, you must strive for becoming the first. Al Ries and Jack Trout put it best in their classic marketing book, The 22 Immutable Laws Of MarketingEveryone is interested in whats new. Few people are interested in whats better.Who cares about a marginally better product or service? Thats the problem with most busi nesses and even people. We compete with each other for the same market. Thats the basic idea behind Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Rene Mauborgne.The authors argue that most companies find themselves in markets with too much competition, called red oceans. They writeBlue ocean strategy challenges companies to break out of the red ocean of bloody competition by creating uncontested market space that makes the competition irrelevant. Instead of dividing up existing- and often shrinking- demand and benchmarking competitors, blue ocean strategy is about growing demand and breaking away from the competition.But how do you break away from the competition?Be different.I look at entrepreneurship like the music industry. Every artist that is at the top of the charts is different from everyone else. Theres only one Drake, Rihanna, Lady Gaga. These artists didnt try to become better versions of Jay-Z, Madonna, Beyonce, or whoever came before them. No, they created their own genre.Drake is the first rapper that sings and who gets away with it. Rihanna broke out with a song called Pon de Replay which is a combination between pop and reggae, a new sound. Lady Gaga, well, she doesnt need an introduction. Shes Lady Gaga and you cant compare her with anything.You see, its not about being better, its about being different. And when youre different, youre often the first in a new category.Tim Ferriss was the first lifestyle entrepreneur. He popularized the idea in his book, The Four Hour Work Week. Did he invent the idea? Who cares? Hes known for it.Al Ries and Jack Trout sayWhen you launch a new product, the first question to ask yourself is not How is this new product better than the competition? but First what? In other words, what category is this new product first in?You can apply this to your career as well. Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, is the first cartoonist that writes about life advice and business. Hes different. And hes the first.Dont ask yourself, What am I better at?Ask, How am I different?The easiest way to be different is to combine skills that are new in a certain area. I also learned that idea from Scott Adams in his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big Kind of the Story of My Life. (I love that title, btw.)Adams says that every skill you acquire, doubles your odds of success. He writesNotice I didnt say anything about the level of proficiency you need to achieve for each skill. I didnt mention anything about excellence or being world-class. The idea is that you can raise your market value by being merely good- not extraordinary- at more than one skill.Adams strategy is practical, and more importantly Realistic.Anyone can become different in their field become becoming better at one or more of the following skills (check out Scott Adams book for a more comprehensive list)Writing Were all writers. And by writing well you can stand out from the crowd.Public Speaking Getting comfortable with s peaking in front of a group makes you a better leader.Selling We all have something to sell Our art, products, services, and even ourselves.Can you think of a surgeon that can also write and speak well? Atul Gawande, the author The Checklist Manifesto comes to mind.Think different.I know, its been used to death, but the old Apple commercial hits the nail on the head. Once you get the concept, you start noticing the patterns everywhere. Think different is not some marketing slogan.Its at the core of success. Every business or part that succeeds is because they did SOMETHING different.The question now is What are YOU going to do differently?This article first appeared on Dariusforoux.com.

Optimize Your Job Search Using LinkedIn

Optimize Your Job Search Using LinkedInOptimize Your Job Search Using LinkedInSo many ways exist for job seekers to improve their job search usingLinkedIn. More and more employers use LinkedIn to post job listings, as well as to reach out to possible job candidates. At the same time, many LinkedIn users credit the site with being a primary platform for connecting and networking with people in their industry. Effective networking is about building relationships. It is critical to take the time to build your LinkedIn profile, add to your connections, and effectively use them to aid in your job search. It is equally important to give back and help your connections when they need advice and referrals as well. Complete and Update Your Profile The more complete your LinkedIn profile, the greater your chances of being found and contacted by an employer. Use your LinkedIn profile as a resume and provide prospective employers with detailed information about your skills and experiences. Cr eating a catchy headline and detailed summary, including a professional photo, and listing your skills and accomplishments are all ways to enhance your profile. You can also strengthen your profile by adding links, such as a link to your professional website or online portfolio. Connect With Your Connections The more connections you have, the better your chances of finding someone to help with your job search. Employers often look for referrals from their own employees to fill positions before opening up a job to the masses, so someone who is employed at the company or has connections there will have a leg up in referring you as an applicant. While you want to have a number of connections, make sure you only connect with people you know, or to whom you plan to reach out. The goal is to maintain or establish relationships with people working in your field or with whom you are already connected. Check Out Job Search Options Search for jobs on LinkedIn by clicking the Jobs tab, and then entering a keyword, country, and zip code. Use the Advanced Search Option to refine your search and to search by date posted, experience level, specific location, job function, company, and industry. You can save job searches, and even receive emails about new job listings. You can also find job openings by searching for and clicking on specific companies. Many companies post job openings on their LinkedIn pages. Capitalize Your Connections Recommendations and Referrals If you find a job listed directly on LinkedIn in which youre interested, check out how youre connected to the hiring manager. You may also consider requesting a LinkedIn recommendation if you know someone at the company, which can help boost credibility in the eyes of employers. LinkedIn provides a template for recommendation requests thatyou can edit and personalize to your liking. Endorsements from network contacts for various skills and competencies are another way to go. An endorsement emphasizes th at you do, in fact, have a certain skill listed on your LinkedIn profile. The best way to receive endorsements is to give some to your contacts first. They will then be more likely to do the same for you in return. Use LinkedIn Company Profiles to Learn About Employers LinkedIn company profiles are a good way to glean at-a-glance information on a company in which youre interested. Company profiles provide an excellent window to your connections at the company, past, current and future projects, new hires, promotions, jobs posted, related companies, and company statistics.Whats more, LinkedIn company profiles often provide solid insight into a companys culture - events they celebrate, causes they espouse and the ways in which they support them, goals they set for themselves as a company and for their employees and the paths they take to achieve them. Consider following your dream companies on LinkedIn. This will allow you to keep up with their achievements (which will be useful to bring up in a cover letter or interview) and will help you spot any job openings.?

Study Job candidates with ethnic-sounding names get fewer callbacks from employers

Study Job candidates with ethnic-sounding names get fewer callbacks from employersStudy Job candidates with ethnic-sounding names get fewer callbacks from employersWhen managers are searching for good candidates, they may be overlooking qualified people without even knowing it.Its well-established that job applicants with ethnic-sounding names working in English-speaking countries like the US, UK, and Canada, get fewer job opportunities than people with recognizably white or English-sounding names. Now a newly released study from Canada adds some detail on just how hard it is for people with recognizably ethnic names to even get their feet in the door at many companies, - despite being highly qualified and educated at the same schools as other employees.That suggests that companies arent necessarily picking the people based on the best experience or abilities, which could be hurting overall performance. Companies with diverse staff perform better financially, according to consulting firm McKinsey, which cited numerous studies.A new analysis from theUniversity of Toronto and Ryerson University shows that equally qualified applicants with Asian names - a broad category that includes names perceived as originating in India, Pakistan, or China - were 28% less likely to score an interview at Canadian companies than applicants with Anglo names, even when all the job candidates had been educated and employed in Canada.This means that for every 100 calls received by applicants with Anglo names, applicants with Asian names received only 72.2, the researchers wrote.The researchers suggested that discrimination was the only possible reason for the difference in employers choice of candidates, since all the candidates has similar qualifications, including equivalent degrees. All had also lived and worked in Canada all their lives.The data included examples of Anglo-Canadian names like Greg Johnson and Emily Brown Indian names used included Samir Sharma and Tara Singh Pa kistani names included Ali Saeed and Hina Chaudhry, and Chinese names included Lei Li and Xuiying Zhang. The researchers seem to have only examined fully ethnic names and said they did not carefully examine the outcomes for people with Anglicized first names combined with Asian-sounding last names.Fear of heavy accentsIn one startling paragraph, the University of Toronto researchers described why employers didnt even call back the applicants with Asian names open discrimination based on names.Employers indicated that an Asian name suggested the possibility of language problems and heavy accents, the University of Toronto researchers wrote.But the researchers didnt buy that excuse from the employers.The information in the resumes - including the Canadian education and experience - would contradict this concern, and in any case the employer could easily check by means of a quick telephone call. The language-difficulty rationale was also challenged by the fact that rates of discrimin ation were similar regardless of the extent to which the job required communication skills. So employers had no evidence to base their concerns about the language skills of the Asians from which they received resumes, the researchers concluded.Bigger companies discriminate lessThe new analysis also took a closer look at just how often large companies, with mora than 500 employees, called in candidates with ethnic Asian names, compared to small companies.Overall, large Canadian employers discriminated against candidates with Asian names about half as often as smaller employers did.The specific size of the organization had a lot to do with these decisions. The Asian-named applicants with all-Canadian qualifications had 20% fewer calls in the largest organizations, 39% fewer in the medium size organizations, and 37%fewer in the smallest organizations of fewer than 50 employees, the researchers said.A common occurrenceMany studies have shown that employers favor white-sounding names in Western countries including the United States, France, Sweden, Germany, and the UK. A Swedish study in 2007 found that candidates with Swedish names received 50% more call-backs than Middle Eastern names, the University of Toronto andRyerson researchers noted.English-sounding names are also favored over names that sound African-American when it comes to hiring, according to a 2003 study. The researchers did a field experiment where they sent almost 5000 resumes to more than 1300 employment ads in Chicago and Boston newspapers for jobs in sales, administrative help, clerical and customer services. They recorded how many people were contacted for an interview. Half were sent with stereotypically White sounding names like Emily Walsh or Greg Baker, and the other half with stereotypically Black names like Lakisha Washington or Jamal Jones.There was a stark difference in who made it to the next round of the hiring process, with resumes of White-sounding applicants getting 50% more callba cks. The report also claimed that despite the a company claiming to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, they were just as prejudiced as others.The evidence of discrimination hasnt gone without notice by minority job applicants, who are increasingly pushing back.Silicon Valley data mining company Palantir Technologies, whose largest shareholder is billionaire Peter Thiel, is embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit filed by the US Department of Labor. The lawsuit alleges that Palantir discriminated against Asian job-seekers - even those reportedly as qualified as whites - and relying on an unfair referral process.Discrimination in new formsThe authors of the study about Asian names concluded with questions about the modern workplace that many companies will have to confront What types of employers reject applications simply on the basis of an applicants Asian name? And what types are unwilling to pursue applications with Asian names, even with Canadian qualifications or possibly even with som e foreign qualifications? Are the Asian-name averse employers representative of older or more traditional segments of the labour market, where skills may be required but matter less than finding employees who will be part of the gang at work? .These are important questions because they may suggest whether changes toward a more advanced and knowledge-based economy is likely to break down vestiges of racial discrimination, or whether they simply maintain and practice such discrimination in new forms.