The Best Personal Branding Story You Havent Heard

The Best Personal Branding Story You Haven't Heard 36 How I got my first consulting client. In the summer of 2007, JobMob was only a few months old and had less than 200 subscribers. I was still learning how to blog, but I could already see potential. With the idea of having a legal framework to sell services or products through JobMob and any other blogs I might create, I started my company, Share Select Media. At the time, I was also in a partnership with a Jerusalem-based entrepreneur to create a tech startup that had absolutely nothing to do with job search. With our idea in hand, my partner and I started looking for funding from venture capital investors (venture capitalists or VCs, for short) but otherwise we kept in ‘stealth-mode', not mentioning our project to anyone online or offline.eval That December, I decided to head to Paris, France to attend LeWeb3 '07, one of the largest annual tech conferences taking place in Europe at the time, attracting people from all over the world including many Internet celebrities and venture capitalists. I went to the event with 2 separate missions:eval Publicly, I was the founder of Share Select Media and looking to meet other bloggers and particularly, companies who needed blogging services. Privately, I wanted to make contacts with as many relevant VCs as possible for my partnership. As the event approached, I was prepared with business cards and a bright orange rugby jersey with a white Share Select Media logo on the breast and a much larger one on the back. I even had a matching kipa (yarmulke) to complete the standout attire that was guaranteed to not be worn by anyone else, anywhere. Yet even with all that branding gear, I was sure that I could kick it up a notch. In the days leading up to the event, I wanted to come up with an idea that would really open people's eyes and be memorable… but nothing came to me. At first. Finally, the night before the event opening, the idea came. After an official kickoff by event founder Loïc Le Meur, the first item on the conference schedule was an interview of Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com, one of the most popular social media networks in the world back then. Digg was one of the first websites that allowed users to submit links to their favorite articles online, encouraging others to Like those articles enough so that they would eventually appear on the Digg homepage, generating waves of traffic to those sites. However, it wasn't called ‘Liking' back then, it was called ‘Digging' and to digg an article meant to click a large yellow “Digg button” beside the related article. That button said how many Diggs (=Likes) that article had already received, and the number increased by one with your click. So what was my idea? I've always loved crossovers from the digital world to the real world, like the space invaders art that appears on buildings around the world. Well, what if I did a crossover of the Digg button while Kevin Rose was on stage? Using cardboard, yellow paper and markers, I could make a Digg button that looked exactly like the ones on Digg.com. Then, I could stand off to the side of the stage and hold it up during the Kevin Rose interview, updating the Digg count from time to time, as if people were clicking somewhere and I was taking their votes into account. When the idea dawned on me, I got nervous right away. I knew it was a good idea but what if the event organizers wouldn't let me do it? Or what if they stopped me in the middle? Or what if it just looked bad? Instead of making a great impression on hundreds of attendees, I'd be making a horrible impression on them and during the first minutes of the conference to boot. For the next 2 days, everyone would recognize me as that screwup opening act. But that's not what happened. After debating whether I could really go through with it, I figured- what the heck? At worst, it would make for a great story to blog about in 6 years… yeah, right. I ran to a local office supplies store, bought what I needed and worked until 3 am when I finally had a Digg button worth bringing to the conference 5 hours later. Waiting in line to get my conference name tag and other handouts, a number of people started to notice that I was carrying something different than everyone else; not a laptop or briefcase. Some people recognized my work for what it was and smiled, while one man was particularly curious. After explaining to him my plan, he just said “this I gotta see” and followed me into the main auditorium, down to the first rows. It was a few minutes before the conference would begin, so I quickly got ready with the Digg Button and a thick marker for updating the numbers. As I was doing so, someone called out “hey, what is that?” 3 rows behind me was sitting Robert Scoble, one of most famous tech celebrities of them all â€" to this day â€" notorious for taking lots of pictures wherever he went. I chatted with him for a few minutes, telling him the idea and he loved it, taking a picture of the Digg Button and me with it (I have no idea if that picture made its way online, but I'd love to find out). Between him and the guy who followed me in, I was starting to feel like the idea was really going to work. Then the conference began. Loïc Le Meur welcomed us over a few minutes, and then left the stage for Kevin Rose's interview with tech journalist Sara Lacy. That was my cue. I waited 10 seconds and then got up from my seat, taking the oversize Button and marker with me, walking over to the left side of the stage to place myself in the same location where the digg buttons always appeared online- left of the content. The stage was a few feet off the ground, so I could easily stand in front of it without blocking what was happening on stage. I was certain that if I was too distracting from the speakers, security would pull me away. But if I was too far off to the side, no one would see me. After choosing my spot, I stood there and held the Digg button up in front of my chest and face. The auditorium was dark with the lights focused on the stage, but the Digg button's bright yellow paper could still be seen easily. And even though it was blocking my view â€" it's easier to do bold things when you can't see how people react â€" I could immediately hear a sudden rush of picture-taking and camera-flashing, so I knew that people were noticing me. The thing is, security also noticed me. Within a few minutes, a security staff member pulled me to the side and asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was having some fun with Kevin Rose. “You're not being paid to do this?” he asked. “No,” I answered. He had a quick conversation with someone via his headset microphone and then turned around. “Ok, you can go back, just be careful not to get in the way.” Awesome. For the next 20 minutes or so, back in my spot, I would alternate between holding up the Button and flipping it over to update the number appearing on its front side. The camera crew recording the event loved it too, zooming in and using me for cool angles of the stage, like the shot taken here: Throughout the first day of the conference, about a dozen people came over to ask me what the story was with the Button. Two people even thought that I was part of the event production, as if the audience had been able to vote and I was simply updating the vote count as relayed to me by my bosses the event organizers. Later, that night at the official LeWeb party, Loïc Le Meur was personally welcoming people into the door at the club. When I arrived still wearing my bright orange rugby jersey and kipa, he immediately recognized me and smiled. “What you did this morning? That was awesome. Nice.” So he was the other person on the headset with the security guy who pulled me over earlier… I thanked him for that, and for the event overall. And the guy who “had to see this”? He stayed close over the two days of the conference and a few months later, became my first consulting client. READ NEXT: Thanking: The Simplest Personal Branding Tactic Question of the article If this wasn't the best personal branding story you've heard, what was? Tell us in the comments.

What Technology Cant You Live Without as a Recruiter

What Technology Cant You Live Without as a Recruiter Imagine having to find the best talent without the luxury of your computer or your phone. Now try to imagine having to manage your workday without social media, online tracking systems, scheduling programs and productivity tools. Impossible right? Its no understatement to say that we have become dependant on technology. Things that once took hours to complete, can now be done in seconds. So as technology becomes more and more integral to the ways in which we work, interact, recruit and more, we asked our panel of experts what technology they find most important. Jonathan Kestenbaum   I’m not a recruiter myself, but from the conversations that I have with the heads of talent, the most important tools are those which help you source and engage candidates. There are many interesting tools available today that fit into this category including social search tools, social networks, and chat bots. Jonathan Kestenbaum, Executive Director, Talent Tech Labs Cheryl Cran   Recruiters need to be social media savvy and be able to use multiple platforms to access relevant and talented potential hires. Social media is the technology recruiters can’t live without. Cheryl Cran, CEO Future of Work Expert, Synthesis at Work Inc Nathan Perrott For me, it has to be the careers site and jobs portal/ATS. This is akin to the e-commerce database for retail sites. Without it, you have no way of getting applicants to see your jobs and to apply. Most applicant tracking systems still have a long way to go to be candidate friendly. And most employers forget the importance of the jobs and the software used to be able to find them. This is such a critical element of the process and the candidate experience, but is often overlooked. Nathan Perrott, Director of Digital Marketing Strategy, AIA Worldwide Adam Glassman   My role is a bit different as I’m not sourcing day-to-day. However, I rely heavily on data and analytics to inform my strategic decisions, so ensuring that the technologies we’re using are set up, tracking candidate activity properly and are talking to each other is crucial. Adam Glassman, Recruitment Strategies Manager, Alorica Hung Lee   It’s a great time to be a recruiter there are so many fantastic tools to use! If I were to set up a desk from scratch, I would like to have my recruiters have access to the following: key social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) for sourcing/candidate identification, mention for social listening, slack for communities learning, productivity tools like autotextexpander, Boomerang for gmail, calend.ly for scheduling, appear.in for video calls and some sort of CRM which could track and aggregator prospect data. Hung Lee, CEO, WorkShape.io Chris Russell   The ability to collect resumes/profiles is a must have for me. Without that data, you are just shooting in the dark. We will always need a way for applicants to submit their interest or application. Chris Russell, Managing Director, RecTechMedia.com Bryan Chaney My smart phone camera is able to touch just about every aspect of my life, with the right apps. I love the ability to translate text through the camera (which I did on a recent trip to Tokyo), or video chat anyone in my address book. I can look up a candidate’s background via image search, and send a personal video introduction highlighting perks or a hiring team, all before breakfast. Bryan Chaney, Director of Employer Brand, Indeed

A placement year at an SME a Chemistry student enthuses!

A placement year at an SME a Chemistry student enthuses! Recently weve had several posts about working in the City, but today its the  turn of the scientists to take centre stage. You may  have the option as part of  your degrees to do a placement year and for some it may be  a requirement. Theres lots of research which suggests that such a placement can be really beneficial. Some studies suggest that it can increase your final marks by as much as 5% and it  certainly has a favourable impact on employability. Whats not to like? Diki Fundu is on a  MChem Chemistry degree here at Warwick and is currently undertaking a 12 month industrial placement at Reach Separations,  a  small business  within the chemical industry.  Diki is  becoming increasingly enthusiastic about her work and the opportunities the placement affords her. Here she shares some of her thoughts and experiences. Dont stop reading if youre not studying chemistry!  Diki says lots which is relevant to those studying other subjects and considering a placement. Heres Diki Choosing your placement When you start applying for internships you often think first  of the schemes run by large companies.  The application processes for them are usually  very competitive and theyre not for everyone! I initially applied to some of the  best known chemical and pharmaceutical companies, and found that I wasnt getting much success  in receiving offers.  I knew I needed to rethink my strategy and I attended the chemistry department’s careers fair. I had the opportunity to meet and network with representatives from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs); this encouraged me to search for and apply to SMEs for my year in industry. I was excited by the realisation that their  placement schemes were mainly project based laboratory work, designed to benefit them as well as me. I was much more interested in this, than in the  idea of working in a role specifically created for a placement student in a larger organisation. After a few weeks here at Reach I know I was right! Im so glad to be mak ing a real contribution to the business. Bio-Incubators Reach Separations specialises in the separation and purification of small molecules within the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and fine chemical sectors. Its located in Nottingham’s Bio-Incubator, BioCity. Bio-Incubators are home to around half of the UK’s emerging bioscience companies and each houses between 5 and 50 different firms.  They offer flexible office and laboratory spaces which enable life science companies to enjoy  relatively inexpensive accommodation costs and to  conduct their research and business in the same area as other similar companies. Since being here at Reach my enthusiasm for SMEs has continued to grow. Bio-incubators like BioCity can be the perfect place for undertaking a placement and gaining lab experience. BioCity Nottingham contains over 50 companies which I hadnt previously known about.  Each of these has the potential to offer invaluable experience within its own sector. My placement is benefitting both me and my employer Placements in small companies often expose students to cutting-edge techniques, allowing them to work on emerging products such as innovative new drugs or analytical techniques. In an SME you have more chance to be closely involved in the employer’s whole business process and gain a real insight into how  it operates. As a laboratory team member I have gained knowledge about methods such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC). I have also been given significant duties within the team increasing my confidence in the work place and accelerating my learning  these are all things that will be very beneficial when searching for jobs after graduation Reach Separations often takes on placement students and values their contribution to the business. Phil Abbott, Technical Director  enthuses: “All of the placement students we take on contribute positively to the business in one way or another. By having access to students whilst they are still undergraduates we are essentially getting a preview of the best talent our universities are delivering.” In a smaller organisation a spare pair of hands can undertake tasks no-one else has time for. I am currently undertaking a Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) research project based on achiral SFC; which will shed light on this chromatographic technique and will benefit the future of Reach Separations. I have been setting up the apparatus, troubleshooting the instrument and testing new columns and live samples.   My yearlong project will therefore be of  genuine value to the analytical chemistry sector as well as to me. I am also being granted the opportunity to attend a mass spectrometry conference in Manchester. I will be learning about advances in mass spectrometry and networking with current and potential clients for Reach Separations. I am in no doubt, my placement is providing me with many opportunities to enhance my abilities and preparing me for a bright career in the future. I would urge anyone considering a placement to look carefully at the opportunities in SMEs.

Free Rose White Resume Template

Free Rose White Resume Template Free Rose White Resume Template Soft yet powerful colors are one of the key features of our Rose White resume template. This resume template was designed to be professional, but understated. It comes in soft, rose colors, with a white background, and one of the best resume fonts. As a result, this resume design is easy to read, attractive, and it is likely to appeal to a wide range of hiring managers. This professional resume is a strong contender for those in the healthcare fields, the arts, education, sales, marketing, and many other disciplines. This is a great choice for showing off your taste and style. Why submit another boring, drab resume when you can use our professionally designed resume instead? We’ve done all the work. All you have to do is download the template and type in your information. File size: 172 KB Format: .docx Downloaded 8,289 times License: Free, personal use only. Please read the license terms for resources. Download previous article Teacher Resume Example: Get Inspired And Write Your Own Stellar Application next article 4 Resume Hacks for Better Success you might also likeFine Balance â€" A Creative and Professional Resume Template

Are you truly stuck, or are you really just mired yet convincing yourself youre stuck Career Coach JobJenny

Are you truly stuck, or are you really just mired yet convincing yourself youre stuck Career Coach JobJenny I know this guy...I know this guy who, in spite of his above-average intelligence, good looks, sound health and stated desire to progress his career ... is forever underemployed. Or unemployed.And often broke.And usually convinced that his latest employer (there have been many of them) is giving him a raw deal, underpaying him and/or unfairly passing him by when a promotion is just around the corner (he assumes.)This, by the way, is typically when he quits said job, because he's simply not going to work for a loser company that fails to recognize his amazingness.Of course I am not suggesting you remain trapped in a crap job or working for a crap boss.But this guy seems to have crap jobs or crap bosses at EVERY place he works.What are the odds of that?He, of course, feels certain that he just has the world's worst luck. He thinks that, if he just tries one more company, he will for sure find the one that will applaud when he arrives, throw handfuls of 50 dollar bills at his corner off ice continuously, and promote him quickly to executive status.Meantime, he lives life as a mad, broke and under (or sometimes un) employed human being.He drinks too much, he feeds his other vices with cash he cannot afford to spare.And he remains in just about the exact same spot month after month, year after year.He is stuck.He is repeating a pattern that's not getting him anywhere, over and over and over.He is refusing to consider that the common denominator in all of this? Is him.He is using alcohol and other vices to cope with his disappointment.And that's just making matters worse.But you know what?He really isn't stuck, not in the true sense of the definition.He is mired. And he will probably remain there until/unless:he realizes that, even when the chips seem really down, we humans have ridiculous amount of control over our own destinies.he stops pinning his tough luck on the world and pins it right to himself.he drops the air of entitlement he has in his jobs.he admits that his strategy is not working, and explores new ones.he stops anesthesizing his worries with alcohol and other vices.You are only stuck when you believe you are stuck.Otherwise, you're mired.And if you're mired, there's a way out.Sure, it'll likely require taking a hard look at yourself. Probably going to mean making some uncomfortable changes. Certainly could be rather terrifying.But if the end result is a better outlook, a healthier body and a (much) brighter career path?Why on earth would you choose stuck?

5 Tips on Becoming the Employee Everyone Wants - CareerMetis.com

5 Tips on Becoming the Employee Everyone Wants You might know the direction you want your career to take and the job you want to land, but getting it is another matter entirely. It takes time, dedication, and working your way up the ranks, yes. But getting yourself in the position to do that also takes some proactive action.People need to take notice of you and to see that you’re worth giving the opportunity. To make that happen, you need to be the best employee you can be right now, not down the line.Photo Credit â€" Pixabay.com1. Master the processevalA lot of people fall at the first hurdle. That is, they don’t master the process of getting a job in the first place and learning how to appeal to employers.evalResources like SCOPE Recruiting career advice can be instrumental in give you the closer look at that process and finding out what employers really want. Look to those who work with employers on a regular basis.Find out what they want to see from your resume, from your interviews, and beyond.2. Make it your passionDoin g the work is important, but you should treat it as more than a day job. If you want it to become your career, then your field of work needs to become a passion.If you want to gain the industry knowledge that can make you an expert, don’t just learn it in the workplace. Find a mentor that can help you deepen your knowledge. Network with others in the industry. Study in your own time.3. Develop yourselfIndustry knowledge isn’t all it takes to make a great employee, either. You should be working on your soft skills in your own time.Improve your time management, your communication, your ability to hold focus on a task and to prioritize your workload. These soft skills help in every aspect of life, not just the workplace.4. Be the superstarAs you build the base of your career Rather, consider how you build your personal brand outside the company you work for. Skillcrush personal branding tips show that more and more employers are looking at the personal reputation and the evidence t hat the people they hire are truly dedicated to their work.A personal brand is your way of demonstrating that you’re not just another worker, but someone that’s truly career minded.eval5. Keep a positive approachThis might seem like a small tip, but it’s one that can make the most powerful personal impact when you’re talking to employers and others in the industry. Instead of being a problem identifier, become a problem solver.When at work, don’t bring up barriers to work and issues without also having some kind of solution at hand. Get proactive. Employers appreciate someone who can handle themselves on their own, even if they do need permission to go ahead and do it.evalYou’re not going to become an expert overnight. But truly excelling in your career means not only working on your job but on every aspect of your professional self. Knowledge, personal skills, branding, it all contributes. Start making your own self-development plan now.

WD-40 Company keeps growing - and their happy tribe is why - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

WD-40 Company keeps growing - and their happy tribe is why - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog One of our speakers at the?2018 International Conference on Happiness at Work is featured in an article called WD-40 Company Keeps Growing in This $1 Billion Market?which lists the phenomenal results theyve gotten recently: If you look at the numbers, though, this is a fantastic business with high rates of return well suited for long-term investors. This past quarter, the company continued to grow both the top and bottom lines and showed that its doing well at exploiting its most promising growth opportunity. WD-40 is in a relatively mature market, so its remarkable that management continues to find avenues to grow sales and earnings. At our conference, WD-40s CEO Garry Ridge will explain the main reason behind this success: Theyve built a?culture that is characterized by a sense of belonging, communication, having shared values, and continual learning between elder tribal leaders and younger tribe members. Yes they dont see themselves as a team but a tribe, where employees dont just work they belong. Garry is a truly inspiring speaker and what theyve achieved at WD-40 is definitely worth learning from. See the full conference program and get your tickets here. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related