How Universities Are Failing Their Graduates, Part 3 - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How Universities Are Failing Their Graduates, Part 3 - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Cigarette advertising was banned from radio and television in 1971. In addition, while not legislated, many television networks have made it a policy to eliminate advertising of alcoholic beverages… or restrict such advertising based upon the age of program viewership. Both of these actions were intended to eliminate negative influencing of impressionable audiences. With such massive amounts of advertising dollars eliminated, other industries with available budgets were destined to fill the revenue voids. Alcohol, Tobacco, Prescription Drugs and Higher Education Two notable industries who rushed in to fill the void were prescription drugs and higher education. It was estimated that drug manufacturers spent $2.7 billion on radio, television, internet, and similar advertising. This made me wonder what higher education was doing. What I found was, according to the Educational Marketing Group, that colleges and universities purchased over $570 million of paid advertising in the United States during 2013. That made me think Have we swapped  alcohol and nicotine for  prescription drugs and higher education? With this rolling around somewhere in the back of my  mind, I was driving down a major artery in Atlanta the other day and noticed a billboard advertising an MBA program from a little-known university. A few minutes later, I saw another billboard advertising an MBA program from one of the top universities in town. Later, I pulled behind a public transportation bus that was wrapped in advertising for a third university. Although I have yet to see  a PhD advertised above a men’s urinal, I have a sneaky suspicion  that it is only a matter of time. Higher Education: A 20 Year Payback? Which brings me to the subject of this, my third and final installment in this series: Universities are failing their graduates by overselling the value of the products they are vending.   When a consumer is  experiencing disappointment with a purchase, they sometimes feel  that the seller “overpromised and under delivered.” I believe this is the case with higher education.  While smoking the same cigarette as a dromedary was once considered chic, consuming the same higher education as your parent or friends appears to me to be  the new chic. According to The Economist, a whopping  43% of all grades given college and university students were A’s. The same article also noted that young graduates have seen their incomes decrease by more than 15% over the last decade, despite the fact that the percentage of the U.S. GDP spent on higher education has tripled since 1962. If this information doesn’t yet have you squirming in your seat, I sincerely hope that this quote from a 2014 WSJ article titled A College Education Still Pays For Itself, Fed Economists Say will: Although there are stories of people who skipped college and achieved financial success, for most Americans the path to higher future earnings involves a four-year college degree. We show that the value of a college degree remains high, and the average college graduate can recover the costs of attending in less than 20 years,” wrote San Francisco Fed economists Mary C. Daly and Leila Bengali. Yes, you heard it right. The WSJ and Fed economists actually think that it is a good thing that you have an average shot at breaking even on an undergraduate degree in less than 20 years!!!!! While I don’t have the underlying data to be sure, I’ll bet that this analysis did not take into account the time value of money. If that’s true, then the payback could be more like 25 or 30 years. I dont want you to be suckered by the university hype. So, here is my question to you. If I offered you a financial investment that would break even in 15 or 20 years, how excited would you be to make that investment? And what if I told you that there was a decent chance you would not complete the investment (degree) and hence get a poorer payback. And what if I told you that you would also have to invest four years of your life, when you could otherwise be learning real-world job skills while earning a living? Let’s get real. The idea that a college degree pays for itself is, at best, a matter of debate regarding the number of decades. At its worst, you fall for a sales pitch promising career success and come up empty handed. Dinosaurs are dead. Is higher education (as we now know it) headed for a slot beside them in the Museum of Natural History? You tell me.

Writing a Resume at 40 - Create a Resume That Can Open Many Doors

Writing a Resume at 40 - Create a Resume That Can Open Many DoorsWhat if I told you that if you could write a resume at 40 that you would have more leverage in the job market? Or, maybe, maybe not. But what if you can create an experience statement for yourself and have the ability to use that statement to interview in the future? Your resume will then be a unique resume and that statement will be placed in a separate folder for you to review and peruse when the time comes.Some professionals advise including a listing of your qualifications as well as a list of your previous work experiences and general information about your experience. On the other hand, some people feel that to have a resume that is valuable you must include specifics.For example, I would write a resume or a summary that does not mention that I have two Masters degrees, has worked for my company for seven years and has worked on several projects. People may then try to interview me but they won't know that I have been with the company for a very long time. They may also not know that I went to school for both my Masters and my MBA. All of these things are important in the interview because if you're a trained professional, the potential employer will want to know that you've done the research and considered all of the facts before making your decision.Most potential employers know that you have had numerous jobs and maybe even think that you should have researched more than one different career options. So, if you want to increase your chances of landing that job, go ahead and include more details. However, if you only have one strong point, don't include that statement. Besides, I recommend not going into too much detail and just putting in the basics and moving up from there.There are many career coaches that can help you write a resume at 40. You may want to start by reviewing their suggestions and researching as much as you can about how to write a resume at 40.Most importantly, you need to make sure that you are comfortable and confident during the interview and make sure that you don't embarrass the potential employer. Remember, you will be representing yourself and your resume. Your image needs to be perfect. Therefore, do everything in your power to make sure that it is what you really want.Remember, it's a career opportunity and you want to stand out from the crowd. Always remember that the potential employer has to get the most from your resume and therefore he or she will be screening through a large number of resumes to determine who is right for them.With all of this said, I am very happy that I am able to write a resume at 40. It has given me a head start and the knowledge of some really good opportunities to apply for more positions.

Help me evaluate my book - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Help me evaluate my book - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Alrighty my book about happiness at work is aaaaaaalmost there. Now I could really use your opinion and feedback. Im doing my final write-through this week and Im incredibly happy with it. Either this is a friggin great book or Im seriously deluded. But why dont you tell me which it is :o) UPDATE: Im totally blown away here, and I think over 40 people giving feedback is probably as many as I can handle, so Ive closed the sign-up. Thank you to everyone whos signed up to give feedback. Im really excited about showing you the book and to hear what you think! This monday my wonderful girlfriend and I are leaving for a short vacation in London. If youd like to review this release candidate (nerd humor, I apologize) of the book, write a comment on this post. That way I get your email adress (dont worry, it wont appear on the site). Then well do it like this: On monday November 6 Ill email an electronic version of the book to all the people whove signed up. You pick the one chapter that you find the most interesting and read it and give me feedback on it. Youre more than welcome to read the entire thing of course, but focus on one chapter so you can give me some thorough feedback on it. Forget all about spelling, grammar, typos and punctuation, Im going to get some pros to fix all of that. Focus on the contents of one chapter, and please answer the following questions for me: What do you really like about this chapter? What could be better? Are there any holes in the contents or the arguments in the chapter? Something I need to focus more on? Some point I should elaborate more on? Does anything seem redundant? Something I can safely cut out? What is your overall impression? Is this chapter ready to go into the book? If you were to write a three-line review of the book based on what youve read, what would it say? Be honest. If you love it, say so. If you think it sucks, say you love it anyway :o) Just kidding if you absolutely hate it or see something you dont like, tell me Im a big boy, I can take it. Write your feedback in the text document Ill include and mail them back to me no later than friday November 10. Ill then do the final rewrite that same weekend and provided that I dont need to make too many changes, the book will go out to proofreading the monday after and to printing later that week. 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

Measuring Trust

Measuring Trust The interview is a mutual exchange of information.   This requires both parties to engage in good questions to gain better understanding of one another.   One of the big intangibles for both is Trust.   But how do you measure or evaluate it? I attended a presentation yesterday on Trust and Transparency delivered by Robert Whipple.   He has just released his 3rd book, this one is called Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind. His presentation took a look at the elements that make up trust and what each one of us, leader or not, can do to improve our organizations perceived level of trust. These are the important measures of trust, according to Whipple: Solving problems Focus Communication Customer retention Morale and motivation Productivity Need for perfection Development of people Reinforcement Each one can be used to explore and question the organization and individual.   As you consider these measures, havent you been asked questions during an interview that assess your  involvement with them?   Is the interviewer aware of what they evaluating-the big picture, how do you contribute to the organizations level of trust? When you tell your STAR stories, do they support trust enabling actions?   Whipple suggests these are the things leaders do to increase the level of trust. Advocate well Reinforce right behavior Act in the interest of others Follow up Admit mistakes Coach privately Have patience Explain paradoxes Let actions reflect values Dont hide problems Whether you are a leader or not, each of us has the opportunity to carry out these actions. Finding the right cultural fit  should be  important to you.   Frequently we become disenchanted with our job when there is a lack of fit.   The big contributor to a companys culture is trust.   Working within an organization with low trust tends to produce dissatisfaction quickly.   We sometimes say, Ill know the right company when I find it.   Starting by identifying  a company that exhibits high levels of trust is usually a solid start. As you interview, develop questions to test how well leaders are using the actions.   Asking the interviewer situational questions can provide this insight. How do managers support  their people. Tell me about a time when a manager supported a team member. When someone does the right thing, how is it recognized? How do  managers prefer to communicate with the team? When someone presents an idea or suggestion, what has the outcome been? How has  leadership communicated their mistakes in the past? Has their been a time when a decision has had to be overturned in the organization? How did that happen? When  a manager  provides feedback how does that occur? Can you give me an example of how management provides feedback to its team? On a scale of 1-10, one being low, could you rate leaderships level of patience? Can you provide an example that demonstrates this? How has  leadership communicated changes in business or problems? What are the real values of the organization? Can you provide an example of at time when these values were demonstrated? What support does  a manager  seek from  the team? Has there been a time when  leadership has asked for solutions from the teams? It would be overwhelming to ask all these questions at once. Certain questions have a time and place and audience.   Chose the correct venue and time to probe in these areas.

Fun on Friday Scooters - Hallie Crawford

Fun on Friday Scooters Ok so Im dying to have a scooter, but my dad says I cant too dangerous. (Of course hes the one who rode motorcycles all the time when I was a kid, frequently with me on the back!) I like the idea though of zipping around my neighborhood quickly and easily, and while doing so releasing fewer emissions. Several years ago on a trip to Italy, we borrowed a friends scooter and scooted (yes thats the technical term for riding on a scooter) around Portofino. You know those experiences you never forget? That was one for me. It was beautiful out and I felt like I was in the movie Roman Holiday. Since conserving our resources and helping the environment is important to me, I liked this post from Ideal Bite about scooters. And apparently there are now electric scooters, I didnt know that. Cool. Enjoy your weekend! Hallie,Career Coach Think you need a Harley to join a biker gang? Pshaw. Eco-gang members know electric two-wheelers are all the road rage, since they cut transportation costs and pollution. Check out our fave scooter options and scoot. The Benefits Less pollution. Eco-friendly scooters produce 80% less C02 than cars. Less city traffic. A study in NYC found that if the citys vehicle mix changed from 100% cars to 80% cars and 20% scooters, each person would spend almost 100 hours less time in traffic each year, thanks to reduced street congestion. Skipping the pump. You can plug scooters into your electrical outlets at home and save money like gangbusters. A silent ride. Unlike gas-powered scooters (not to mention motorcycles), electric scooters make next to no noise.

How to Write a Good Drivers Resume

How to Write a Good Driver's ResumeIf you've ever wondered how to write a good resume for driver in some way or another, then you have come to the right place. Just as there are different ways to go about using resumes in different situations, there are also different types of resumes that you can create. In this article I will be highlighting the different types of resumes that you can create. I will also be giving you some tips on how to make sure that you are able to create the best resume for driver.Driver performance resumes can come in many forms and these include the number of years you have been driving, driving records, safety violations and number of incidents of accidents that you have been involved in. Driver motivation resumes can also come in many forms and these include your driving records, your feedback in regards to the safety of the driver and overall performance. Driver opinion resumes can come in a variety of forms and these include feelings regarding safety and support with regards to the driving records of the driver.Driver life/physical condition resumes can also come in a variety of forms and these include the number of accidents that the driver has been involved in, the driver's level of medication and the average work hours that the driver has been working. Driver career history resumes can also come in a variety of forms and these include the number of instances of complaints that have been made to the Better Business Bureau and the driver's level of satisfaction. Lastly, driver health/insurance reimbursement schedules can come in a variety of forms and these include the number of requests that have been made for reimbursement by the insurance companies.At this point you have come to realize that there are many types of professional resumes that you can create for your driver. However, one of the best things to do in regards to your resume is to actually go out and visit several potential employers and see if they require a driver's resume. This is important because this is the only way that you can really know if your resume is written well enough to be considered and if it is written correctly and contains only the relevant information.If you do this and you find that you do not fit the criteria to be considered for any jobs you apply for, then you should move on to the next step. However, if you find that you do fit the criteria, then you should continue with your search and use the resumes that you have created to the best of your ability. Keep in mind that you need to be certain that you are still getting the job that you want by providing the employers with the best that you have.The last thing that you should remember when writing a driver's resume is to give your employer the information that they need. Employers are always looking for drivers that are motivated and that doing the right thing. Therefore, if you can provide them with the kind of information that they are looking for, then you will defini tely be able to gain their confidence in you and your abilities.You should always be looking to get the job that you want. To make sure that you are able to do this, make sure that you are prepared and ready to write the best driver's resume.

What You Dont Know About 2 Best Practices for Writing a Resume

What You Don't Know About 2 Best Practices for Writing a Resume The Foolproof Best Practices for Writing a Resume Strategy Potential employers wish to realize that you're motivated and dedicated in regards to your professional life because that more than likely means you're motivated and dedicated to doing an incredible job. When it's essential, it's your obligation to ensure the recruiter sees it. Choosing a Professional Resume Writer is a superb idea for the majority of professionals since resume writing is a distinctive skill. Resumes are bendable, flexible instruments that you may use to your professional benefit. You want to provide a truthful account of what you could offer as an employee. If you're a recent grad, 1 page may be sufficient. There are two major kinds of resumes. Perhaps it's your analytical mind or your very own creative approach. You get an outstanding value because there are no renewal fees or membership required! Remember to correct the quantity of experience your resume reveals dependent on the amount sought for the job you're applying for. If you need assistance getting clarity on the next career move, you may be interested career path clarity coaching. How to Choose 2 Best Practices for Writing a Resume Clients praise Andrea Cole for her capacity to enhance their job search and supply career-changing expert improvement. Locating a job in Orlando is equally as tough since it is in every other major city.