"Do you really need a LinkedIn profile?" As a 20-year career coaching veteran, I get asked this question almost every day.
The short answer? Yes, you do need a LinkedIn profile.
Why? Well, here are two reasons why I think you should have a LinkedIn profile in 2023:
@j.t.odonnell Replying to @user30726650 2 reasons to setup a @linkedin profile in 2023. #careertok #jobtok #linkedin #linkedintips #linkedinprofile #jobs #jobsearch #joblife #careerhelp #careeradvice #career #job ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
Reason #1
First of all, 840 million people and counting now have profiles on LinkedIn, which means there's a 100% chance that somebody who works at the company that you'd like to work for someday is on LinkedIn. Now, why does that matter? Well, studies show that as much as 80% of all jobs are gotten via some form of referral. And if you've ever applied online and never heard back, you know what I'm talking about.
Applying online is the worst way to get hired. The best way to get hired is to know somebody who knows somebody who can get you in touch with a recruiter or hiring manager. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can do that yourself. You can reach out to somebody that works at your dream company and ask, "Who's the best person to talk to about these types of jobs?"
Reason #2
The second reason you want to have a LinkedIn profile is for the purpose of background checks. Companies are going to look you up on social media. They're going to see what you're about. Having a LinkedIn profile that's very professional, that describes your skills and experience, is going to be a great way for you to rank. Your LinkedIn profile will rank when somebody searches your name based on how many keywords (skills) you include on your profile. Recruiters will be able to find you. It's simply a great way to put your best foot forward.
So for those two reasons (and for the fact that it can take you less than an hour to set up your profile), I think it's so worth it to have a LinkedIn profile. We are all businesses-of-one. We're service providers. We need to manage our careers. And if you're a purpose-driven professional who wants greater career satisfaction, you've got to own that. Why not use a free tool to have more control?
Want to learn how to correctly set up your LinkedIn profile?
Sign up for my FREE Resume & LinkedIn Bootcamp today to learn how to update your resume and LinkedIn profile the way recruiters want!
It's that golden moment, the one you always dream about. The moment your boss offers you a raise, and you didn't have to ask for it! It doesn't happen often unless you have something in your contract that stipulates your pay increases, or some other sort of mandated pay raise. However, for the majority, an impromptu raise is just a dream.
There are no promises to be made here. Many raises, even those you ask for, depend on a variety of factors. You have control over whether or not you deserve a raise, but not always over getting one.
Luckily, there are some things you can do that will push you closer to getting a raise, whether you ask for one or not:
It doesn't matter if you're in sales or not. If the company you work for isn't able to bring in new business, they aren't going to grow, and they won't be able to afford to give you a raise.
In today's business world, everyone is in sales. You are a business-of-one. You have to sell yourself, your company, your skills, and your products. If you aren't a salesperson, you may not have the know-how to follow a sale through to the end, but you can still bring in business.
For example, just because I was an accountant at Dr. Snooze mattress company doesn't mean I had less of a chance to get a raise than the people on the sales floor. I'd still get leads and find new accounts. I used excellent customer service to ensure other companies kept coming back to do business with us.
Start looking for ways to bring in new business and you'll be amazed at what you can learn.
This "something" should be related to your field, obviously. There's no point in learning everything there is to know about QuickBooks if you work as an account supervisor. Sure, it might occasionally come in handy, but the goal is to become a go-to person on a topic.
If someone has questions about an account, they should be coming to you, and you need to be able to answer them. It's even more impressive if you can reach out before they even realize there's an issue. Not only does that mean that you increase your customer retention, but your clients will remember that and recommend you.
Not just any mentor. Do what you can to ensure that the mentor you choose is someone you would like to model your career after.
In today's marketplace, having a mentor that's a little bit old-fashioned (or at least respected in the industry) might be a great way to distinguish yourself. After all, careers now last about 4-5 years, instead of 40-50. You need to be on-call 24/7, but that doesn't leave you any time for a life. A mentor can help you work through the kinks and can help you to pave a path that others want to follow.
With guidance from a mentor, you'll stand out from other employees on the job, and could be next in line to get a raise.
There is nothing that will make your boss love you more than if you make them look good. After all, they'd probably like a raise just as much as you would, so it makes sense that they need you on their team. Stepping on their toes and making them look like they don't know what their doing isn't going to win you any favors.
When I was working at McElroy Metal, this tactic worked perfectly for me. I gave my supervisor all the credit for a huge sale I made, and he quickly became a favorite with the owner. When it was time for him to give promotions, I was the first one to be recommended.
The thing is, once you've made yourself irreplaceable, you can ask for pretty much whatever you want (within reason, of course). Becoming an indispensable employee involves doing what you're supposed to, plus everything listed, and then a little bit more.
After all, people who make themselves exceptional stand out for a reason. Having the perception that losing you would decrease productivity around the office and cost them money means that job security is locked in tight, and your boss will want to fight to keep you.
There is no way to promise that you'll get a raise. Much of it has to do with things you have no control over—the company's current standing, when a promotion becomes available, or the overall economics of the country.
Even if that can't be guaranteed, however, you can drastically increase your chances of getting a raise—whether you ask for one or not.
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
Like most professions in the post-pandemic world, project management has undergone yet another conceptual transformation while also redefining how the projects of the future will be managed with the release of the 2022 PMI Talent Triangle.
Keeping up with these new trends will be crucial for a project manager’s success while also sounding a warning bell for companies who wish to attract top talent to manage their increasingly complex projects in a hyper-competitive landscape.
Let’s face it: managing projects has never been an easy task and many of us have oftentimes felt frustrated with the limited roles yet high levels of responsibilities placed on project managers. The American comedian, Rodney Dangerfield, so eloquently coined the expression, “I can’t get no respect!” and I am quite sure that many PMs can identify very well with this statement in our misunderstood profession.
Since the advent of the project management profession in the late 1960s, the general expectation has been that project managers are everything to everyone on a project, even though the role was often considered a purely operational one (basically managing the “schedule”), with the relevant activities starting once the project award was received from the customer.
Despite this limited level of official responsibility, the very success of the project always rested on the PM’s shoulders, hence a significant source of frustration and misalignment.
In May 2022, the Project Management Institute (PMI) finally confirmed what many of us had been preaching since the late 1990s in their release of the updated PMI Talent Triangle:
Project Managers are, in fact, business owners who need to adapt ways of working and strong business acumen to manage their projects in our increasingly complex, changing world.
This is definitely a game-changing initiative, but also a much-needed one to set companies up for better success on their customer-facing and also internal projects. It also now forces PMs to develop crisper, more well-rounded skills to be able to achieve these lofty aspirations.
PMI Talent Triangle Update | PMI
The previous traditional and agile schools of thought have now evolved into a very extensive toolbox that allows PMs more flexibility when managing their projects.
It also now creates the expectation that project managers must “master as many ways of working as they can—so they can apply the right technique at the right time, delivering winning results.”
This is both exciting and challenging to apply in larger companies that must possess (or develop) a greater degree of organizational ambidexterity to survive in the long term.
Among these new tools are design thinking, transformation, data modeling, and performance management, just to name a few. These tools complement the PMBoK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) and now offer an incredibly diverse array of techniques that PMs can use to manage their projects.
Too many choices? Information overload?
So how can PMs determine the best working method for each project when there is so little time between the commercial phase and project award? For me, this is one of the primary reasons that project managers MUST be engaged even prior to the bid preparation so as to analyze the full scope and strategic importance of each project.
In this way, the work breakdown structure, or WBS (i.e., the nucleus of the project), can be customized to cover only what needs to be bid and executed. This also allows for better identification and alignment of organizational assets to be used on the project.
This is why strategic meetings with the key decision-makers and stakeholders must be held as early as possible, even at the prospect identification phase. The adept PM will develop a questionnaire to steer the conversation and arrive at the “best way” to structure both the commercial proposal and execution plan.
As I have mentioned in previous articles, communication is THE most important skill for a project manager and this new pillar emphasizes an increasingly collaborative approach to leadership, to foster innovation, empathy, and ownership.
In this way, The PM empowers their team with the aim of more effective stakeholder management, now at all levels of the project, to drive change and meet project goals.
By using techniques such as neuroscience, business psychology, emotional intelligence, and brainstorming sessions, PMs of the future will be able to develop a more empathetic, humanistic approach to understanding the challenges of managing their projects as well as the needs of the ever-wider range of stakeholders to be managed.
Let’s not forget that projects are still managed by people, so understanding the human psyche, cultural differences, intergenerational preferences, and historical perspectives are major inputs that affect team performance.
We also cannot ignore global trends such as diversity and inclusion, climate change, and other geopolitical events which shape our behaviors, policies, and actions. They also challenge the PM to be an extremely adaptable, active listener.
These techniques should be on every PM's mind while conducting meetings, planning work, and interfacing with stakeholders. I find this to be very powerful in fostering creative, innovative approaches to solving problems, one of the project manager’s main functions.
As an example, I promote a cultural minute at the onset of select meetings to give team members an opportunity to share specific topics of interest. These can then be woven into the main topic of the meeting, or even specific parts of the project to enhance team engagement.
Finally, I believe this increased interpersonal skillset is quite effective in driving coaching, mentoring, and training across the project management spectrum for we all know the current challenges of retaining and attracting top talent!
From a purely operational focus to a new business owner mentality, PMs now need to understand the “macro and micro influences in their organization and industry and have the function-specific or domain-specific knowledge to make good decisions.”
I particularly love this pillar of the new PMI Talent Triangle because it really elevates the standing of the PM within an organization, while challenging the functional managers to up their games to support the key projects and initiatives of the company.
It does challenge the PM to now do their homework so that they really understand:
Instead of only being involved after project award, this now means early involvement of the PM during the commercial, pre-award phases of the project in order to develop better relationships with customers (and other key stakeholders), while evaluating project requirements to ensure that the project team will be able to actually execute what is being promised.
The value that a project manager brings to an organization can truly be leveraged as organizations are now seeing just how much influence a PM has throughout the project.
For example, during the execution of a project, the adept PM who applies business development or customer service techniques can gauge not only the level of customer satisfaction at any given point in time (rather than only at the end) but can also find out about competitors’ performance, opportunities to upsell by becoming aware of new project scope, other customer projects, as well as a whole host of opportunities that could arise, including innovation to respond to future trends/needs.
It also better prepares the PM during management of change (MOC) or variation order negotiations as they will have a much clearer understanding of how the original scope of the project was negotiated, thus providing important insight as to customer psychology, main decision-makers, etc. This then leads to a more consistent customer experience not to mention more sales!
Conclusion
I for one am extremely motivated by the release of the 2022 PMI Talent Triangle as I feel like it has finally given project managers validation in our mission to show just how much value we bring to an organization. It also keeps us relevant by responding to megatrends while providing us with a very complete toolbox to adapt our project management techniques so that we do not overkill or underkill our projects. It does challenge us to redefine what it means to be a project manager while also giving us that ever-so-important seat at the executive table.
Check out the 2023 LinkedIn's Jobs on the Rise list revealing the 25 fastest-growing job titles over the past five years that just came out. Four trending marketing job titles on this list provide insights into where the workforce is headed.
Growth Marketing Manager
A growth marketing manager is responsible for identifying, developing, and implementing strategies to increase a company's growth. It's a vital role because of its ability to drive sustainable and profitable growth for a company.
Content Designer
A content designer (also known as a content strategist) is responsible for creating, planning, and producing digital content that meets the needs of a target audience and supports the organization's goals. It plays a vital role in developing and delivering high-quality digital content that helps to build trust, engagement, and conversion with the target audience.
Online Campaign Manager
The online campaign manager is responsible for planning, executing, and managing online marketing campaigns that promote a company's products or services, ultimately acquiring new customers. It is vital in developing and implementing effective campaigns that drive visibility, lead generation, and sales.
Customer Marketing Manager
A customer marketing manager is responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategies and campaigns that target existing customers that drive customer retention, loyalty, and repeat sales. Companies are now more focused on customer retention and engagement in a digital world, which is a significant driver for a customer marketing manager role.
As a 20-year brand marketing veteran, here are a few reasons why these four marketing positions are spot on for future work trends:
Pursuing a trending marketing job title can open up more career advancement opportunities and be more financially rewarding. It can also increase the chances of finding a job that is a good fit for you and that you enjoy.
During the pandemic, it was understandable that the focus for almost everybody, including educators, was on the health and well-being of friends and family. Post-pandemic, however, I’m noticing a troubling trend: some educators are still suffering from an ambition deficit when it comes to teaching.
Just the other day, for example, one teacher told me that they called out of work because the previous day there was a field trip and their feet still hurt. In professional trainings I have facilitated lately, I also have had teachers leave early because they felt “too tired” to go on. Teachers told me they were leaving; they didn’t ask. We are definitely in what Robert Glazer calls an “Ambition Recession.”
To be fair, there are many valid reasons why some teachers are apathetic and/or leaving the profession. I previously wrote about some of these reasons in my Work It Daily article "3 Reasons for the Big Quit in Teaching." Yet, if we are to help students to grow and achieve, we need to get teachers back on the school improvement bus. However, this is not just the responsibility of individual teachers. What might school and district administrators do to motivate teachers to make a positive change?
Recently, I had the chance to listen to an episode of the New Yorker Radio Hour; the theme for that episode was change. During that episode, dance choreographer Akram Khan suggested that there are four—in my opinion, interrelated—reasons why people change. While he may have been talking about re-envisioning the ballet “Giselle” for the modern stage, I believe his thoughts are relevant to those in education who are charged with motivating teachers to participate, more fully, within the teaching profession.
The grass is not always greener on the other side. Now that many educators have moved out of teaching roles and have taken opportunities in the private sector (particularly in EdTech), we may see a boomerang effect. There is a certain amount of financial stability as a teacher. A teacher may not be making as much money as they would like but it is a constant. In contrast, when one moves into the private sector, financial compensation can ebb and flow erratically particularly when the threat of recession looms like grey clouds on the horizon. Teachers, like anyone, might then be happy to have a job and do more to maintain it.
Traditionally, many teachers have been isolated within the four walls of their classrooms. Most still need to find adult coverage of their classrooms to take even a short bathroom break. How then might school leaders make internal exemplars of good teaching and learning more visible across the faculty? New Beginnings Charter School, in Brooklyn, NY, for instance, produces a weekly digital staff instructional newsletter that features classroom videos of their teachers using best instructional practices. They and ITAVA, in Queens, NY, engage in lesson study and open up model classrooms for teacher intervisitation. Lesson study is not the only way to coalesce teachers around a common goal; there are many additional ways to make teacher teams impactful.
The key here is that administrators need to plan deeply; they need to develop schedules that release teachers from the chains of their classrooms so that teachers can visit other classrooms and/or participate on ongoing teacher teams. Inspiration also requires triangulation of teacher development supports. For example, instructional coaches might consider referencing support materials/exemplars of best practice, provided in digital newsletters, during ongoing coaching feedback conversations. Help teachers become aware of where they can go for resources to improve their teaching craft and have multiple pathways for teachers to get there.
When I worked with the Cristo Rey School Network, we were interested in learning how best to develop internal tutoring programs that would well serve students and prevent their exit due to poor academic performance. One of the most powerful tools we had in replicating a quality tutoring program, across the network, was the ability to draw upon the expertise of one of our schools that already had such a program in place. Providing a space for all our school leaders, and teachers involved in the tutoring of our students, to engage in problem of practice protocols proved pivotal for the replication of this one school’s tutoring model across multiple school sites. As our school leaders and teachers learned more about what already was working in-house, the enthusiasm to replicate said practices was infectious.
Networked learning can be internal—as in the case of Cristo Rey above—and/or external. The Canopy Project, a joint project between Transcend Education and CRPE, has, for example, over 200 member/school organizations interested in building transformative education environments focused on equity. It aims to do this by collaborating, not competing, on the development of best school design. How might school leaders include more teachers within internal and/or external networks of practice? The models for learning networks are out there.
Asked another way, are administrators and/or instructional coaches giving enough so that teachers develop efficacy? I’ve written elsewhere on how we might say that student learning is at the core of our work as educators but, in reality, this is not evident when we, as managers of learning, make time for everything but instructional observation and teacher coaching. Therefore, administrators would do well in developing a standing weekly schedule for themselves that prioritizes both informal classroom observations and feedback/coaching sessions with each teacher on staff. Move operational tasks to when instructional time is over for the day. Paul Bambrick-Santoyo discusses this, in great detail, in his book Leverage Leadership.
Kim Marshall further suggests that administrators, during mini observations, not write notes. Rather, later in the day, administrators might use a one-page staff list to record the day, date, and most relevant points from each visit. Later still, they can add a checkmark when feedback has been given to the observed teacher. Further, share anonymous instructional data, across classrooms, with teaching staff. Help teachers to understand why certain instructional priorities exist and solicit teacher participation in responding to the data.
If you would like additional ideas on how to impact student lives without sacrificing your own, and have a life teaching, check out my quick hack teaching courses here. You can also reach me on LinkedIn.
There are a host of online courses available to help people level up in their careers or learn new skills entirely. But, to fully take advantage of online courses, you need to have your priorities in order and know exactly what you want to accomplish.
Some courses are offered for free, but there are also many that cost money. As you review available online courses and determine the ones worth taking, you may have to consider both finances and time constraints. Consider these four categories when choosing online courses:
Online courses that can help professionals do their job better are among the most valuable courses that you could take.
It's easy to work in a role for a long time, but not grow in it. You can't let that happen! If your career isn't growing, it's dying.
In order to make yourself an indispensable employee, it's important to keep up with industry trends and constantly take inventory of the skills you need to do your job exceptionally well. Some companies will even pay for their employees to take courses or certification programs if the employee can prove it will help them do their job better and ultimately benefit the company.
As far as choosing the right online courses, it helps to write out the specific areas where you're looking to upskill, and then research which courses check off the most boxes. LinkedIn Learning has a diverse course selection and the website Coursera has an extensive library of courses.
Beyond doing your job better and making yourself an indispensable employee, there's a certain sense of satisfaction that comes with always trying to get better.
Breaking into a new industry as a result of a career change or layoff is never easy. One of the first major steps a person has to do is an assessment of professional skills. This is where professionals determine what skills they have that are transferable to the new industry, and what skills they're lacking.
For example, a journalist looking to make a transition into marketing has important communication and writing skills that will transfer well into the industry, but would probably benefit greatly from a course or certification program in online marketing.
Just because a professional completes a course or certification doesn't mean they're qualified for the new industry. But, it may put them in a better position to secure a job interview, and it at least shows potential employers a willingness to learn.
Taking courses to gain extra skill sets or to pursue an additional passion is a very advantageous position for professionals.
We all have interests beyond our careers, and sometimes our careers turn us on to additional interests. For example, a doctor with a passion for graphic design may take courses about how to develop a freelance business on the side.
Others may take courses to help transition into a new position at their workplace or climb the ladder at the company.
One of the best steps any professional can do is to get ahead of the curve and anticipate skills that they may need in the future. Taking this type of initiative will not only impress your employer but may also help you learn more about yourself as a professional to either excel at your current career or chart a new career course.
Not every online course that you take has to be career-related. Sometimes it's good to just take a course for fun or personal satisfaction. The number of courses available online runs the gamut. You can learn a new language, sit in on online lectures from university professors, discover basic life hacks, and hear from prominent people about their success stories.
Expanding your knowledge base can make you a more well-rounded and happier person. This translates well into all aspects of your life.
Online career courses are only a piece of the puzzle. The path to true career growth is putting together a plan for success, and Work It Daily can help!
In our latest live class, we’ll teach you how to accelerate your job search today using a modern strategy that gets you noticed.
Finding a job is 10 times harder these days, and it's not just because competition for jobs is at an all-time high. Understanding and embracing the latest professional job search trends is what you need to do to land a job.
Ask yourself the following:
This high-impact workshop will help you with all of the above—and offer so much more. In our 4-week class, you’ll learn what you need to do in order to secure opportunities even during hard times.
Join our CEO, JT O'Donnell, and Director of Training Development & Coaching, Christina Burgio, for the live event series on Wednesdays at 12 ET from February 1st-22nd.
CAN'T ATTEND LIVE? That's okay. You'll have access to the recording and the workbook after the session!
PLEASE NOTE: To access this training, you will need our Career Class Pass Membership ($9/month).
You can cancel the membership at any time, but it will need to be active in order to access this 4-week class in February. But, at only $9/month, this is the BEST low-cost investment you can make to ensure your career doesn't suffer in the recession.
CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO SIGN UP SO YOU CAN ATTEND!
Are you feeling defeated because you've done all you could do to attain a job, but have yet to land one? Examine your internal dialogue. Yes, put down the resume, halt the job search, and join me in this deep-dive exercise of exploring your thoughts...
What are your beliefs about your candidacy? What “vibe" are you transmitting during your phone interview, exuding through your body language, projecting with your attire selection, and reinforcing via your resume and cover letter?
If your lack of confidence is holding you back in your job search, try to think about the following:
Others can sense your lack of self-confidence.
Lack of confidence can be "smelled" a mile away. Negativity, cynicism, and a "poor-me" attitude is not attractive at all—no matter how you try to mask it.
While it may seem too simple and bordering on just "self-help" talk, the beliefs we hold about ourselves are fundamental in our success. The concept of reversing negative internal narrative seems simple; however, actually changing what you are thinking, feeling, and exuding is not—but it can absolutely be accomplished!
We guarantee that if you have lost the job offer, perhaps even during a second interview, the person who got hired sold their qualifications with more confidence, was more persuasiveness in promoting their value, and closed the deal (job) by assertively reassuring the employer that they were the best choice!
So, what are possible reasons for your hard-to-detect negative self-talk?
The following could fuel consistent negative beliefs about your value, your opportunities, and your expectations:
No need to be ashamed. It happens to everyone at least once. We cannot control what happens in the world and often we cannot control events in our lives. Nevertheless, we CAN control our reaction to what happens to us and we can DECIDE to take action.
"Success builds character, failure reveals it." —Dave Checkett
Enough said?
Well, just in case: judging yourself for past failures builds a false self-image and can impact your self-confidence. Understand that failure is a part of trying and that, while owning up to your failures nurtures intellectual and emotional growth, defining yourself by your failures does not.
Understandably, if you have been out of work for a very long time, creditors are calling you, and your funds are now very limited, you can easily find yourself in a desperate-feeling place. Yet, we encourage you to adopt a new attitude.
Employers need you. So, while you are applying for jobs online, keep this in mind. Think about the value you bring as you write your resume and disruptive cover letter. You are a business-of-one. What service do you provide for an employer that makes you stand out from the competition? How will you make or save the company money?
By making this change to your mindset during your job search, you'll come off as confident, not desperate.
This is probably the number one reason we all do a little self-berating. We experience disappointment, become frustrated and angry, and sometimes need to justify what has occurred.
Make a conscious choice to be kind to yourself, coach yourself, and pay attention to what you could be saying to yourself—because negative beliefs can make their way onto the visible aspects of your job search.
Break the habit of talking negatively about yourself, and you'll be surprised by how quickly your confidence recovers.
No matter what strategic job search plan or interview strategy you have in place, if you cannot convince your prospective employer to hire you, your self-marketing tools are pointless.
You cannot sell what you do not believe in and you cannot energize others to believe in you when YOU lack that type of enthusiasm in your own services/skills. Confidence is—and has always been—the key to job search success.
Plus, it feels good to recognize how amazing you really are!
So, begin to take notice. Write down all the reasons why you believe your job search is not fruitful, what your weaknesses are, and why you think you are NOT the best candidate, and then eradicate that thinking. Replace it with positive self-talk and substantiate it with achievements. Ironically, exploring your negative dialogue and reversing it can lead you to discover your UVP (unique value proposition). This is what will get you hired.
Need more help with your job search?
Being on LinkedIn is a must today. Not only can you find recent and relevant job openings, but it also opens up the opportunity for employers and recruiters to find you, for you to do research on the company and specific individuals within the organization, and for you to build your professional network.
Most of LinkedIn's revenues come from recruiters who use it as a major source for finding talent and you want to make sure you come up in their searches. You also want to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is compelling and gets people to want to contact you.
Your LinkedIn headline is the first thing people will see about you when they search for certain skills, job titles, and keywords inside the platform. Here are some mistakes to avoid making in your LinkedIn headline, and a few tips to improve it:
When you don't manually change your LinkedIn headline, it'll default to your current job title and employer name. While it's alright to leave it like that, especially if you have a self-explanatory job title and work with an employer that is recognized, you can get better results when you take the time to customize it.
Write a LinkedIn headline that's relevant to your target audience and includes a few keywords (hard skills). The difference is a LinkedIn headline that reads: "Sales & Marketing Executive | Data Analysis | Social Media | Advertising" instead of "Sales and Marketing at XYZ Company."
The revised LinkedIn headline does a better job of informing others of what this person does, who they do it for, and what their expertise is.
Your LinkedIn headline needs selling points or a value proposition that makes you stand out.
What is it that separates you from someone else who may hold similar skills and experience? Which hard skills or transferable skills will make you a great candidate for the job you're applying for? That's what you need to think about.
If you want your LinkedIn profile to show up in search results, it has to have the relevant keywords recruiters and hiring managers are searching for. Determine what those keywords are and make sure they're in your LinkedIn headline. Be sure to include the skills needed for the position you want to get, not the one you're currently in.
Let's say a recruiter is searching for talent to fill a sales position at a pharmaceutical company that sells cancer drugs. If your LinkedIn headline only reads "Sales Professional," you'll probably show up much lower in the search results than someone with a LinkedIn headline that hits on some of the keywords.
An example of a good LinkedIn headline might be:
Sales Executive | Pharmaceutical Sales | Sales Management | Lead Generation
A LinkedIn headline displaying your skills and expertise will entice others to want to know more about you. Work your brainpower to come up with something powerful and unique.
Write a LinkedIn headline so powerful it'll make recruiters stop scrolling and write down your name!
A major battle job seekers have on LinkedIn is getting others to look at their profiles. But with a customized LinkedIn headline that speaks to the audience you want to reach, you'll get results.
The LinkedIn headline may only allow 220 characters, but it's your best chance to stand out to recruiters and get them to view your profile!
Need more help with your LinkedIn profile?
Sign up for our FREE Resume & LinkedIn Bootcamp today to learn how to update your resume and LinkedIn profile the way recruiters want!
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index's (ACSI) last report Q3 2022, customer satisfaction rates have declined by 5% since 2018. The report also calls out GDP’s decline.
As an accomplished consumer, whether for my business or a new piece for my wardrobe, my own consumer experience index rates 6/10 interactions conclude by walking away from a supplier, retailer, or service provider service request without a satisfactory resolution or positive experience.
My latest service experience required reaching out on (4) separate occasions, each with a different agent, and spending 5 ½ hours with a major tech giant that I’ll never get back, trying to fix an issue with my commercial-grade laptop that appeared out of nowhere. Needless to say, it was a HUGE infringement on my day.
When is the last time you felt ENTRAPPED, dealing personally or professionally with a time-sucking unavoidable glitch or necessary transaction that crashed into your busy life?
You didn’t go looking for it, may have avoided it a time or two, but now it’s SCREAMING your name and demanding action.
Most of us are good sports to make a call or hop on a chat so we can resolve and issue to check a box and get on to the next task. But as the norm for modern consumer experiences has deteriorated into dreaded, time-consuming interactions that elevate our blood pressure, it’s time to speak up for all of my comrades in commerce.
Join me as we:
After years of indifferent customer service, entitled seller attitudes, and low employee appreciation, the pandemic’s events brought a turning consumer tide in every area of our culture. Workers voted by resigning from undesirable workplaces, enterprise buyers refused spammy sales efforts, and consumers purchased from the retailer with the most seamless and personalized experience.
As modern consumers now demand seamless service across a dozen different communication channels, the stakes are high for inconsistency, limited channels, and a consumer journey filled with undo hassle.
Here are many of the all-too-common experiences that are driving off us consumers and our loyalty.
While there are plenty of consumer experience foibles to name, let’s take inspiration from the principles that drive the service excellence of a few consumer experience heroes:
Trader Joe’s – Empowering employees to bend the rules to deliver amazing service.
Ritz-Carlton – Inspiring staff to build strong emotional engagement with their guests and empowering them to deliver exceptional service.
Nordstrom – Creating a culture where going above and beyond to take care of customers is expected, encouraged, and praised above all else.
Chick-fil-A – Commitment to be kind to employees and provide heartfelt hospitality to customers with a mindset that: “Every life has a story, and often our customers and our employees, need a little grace and a little space when you deal with them because they are either experiencing a problem, just finished having a problem, or are about to have one.”
Here’s a high-brow, corporate, three-step process for sellers to produce experience excellence:
But if you sellers really want to get in tune with buyer expectations and the triggers that cause them to hit the eject button, you are going to need to get your hands dirty.
How?
Whether you sell (B2C) business-to-consumer or (B2B) business-to-business, eat your own dog food by auditing your process and consider paying other people to do the same to tell you what’s wrong with it. Make periodic walkthroughs of your end-to-end buyer journey a thing to proactively spot and resolve points of friction until you deliver experience excellence.
If you sell to end consumers, how seamless is your process using a website or mobile app, on different devices, making purchases that require password changes, updates to a cart, changing addresses or credit cards, and applying coupons? Make inquiries prior to, during, and after the sale. And don’t neglect the last mile that preserves goodwill with your consumers. Complete returns with each of the shipping options, including through third-party partners to ensure a hassle-free process.
If you sell to businesses, give up old-school spammy sales and marketing tactics that modern buyers resist. Instead, get crystal clear about your (ICP) ideal customer profile, develop insightful content to educate your prospects and build credibility, distribute it in peer networks where they natively hang out, and engage with them there to collect critical insights about what they care about (pay dirt) to guide your sales and marketing efforts. Turn your website into an un-gated library where prospects can binge on your content anonymously to turn into high-intent buyers, then pursue you for a conversation by submitting a web form once they:
Tedious? Yes, but this is how to deliver excellence in the buyer journey that gains and retains loyal consumers.
For additional insights or help with building, modernizing, or navigating your SaaS buyer journey or consumer experience, please reach me on LinkedIn or at lynn@solvedbyholland.com.
You know how the TikTok algorithm shows you stuff and you start to think, "Oh, it's fate," but in reality, it's the algorithm figuring you out and showing you what you need to see? Well, I predict that's how you're going to get your next job.
@j.t.odonnell Welcome to the tiktokification side of recruiting! Glad to see your here!♥️ #tiktokification #recruiting #jobs #career #employer #recruiter #jobsearch #jobtips #joblife #2023 #careerhelp #jobtok #careertok #careeradvice #jobforme #job #career ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
If you don't already know, my name is J.T. O'Donnell. I'm the founder and CEO of Work It Daily. My company works with employers, helping them create content that magically shows up in your feed so that you find them on TikTok.
Here's how it works...
Why is this job search strategy important? Because we are no longer job seekers.
We are job shoppers. We will not work just anywhere. And smart employers are figuring that out and understand that the TikTokification of recruiting is here.
If you want to start learning about great companies to work for, and you want them to magically show up in your feed and be part of the algorithm, follow me on TikTok. I'll make sure it happens.
I'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Event Subscription! I look forward to answering all of your career questions in our next live event!
At Work It Daily, we have a saying: "If you're not growing, you're dying." For context, we're talking about your career. You must constantly work on your career to grow as a professional so you can stay relevant and employable. Professional development should always be on your mind as a business-of-one. But what you do to grow as a professional might change over time. What you focus on developing this year might be completely different from what you focused on last year.
We recently asked our leading executives what word defines their professional development focus for 2023.
Here are their responses...
Investment. How do we invest participants in the professional development that they receive? Far too often, professional development is a one-size-fits-all, lowest common denominator, sit-and-get rather than an opportunity for participants to review relevant data, define personal and collective areas for growth, prioritize initiatives (1-3) that will target the growth area, and then analyze impact. Therefore, I'm not a fan of "one and done" trainings but, rather, a huge proponent of ongoing PD in the form of revolving professional learning communities (PLCs) and affinity networks.
John Schembari is a current K-12 teacher/school leader academic improvement coach and former school building and district administrator. He loves to draw, travel, swing dance, and read nonfiction.
Creativity!
I want to find fun ways to engage my followers and bring more of my personality to my communications. It will make me think more out of the box and focus my content. And I'm really looking forward to connecting with viewers.
Carla Biasi is a personal stylist living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She currently has her own business and works part-time at an upscale women's boutique and as a virtual and kit stylist for a women’s specialty brand.
My professional development word for 2023 is “articulate.”
By definition, articulate means expressing oneself readily, clearly, and effectively.
In everything we do, we must find the words to articulate our intentions with vigor to make ourselves believable.
The first question in any job interview will be, “Tell me about yourself.” You will be asked to do this. Your answer will set the tone for the rest of the interview. Many job seekers get stumped on this question. You must be able to “articulate” a persuasive and illuminating response.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, and you may have an excellent visual presentation. But with that graphic, you must be able to “articulate” communicatively and understandably what the visual is trying to show the audience.
In 2023, I will work on my “articulation” skills.
Michael Willis has 18+ years of experience working with accounting & sports organizations and has managed P&Ls of $10M - $125M+ with budgets of $3M-$50M+. He worked for the NFL for 22 1/2 years, mainly with the game officials working on the financial/accounting side of the business.
“Commitment.” Doing the best I can at any one moment, striving to be “better,” and letting go of those things I can’t control.
Why? Well, I’m forever on the hunt for practical methods of becoming more effective. As such, I recently watched Stutz on Netflix. It’s a documentary directed by Jonah Hill about his therapist, Phil Stutz.
Phil, and fellow practitioner Barry Michels, have written two books: The Tools and Coming Alive. I started reading the latter recently.
There are a number of nuggets in the book that have made me sit up and take notice, not least this quote:
“The reason you can’t commit to anything is because it hurts you too much if it fails. Success means putting everything on the line and, if it doesn’t work out, doing it again. And again. No blaming. No excuses.”
So, here’s to true “commitment” and "success" in 2023...
Mark Taylor has 20+ years of risk, technology, and product management experience working in global and regional financial services firms in the UK and the U.S. He's managed teams of 40+, successfully addressed 100+ regulatory issues, and has saved companies $15M+.
Connection is my development focus for 2023!
Our workplaces play a significant role in our lives. Work affects both our physical and mental well-being in good ways and bad. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the relationship between work and well-being into clearer focus. According to the Surgeon General 2022, Workplace Mental Health and Well-being report, one of the biggest challenges we faced in 2022 (and onwards) is connection and community.
Connection is essential for human well-being. Connection is a basic human need, and people who feel a strong sense of connection to others are happier, healthier, and more resilient!
One of the ways that connection is important is that it helps to combat loneliness and isolation. When we feel connected to others, we feel less alone and more supported. This can be especially important in times of stress or difficulty, as it can provide a sense of security and comfort.
Connectedness also allows us to feel seen, heard, and valued. When we share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences with others, and they respond with understanding and empathy, it can help us to feel understood and accepted. This can be especially important for people who may feel marginalized or excluded in some way.
Especially important to me, connection plays a critical role in our ability to learn and grow. When we are connected to others, we have the opportunity to gain new perspectives and insights, and to learn from the experiences of others. This can help us to develop new skills, knowledge, and understanding, which can be valuable for personal and professional growth.
Finally, it is a key factor in our ability to experience joy, love, and belonging. When we feel connected to others, we can experience deep and meaningful relationships that bring us a sense of fulfillment and purpose. This can be especially important for people who may be struggling to find meaning or purpose in their lives.
Ana Smith helps people & organizations achieve their full talent potential by developing and co-creating people strategies and customized solutions, and turning them into impactful outcomes and collaborative relationships, using coaching as the "red thread."
My 2023 focus is intentionality. In the past, I’ve tried to do everything but realized that I couldn’t do it all despite my best efforts. There’s a quote by Andrew Benintendi: “You’re going to struggle. You’re going to do well. You can’t really let the past or the day before – whether you had a good day or bad day – dictate the day you have that certain day.” A few things happened during the pandemic that made this really hit home for me. Everything happens for a reason and only worry about what you can control.
There will always be more personal/professional opportunities than I can physically do. I’ve learned that I need to be purposeful and prioritize and continually re-prioritize what is and isn’t important—each day is important. I can’t do it all and that’s ok (and I'm getting better at admitting that). I’m going to continue to be more intentional in what to plan and accomplish.
Debra Shannon is an IT executive who is also a CPA, CIA, and CISA. Her passion is turning chaos into calm. With her unique blend of experience in technology, project management, and auditing, she can break down complex business problems, identify practical solutions, and lead executive teams and business partners to embrace the value of technology changes.
For 2023, I'm focused on abundance. An abundance of five professional areas: connections, fulfillment, wealth, success, and happiness. I've worked to clearly define what this means for me across each of these five areas. For an abundance of professional connections, I'm looking to grow my social media network by 40% in 2023, as an example. I've laid out a detailed plan as to what it will take to achieve. To grow my social media network by 40%, I will post 2-3 times a week on LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram and connect with 100+ new people per week. I will track weekly, making it easier to measure my ongoing progress and success.
I also find it important to state the intentionality of my word, abundance, daily if I can, to stay focused, motivated, and driven toward my goal, which increases the likelihood of achieving it.
I know some things will come easy, but for other things, depending on how big they are, I will have to work at them. I will have to fight the busyness, distraction, intimidation, and fear that will show up. The key will be to stay persistent and motivated to remain committed. But my goal is to focus on the result of abundance.
Lisa Perry helps companies build leadership brands, driving loyal customers & delivering profitability. She does this through a process that builds brands consumers love. Her goal is to help companies develop, monetize, and grow their brands.
What word defines your professional development focus for 2023? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily's Executive Program.
There are some questions you should avoid asking in your first job interview. These interview questions make you look a little desperate. Why?
Because employers might think you want the job for the wrong reasons like you just need something temporary fast until you can find something better.
This is NOT the impression you want to give employers. Here are some interview questions you want to avoid during initial job interviews:
While this is something everyone needs to know, it's not something you want to bring up in your first interview. The purpose of the initial interview from the employer's perspective is to get to know you as a professional, see how you can handle common situations related to the job, and ultimately decide if you're a good fit (or could be).
Money is kind of like the elephant in the room during the first interview. Everyone is thinking about it, but no one is talking about it because it's irrelevant at this point in the hiring process. Don't bring it up until they do.
Again, this isn't relevant at this point in the hiring process. The last thing you want to convey is that you only care about the perks of the job. Employers want to know that you're excited about the opportunity itself.
If you're only in it for the money and benefits, employers might worry that you'll leave their company in an instant if you get another offer with better perks and salary. So, why would they waste their time and money on you to begin with?
You don't even have the job yet and you're already asking how fast you can get promoted? While you might think this question makes you look like a go-getter, the hiring manager might think otherwise.
You're only in the initial stages of the hiring process and you haven't proved your abilities to the company yet. So, for some employers, it would seem ridiculous to estimate how fast you'd be promoted. You haven't even gotten a job offer yet!
We know how nerve-wracking a job interview can be, especially that initial interview with a company when you don't know where you stand against the competition. If you avoid asking these three questions during an interview, you won't appear desperate, even though you might be!
If you really are desperate to find a job or are just struggling in your job search, we can help.
For many of us, our careers are not only about what we do but WHY we do it. At Work It Daily, we know this is true. That's why we want to hear YOUR career story!
@workitdaily Why do YOU #WORKITDAILY ??? Share your story on @tiktok, tag @workitdaily & add the hashtag #workitdaily too. You could get featured on our feed & website where millions will see you.♥️♥️♥️ #jobtok #edutok #careertiktok #careergoals #work #lifehack #life #live #love ♬ original sound - Work It Daily
J.T. O'Donnell, Work It Daily's founder and CEO, recently launched a social media campaign on TikTok asking users to share their stories about why they "#workitdaily."
Why do you do what you do?
Work It Daily's mission in 2023 is to help millions of people become the purpose-driven professionals they want to be. But in order to do that, we need to change the narrative. We need to stop asking people what their job titles are and what they do for work and judging them based on those answers. Instead, we need to start to get to know the people behind the work.
And the way that we do that is through storytelling.
If millions of us can share our stories about why we work, we will collectively change the narrative. And this is also how we're finally going to be able to be comfortable working to live instead of living to work. The shift has to come, and we're starting that shift with this campaign.
@fatimalhusseiny I joined the challenge #workitdaily @Work It Daily #fypシ #bookishmuslimgirl_lb ♬ Epic Music(863502) - Draganov89
Our first participant in this challenge was Fatima, a writer who loves telling the stories of others.
In her TikTok, Fatima states:
Writing is my passion. It's how I express myself and share my voice through others' stories. Telling stories is a way of communication and connecting with others and making a difference. I think it's also a personal journey for me. I love nothing more than just sitting down with someone and hearing about their experiences, challenges, struggles, their triumphs and achievements, and then being able to take all of that and put them into words. There's something magical about being out there for someone sharing their stories and being there.
Fatima shared her story with us. Will you?
@workitdaily Thank you Fatima for being the first to join our @tiktok social media campaign♥️♥️♥️@fatimalhusseiny We can't wait to share your story with the world! Check out our campaign to learn more! @workitdaily #workitdaily #WhyIWorkItDaily #careertiktok #careertok #jobtok #edutok #mywhy #purpose #passion #worktolive #live #life #love ♬ Epic Music(863502) - Draganov89
Why do YOU #workitdaily? Share your story on TikTok, tag @workitdaily, and add #workitdaily to your post. You could get featured on our website and social media feeds!
Let's start changing the narrative today! We look forward to seeing your story!
Unless you've been really lucky, you've probably discovered this simple fact about the job search process: it's not easy.
The process is littered with ups and downs, small victories, and brutal defeats. By the time you achieve the ultimate victory—landing a great job—you're both physically and emotionally exhausted.
As difficult as the job search process may be, the lessons that you learn from it will come in handy if you ever find yourself on the job market again. Some of those lessons may actually catch you by surprise.
We'll make the job search process a little easier for you (or at least mentally prepare you) and tackle some of those surprises now.
Wow is right.
In a simpler time, a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away), one would just read the classifieds section of the newspaper to see what was available for employment.
Today, while the classifieds still exist (they're online), there are a large number of online job websites that specialize in job searches from all over the country and world.
Websites like Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and Craigslist are some of the most well-known job boards but there are many others, including some that may be tailored for individual states, regions, and professions.
The number of choices can be very overwhelming, especially if you haven't been involved in a job search recently.
The best thing to do is explore multiple websites to see which ones align best with your needs. Also, seek counsel from friends and colleagues who have been through the process to hear about their experiences with the various websites.
While these websites are a good resource for seeing what's available for jobs, it's important to not over-rely on them. If you've identified some companies you want to work for, conduct a proactive job search and make personal connections via networking. Don't rely solely on the online job board to express interest and submit your application.
You haven't updated your resume in a while and want to see what the latest formats look like, so you type "resume format" or "resume template" into your online search engine. All of a sudden, you're presented with another overwhelming amount of choices.
Seeking resume guidance online is like trying to self-diagnose yourself by using a medical website—you sometimes get more than you bargained for.
When working on your resume, it's important to initially focus more on the content, which will eventually allow the format to fall into place.
It's also important to realize that there isn't a "one-size-fits-all" resume, as each resume should be tailored to the job for which you're applying. You want to make sure that your relevant skills and accomplishments that would translate to this new job are at the top of the resume. A recruiter should be able to see these transferable skills within the first six seconds of reviewing your resume.
Work It Daily has multiple resume resources, including a resume review by our career coaches.
Resumes and cover letters are not enough anymore. At Work It Daily, we like to say that you're a "business-of-one," and personal branding is a big part of that.
Personal branding may seem overwhelming if you've never thought about it before, but it's really not that bad. Think back to when you were preparing your resume. Think about what type of career you're seeking and think about the type of skills that you have that translate to that industry. Think about what really makes you stand out.
Once you've determined this, share it with the world. Use LinkedIn and social media to your advantage.
Your goal is to let people know what you're up to professionally at all times. That way your professional network will be aware of what your personal brand is, which could turn into referrals whenever you're on the job market.
If you worry that you lack a personal branding strategy, don't panic. Take your time, put some thought into it, and consult with colleagues and mentors. Everyone has a personal brand; it's just a matter of putting everything together and executing it.
Phone, video, and group interviews are all becoming more common. No matter what type of interview you're a part of, the key is always preparation.
Treat every interview the same. Prepare answers to all the common interview questions the interviewer could ask and do your research on the company before the interview. Prepare questions for the interviewer so they know you're interested and have done your research. Also, be sure to dress professionally (more on that in a minute).
Most people are familiar with the in-person interview and, while it can be nerve-racking, it's also familiar. There's comfort in familiarity. It's those types of interviews you're not as familiar with that can be the most intimidating to prepare for.
Of all these different types of interviews, you'll most likely experience the phone interview, where you're interviewing just for the chance to be invited to an in-person interview. That in itself is a lot of pressure, but when you're doing a phone interview you also lose the advantage of certain social cues.
During an in-person interview, you're able to make eye contact with the interviewer and are better able to convey enthusiasm and emphasis. You're also able to look at the interviewer and attempt to gauge their reactions.
Phone interviews also move a lot quicker than in-person interviews. You get less time to get your points across. Even though all interviews carry with them some level of stress, the condensed timeline and impersonal nature of the phone interview make it one of the trickiest interviews to go through.
It's true, you will...and that's okay!
You want to dress for success and the interview is your chance to make a first impression. Deciding how to dress goes back to your company research. You want to determine what the company's culture is and then dress one level above it.
For example, if the company is very casual, show up to the interview in business casual attire.
You may already have the perfect outfit or you may spend some time in front of the mirror changing outfits. It's okay to be picky, just as long as the outfit you choose matches the company culture. Make sure your shirt is ironed and your shoes are clean.
And, if you bought new clothes for the interview, make sure to take all the tags off!
There are times when you may know immediately that you didn't get the job. You weren't as prepared as you needed to be or the position just wasn't a good fit. While no one wants to have a bad interview, sometimes it's easier to mentally accept, particularly if you're able to pinpoint where it went wrong and apply the lessons moving forward.
But, what if you did everything right? What if you left the interview feeling like you crushed it and that the job was in the bag, only to later learn that you didn't get the job?
It could be that you did, in fact, have a very awesome interview, but the mistake that you made was assuming that you would automatically get the job because of it.
When employers say they had many qualified candidates apply for the job, it's not just lip service. Chances are they had a tough choice to make and, while you gave it a good effort, there was just another candidate that was a better fit for the position.
It can be a major blow the first time this happens to you. Let it humble you but don't let it deter you. Build on the things you did well and do an honest self-assessment and fine-tune the things that you can do better.
Make sure to thank the interviewer for the opportunity and continue to express interest in the position. There's always a chance they could come back to you at some point in the future.
A lot of people change jobs to get a better salary, while many others do so because they're not happy in their current jobs. Whatever the reason, salary still remains a crucial component. It's important to do your research on the average salary for the type of position you're pursuing in your geographical area.
However, as you go through the job search process, your stance on salary may change. You may like a company's work-life balance and benefits package so much that you're willing to take a cut in salary. There may also be cases where the demands of a job are more than anticipated and you need to up your salary requirements. Individual circumstances also play a major role in salary negotiations.
When it's time to negotiate salary, be flexible. Don't short-change yourself but also understand your priorities. Salary is an important part of the equation but you also need to factor in everything you've learned about this position during the search process to make a well-informed decision.
One thing is for certain when it comes to the job search process: you learn a lot along the way!
What Is A Labor Union?
A labor union can be described as an employee organization that advocates for the rights of employees.
A labor or trade union is an organized group of workers who advocate work conditions, economic justice, and unfair treatment by employers. Labor unions have collectively advanced their members' interests by negotiating with employers.
Unions are organized much like democracies. The members of the associations elect officers who make decisions for their members. The primary purpose of the officers is to provide power and control for their members.
Union members pay dues to cover the union’s costs. Most unions have paid full-time staff that help to manage their operational costs. Some of the union members volunteer their time and talents to the association. Some unions create strike funds that support workers in the event of a strike.
Unions have played a significant role in workers’ rights for centuries. Labor unions’ roots in the United States date back to the 18th century when the Industrial Revolution and big business were in their infancy and relied heavily on human labor. This quickly led to widespread abuse of workers, including children, who were forced to work many hours daily for low wages and benefits.
Today there are federal and state labor laws to protect workers. For example, these two agencies are responsible for setting industry standards, such as safe working conditions and minimum wage standards.
Critics say that labor unions work against employers, making it more difficult for a company to manage its employees for the company’s good. Some say that labor unions make it difficult for companies to fire unproductive employees. Also, companies complain that unions are driving up payroll costs and benefits costs that leave the company with less revenue to operate the company or force the company’s hand to raise the price of goods and services.
The public sector has the highest rate of union members, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. In the private sector, industries with high union rates include transportation, warehousing, utilities, motion pictures, and sports.
When I worked at the National Football League, labor unions played a large part in the game. The players union was known as the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). The NFLPA represents all players concerning wages, retirement, insurance benefits, and working conditions, and protects their rights as professional football players. Lastly, the NFLPA ensures that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) terms are met.
Just as the players benefit from union representation, the game officials also belong to a union. The game officials union was called the National Football League Referees’ Association (NFLRA). The NFLRA represents all game officials concerning wages, retirement, insurance benefits, and working conditions, and protects their rights as professional game officials. Lastly, the NFLRA ensures that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) terms are met.
Labor unions have been part of American culture for a long time. Due to government-regulated employment laws, memberships and the need for unions have declined. Gone are the days when unions were in place to protect child labor, unfair working conditions, pay disparities, and workday hours unfairness.
Pros
1. Unions promote higher wages and better benefits.
2. Unions can economically be a pacesetter.
3. Unions provide worker protection.
Cons
1. Labor unions discourage individuality—the group is treated the same.
2. Unions can protect failing employees.
3. Unions can drive up costs for the company.
A strike or lock-out is evidence of discontent and an expression of dissatisfaction by unions. When negotiations between company management and labor unions fail, unions must take action to disrupt the company’s workflow and production. The best course of action is when the company and the labor union continue to discuss their differences that keep an agreement from being agreed upon.
When the two sides refuse to budge on the sticking points while negotiating, companies are sometimes forced to hire replacement workers to continue operations. Many of these replacements might be unskilled, but this temporary move by the company is an attempt to keep the company open for business. Hiring replacement workers might also be a bargaining ploy by the company to let the union know that the company can move forward with these non-unionized workers.
Lastly, as company management and labor unions negotiate an agreed-upon contract, neither side will get everything they started out to get. There will be give and take on both sides. Finding common ground so that management and labor can co-exist to work together should be a goal for both sides. Let’s work together so we can all continue to do what we all love. Working. Playing. Making a better world!
It's hard to be passionate about a job when you have no connection to the company. How do you show enthusiasm in your cover letter and job interview if you don't absolutely love what you'd be doing, or where you'd be doing it?
Fortunately, there's an easy way to demonstrate your enthusiasm for a company during the application and hiring process.
Here's how you can make meaningful connections with potential employers during your job search...
If you're not totally excited about the company you're hoping to get hired at, then it's possible you just don't know enough about them (or maybe they don't belong on your interview bucket list). Before writing a cover letter, and especially before going in for an interview, you should always check out the company's website.
Also, go to Glassdoor.com to see what past and current employees have to say about the company, and take a peek at their social media accounts. By doing this, you'll get a better sense of their company culture and how they get involved in their community.
Reaching out to the current employees of a company is the most direct way to form a connection with a potential employer. This is where LinkedIn comes in handy.
You should start a chat with current employees on LinkedIn to get an inside scoop on what it's like to work at the company. And once you've connected with a person at the company on LinkedIn, you'll feel a connection to the company itself by default.
A company's core values and beliefs can greatly impact how passionate its employees are about their work. That's why it's important for you to know whether your personal values and beliefs align with the companies you're hoping to get hired at.
In other words, would you be a good cultural fit?
This question is as important to you as it is to the potential employer.
While researching the company, before you write your cover letter or go in for an interview, you should try to find information on its values and beliefs as an organization. Maybe once a month the company volunteers in the community. Maybe a percentage of their profits go to causes you support. Maybe they're dedicated to environmental sustainability in all areas of their business. Whatever the company's specific values and beliefs are, they're perfect opportunities for you to connect with them.
After you do all of the above, you should have an excellent idea of what the company does, who they are, and what they stand for. Now, it's time for you to create a connection story to tell in your cover letter and in your interview.
Start by answering this question: Did something happen to you that made you respect, appreciate, or admire what the company does?
You could be a loyal customer of this company or a good friend of an employee. But if you didn't already have that connection to the company or that passion for what they do, you have it now from your research and your conversations with current employees.
In your cover letter and in your job interview, talk about how you were, or are, affected by the products and services the company provides.
To create a connection story that will stand out to employers, you need to connect your personal story to the company's mission. If you do this, you'll write a disruptive cover letter and be memorable in your interview.
We hope these tips will help you connect with any potential employer you come across during your job search. You'll probably become passionate about a company or employment opportunity you never considered before...it may just take a little research.
Taylor Swift is a dominant brand, leading the industry for over 15 years with a loyal fan base. She recently released her tenth studio album titled “Midnights” on the streaming platform Spotify at the stroke of midnight. Swifties (as her fans call themselves) rushed to get the album and crashed the site seconds after it launched, breaking Spotify’s record for the most album streams in a single day.
Before the album’s release, Swift released numerous TikTok videos that generated over 131 million views. Her worldwide The Eras tour announcement recently sent her fans into an all-out frenzy. Ticketmaster ended up canceling the public sale of tickets due to the high demand for the presale tickets. Ticketmaster said that more than 3.5 million people pre-registered for Taylor’s Verified Fan sale, the largest in its history. Presale codes were sent to 1.5 million fans who were invited to purchase tickets, while the remaining 2 million were waitlisted. Source
When you build a loyal fan base, customers are no longer just customers. They are advocates, ambassadors, supporters, enthusiasts, and loyalists. When customers find a brand they trust and love, everything changes.
Let’s look at what brand loyalty is, why it is essential, how to build it, a few examples, and what to do when it starts to slide.
Brand loyalty refers to a consumer’s tendency to purchase a particular brand of product or service consistently rather than choosing alternatives. Several factors, such as the quality of the product, the reputation of the brand, and personal experiences with the brand, can influence this. Brand loyalty can also be strengthened through marketing campaigns and customer loyalty programs.
Brand loyalty is essential for many reasons. For businesses, loyal customers are valuable because they are likely to make repeat purchases, which can lead to increased revenue and profitability. Companies with strong brand loyalty grow revenue 2.5X faster and deliver 5X more shareholder value. Acquiring new customers is typically more expensive than retaining existing ones. Brands with high levels of customer loyalty will generally have to spend less on marketing and advertising to maintain growth. And satisfied customers are more likely to recommend a brand to others, which can be an effective form of advertising. Also, loyal customers can help promote a brand through word-of-mouth marketing, leading to new customers and increased market share. Remember that loyal customers will tend to spend more over a longer period, resulting in a higher lifetime value for the brand. Seventy-seven percent of consumers said they have remained loyal to a brand for over ten years. Considering that a 7% increase in brand loyalty can translate into an 85% higher customer lifetime value (CLV), this is significant. Strong brand loyalty can lead to increased brand equity, which is a valuable asset for the company. Finally, having a loyal customer base can help a business weather market downturns and economic recessions by providing a stable source of revenue.
Brand loyalty can also be important for consumers because it can provide a sense of trust and comfort in the products or services they are purchasing. It can also lead to benefits such as exclusive deals, discounts, and special promotions offered to loyal customers.
Eric Duehring, Executive Vice President of Brand Marketing of Red Ventures said it best: “Brands are ultimately about trust, and trust doesn’t come easy. Brands are a promise to deliver something of value—consistently, uniquely, and with care. It’s truly an emotional connection; consumers are always willing to pay more or go out of their way to find the brands they love. The companies that recognize the value of that connection will invest in their brand from every angle—from products to partners and pricing and beyond. It’s remarkable how often consumers profess their love for a brand. Whether it be a car, pants, or even oatmeal, people will say they love their brand and become true evangelists. Can you put a price on that kind of connection? How much should you invest in developing that kind of brand loyalty? It’s consistently the one thing worth investing in, and brands that forget this can lose their way and their business.”
Overall, brand loyalty can be a win-win situation for both businesses and consumers, and it can be an essential factor in the success and growth of a company.
Building brand loyalty can be a complex process, but there are several strategies that your company can use to encourage customers to form a strong connection with your brand. These include:
These are a few examples of strategies that your company can use to build brand loyalty. The most effective approach will depend on your specific brand and target market.
There are many examples of brand loyalty across various industries. Some notable examples include:
A strong focus on delivering a great product or service and building a strong community around your brand is often at the core of creating brand loyalty.
When brand loyalty starts to slide, it’s important to take action quickly to address the problem. Here are a few strategies that you can use to regain customer loyalty:
These are just a few examples of strategies that companies can use to regain customer loyalty. The most effective approach will depend on the specific situation and the needs of your customers. It’s important to act quickly and efficiently when brand loyalty starts to slide to prevent the situation from worsening and try to regain customer loyalty as soon as possible.
In summary, the secret to building brand loyalty involves:
When done right and customers find a brand they trust and love, everything changes. For a step-by-step guide on how to develop a brand strategy, including brand loyalty, check out my book. Start building your brand leadership today. You've got this!
Proactivity, as defined by organizational behavior, is “anticipatory, change-oriented, and self-initiated behavior in situations, rather than just reacting." When a person is proactive, they are acting in advance of a future event. Proactive employees typically don't need to be asked to do something, and will usually require less-detailed instructions.
Proactive behavior is applicable to either one's own role or to "extra role" responsibilities. Within one's own role, for example, a person may find a more efficient way to complete one or more of their responsibilities. Extra role responsibilities (i.e., those tasks outside of your stated job description) speak to an employee's organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The proactive employee would, for example, initiate an offer to help their co-workers before they are asked to assist by either their colleagues or their manager.
The steps you can take to become more proactive at work apply to both your formal role and your part of the scope of the OCB within your team, your department, and your overall organization.
There are variations on the theme; however, the following behaviors are a common foundation for proactivity within all of the theories:
Proactivity requires that you be organized. That includes your mindset, your space, and, of course, your schedule! Organizing your time helps you approach tasks more efficiently and allows you to be more open to opportunities. This scheduling needs to include "downtime" for those activities that keep your life in balance.
A positive attitude is right up there on any list. Approaching tasks from a positive perspective encourages you to look for the best in every situation. It helps you become the employee who is "ready, willing, and able," who can always be counted on. A team player who is reliable and available will become the go-to person, the problem solver.
Take stock of your current responsibilities:
Find a role model by observing the leaders in your company. When possible, spend time with them to gain insight from their behaviors. Try out their techniques. Some will work for you, others will not. You'll need to fine-tune what you acquire so that you are able to build your own repertoire.
Let others know that you want to be more involved. You'll need to create your own opportunities. Don't wait to be asked—present your ideas to your management team.
Set goals for yourself. Write them down! List everything that you want to accomplish. Set deadlines! Once you have the end in mind, you can achieve your desired outcome. A series of small goals leading up to the completion of a large goal keeps tasks from becoming insurmountable.
Stay the course on how you want to accomplish your goals. This may require overcoming your fears and rising above obstacles or setbacks. You'll need to step outside of your comfort zone and become increasingly resilient.
Strive for excellence from start to finish. Commit yourself to always presenting your best work—your completed project with no loose ends. Be passionate about what you do. Give it your all. No matter what role you are assigned, you will be more effective when you put your full energy and effort into it.
Celebrate your successes, big and small, as you move along your path to becoming more proactive!
Be flexible! You can't plan for every outcome, so being able to react to the unexpected is an important trait for the proactive person. It is about the awareness of the existence of choices, regardless of the situation or the context.
Need more help being proactive in your career?
I would never have guessed that my maritime shipping and Naval Intelligence background would become helpful in the financial services realm—yet here we are. Let me explain…
“We’re bankers, not SEAL Team Six. Are we really expected to start analyzing ship behavior?” This quote from a colleague in a discussion about the idea of Financial Institutions (FIs) monitoring the behavior of ocean-going vessels (ships) motivated me to co-author a white paper on the topic.
Today’s global geopolitical climate is fraught with both nation-states and individual bad actors who use the financial system to conduct their misdeeds. While sanctions can be an effective tool to shut these bad actors out of the financial system, it is far from a panacea. Necessity has become the proverbial mother of invention for bad actors in creating methods to circumvent sanctions and international laws. The typologies range from turning off their safety position reporting to pretending to be a different vessel altogether.
In May 2020, the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury and the U.S. Coast Guard published “Guidance to Address Illicit Shipping and Sanctions Evasion Practices.” The guidance document provides information targeted for specific stakeholders—one of which is Financial Institutions (FIs). This was a seminal moment. For the first time, FIs were mentioned in government guidance on detecting potentially unusual ocean-going vessel behavior.
Governments recognize the challenge of keeping abreast of the methods of evading laws and impose various regulations on private sector stakeholders to detect and deter nefarious activity. The trend has undoubtedly been government regulators requiring more of Financial Institutions (FIs) compliance measures, not less. U.S. regulators are particularly demanding of FIs in this regard. Whether or not the regulations are reasonable is irrelevant. Once imposed, FIs must find ways to comply.
The sale of commodities is almost invariably accompanied by the need to transport the goods to their destination. It is this transportation element that regulators have recently turned their attention to. This attention is now buoyed by the need to detect the illicit transfer of bulk commodities, such as Russian oil, in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
The complexities of trade finance, global supply chains, and the various roles of FIs in a trade transaction can make this a daunting task. This realization motivated me to co-author a white paper on the topic through the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT). The paper published by BAFT in early December 2022 is entitled “Perspectives on Evaluating Potentially Unusual Vessel Behavior.” My maritime shipping experience served me exceptionally well in this endeavor.
While banks offering trade finance products likely have a working knowledge of shipping documentation, staff may need to become more familiar with the maritime shipping industry details. This can pose challenges when shipments or transactions are flagged as unusual and compliance issues arise. The paper aims to provide bankers with a rudimentary understanding of maritime shipping and the compliance risk associated with this space. It accomplishes its objective by organizing the material in a methodical fashion meant to be read from beginning to end. The paper begins by familiarizing the reader with basic maritime shipping industry jargon and practices. For example, did you know ships have an identification number that never changes (think of your car’s VIN) even after being sold or renamed? It then lists the most common typologies for vessels evading sanctions, ways to evaluate your FI’s inherent risk, and several considerations when developing appropriate controls for your organization.
My co-authors and I spent hours discussing (which at times pivoted to spirited debate) certain portions of the material. We endeavored to strike the right balance for reasonable measures to evaluate vessel behavior for FIs with varying resources available to Financial Crime Compliance departments. I believe the many hours of Zoom call discussions paid off in the form of a handy white paper for FIs in addressing this evolving risk.
To read “Perspectives on Evaluating Potentially Unusual Vessel Behavior,” please visit BAFT’s Library of Documents under BAFT Guidance and Industry Practice section at www.BAFT.org.
First of all, it's never too late to get started on LinkedIn. Second of all, there are only four things you need to set up your profile in under 10 minutes.
Here's what those four things are...
@j.t.odonnell Replying to @littledig77 How to set up a LinkedIn profile in under 10 minutes! #linkedin #linkedinhelp #linkedinhacks #linkedintips #howtouselinkedin #howto #workitdaily #jobtok #careertok ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
1. Professional Headshot
Grab your smartphone and some bright lighting and take a picture of you from the shoulders up with a smile on your face. You want to look professional, yet approachable.
2. Optimized Headline
Your headline is the most important real estate on your LinkedIn profile. Linkedin works like a search algorithm: people look for keywords about your skill sets, and if those are in your headline, you show up at the top of the results. So, pick five or six skill sets you use on the job and put them in your headline.
3. "About" Section
In your "About" section, talk about how many years you've been doing what you're doing (approximately three sentences). Then, write one or two more sentences that roll up your experience and quantify what you've accomplished.
4. Work History
You should only list 15 years of work history (or less if you're still a young professional). Add one or two bullet points for each of the jobs explaining what you got done while working there. Recruiters just want the facts without having to skim through too much text.
Need more help setting up your LinkedIn profile?
I teach a FREE Resume & LinkedIn Bootcamp. In this hour-long course, you'll learn how to optimize your resume and LinkedIn profile so you stand out to recruiters.
But the most important thing you need to know is do not wait. Linkedin is booming right now and companies are looking for talent on it. It's never been easier to get noticed on LinkedIn. So, go set up your profile today!
In a perfect world, it would always be easy to deal with stakeholders, co-workers, bosses, and other peers. The truth is, sometimes we have to deal with difficult people in our personal and professional lives. How we deal with people, difficult or not, will be a factor in how far we go in our careers. So, how can we successfully deal with difficult stakeholders and peers without hurting our professional reputations?
We recently asked our leading executives how they deal with difficult stakeholders and peers at work.
Managing stakeholders is one of any project manager's most complex and important responsibilities. The success of any given project or initiative can frequently depend upon stakeholder collaboration and satisfaction, which is why it's essential to give careful attention to their needs.
However, managing difficult stakeholders and peers can be, and therefore become, quite challenging, so it's important to anticipate and manage them effectively. They might not be open and forthcoming in their communications, or they may only offer negative feedback. Some stakeholders may be frustrated at the progress of the project or may not seem to be very engaged in the work. These are some basic areas that you need to focus on in successful stakeholder management: identifying stakeholders (internal and external), understanding stakeholder needs, meeting their needs, underpromising and overdelivering, listening to stakeholder concerns, frequently communicating, amongst others. If not done properly, they can result in spectacular project failures.
There is an "Iron Triangle" on which experienced project managers focus on. This consists of 1) quality/scope, 2) budget, and 3) time. If stakeholders or sponsors want more in the deliverable (i.e., more features) then something has to give. The project will take longer, or it will cost more, or it will be a little of both. If they want to lower costs, they probably cannot do it without decreasing scope or increasing timelines. Stakeholders will need to understand that, and the project manager needs to be consistent on this point.
A poor appreciation of stakeholder management can often lead to catastrophic decision-making which ultimately leads to more cost, longer timelines, and diluted benefits.
When I think of difficult people, my college job years ago as a part-time credit card bill collector comes up. People were often on their worst behavior when I called.
Thankfully, we were trained to handle these situations. In essence, you must listen to ALL objections before you can ask someone to agree to a request. It was a valuable lesson about human nature, listening, and empathy.
What does this look like, and how can you use this method?
Step one: Be patient and listen while someone might vent, complain, or express the issues preventing them from doing something.
Step two: Acknowledge what they’ve said and the feelings expressed.
Step three: Repeat steps one and two until there is no more air to clear. Do not move on until the upset person has had their complete say.
Step four: Transition to what you need and “what’s in it for me” (them)—a WIIFM—if they comply.
Also, never accept insults or rude language. In the bill-collecting world, we had permission to hang up if things got out of hand. In your real life, you have permission to leave the situation until cooler heads prevail.
Andrea Markowski is a marketing director with specializations in strategy development, digital tactics, design thinking, and creative direction. She has superpowers in presentations and public speaking.
Take a job, win a client, use a dating app, and you’re amongst people with hurts, hang-ups, and emotions like fear, anger, and insecurity near the surface. Add modern pressures and poof! Disagreement, bias, and attitude. An inevitable evil, here are some tools for influence and goodwill:
Peers
1. Seek to understand their POV and why (internal/external influences)
2. Suggest reaching the best company/collective outcome vs. personal preferences
3. Consider if ideas #1 and #2 can be combined for an even better solution (ideal outcome)
4. If #3 fails, translate #1 and #2 into their respective cost/benefit for the company/collective
Stakeholders
1. Build individual profiles - job responsibilities, fears, and biases that internally motivate rejecting or buying into ideas or initiatives
2. Correlate ideas or initiatives to serving their inner personal interests without risk
3. Partner and collaborate with an internal champion motivated to build support for ideas or initiatives that improve the workplace
Lynn Holland is a business development executive with 18+ years of experience taking operational, IoT & retail technologies, products, & consumer engagement to market with a focus in petroleum & convenience retail.
How to deal with difficult stakeholders and peers:
1. The first step is to identify the stakeholder. While everyone on the team has value, I would identify the threat to the team. The overall mission and objectives of the team must be met. If there is a weak link, executives and team leaders need this information.
2. Like any other threat the team encounters, the difficult stakeholder’s activities must be monitored.
3. Meet them one-on-one to discuss the facts that have been gathered. Don’t just rely on second-hand information. Keep the conversation free-flowing. Let the difficult stakeholder do all the talking.
4. Determine the motivation behind the recent behavior.
5. Remind the difficult stakeholder of their place on the team and, most importantly, the mission and goals the group must meet.
6. Determine their motivation. Try to find out what triggered the behavior. Offer remedies or solutions.
7. Create a success story to create new energy and purpose. Tell the stakeholder how the team is valued and viewed by the company.
8. Develop a perpetual communication stream that flows in every direction. As executives, it’s our job to fix problems. But I feel it’s even more important to get ahead of issues before they become problems.
“Dancing Monkey (DM): the length of time between giving someone work to do and your brain wondering why you haven’t seen any product yet.”
If a stakeholder’s DM works on a more frequent cycle than yours, they might come across as “difficult.”
To work out a stakeholder’s DM and stay one step ahead, use informal, face-to-face communication.
E.g.: “Accidentally” walk past their office the day after you were given the work.
YOU: “Hi, not stopping, know you’re busy...”
THEM: “How’s it going?”
YOU: "All good. By the way, I’m cracking on with that work from yesterday."
THEM: "Great. Could we review what you've done so far now/later/tomorrow/next week?"
(Here’s where you find out whether you’ll be burning the midnight oil—or if you have a few days’ grace.)
Do this a few times and you’ll soon become calibrated with a stakeholder’s DM, a means of managing their “difficult” tendencies better.
At this point in my career, I am an expert in dealing with difficult stakeholders and peers regarding how often this has happened to me in a work situation. That said, it’s never easy and takes patience, empathy, communication, collaboration, and your eye on the end goal to ensure you succeed. Here are a few tips I’ve learned that might help you with this situation:
If you stay focused on the end goal and try not to get caught up in the emotional turmoil of dealing with difficult individuals, you might be surprised at how effective this approach can be.
How do you deal with difficult stakeholders and peers? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily's Executive Program.
In every interview, it's important to ask questions. This especially includes phone interviews.
Asking questions during any type of job interview makes you seem more intelligent and interested in the job. It also makes you more appealing to hiring managers—as long as you don't ask questions you could easily find the answers to. If you ask the right questions, you also gain a strategic advantage. You can find out what the interviewer really cares about.
So, what questions are the best ones to ask?
Here are four ideal questions to ask during a phone interview:
You can simplify this question in a couple of different ways:
Some job seekers are a little afraid to ask this question because they don't want to highlight their imperfections—but that isn't what this question does. Their answer gives you a blueprint of what they really hope to find, which means that you can tailor all your answers to their questions much more closely than you could without this information. Your responses will stand out from the competition.
If the previous person was promoted, what was their next job title? Is that typical? Is that where you'd like to end up? What did they do to get promoted? These are things that could help you know how to be successful in the role and decide if it fits with your chosen career path.
If the person was fired or left the company, the reason why may give you valuable information as well.
Every position has a certain number of problems and challenges associated with it.
If you know what their biggest problems and challenges are, you can talk more effectively about how you can solve them and help the company. You'll sell yourself for the job.
In any interview, it's important to ask for the next step. This question, or a version of this question, will allow you to show your excitement for the opportunity and eagerness to move forward.
By demonstrating your enthusiasm and interest, you'll automatically stand out to potential employers, and you'll actually give yourself a better chance of making it to the in-person interview.
Asking questions like these brings out information you can't learn anywhere else. They help you show your professionalism and interest in the job. Make a list of questions to ask and keep it in front of you during the interview. (That's one of the advantages of phone interviews—they can't see you.)
Along with these questions, you'll probably have a few more that specifically address that job. Just make sure to write them down so you don't freeze up and forget in the stress of the call.
Take the time to prepare for your phone interview and make sure you get invited to the in-person interview. Discover more phone interview tips and download a free phone interview prep podcast here.
Need more help acing your next phone interview?
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a Work It Daily-approved expert and was published at an earlier date.
At first, I thought it was a joke. I got an email from Chad Sowash and Joel Cheeseman, the co-hosts of the Chad & Cheese Podcast. This is the most popular podcast in the HR & recruiting industry. Known for being edgy and full of snark, the show provides a lot of insightful commentary on what's happening in HR and recruiting. In short, if you're in the field, it's smart to be listening to the show.
So, when they invited me to join them for their January 2023 Predictions Episode, I was surprised. But of course, I jumped at the chance to join in and see if I could hold my own with two guys who aren't afraid to say what they think.
I didn't pick the name, but I did have a lot of fun trying to predict what's going to happen in 2023. I was asked to give three predictions. I saved my BEST for last. HINT: It's all about LinkedIn and how I think it's going to give TikTok and Instagram creators a new way to make money!
With thousands of avid fans and weekly drops of new content, the Chad & Cheese Podcast is at the forefront of everything going on in the HR & recruiting industry. In 2023, these were their top three podcasts:
1) Why Hirevue's A Bias Machine
2) Seekout vs. Parodox
3) Deep Fake Recruiting
Chad and Joel give away some great stuff weekly on their show. You can sign up to win SWAG by visiting their site. Don't forget to follow them on your favorite podcast platform too!
CLICK HERE to SUBSCRIBE to the Chad & Cheese Podcast
Whether it's dealing with a job loss, struggling with a low-paying job, making a career change, or other unanticipated life events, we sometimes find ourselves in a career transition, and we need to pinch pennies to get by.
There are challenges to living a frugal lifestyle but, with proper planning, it can be done with little to no disruption. Here are some simple and practical ways to save money:
Dining out on a consistent basis can drain your bank account quickly. Food and drink add up when you go out (and then you also have to factor in the tip). The same goes for takeout food.
Dining out is a nice treat and a good thing to do once in a while but is not sustainable on a regular basis when you're trying to stick to a budget.
The best way to save money is to put a strict limit on the number of times you dine out a month and rely on grocery shopping and prepping meals at home. There are many occasions where it's possible to get multiple meals out of something that is prepared at home, which gives you more value for your buck. You should also try prepping your work meals in advance.
Sure, grocery shopping is a large expense. But, if done with proper planning, you'll get more out of it than you would by going out all the time.
Shouldn't coffee go on the first list with groceries? Sure, it certainly could. But let's be honest, at the rate Americans consume coffee, it's worthy of having its own category.
Think about it...
Let's say you buy your coffee out every day and it costs on average $3. That's $15 a week, $60 a month, and $720 a year. That adds up! Imagine what you could do if you had that money back...or even just half of it.
Like dining out, there's nothing wrong with treating yourself to a coffee out from time to time. But doing so on a daily basis is just another way to waste money.
Make your coffee at home. It's the same caffeine buzz without the wasteful spending.
Did you ever make fun of your parents for glancing at the sales flyers or clipping coupons? It may have seemed silly at the time, but there was a method to their madness: you never want to pass up an opportunity to save money.
Not all sales are equal. Some promotions will advertise a sale to entice you to try their product, but when you really look at it, they're not really offering that much in terms of savings, if at all. It's important to really look at each promotion to see if there are legitimate savings and if the product really offers value to you.
It also pays to be creative. Need some new winter clothes? Try buying them at the end of winter or the beginning of spring as stores attempt to clear inventory. The same goes for summer clothing. Crashing a "Back to School" sale is also a good way to load up on basic office supplies and some clothing items, especially shoes.
It can actually be kind of fun to find new and innovative ways to bargain shop. Each savings opportunity feels like a personal win.
A gym membership is good to have, but if you're only going once or twice a month, you need to either step up your workout regimen or cancel your gym membership. Same with that music streaming service you no longer use.
Cable is another large cost that adds up. Many people will often lock into elaborate packages based on a promotional offer but don't account for the increase they'll face when the promotion expires. Many also come to the realization that they never needed that many channels in the first place.
It's important to take inventory of all your bills at least once a year to see if you're still using the services that you are paying for. There are a lot of savings that can be achieved when you take a look at these "extra" things.
Yes, you do deserve to treat yourself once in a while to a night out, and yes, it will cost money. That's fine if you plan properly.
However, it's also important to keep in mind that it's possible to have fun without spending money.
You could meet up with a friend to take a nature hike or play a sport. A trip to the beach or lake can be very affordable if you bring your own food, drink, and supplies. Many communities also offer free or low-cost entertainment options, such as concerts or movies in the park.
Cheap alternatives are always available if you're willing to do some research and plan ahead.
Saving money is great, but making money is even better.
Consider the ways you can bring in additional income. Evaluate all the skills that you have and determine if you can turn any of them into freelance gigs. Perhaps you dabble in graphic design and can use your skills to help another business. Maybe you're a writer looking to gain experience in journalism or content writing.
You could even have something that you're passionate about that you would do even if you weren't getting paid for it, sometimes known as a "side hustle." Some people will even try their luck selling old and unwanted items online.
Whatever you decide to do, it's always beneficial to keep your eyes open for additional money-making opportunities. You never know when opportunity may knock.
While all of the above tips can help you during a career transition, the reality is these tips are good common sense that can be applied no matter where you're at in your life. We should always be looking to get the most bang for our buck, not throw money away.
Following these tips along with proper financial tracking and budgeting can really have a positive impact on your wallet.
Need more help during your career transition?
“Don’t just assume a student is lazy or just doesn’t care about what they are learning. They might understand the content you are teaching just not how to express themselves,” says Uswai Husna, education major at Brooklyn College and America Needs You member. Husna should know. As a child, Husna moved back and forth between the United States, ultimately settling here in 2012, and Marsad, Pakistan—a place of sanctuary for Afghani refugees fleeing the Taliban.
Despite today being a confident and erudite young woman in English, it still took Husna five years to feel comfortable using English as a medium to express herself. Husna, a former English language learner (ELL) and student with interrupted formal education (SIFE), cites the relationship that she developed with her former teacher, Michelle Ortiz (quoted later in this article), as being an instrumental factor in her ultimate success as well as going to a middle school with a large international student body that had similar backgrounds and experiences to that of Husna.
Husna’s story is not unique. New York City, alone, is integrating more than 7,000 students from migrant families into classrooms this school year (22-23) with some of these students also making up the 61,000 people in the New York City shelter system.
Like in New York City, educators, city officials, and non-profits around the country are scrambling to support the literacy needs of newly arrived English language learners. They also must concurrently address the social-emotional needs of the approximately 10% to 20% of newly arrived ELLs arriving as SIFE students. While the majority of ELLs are not coming from a situation where their education has been interrupted, those who are can present even greater teaching challenges for educators not accustomed to teaching newly arrived ELLs.
Fen Chou
Program Director, Council of Chief State School Officers
Ensuring meaningful participation of English learners—who represent 10% (or 5.1 million students) of the total K-12 student population and have diverse linguistic, cultural, and academic backgrounds—is a core concern in the delivery of K-12 public education across the country. At the start of their educational experience in the United States, these students face the challenge of learning English so they can fully access academic content. They need specific supports and services from schools for success. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is committed to supporting state education agencies as they work with districts and schools to ensure English learners get the best possible educational opportunities and graduate from high school on time, prepared for college and careers.
In the past three years, the COVID-19 pandemic compelled state leaders to develop new instructional delivery models and support teachers, students, and families as they shifted from in-person to remote and hybrid learning environments. These shifts have presented many challenges to educational equity, especially for English learners and their families, who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
However, these disruptions to school also presented an opportunity. We encourage states to integrate technology in new ways, revisit their programs and services for English learners and families, monitor the effectiveness of English learner programs, and provide educators with a chance to ensure that they are supporting access and equity for English learners. Specific recommendations are provided in CCSSO’s State Leadership Guide to help state education agency leaders engage stakeholders in continuous-improvement processes focused on English learner programs and services.
Amber Crowell Kelleher
Executive Director, TESOL International Association
TESOL International Association values and fosters diverse and inclusive participation within the field of English language teaching. For more than 50 years, TESOL has globally promoted equitable representation of, engagement of, inclusion of, and access to multilingual learners of English (MLE). We do this with the support of more than 150,000 educators in more than 160 countries. Simply put, TESOL advances linguistic expertise in multilingual contexts through professional learning, research, standards, and advocacy.
We strongly support and advocate for asset-based approaches for MLEs that serve the learners and their families. Regardless of the language learning context, learning an additional language starts with a student’s culture and heritage or home language. In particular, refugees and asylees, who may have limited or interrupted formal education and may be unfamiliar with U.S. social and academic cultural norms, benefit from an asset-based approach that values and draws from their home language and culture. Home language supports, such as encouragement in translanguaging and offering multiple ways for students to share their knowledge, can empower newcomer MLEs. Such students may also benefit from specialized supports that include trauma-informed instruction and social-emotional and mental health supports. Teachers can also help establish a safe space by teaching MLEs the vocabulary to express their emotional state, such as anger, sadness, fear, or frustration.
When U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona referred to being bilingual as a superpower, he not only highlighted multilingual learning but also elevated the voices of MLEs, their families, their communities, and their collective experiences and stories. What students and their families bring to the learning process from their home language and culture serves as an asset to the student, their teachers, and the larger context of learning.
Tim Boals
Executive Director, WIDA
I believe teachers like to see all their students thrive. This is why they teach. Nonetheless, myths about language learning, the role of culture or home languages, or about the need for language or content remediation and what that involves persist, and often get in the way of creating and sustaining real opportunities for multilingual learners to learn.
Lately, some politicians and commentators suggest that schools should push equal opportunity but not equity. Equity is bad, they say, because it implies that we want students to all be the same. I disagree. The notion of equity for multilingual learners can be traced to Lau vs. Nichols (1974) where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that giving multilingual learners equal treatment in the same classroom was not, in fact, equal, because without proper support multilingual learners would not understand the same lesson as the English speakers or proficient English readers would. Equity, in this context, is akin to getting the correct eyeglasses. We all need a different prescription to have an equal opportunity to see clearly. If we follow that analogy in the case of multilingual learners, we must provide them equity in the classroom through support that acknowledges where they are on the continuum of learning English, as well as how their home languages, cultures, and individual identities can be used as assets.
For a beginner to intermediate English learner, we need to modify or scaffold the English language and literacy demands of those programs. Even students at more advanced levels of English proficiency often need some targeted support. This is what we mean by equity. There are numerous ways to do that, but we know traditional high school lectures and assignments in unsupported English won’t get us there.
Always encourage educators to maintain a can-do lens when thinking about these students. This can be accomplished by considering the cultural and linguistic assets students bring to class and building upon those assets. Consider how the can-do lens helps value and support students’ home languages and cultures to the maximum extent possible. Home and community language and culture are a big part of students’ assets and identities, and we need to nurture and build upon them. Emphasize how can-do also means to not over-emphasize grammatical correctness. Students do need targeted feedback on their progress when learning English, but this should be done strategically—since making mistakes is part of learning and we should help them understand that. Otherwise, while comparing themselves with others, they will feel they cannot successfully take on those academic identities or roles.
Promote learning about how to hold and maintain academic conversations. This is a skill worth teaching and practicing. It is far more effective than traditional question-and-answer techniques found in many classrooms. Accelerate content learning, rather than focusing on language remediation. Foster collaboration between language support teachers and content or classroom teachers. Involve, engage, and empower families to participate in and better understand their children’s educational path. Encourage extra-curricular activities and participation in the arts, in and outside of school.
So, on a practical level then, what should educators do to support multilingual learners? Michelle Ortiz, ENL Coordinator in the NYCDOE and adjunct professor at Brooklyn College, suggests the following:
One strategy that I recommend to teachers who have various levels of ELLs in their class is to first draft their lesson without differentiation. Then, go back into the lesson and ask, "How can I provide an entry point for my entering and emerging level students?" If they aren’t sure, I recommend applying some general best practices for students at this level. This includes adding visuals to slides, translating essential vocabulary words, and allowing students to discuss the content in their native language. For example, during a gallery walk activity, allow students to discuss the images and write notes in their language. This provides an entry point for students to access the lesson by using visuals and research shows strong correlations to academic success when ELLs utilize their first language.
When ELLs are at the transitioning and expanding level, teachers need to keep in mind that students at this level have a strong command of social English, but often struggle with academic reading and writing. Research shows that it can take five to seven years for students to acquire and apply academic language. As a result, teachers can differentiate their lessons to ensure students can build upon their reading and writing skills. Teachers can scaffold complex texts by using close reading strategies along with targeting academic vocabulary. Students may often continue to lack essential background knowledge to comprehend a text, especially if varying cultural norms are found within the text. Therefore, strategies such as using a pre-reading assessment and surveys will help to assess knowledge and provide a focus for teaching background knowledge. Teachers should also consider using graphic organizers, jigsaw activities, and creating leveled notes and outlines to support their students as they build upon their reading and writing skills.
In supporting newly arrived ELLs, who are also SIFE, here is what Judith O’Loughlin and Brenda Custodio, co-authors of Students with Interrupted Formal Education: Bridging Where They Are and What They Need by Corwin Press (2017), say are some surefire strategies:
SIFE (Students with Interrupted Formal Education), by definition, have experienced gaps in their formal first-language education. They need to be supported by language and content educators who understand their situation and are willing to provide extra academic, as well as social and emotional supports to assist them and help fill in those gaps. Students who have experienced trauma need supports, such as consistent routines in the classroom that help them feel comfortable and safe. Writing assignments on the board in print, not cursive, and providing models or several examples of assignment expectations at their level of learning, ensures that students understand what is expected, eliminating panic and confusion. Permitting students to use their first language for support in bilingual classes or using translanguaging in content classes may be critical. At times, peer assistance or a “buddy” may be needed. For students with extremely limited previous education, extra classes to build basic literacy and numeracy skills may be necessary. For too many secondary students, the lowest math available is algebra and SIFE may not have the foundational math skills or foundational knowledge to be successful in mathematics. And finally, it is important that modifications, addressing their current support needs, but also changing as SIFE become more proficient academically, should be provided for students with academic gaps while their literacy and content knowledge develop.
John Schembari is a school improvement coach. If you would like additional ideas on how to impact student lives without sacrificing your own, and have a life teaching, check out his quick hack teaching courses here. You can also reach out to him on LinkedIn.
When it comes to having career goals, it's important to aim high. But sometimes the challenge we all face in aiming high is putting too much pressure on ourselves and then becoming overwhelmed. Achieving your career goals is all about balance.
The best way to achieve your career goals without putting too much pressure on yourself is to understand that it's very unlikely that you'll achieve your goals overnight. You have to build a career plan, be flexible about it, and work to chip away at the goals that you set.
Here are three ways that you can successfully manage your career goals:
Setting mini goals is a way to help accomplish your overall goals, but in a way that is manageable and less overwhelming. For example, say your goal is, "I want to be promoted in a few years." This is a solid and ambitious goal, but for some, it can be difficult to know where to start in making this goal a reality.
This is where mini goals come into play. In order to put yourself in a position to get promoted, you can start with the mini goal of, "I want to do something every month to help grow my career."
Accomplishing this mini goal could include taking a month to focus on courses or certifications that will help you upskill, using another month to put greater emphasis on your networking efforts, and using yet another month to learn a new skill entirely. All these mini goals help make you a more well-rounded employee, and that type of effort adds up over time.
There's no guarantee that you'll get promoted in a few years. There are so many factors at play, but focusing on career growth will at least put you in a position to be considered.
This is similar to setting mini career goals in the fact that you're taking small steps to achieve a larger benefit. Changing the smallest habits can make a huge difference in your career.
One habit that many job seekers can improve on is how often they update their resumes. A lot of people don't update their resumes until they're applying for a job, but a better habit would be updating your resume every six months.
Updating your resume every six months helps you keep track of things you've done to learn and grow your skills. It's much easier to remember recent events than to try to go back three years ago to assess what you've learned. It can also be motivating, as it can serve as a good reminder of the skill gaps that you still need to fill.
Other career habits to change could include cutting out 20 minutes of daily social media time to focus on your career instead or making it a point to reconnect with one LinkedIn connection a week.
Creating better habits can go a long way toward helping you accomplish your career goals.
At Work It Daily, we're big proponents of the 3 Cs because they can help professionals at all levels of their career journey, including those looking for a job, aiming for a promotion, or exploring other ways to grow their careers.
Here's a refresher on the 3 Cs:
Content: There's a lot of great information on the internet, including at Work It Daily, that can help professionals plan their career goals, including video tutorials, online quizzes, blogs, etc.
Coaching: Whether it's an online coaching platform like Work It Daily, or consulting with a trusted colleague or friend who has had career success, take advantage of the knowledge of others.
Community: Whether it's a coaching community, or someone you know also trying to get their career in order, it's always best to not address career challenges alone. In addition, it never hurts to have positive reinforcement.
All of these small steps can make a big difference in helping you accomplish your career goals, and the best part is that it's all manageable. As long as you have these small goals in mind, and stay organized, you can grow your career without feeling overwhelmed.
When you are unemployed and looking for work, a job search can feel even more pressuring. The lack of income and feelings of insecurity make it hard to stay positive and focused on the goal of getting hired. However, it doesn't have to be that way!
You're not unemployed. You're "between jobs" and looking for your next career opportunity.
Following these three critical job search tips will help you seize this new opportunity...
Support groups seem great in theory, but are often ineffective in practice. Be selective of which events you attend and be mindful of the company you keep. If you aren't leaving the events feeling happy and energized, then you shouldn't go anymore.
When looking for work, mindset is everything. It can be hard to stay positive. There's no need to make it harder on yourself by spending time with people who make you feel worse.
The same applies to friends and family who put you down or make you feel bad about your employment situation. Stay clear of anyone who can't help you remain positive!
Getting hired is all about showing an employer how you can save and/or make them enough money to justify hiring you. You must be very compelling. You do that by proving to them that you will alleviate some major pain.
Focus on the problems companies in your industry are experiencing and initiate dialogue with as many professionals in your field as you can to discuss this problem and how you solve it.
You must brand yourself as a specialist who can add value—aka be the aspirin to an employer's pain. Otherwise, you'll find your job search stalling from a lack of focus on your part and a lack of interest on the employers' part.
Applying to endless jobs online is the most ineffective job search tactic an unemployed person can use. You will often be screened out automatically for not currently working. Is it fair? No. But it's reality.
The solution is to actively network, either online via LinkedIn or at in-person or virtual networking events. If you have a bucket list of companies that you want to work for, you can start by trying to make connections with individuals at those companies. That way, you can get on the radar of the important players at those companies and have meaningful conversations with them. That allows you to potentially circumvent the online application process and get referred for jobs directly.
This is the single best way an unemployed person can remove the stigma that comes with their employment status. If you get referred by someone, the fact that you aren't working becomes less important. So, get out there and connect.
Remember, the job search is changing, and those who are the most proactive tend to get the best results.
Being out of work is challenging, but it doesn't mean you can't find work. It does mean you need to ramp up your efforts and pay close attention to how you are conducting your job search. Follow the tips above and they should help improve your chances of getting interviews.
Your LinkedIn profile has the potential to make or break your chances with a hiring manager. Here's a big mistake people don't realize they are making on their LinkedIn profiles, and what you should do instead...
@j.t.odonnell Check your LinkedIn profile for THIS MISTAKE! #linkedin #linkedintips #profilepics #mistakesweremade #linkedinmistakes #jobsearch #jobtok #careertok ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
LinkedIn is a social media tool, but it's not like Instagram or TikTok where you put up a splashy banner and a fun picture of yourself and write all this creative text to sound as interesting as possible. Why is that? Well, LinkedIn is the number one most-adopted platform by recruiters and hiring managers. They use it to find people with the right skill sets and experience. And at this stage in the game, they don't like all that flashy, "look at me" content. It comes across as narcissistic and desperate.
Instead, you need to know how to make a simple LinkedIn profile that is keyword driven, that maximizes the use of LinkedIn's algorithm so that you get found. You also need to know how to get noticed by engaging in and posting content in a certain way. I teach a FREE class on this on a regular basis. But what I need you to understand is that if you have not reviewed your LinkedIn profile recently, you need to go do that because a lot of people are using some outdated techniques and that is costing you opportunities.
As a technology seller at the onset of the pandemic, I witnessed firsthand as buyers made a statement by revolting against spammy sales efforts, making it clear that they expected sellers to willingly facilitate a modern buyer journey that enabled them to evaluate and validate a solution and company before interacting with salespeople, and rewarding the sellers that proactively guided multi-stakeholder buying groups through increasingly complex and resource intense buying decisions.
Savvy sellers recognized the shift and aligned with this new set of buyer expectations in five key areas:
Two years later, how have enterprise technology sales organizations adjusted to meet these new buyer expectations?
Recently I had the opportunity to go undercover to see present-day solution sales from a SaaS buyer’s perspective as I swapped hats to evaluate and recommend SaaS platforms for a start-up. Immensely revealing, I learned that technology sellers still have work to do to cater to modern buyer expectations.
These are the top sins that are still present in the buyer journey, followed by my recommendations to improve the experience and sales outcomes.
@solvedbyholland #enterprisesaas #buyersjourney #salesenablement ♬ Summer day - TimTaj
Most professionals are active in native social and peer networks where they source information and form opinions about prospective partners. However, it is all but guaranteed for potential buyers to visit vendor websites seeking product information in the form of videos, blogs, pricelists, case studies, testimonials, white papers, and demos to assess the viability of a prospective solution.
I did the same and found a conspicuous absence of high-level end-to-end tours, explainer videos, or infographics to efficiently familiarize myself with various configurations of each platform’s process flow to assemble a well-thought sales journey for my clients. This left me picking through a matrix of functionality packages, trying to envision how the solution would transform my processes, compared to its competitors, and if a solution that I wanted to recommend, I struggled to scrape together a concise presentation and justification to pitch to C-suite and board members.
A website is arguably the most powerful repository of information about your solution, your credibility, your tribe, and your values to educate and influence potential buyers and potential job seekers for that matter. It is also the #1 tool for buyers to convert from an anonymous tire kicker to active shopper. As such, when content and ads drive potential buyers to your website and they find a smorgasbord of product information and validation, you equip them to morph into a high-intent buyer as they recognize their needs, see your product and company as a potentially viable solution, and prepare themselves to pursue a conversation with your sales team. But what if they arrive at your website and encounter a confusing message, little to educate themselves, or content that is locked behind a web form?
Speaking for buyers far and wide, no one likes being entrapped by a web form in exchange for basic product info. The secret is out that within mere moments of completing your web form, an SDR or BDR will be hot on their trail with spammy emails, calls, and LinkedIn InMail messages.
Pro Tip: No, your website won’t singlehandedly draw potential buyers and close sales, but if you fail to stock it with engaging content so your buyers can meaningfully evaluate your solution on their own time or if you lock your content behind forms, it creates a sour taste that lasts well into the sales process. Worse yet, they may pass your solution over altogether in an evaluation. As such, make your website a generous library and ditch the web form. Once you’ve established the viability and credibility of your solution, don’t worry, prospective buyers will willingly engage in a conversation as a high-intent buyer.
Right on cue, as I begrudgingly completed web forms to get my hands on any level of detailed content to study and compare, I felt like a doe on the opening day of hunting season. I was immediately assailed by multiple calls and emails. In the case of one vendor, not one but three different people contacted me as many as three times a day until I emailed an executive asking them to stop contacting me altogether.
Pro Tip: This is a great time for some honest reflection. In his book Sell the Way You Buy, David Priemer points out how seemingly normal people behave completely differently when they’re behind the wheel of a car. He goes on to say, “Unfortunately, many traditional sellers believe that the tactics they use to engage (and often bother) prospective buyers are completely acceptable when they’re doing it under the banner of 'selling.' They bombard customers with low-value templated emails, and disingenuous social media invites quickly followed by schlocky solution pitches and generic cold calls for which they haven’t prepared. Yet, when most people find themselves on the buying side of the table, their awareness of and resistance to these tactics are strong.” If you can fog a mirror, you’ve experienced this yourself, so be honest. Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes and ask yourself if the tactics you use would actually get you to buy you or your product.
After picking through published resources and lacking clarity about the end-to-end user experience, I scheduled demos.
Now all became clear, right?
Well… Sort of. I gained a greater understanding of the particular platforms but struggled to connect the dots of how they compared, overlapped, or fit with the functionality of adjacent platforms to know what I needed and didn’t need to achieve the end-to-end marketing, business development, and sales journey I sought to create.
Pro Tip: If you are a student of effective presentations or public speaking, you know that every talk starts by thinking about your audience. Who are they, what do they care about, need to know, and how can you best serve them? It isn’t enough to just show your platform. Think of your buyers as sales agents for your solution that you convince and equip to re-sell within their organization. This means they need to come out of calls and demos with a high-level understanding of the solution, how it translates into the entire lifecycle of their business, unique insights into the problems it solves, and equipped with materials to painlessly present and recommend your platform with decision-makers. I suggest a well-thought leave-behind that includes a flowchart or infographic, key points to remember the platform vs. competitors, and a concise business case to pass along and advocate for your solution.
If you’ve been recruited to participate with a buying committee in recent history, it’s likely you have witnessed tighter purse strings, an increasing number of stakeholders that may have included corporate board members, and taller stakes for supporting an initiative that isn’t executed well, gains lackluster adoption, or under-delivers on promised outcomes.
Adding to stakeholder fear and bias, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual and augmented realities are quickly becoming core components for most SaaS solutions to automate low-value functions. Depending on a given stakeholder’s role, supporting these emerging technologies may be perceived as career suicide. Each stakeholder has their own internal motivations and risk analysis that drives support or opposition to an initiative. Statistics show that nearly 2/3 of all sales engagements conclude with the perceived safest decision: do nothing and stick with the status quo.
Pro Tip: It could be argued that today’s battle to sell technology rivals the dot-com bust that crashed the stock market, real estate market, and financial markets in 2008. On a golf course in New York, a downtrodden stock broker complained that he was the last person investors wanted to hear from being associated with the overnight loss of fortunes. His wise friend suggested otherwise, pointing out that it was the ideal time to call every investor in New York to ask, “How is your stockbroker doing for you, may I help?”
There is an opportunity to serve each stakeholder by making the decision personal for them. What are their core job responsibilities, fears, and biases that internally motivate them to reject or buy into your solution? Proactively appeal to that inner person by showing them how you help them get what they want without risk. Is it an annual bonus for reducing operating costs by 15% that met EBITA numbers and demonstrated competence for the board? Being credited with increasing operational productivity or profits? Willingly embracing a digital transformation initiative that would cause the department to increase production by 20% with the same resources? Appeal to that inner person. Partner and collaborate with an internal champion who is motivated to help colleagues reach a consensus in support of an initiative that best solves organizational dysfunction and improves their workplace.
For additional insights or help with building, modernizing, or navigating the SaaS buyer journey, please reach me on LinkedIn or at lynn@solvedbyholland.com.