5 Ways To Exude Professionalism With Your Personal Brand

5 Ways To Exude Professionalism With Your Personal Brand 87 How to give your personal brand a professional shine. This is a guest post by Maria Elena Duron. If you’d also like to guest post here on JobMob, follow these guest post guidelines. In our digitally connected world, can you truly separate who you are personally and who you are professionally? No matter the privacy settings there are numerous opportunities for personal life to spill into your professional impression. Here are five ways that seepage is already happening and how you can manage it:eval Audio Brand Professional Communication Email Address Image Social Updates 1) Your Audio Brand I recently interviewed Colleen Fahey, U.S. Managing Director for Sixieme Son, the largest audio branding agency in the world. She shared this: Audio branding brings life and continuity â€" so when you hear the brand, it sounds like the brand â€" making every touch point a relationship-builder. Audio branding:eval Emphasizes brand differentiators Creates brand association with specific emotions Influences sales Transmits values within and without an organization As a personal brand, you also have an audio brand. What’s the music someone hears when they call your mobile phone? What music is playing on your personal website? When you do presentations do you have any music that you queue it up with? Or, is there music playing in the background? When people are on hold for you, are they listening to music? Music is something that we’ve heard even while in the womb. It evokes emotions and reactions that can go far back into our childhood or our subconscious. For personal brands, your audio brand is exuded in every interaction someone has with you or your communication tools that has some sort of audio associated with it. It transmits the values you have or those you don’t have. Today, audit what people hear when they reach out to connect with you. Does it mirror your brand or is there a disconnect? A disconnect leaves people with the feeling that something’s wrong with no real concrete instances except for “gut instincts”. 2) Your Professional Communications Think that grammar in social media doesn’t matter? Your grammar matters in your LinkedIn profile and status updates. According to Brad Hoover, CEO of Grammarly [Jacob: #7JGBC Contest Sponsor!], in a recent interview he shared that good grammar in your updates shows you're someone that “pays attention to details” and you’re someone who is “detailed oriented, shows good follow through and is very professional”. You might be wondering â€" can that really matter in today’s fast-paced, hyper-connected social society? Yes, it can. In a recent study conducted by Grammarly, here’s what they found: Grammarly looked at some of the top brand battles of all-time to see if there was a correlation between the winners of famous “brand wars,” and writing ability. They compiled LinkedIn posts from each company (an average of 400 words per company), and asked their team of proofreaders to review each update for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Here is what we learned: Coke vs. Pepsi: Coke makes four times fewer writing mistakes on LinkedIn than Pepsi. Facebook vs. Google: Not only does Google dominate the Internet, but it also makes nearly four times fewer writing mistakes than Facebook on LinkedIn. Ford vs. GM: GM makes two-and-a-half times more writing errors than Ford. What can we take away from this? Brand dominance can be a fickle thing. But, writing is often a good predictor of the top brands because it demonstrates professionalism, attention to detail, and credibility. For your personal brand, look at your last ten posts on any of your social networks. How’s your grammar? Grammarly Lite, which can be added to your browser, is a great tool to keep your updates and tweets as grammatically correct as possible. After interviewing Brad, I gave it a try and love how well and easily it works. (I do not sell or market their product). 3) Your Email Address Invest in a website for your personal brand and create an email address with that site. A domain name can express professionalism in one email. Emails from Yahoo, Hotmail, Live, etc , give an immediate first impression to the receiver or an email from these domains. For example, when you get an email from someone with an address that is name@AOL.com, what are your immediate first impressions? Even if you have an email address from the company you work with or the college you attend, spend for your own domain, even if it’s your name, it exudes much more professionalism and speaks to whether you’re “on top of your game” better than any free email account can. 4) Your Image You can look professional no matter your profession. I’m certainly not saying that everyone needs to be in a “suit and tie”. In fact, that apparel in many professions would not be a good fit at all. What is important to any profession is cleanliness and hygiene. Even auto mechanics are assessed for their professionalism on how well they clean up. For your personal brand, this includes everything that’s an extension of you. Your phone, your purse, briefcase and even the car you drive. Again, let’s not confuse that something has to be expensive to exude professionalism. You can drive a car that’s twelve years old or rock a suit that's eight years old and as long as it’s clean and well kept, you exude professionalism. 5) Your Social Updates There have been hundreds of articles on what you should post about as a professional. I’m more interested as to when you are posting and responding. What time you do this matters to your professionalism. In your Monday morning meeting and you’re liking Facebook posts on your phone, then anyone connected with you, in their ticker (depending on your privacy) is seeing your activity. At a meeting or event and your tweeting, that also is speaking volumes about your professionalism. If it’s a part of the meeting and event, that will reflect positively on what you’re doing and that you’re sharing/imparting knowledge from the event. If it’s you asking about when everyone’s going to happy hour in a tweet, when you’re in a meeting, there’s an entirely different impression that’s exuded. I do realize that there are many tools that automate the release of updates and posts. Again, don’t overuse these or you’ll leave that impression that you automate everything. A mixture of auto updates and in real time updates provides a good balance for you and your brand. Look at the timing of your last social updates. To exude a professional personal brand, timing is important (not everything but important) and affects whether your first impression is worth a second look. About the Author Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucksâ€" a word of mouth marketing firm, and a professional speaker and trainer on developing social networks that work. She provides workshops, webinars, seminars and direct services that help create conversation, connection, credibility, community and commerce around your brand. Maria Duron is founder and moderator of #brandchat â€" a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding that is recognized by Mashable as one the 15 Essential Twitter Chats for Social Media Marketers. This article is part of the The $10000 7th Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest. If you want Maria Elena Duron to win, share this article with your friends. READ NEXT: 25 Easy Ways To Grow Your Personal Brand in 5 Minutes.

Summer The Perfect Time to Be Living Social

Summer The Perfect Time to Be Living Social Summer is my favourite season because it inspires fun and adventure in times and places that you’d never expect to find them. It is also the best time to be out and about with your family and friends. With today’s modern technology, you don’t have to look too hard for that next adventure. Living Social, an online marketplace, is your best bet to have another great summer blast! Here’s why. Accessible in your city or wherever you are. Being an online site makes it easy for you to find things to do no matter where you are. With deals spanning from the local to the international, and even mobile apps available for you, Living Social will have something for you from anywhere you access it in. Products and programs to suit your needs. With a list that includes local, escapes, shop, events, at home and coupons, you can choose which deals you want to enjoy. With thousands of unique and diverse offers, you’ll be inspired to discover everything from weekend incursions to international travel, exclusive gourmet dinners to family outings and so much more! Easy to find ways to tick things off your bucket list Whether you want a relaxing BB getaway with your hubby, a thrilling skydiving adventure, or simply undiscovered activities in the city, Living Social has a very diverse pool of offers. It won’t be hard to tick things off your summer bucket list. Great deals for activities/experiences Living Social curated unique experiences for you without breaking the bank. Despite the many available options, every bit is priced at a great value, which won’t let making new memories such a regret on your finances afterwards. Get set on having a great time this season by being a little adventurous and continuously discovering new activities to be enjoyed with your family and friends. With Living Social, it won’t be difficult for you, your hubby, family and friends to be the experience architects of the best summer!

Dont Call Them An Entrepreneur

Dont Call Them An Entrepreneur Theyre Called a Girl Starter ! One of the things I learned when we set out to create an entrepreneurial venture for young women is that this is a generation that doesn’t necessarily like the word “entrepreneur.” We held focus groups with millennial and Gen Z girls, and we heard over and over that that word sounded elite, and  it was hard to spell .  These young women wanted to be identified in a way that felt less intimidating and more attainable for more young people. All In The Name? They absolutely want the opportunity to create and imagine and build things, but they felt like more women would participate if they were called something that sounded more approachable. That’s why we came up with “Girl Starter”â€"the spirit and definition of “starter” is essentially the same as “entrepreneur,” but the girls we talked to felt like more young women would feel comfortable taking a chance if we found a new label for them. They may not like the term “entrepreneur,” but millennials and the young people that make up Gen Z seem to be naturally entrepreneurial. They don’t want to climb the corporate ladder like their parents did; 62 percent of them would rather start their own ventureâ€"and their notion of what they want to do for a job is very different, too. From the outset, they are approaching what a career is and what they achieve in a way that clearly sets them apart from their elders. Girl Starters And Visionaries And this is something we saw with our “Girl Starter” submissions and the chosen contestants. When we put out a call for submissions and got 400 videos in 10 days, we knew there was an appetite for this type of venture. And we know that there are many, many girls who have what we call the “starter spirit”: They’re really excited, confident and enthusiastic. They also have varied experiences in businessâ€"some are very entrepreneurial already, and some had never done anything like this before in their lives. In choosing our eight participants, it was important for us to show that range; we want as many young women as possible to be able to see themselves in one of our contestants, to be able to envision their own personal journey to launching something. Another thing we saw as we were putting together the show is that so many of the young people of today want to do something that is good and has a purposeâ€"virtually all of our applicants submitted ideas that had the common characteristic of wanting to make the world better. Even if their plans weren’t, perhaps, strictly charitable endeavors, the end game for most was a way to solve a problem that would improve our world. And that is across the board, whether the ideas were tech-focused or product-related. The Girl Starter Process We are shining a light on early-phase business building because we think that is a great place to start in order to familiarize more young women with the process of getting an idea out of their head and into the first round of funding. In other words, we wanted to demystify the steps to start a business, and to answer for as many girls as possible: What is the space between ideation to pitch? So, even though some of our contestants already had fairly extensive entrepreneurial experienceâ€"in fact a couple of them already had their own companyâ€"we asked them to come up with new ideas for the competition in the interest of creating an even playing field for the whole group and to appeal to a wider swath of audience. After all, at the end of the day, “Girl Starter” is a reality show. But unlike the way a lot of other reality programs function, on our show, the drama comes from business building, not from women tearing each other down. Women supporting womenâ€"that’s certainly a message that is vitally important to get across on a cultural level. About Jeannine Shao Collins Jeannine Shao Collins is the CEO and co-founder of Girl Starter.  Prior to Girl Starter, Collins was the EVP/Publisher of  MORE  magazine. She is an industry-recognized executive and was named “Publishing Executive of the Year” by  Adweek  in 2010 and a “Woman to Watch” by  Advertising Age  in 2000. She has also been inducted to the  Media Industry Newsletter  Hall of Fame and the America Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement. Collins returned to  MORE  magazine in 2014, where she had been a driving force behind the brand’s growth as VP/Group Publisher and SVP/Publishing Director from 2002 to 2008. During her tenure,  MORE  received numerous awards including being named  Advertising Age’s  Magazine of the Year in 2006 and multiple placements on the  Adweek’s  prestigious magazine “Hot List.” Since joining Meredith in 1993, she has also held top positions at  Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies’  Home Journal,  and  FITNESS  magazines. Most recently, Collins served as EVP/Chief Innovation Officer of Meredith 360 °, the integrated marketing unit within Meredith Corporation. Earlier in her career, Collins held advertising sales management positions at  Prevention  and  Woman’s Day  magazines.

How to measure your own progress

How to measure your own progress I have big goals for myself, but I try to measure my progress day by day instead of looking at the big picture. The big picture is overwhelming. For example, for the last three years, Ive known I wanted to launch another company, but I didnt have an idea. Or I had an idea that couldnt grow big enough. Or I had a great idea but the investors wanted me to relocate. There was always a problem. This is a picture of where I sulk when I feel overwhelmed. (Its actually also the music room, and I get so frustrated forcing my kids to practice, that the room is already sort of a torture chamber, so I figure why fill another room with sulking karma when I have already ruined this one?) But on good days, I measure my progress with three questions: 1. Am I attempting some sort of new way to make money? (You are never going to have a new way to make money if you dont try a new way to make money and actually DO it.) 2. Am I paying back Matthew? (Every time I had a failed attempt at making money, I borrowed money from the farm bank account.) 3. Am I forcing myself to look for something that will scale? (Im most comfortable leading a team and you cant lead a team if you dont need a team.) Those questions drove me to lots of experiments with video. I spent a year flying back and forth to New York making videos about career advice for people who said they were geniuses at developing YouTube channels. For the record, almost no one is a genius at this. Even Machinima has a roster of YouTubers with millions of subscribers (SkyDoes Minecraft has 5 million subscribers!) and they still had to do layoffs because they cant make money from YouTube. But Im glad I tried a lot of video stuff because it feels better to try stuff that ends up being stupid than not trying anything at all. Feeling stupid is a good indicator of progress if your goal is to learn. I learned that people who say they know how to make money on YouTube are mostly shysters. And I learned that I can do 20 three-minute career advice videos in two hours. I only stopped for water and lipstick. Those videos were mostly lame. And I threw them all out. Except this one. ______________________________________________________ Hey, did you like that video? Because Ive done a bazillion videos that are similar to that over at my company Quistic.com. Some of the ones that feel really similar to this one: Fast Track Your Career with Myers Briggs Make Your 20s Count How to Write about Your Life

5 emotions new students feel when starting university

5 emotions new students feel when starting university This post was written by an external contributor. Aayushi Sharma  talks about all the emotions youre bound to feel on the run up to freshers and why its perfectly ok to feel them.   You’ve received your results, and successfully bagged yourself a spot at university! Congratulations! By now, if youve not already moved into your new student digs, youre probably sat at home surrounded by boxes as you try and decide which of your treasured belongings to leave behind because the boot of a car is nowhere near as big as youd expect it to be, you know. Speaking from personal experience, going to university can trigger a whole rollercoaster of emotions that can be tough to deal with.  For some of you this will be your first time leaving home, and even if you do have experience living away from the family, its a big step. If youre feeling a bit all over the place dont panic. These are just some of the emotions youre bound to feel as you start this new chapter of your life, and theyre all completely normal.   Optimistic Youre about to live in a new city, away from your family, for months. You feel on cloud nine, everything is going to be perfect. You cant help but grin thinking about that new found independence, being able to stay up until 3am eating crisps and binge-watching Netflix without your mum barging in and telling you off for using too much electricity.   You have the chance for a fresh start and to try out new things youve never had the opportunity to do before. Things are looking good and you cant even comprehend anything going wrong. Your new life will be perfect. Anxious You are about to live in a new city, away from family, for months. What if everything does go wrong? What if you don’t make any new friends? What if you don’t like where you are living, or hate your classes? You’re so anxious that your search history is full of tips and tricks on how to budget properly and get good grades. You’ve probably even read all the student blogs out there with people describing their problems and how they survived university. Your mind is so full of advice you could single-handedly run the university newspaper advice column. Overwhelmed There are a lot of things that need to be done before you get to university. All the paperwork and registration, a new bank account, signing up for modules and paying your accommodation deposit are just some of the many responsibilities youll need to take care of before you get sucked in to the excitement of freshers.   You’re not quite sure how you will handle everything once youre at university, and you dont feel anywhere near ready to be an adult yet. The thought of having to juggle cooking, cleaning and laundry, all while ensuring you have a healthy social life and good grades almost sounds impossible.   Sad No matter what everyone else says about being desperate to escape home, everyone has their down moments.  Moving away from your comfort zone to an entirely new place can make you feel a little sad. Your family and best friends won’t be around, and chances are, you might even be a little homesick. You might have a moment or two where you actually think you cant go through with it, you cant move to a new place without having the people you rely on most around you. But dont forget that youll see them all again in a matter of weeks, and those weeks will fly by.  Also, thanks to technology you can see them pretty much whenever you want, and theyll help you feel better when times get tough.   Excited Despite the mixed emotions outlined above, hopefully above all else youll be feeling excited about the future.  Some of you (guilty as charged) will have been preparing for months, noting down all the places you want to visit on the weekends as you explore everything your new location has to offer.  Your list is endless and you’re not exactly quite sure where you’ll start! Youve probably told your family, friends, neighbours and even random strangers all about your plans. While your parents are a little concerned youre going to be spending too much time doing anything but studying, youre just excited for the adventures that await.  Literally if you were any more excited, you might just explode. Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

How This Mindset Shift Brings Greater Opportunities and Success

How This Mindset Shift Brings Greater Opportunities and Success Would you like to set yourself up for success today? The kind of success that makes people want to work with (and for) you and leads to more opportunities in your career? The good news is it’s totally possible. In fact, you can set yourself up for success right now and do it with ease. It takes just one simple shift in your thinking. But first, let’s talk about the starting point that blocks us from success.   The Tendency to Judge and Blame We’ve all done our share of judging and blaming. It’s only human. But instead of preparing you for success, judging and blaming pulls you in the opposite direction. For some, it’s about finding fault with others. Like thinking “I can’t believe how incompetent these people are … can’t he do anything right? … none of this would have happened if they hadn’t cut corners.” Or worse yet, saying these things out loud, which puts people in a defensive “threat state”. This makes it hard for anyone to think clearly and perform at their best. For others, it’s being hyper-critical about yourself. I’ve often woken up in the morning to my inner critic lecturing me on of all the “to do’s” I failed to get done the day before and the dire consequences if I don’t get my act together today. It’s a negative way to start the day and hardly the way to set yourself up for success. There are many ways judging and blaming can take place in your life without your realizing it because they’ve become longstanding habits that you don’t notice anymore. However it shows up for you, judging and blaming can hurt your chances of success and dull the joy of your achievements. Like making a great presentation but feeling like a failure because of the one thing you forgot to say (which the audience won’t have noticed!). Instead, you can set yourself up for success by giving yourself the gift of appreciation. Set yourself up for success by giving yourself the gift of appreciation. Give Yourself the Gift of Appreciation Whenever you find yourself judging and blaming, the shift in thinking you need to make is to appreciating. When you focus on appreciating, you tap into the power of positive energy and generate forward momentum. People want to be appreciated by you, and when you appreciate others, it puts you in a positive state of mind. It’s a win-win! And if you’re starting from the negative energy of “judging and blaming”, flipping into the positive energy of appreciating has the potential to create even more dramatic results. I rediscovered the beauty of appreciation last month when I was on the way to a meeting with a colleague I’ve been struggling with â€" let’s call him John. He’s quick to judge others and constantly sharing “constructive criticism”. Every time I thought of John, it put me in a bad mood. If only I could avoid him, but we’re both integral to the project. As I walked to the meeting, I had the insight that I was judging him! And it was getting in the way of a good working relationship. That’s when I challenged myself to make the shift from judging to appreciating. So I made a mental list of all the things I appreciated about John. It started small (“he dresses well, he doesn’t jingle coins in his pocket”) but led to something more substantial (“he’s loyal, he wants to do the right thing”). Making that list changed my attitude toward John so much that by the time we met, I was able to experience him in a different, more positive way. And when I noticed him displaying one of the traits on my “what I appreciate about John” list, I told him that “I appreciate how much you want to do the right thing, even when it’s unpopular.” Simply using the words “I appreciate…” put us both in a more positive state of mind and started improving our relationship immediately. After all, we all want to be seen, heard and valued. The shift in our relationship has led to the entire project team being able to focus on producing results without the distraction of the conflict between me and John. And it’s made me a more respected leader for the team. Appreciation is a gift. It shifts the center of gravity in your life into a positive zone that attracts possibilities and draws people to you. Appreciation is a gift. It shifts the center of gravity in your life into a positive zone that attracts possibilities and draws people to you. Stop Judging and Start Appreciating So stop judging and blaming, whether it’s yourself or others. Criticizing and finding fault puts people on the defensive and into fear mode where they can’t be at their best. Instead, when you find yourself judging yourself or others, remind yourself that you’re human and forgive yourself. Then make the conscious choice to shift to appreciation, whether that’s appreciating yourself, others or the situation you find yourself in. You’ll be happier, others will appreciate you even more, and this will help you attract opportunities and greater success. What could you do to express appreciation and make today a more successful day? Leave a comment and let me know.

Writing the Curriculum Vitae

Writing the Curriculum VitaeThe CV or Curriculum Vitae is a compilation of resumes of employees of an organization. The CV is a written job application which provides employers with a sense of an individual's qualification and skills. It contains information about an individual's education, experience, job skills, previous work experience, and the future plans. An employer can use the CV as a basis for hiring the applicant, this can be in the form of a personnel interview, an interview for an open position, or for interviewing for the candidate for the particular job.Before applying for a job, the CV or Curriculum Vitae must be written. This requires one to compile and organize his or her personal experiences. Such a written document makes up a resume. A CV with proper organization will be very effective. It is necessary to have the basic information about every event or situation which may come up in the future.In order to write a good CV, one should always keep in mind the most imp ortant part - the objective. For example, one should remember that the CV reflects the type of person who holds the job. For instance, an employer would only consider a person who possesses the skills of his job. Since there are different types of jobs, one may have to create an outline on what skills would be best for the job. He or she may also have to do some research on certain job roles and prepare an outline for each of them.Once an outline has been prepared, the employer can proceed with the first step of the personal profile - the education. Employers are interested in the things which an individual learned from his or her coursework and school.Besides the overall skills, one should also know about what he or she is best suited for the job. One may also give special emphasis to the future career goals of the individual. Finally, employers lookfor the ability to manage time well, and the right balance between work and family.In order to write the curriculum vitae, the individ ual is required to start with the jobs and work history section. This section can include a summary of work experiences. He or she must indicate what type of work he or she had done. He or she may have to write more than one entry. Such information on several jobs can serve as a reference for future employers.The next section which should be included in the curriculum vitae is the work experience section. The employer may have to specify the duration of the employment and the type of work which was performed. The fact that the information provided in the curriculum vitae matches the requirements of the specific job should be indicated.After defining the time period in which the job was performed, the CV or Curriculum Vitae should also include the work goals section. This section describes the potential skills which the individual can use during the future employment. Job profile should also include job objectives which should be stated at this point. This is the area where one can i ndicate the future goals of the job and communicate how these goals can help the employer in his or her work.