Dumb Little Man How to Keep Your Sanity After Losing Your Job

Dumb Little Man How to Keep Your Sanity After Losing Your Job Check out this post from Dumb Little Man: How to Keep Your Sanity After Losing Your Job This year a lot of people lost their jobs.  Whether you were fired or laid off, the company shut down or you left because of chemistry (bad boss, etc.), or even if you left to pursue something else that didnt quite work out you arent alone. Lesley Knowles wrote the article and she includes 6 points: Accept and face reality Go on and mourn Learn valuable lessons from the snakes venom Assess and improve your way of thinking Be thankful for what you still have Get moving! I know that when you have lost your job you go through a lot mostly emotionally/mentally, but also socially (in many cases you just lost the social group that you were around 40+ hours a week), physically, financially, etc. I like Lesleys points (they make more sense on her article, where she drills down on the concepts), and I know that if you are depressed then points dont do much.  But maybe they can do something to get you moving forward again. What did I end up doing after getting laid off?  Immersing myself into the right thing, at the right time, saved me from the pit of depression.  Heres a bit of my story: I Just Got Fired View more presentations from jasonalba. Dumb Little Man How to Keep Your Sanity After Losing Your Job Check out this post from Dumb Little Man: How to Keep Your Sanity After Losing Your Job This year a lot of people lost their jobs.  Whether you were fired or laid off, the company shut down or you left because of chemistry (bad boss, etc.), or even if you left to pursue something else that didnt quite work out you arent alone. Lesley Knowles wrote the article and she includes 6 points: Accept and face reality Go on and mourn Learn valuable lessons from the snakes venom Assess and improve your way of thinking Be thankful for what you still have Get moving! I know that when you have lost your job you go through a lot mostly emotionally/mentally, but also socially (in many cases you just lost the social group that you were around 40+ hours a week), physically, financially, etc. I like Lesleys points (they make more sense on her article, where she drills down on the concepts), and I know that if you are depressed then points dont do much.  But maybe they can do something to get you moving forward again. What did I end up doing after getting laid off?  Immersing myself into the right thing, at the right time, saved me from the pit of depression.  Heres a bit of my story: I Just Got Fired View more presentations from jasonalba.

6 Ways New Teachers can Engage their Young Audience

6 Ways New Teachers can Engage their Young Audience The shocking truth is, ain’t no kid out there is tightly holding onto their $100+ textbooks at night, eagerly waiting for their next 9am Tuesday lecture. As a professional who’s changing their career to teachingâ€"even for a little whileâ€"this is a hard reality to face, and believe me, you’re going to face it. Let’s be honest; college students are animalsthey eat, sleep, grabble and sleep. Grabbing their attention is about as easy as grabbing your dog for bath time, and holding that attention for a 2-3 hour period? That’s a near impossible task. So how do you do it? The key is finding ways to engage your students. Here some advice for first year teachers to get you heading in the right direction: “What’s My Purpose?” If some smart-ass rocked up to one of your lecturers and asked you, “Hey is this gonna be worth it? What’s the endgame?”. You slap them.  Metaphorically.  You should be able to tell them exactly what your lecture covers and why it’s important. You need to know the end goal. It seems like a simple idea, but often teachers struggle by making things unnecessarily complicated when trying to teach students new and valuable ideas. As a general rule, you should be able to tell that smart-ass the key purpose and takeaways of your lecture in one sentence; any more than that and chances are you’re losing focus. Be You Becoming a university lecturer is stressful, so trying to fit the mold of “a teacher” is only going to make it tougher. Teaching isn’t an exact science, and neither is learning. The most effective teachers are those who stand out, those who have a brand and are remembered for it. Make your content and lessons just as interesting and engaging as you are. Experiment with new technologies, new assessments and new forms of engagement. I know I sound like a motivational poster, but don’t be afraid to fail. Learn from the Masters, Young Padawan Look, you’re new to the game, it’s okay to look to the pros for some tips. Suss out who the best teachers are in and outside of your faculty or department and sit in some of their lectures. Chances are the best teachers are those who’ve been around long enough to test out what methods work and what don’t. Observe how they get to know students, appreciate how they use humour, or cringe out how they misuse it, see how they utilize technology and what strategies are most effective. From these observations, you can adapt your lectures and test   what works best for you, what techniques are most engaging and what jokes fall flat on the floor. Eventually, much like Obi Wan Kenobi, you will have the high ground. I have the high ground anakin Keep it P.A.R. Effective teaching comes in many forms, but one of the keys to effective teaching is keeping it Practical, Applicable and Relatable. Every student will come to the inevitable point in their life where they’ll question the point of a lecture, or even an entire course (I know I have). One of the most frustrating things for students is learning a new concept or approach but having no idea how it applies to the real world. Seeing the implementation or practice of ideas in realistic situations provides clarity and lets students know exactly why it’s important to understand the content. Make it Interactive  This is probably one of the biggest and most important points. Every lecturer should be using interactive technology like live polling. Interactive activities are beneficial for three key reasons: Why it Benefits Youâ€"Interactive technology can allow you to collect valuable insight into what topics and subjects need to be focused more on and what don’t. This will make your lessons far more effective and efficient. Why it Benefits Themâ€"Students can gain an indication of where they stand against their peers and this creates healthy competition as well as letting them know what areas they need to work on. Why it Benefits Everyoneâ€"There’s no question that lectures over 2-3 hours can get content heavy and boring. Interactive activities are a great way to break this up and keep both parties interested and invested. What about the Shy Bunch? Things become a little different when catering for 100+ students in a lecture hall versus 5 in a boardroom meeting. A valuable lesson to learn is that every student works differently. Some are open and vocal, whereas others are introverted and quiet. The key thing to remember is they’re all there to learn. Ever been in a lecture or classroom when the teacher is explaining some convoluted concept and you’re sitting there thinking, what the hell is going on? Then at the end of the class they turn to you and ask, “do you have any questions?” You have a million, but everyone else in the room doesn’t appear as clueless as you so you just sit there and shake your head, praying they don’t call your bluff and try testing your knowledge. This is where techniques like anonymous QAs are super handy. They’ll enable you as a lecturer to answer all the questions that everyone’s thinking but no one will ask. Key Takeaway: The key to successful teaching is keeping it interesting and engaging. But remember, whatever happens when you walk into that lecture hall, just embrace the fact that it’s not about you. As much as you might prepare, at the end of the day things will go wrong, there will be some shortcomings but believe it or not, you’re not perfect, no one is. Just remember the important things…..like how to spell professor. via GIPHY Author Bio: Chelsea Kahle Business Development Zeetings Geek I get to work closely with the wonderful customers using Zeetings and ensure that they love the product as much as I do! Additionally I wear many hats; such as seeking out new people to impress with Zeetings, working on Strategic Partnerships, Marketing, Social Media and finding the best coffee spots around Sydney ???? I hail from San Diego, California and in a previous lifetime, I was a gymnast dont be surprised if you catch me walking around on my hands.

How Sodexo Measures Social Recruiting ROI

How Sodexo Measures Social Recruiting ROI We recently had a great chat with Arie Ball, who is VP of Sourcing and Talent Acquisition at Sodexo   a company which is the shining light in the world of social recruiting. In this interview youll get an exclusive insight into the Sodexo strategy on social media when it comes to sourcing, mobile, employer branding and talent community management. Arie Balls top 3 social recruiting tips: Understand what your company presence online is already, what is being said about it Define what you are trying to accomplish and build, whether its sourcing, employer branding or talent community Identify what platforms you want to start utilising based on your goal Social recruiting results from Sodexo: All recruitment properties online are connected (including mobile), the company has built a talent community of 300,000 people to date Strong internal recruitment and employment branding has resulted in the majority of hires being attracted through the Sodexo career website Candidate traffic visiting the Sodexo website has grown 530% which is attributed to their social media and digital strategy Sodexo hire less than a handful candidates per year through external staffing agencies 47% of successful candidates have used Sodexos social platforms to help them prepare for their interview Time-to-hire at Sodexo has decreased by 8 whole days from 2007 to now Quality of hire has improved year by year Hiring manager satisfaction has increased year over year, its currently 4.63 on a 5 point scale (it was under 4 when they started measuring) Sodexos cost of hire is roughly half of SHRMs industry benchmark Recruitment costs have been reduced by $300,000 annually and it has allowed the company to hire social media community managers And our apologies about the picture quality of this interview, we hope you enjoyed it in spite of this and feel free to share your reactions below!

5 Ways Improv Comedy Made Me a Better Marketer - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

5 Ways Improv Comedy Made Me a Better Marketer - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career In this article, you’ll learn…                   The basics of improv comedy, and how they can be applied to marketing                   How thinking like a comedian will inspire collaboration and creativity in your organization By day, I am a Marketing Manager, and I truly enjoy what I do. After all, marketing has always been my passion, ever since high school. There is constant challenge in my work and a real sense of achievement when our efforts are successful. Still, it is difficult work, and so like many others I maintain a hobby when I leave the office, as a way to relieve some stress. As you may have inferred from the title of this article, by night, I am a comedian. It feels odd to classify myself in that way, for so long I considered myself just someone who was studying improvisational comedy. Yet at this point, after performing weekly for over a year, I guess I can say it with some confidence. I am a comedian, and I am a marketer. Initially, these two distinctions appear to be entirely unrelated to one another. However, as discussed in a recent NPR article, there is a definite relation between them. The basic principles of improv have not only proved useful in marketing, but in all other areas of m y professional and personal life. So even if you are not willing to take up comedy as a side gig (it’s not as hard as it sounds, I promise!), I want to impart upon you the following five lessons that will make you a better marketer too: “Yes, and” â€" This is the first concept that you are taught on the very first day of improv training. It is drilled into you until it becomes second nature. What does it mean? Well, as improv actor and trainer Daena Giardella points out, too often in society (and business) do we hear the words, “Yes, but.” I’m certainly guilty of saying it. In a business setting, as in a comedy scene, the phrase “Yes, but” acts as an idea blocker. In using it, you are acknowledging that the other person has something to contribute, but then negating the value of that contribution. This (with some exception), does not fly in the improv arena. By adopting the “Yes, and” mentality, you force yourself to take into consideration what everyone is saying, and then building off of that to create something together, which is the basic objective of improv comedy. As a marketer, I have found it to be an exceptional technique for idea generation and brainstorming. Certainly, not every idea is going to be useful or successful, but by forcing yourself to be more open and collaborative, you will be amazed at the results. Let the Idea Breath â€" This one is directly correlated to the “Yes, and” concept. In improv, part of the great difficulty lies in knowing when to make edits to a scene. When should you enter, or exit, or change the scene all together? Often, actors will end a scene that had promise pre-maturely. When that happens, we are usually told to “let the scene breath.” In some cases, scenes start out shaky, but if given some time, turn into something truly hysterical! I find this concept to be particularly useful in marketing, because many times good ideas are shot down because of budget, or time constraints, or lack of resources, etc. All of those may be real issues to work through, but instead of killing these ideas, try finding other ways to develop them, or break them down into attainable objectives. Maintaining Perspective â€" An entertaining bit that often occurs during an improv show is when a humorous character is placed in an unlikely situation. For instance, if I am made to be a soldier from the Revolutionary War shopping at a Whole Foods supermarket. When involved in this kind of scene, it’s imperative that you maintain your perspective, even though your setting is changing. What might annoy someone from the 18th Century about today’s shopping experience? That is where the scene will find the most humor. As a character, it’s about consistency. In marketing, it is equally important to maintain perspective. This is most true when it comes to brand consistency. Especially today, when we are bombarded with so many different forms of both traditional and digital marketing, it’s even more important to maintain your brand, and your message (perspective), across all channels. Doing so will make your marketing much more impactful. Know Your Audience â€" All right, this one might seem obvious, but it really is not. In comedy, your audience will vary greatly with each show, both in size and attitude. As a comedian, you must captivate the audience quickly, because once you lose them, it’s nearly impossible to get them back on your side. Understanding what the audience wants from you will go a long way. The same works in marketing. Marketers focus too much on what they want the customer to know about them, and not what the customer actually wants to know about. Knowing who your audience is, and more importantly, what they are looking for, is the key to both a better performance and more effective marketing communication. Everyone Bombs â€" That’s right, even the greats! Who’s your favorite comedian? Guess what, he/she has had a terrible performance. It’s part of being a good comedian. Taking risks and never settling for the “safe” play is what makes a comedian great in the first place. My biggest fear when I first started performing was that no one was going to laugh. That would be terrible! Well, it’s happened to me, MANY times, and you know what? It’s not that bad. After the first few times, it doesn’t bother you as much anymore. In business, we are programmed to always succeed. We place so much pressure on ourselves not to mess up, that we are often afraid to take risks that could lead us to greater success than we could otherwise achieve (Disclaimer: Uncalculated risks are not wise, and will likely get you into some trouble). Just remember, that great marketers, just like great comedians, have to fail in order to grow. Hopefully you find these tips useful, and you didn’t even have to get up on stage! What are your hobbies? I’d be willing to bet you could learn some workplace lessons from them as well. Author: Bill Connolly is the author of the upcoming book, “Funny Business: Build Your Soft Skills Through Comedy.” He is also a Marketing Manager for Quaero, and member of the Boston-based improv group, “What Up D’oh.” For more insight, visit his website or follow him on Twitter.

What Should I Include in My Resume?

What Should I Include in My Resume?If you have a job lined up but do not know what to include in your resume, your search for that perfect job is over. The HR department has already gone through thousands of resumes looking for the perfect fit for any position and they do not need your help. They have done this for you.When you are looking for an employment situation, there are many important things that you must remember to include in your resume. There are certain guidelines that must be followed when creating your resume. If you are not sure about what to include in your resume, here are some tips that will help you create a resume that stands out from all the others.The first thing that you must include in your resume is your basic facts. Some of these basic facts can be as basic as what kind of work you have done or it can be something more extensive. The decision to include this part of your resume is entirely up to you.Your next piece of information to include in your resume s hould be your key skills. Key skills should be your accomplishments that would make you stand out among the rest of the candidates. You can use your own experiences or learn from other successful job applicants.Another piece of information that you may want to include in your resume is your organizational skills, as this would also reflect on your leadership abilities. You need to know how to organize information and build files and folders efficiently. Many recruiters want to see that you have excellent organizational skills as this is something that is especially important when you are applying for higher positions.Who would you be working with? This is very important as it will determine the kind of management style that you would be accustomed to. Many executives and managers have the tendency to be hard-headed and direct, which may not work well for some job applicants. You need to have a different approach towards management.For those who are job applicant for entry-level posi tions, it is very important to create a profile that showcases your enthusiasm, skills, experience and personality. A profile is a section of your resume that should include career goals, hobbies, educational accomplishments, volunteer work and skills that would make you more desirable than the rest of the applicants. When you have a good profile, this will give the reader the impression that you are the right candidate for the job.The above are some of the important points that you need to remember when creating your resume, especially when it comes to what should I include in my resume. Remember that your resume can help you land that perfect job and let you get into a good company where you can grow into that job.

Dish - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Dish - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I wonder what kind of channels you pull down with a dish like this: I did a workshop for a client today in Southern Sweden in this really nice conference center. During a break I happened to look up at the roof and saw it :o) Other good posts on this blog: How NOT to lead geeks. How to lose your fear of being fired. Top 5 reasons why The Customer is Always Right is wrong. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Make Your Commute To Work More Enjoyable

Make Your Commute To Work More Enjoyable One of the biggest parts of the working lifestyle is the commute to and from your workplace. It’s something that takes a good 20 minutes out of the early day at least, and it’s very easy to get waylaid whilst you’re stuck in traffic or on a train that’s delayed by an hour. And all that means you can get very easily bored and worried about the day’s proceedings; but there’s some mini solutions out there to cut out so much of the strenuous emotional labor you might have to do here. So with that in mind, here’s a few ideas to take along with you when you start afresh on your commute next week; give you plenty of time to get your head together and make sure you don’t have to rush out of the door. Do yourself a favor by packing your day full of stimulation; it’ll wake you up even when it’s dark out Take a Drink with You If you’ve got a good drink to sip on, youre going to be much brighter and more alert by the time you get to the office or the shop floor than you ever did without one. Your reactions will be faster, and you’re going to be paying better attention to everything around you; no more missed trains or turnings for you. And you can make sure your beloved tea or iced coffee stays as hot or cold as it’s meant to be with coverage like a metal koozie on your side. Have Something to Listen To (apart from music!) If you’ve got something playing in your ears, or over your car stereo, you’re never going to be letting your brain stagnate and get lethargic all over again before the day has even started. So this is where you should put on an audiobook, or maybe even put on a podcast you like the sound of. Your brain is fresh from sleep and wants to consume details about the day, so feed it in a creative and productive manner. Don’t Let Yourself Rush Of course you’re going to need to get through any congestion as fast as you can, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take it a leisurely pace otherwise. When we get into a habit of rushing in the mornings before work, we get it into our heads that work is something to rush to, and that you can never take a bit of time to take care of yourself when you most need to. But this is simply not true: get yourself up a little bit earlier and spend some time to eat breakfast or sip your coffee in the kitchen. You’ll thank yourself for following tips like these as soon as you’ve been at them for about a week, and got yourself into some much better habits as a result. Everyone should take some more time for themselves before using all their energy up at storming the work world, so don’t let yourself down here.