Networking Rule #1 Be a Giver, Not a Taker

Networking Rule 1 Be a Giver, Not a TakerNetworking Rule 1 Be a Giver, Not a TakerIts easy to get stuck in a selfish mindset when youre trying to advance your career. And in this fast-paced world, the proliferation of social media could be feeding your greed.According to Steve Tobak, who is a consultant and author, social media is at the root of selfish networking because it reinforces bad behavior. It makes sense. After all, the way we interact zugnglich is often one-sided We log on to create an image of ourselves as influencers, and we log off without listening to others.But when networking is done right - with mutually beneficial lebensgefhrteships in mind - its truly incredible what acquaintances will do for each other. You just have to take selfishness out of the equation. Here are seven steps to get started1.Walk in the door with a generous mindsetIts better to be a giver than a taker. Keith Ferrazzi, author of networking bestseller Never Eat Alone, lives by the mantra that t he currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.When you step into a networking event or pick up the phone, you should be thinking about how you can help the other person, how you can add value and what great things you could do together that you couldnt accomplish alone. Your attitude wont go unnoticed, and as a result people will gravitate toward you. 2.Highlight the mutual benefitI get a lot of calls from people pitching partnerships with my company, but, astonishingly, most of these callers never address how they can help me in return. A good partnership is mutually beneficial. Any time you reach out, make sure to emphasize what you can bring to the table.3.Be transparentIf youre looking for a job opportunity, be honest from the start. Recently an old acquaintance contacted me claiming he wanted to partner with my business. After 10 minutes, however, it became apparent that he had other intentions. I finally asked him if he was looking for a job. Reluctantly, he respo nded, Yes. I turned him down, but if he had been upfront from the beginning, I wouldve been more inclined to help.4.Think quality over quantityYour career isnt your Facebook profile nobodys counting your friends, so dont play a numbers game with networking. Rather, look for opportunities to add value. Dont just collect stacks of business cards carefully select the people you want to network with. Its impossible to build meaningful connections with hundreds of people. Networking is like marketing - targeting is everything.5.Set clear goals for each interactionIts easy to get caught up in the business of networking without really knowing what your goals are. Im more interested in the prospect of new connections if they can clearly relate what theyre trying to achieve and what their ethos is. Spend some time understanding your own career goals before reaching out to others.6.Make it easy for others to help youYou can be generous when youre the one being given an opportunity, too. Make the introduction as easy as possible. Give the person making the introduction a packet with your rsum, a cover letter, a personal story and a sample introduction. When you do all the heavy lifting for your intermediary, hell be eager to make a warm introduction and root for you.7.Show your appreciationDont let your generosity slip once you get what you want or when things dont go your way. No matter how it turns out, always follow up and thank the intermediary who made the introduction. You never know when youll need his help again, so keep the friendship going.Above all, never complain if the introduction doesnt pan out. Thats your problem, and it will undoubtedly rub the other person the wrong way.In the world of business networking, its essential to adopt a philosophy of helping others without an expectation of getting something in return. Remember Its not a transactional relationship. If you enter every situation with a generous mindset, you can turn a room full of people into a room full of job opportunities.Robert Glazer, founder and managing director of Acceleration Partners, is a customer acquisition specialist with an exceptional track record in growing revenue and profits for fast-growing consumer products and services companies. Read more from Robert on networking and business tips on Acceleration Partners Digital Marketing Blog.

A Resume Template for Employees with Experience

A Resume Template for Employees with ExperienceA Resume Template for Employees with ExperienceExperienced employees- those with three or more years in the workforce- should tailor their resumes to highlight the skills, knowledge, and accomplishments that less experienced candidates may elendlagehave gained yet. You can include this information in five basic sections that include your skills, any achievements or awards youve earned, education, work history, and miscellaneous information.Your Skill SetTheskills sectionof your resume should include any special abilities that are necessary to succeed in the position for which youre applying. They might include computer skills, job-specific abilities, legal skills, foreign language fluency, writing skills, or legal research platforms.Achievements, Honors, and AwardsYour resume should also include any achievements, honors, and awards that youvereceived throughout your career. These might include publications, court victories, writing award s, speaking engagements, and employment-related awards.Your EducationList theeducational institutionsyou attended, along with the city and state of the school and the degree or degrees you earned. The date you graduated is optional if youre over 40.Cite any academic distinctions youve earned, such as cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude or Deans List. You might also list your grade point average if it was very good, generally 3.5 or higher. You can also list a high class rank or law review membership ifyou attended law school. Your Work HistoryYou should present your job listings in reverse chronological order, beginning with the most recent position you held. If some of your jobs are relevant but others are not, you can divide this section into two parts Relevant and Other.You can also emphasize your skills in this sectionif youve worked predominantly in fields that are different from the job youre now applying for, particularly if theyre valuable transferable skillsand may set you exotisch in theworkplace.Miscellaneous InformationFinally, list any other information that helps to set you apart from other candidates, such as legal practice specialties, continuing legal education credits, software certifications, professional association memberships, community service, pro bono work, bar admissions, and press mentions.A Sample Resume TemplateYou can use this resume template as a guide to make your own custom resume. (Astudent or recent graduate resume templatemight be more useful for those with less than three years of experience in the workforce.)Contact InformationPlace your contact information at the top of your resume.First and Last NameStreet AddressCity, State, Zip CodePhone NumberE-mail AddressWebsiteObjective (Optional)Your resume can include a short statement summarizing your job-hunting objectives, career goals and what you have to offer to the employer. Be sure to customize your objective to each job to which you are applying. The resume objec tive should highlight why youre the perfect candidate for the job. An objective is not required in a resume and, if space if tight, you can eliminate this section.Career HighlightsThe career highlights section of your resume outlines key skills, abilities, achievements and experience relevant to the position you seek. This section might include your practice areas, bar admissions, court victories, awards, technology skills, and other information that helps you stand out from the competition and demonstrates how you are the perfect candidate for the position.Work HistoryThis section of your resume outlines your work experience. In reverse chronological order (most recent first), list your job title, the organizations you worked for, the location of each employer and your dates of employment. Under each employer, you should list a minimum of three bullet points describing your work duties and achievements. It is best to frame each job responsibility as a result or accomplishment. For example, instead of developed new client relationships, you might say, brought in two of the firms top ten clients, increasing revenues by 10 percent.?Company Name, City, StateJob Title 1 (Most Recent)Dates of EmploymentJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementCompany Name, City, StateJob Title 2Dates of EmploymentJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementCompany Name, City, StateJob Title 3Dates of EmploymentJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementJob Responsibility/AchievementSchool Name, City, StateGraduate or Law DegreeDate of GraduationAcademic distinctionsGPA (optional)School Name, City, StateUndergraduate DegreeDate of GraduationAcademic distinctionsGPA (optional)Other TipsYoure not writing your entire biography. Keep your resume as short and succinct as possible without l eaving out anything pertinent. One page should do it if you have less than 15 years of experience. Otherwise, stay within two pages.Keep the font simple and dont try to squeeze information into two pages by shrinking it- you dont want to go any smaller than 12 pt.Also dont forget to proofread your resume. In fact, you might want to ask someone else to read your resume over for you with fresh eyes before you submit it.

How To Handle Grief In The Office

How To Handle Grief In The OfficeHow To Handle Grief In The Office Ive been thinking about how we deal with grief at work, ur own and that of colleagues. What do you say to someone you work with, but may not know mora than to say hi to in the coffee room? What if you offer sympathy and they make a scene? Or you make a scene? Most of us have, or will go through deciding how to handle interoffice grief at some point. I took a look at recently published, There Is No Good Card for This What To Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love , to see what experts counsel. I figured it welches yet another full-of-the-obvious self-help book. But the authors had me at This is not chicken soup for the soul. Its whiskey for the wounded. Okay then, with that attitude they might have actually something to say. Or, theyre just great copy jockeys. Weve all paid good money for books based on pithy cover lines, only to find 300 pages of zilch. Co-authors Emily M cDowell, founder of a multi-million dollar greeting card company for real people in real situations (including Empathy Cards) and Kelsey Crowe, Ph.D., founder of Help Each Other Out , empathy bootcamps , both understand those of us who are concerned about doing the wrong thing and freeze. They feel your pain, but the bottom line is intractable. Say something. Do something. Do not ignore them. You dont have to say it in person if you feel tongue-tied, says Crowe, A notenzeichen or cupcake on the desk or even email will be appreciated. No one knows the right thing to say, just find a way to do it.I can vouch for the dont ignore it advice. While in my early twenties one of my siblings died in a car crash. When I returned to work, not one person said anything. It hurt my feelings, at the time, deeply, but I do understand it is hard. Just do it. There are a lot of options in There is No Good Card For This if you need help figuring out what to do. You might even say something like, Im sorry youre going through this. I dont really know what to say. Or, just Im sorry.Suzanne Wickham, Senior Director of Publicity, HarperOne, doesnt subscribe to the idea of expressing condolences in person, feeling it can be awkward in an office setting. But she always sends a card, writing, Thinking of you.These cards never really say it all, but they helped me a lot when my dad passed away. Whitcomb thinks offering solace should always come first. She recalls an entire lunch with a book reviewer listening to him talk about his late wife. He brought it up, and I listened, says Whitcomb. We did zero business that lunch which was fine. Its more important to be a compassionate human being. The lets go for coffee or a meal thing can slide sideways, however. A lunch, arranged to give a recently bereaved co-worker an opportunity to express his feelings, was highjacked for two hours by another guest waxing on about the death of his father years before. Everyone at the table was stunned int o silence. Even so, Ive come to think we have to accept individual reactions to what is meant as kindness, even if it seems off the wall.About ten years ago, I went to a colleagues office to see how she was doing and if I could do anything for her. (Dont we all ask that dumb question?) She got furious, yelling, How the heck do you think I feel? My dad just died. Crowe says its not uncommon for those in mourning to become angry when you inadvertently ask a clumsy question. My co-worker responded to How are you feeling? with understandable anger. I should have said, Im sorry or How are you feeling today? rather than leaving the question open-ended. Lesson learned. She apologized to me years later. NPR News correspondent and author of the etiquette book, Basic Black, Home Training For faulen Times, Karen Grisby Bates, recommends doing whatever is comfortable for you, your co-workers and appropriate in your office culture. Emily Post would probably roll over, wherever she is, to he ar Grisby Bates pronounce it acceptable to write a message of sympathy on social media. With the caveat that only if the loss was announced on social media, can you respond in kind. I have seen a lot of memorials on Facebook, says Grisby Bates, and it is fine to write something there. But only if the family or person has introduced the subject themselves online.At the end of the day, all you need is empathy for another human, which comes down to imagining what it would be like to be in their place, and acting accordingly. Eric Anderson, co-owner of SE2, a Denver-based communications agency focused on public issues, lost his mother a few years ago. A card, signed by the entire staff when he got back to work, touched him. One woman suggested seeing a Chris Farley movie because it always cheered her up. It was a graceful acknowledgment of my mothers death without being maudlin, he says. They made it personal to me. Both Crowe and Mcdowell recognized the need for help when trying to exp ress empathy from experience. Their own struggles with the situation seeded the idea for the book and card line. Even though co-author, Emily Crowe is a cancer survivor who experienced re-entry to the working world, she says she got involved with the project because she was so bad at expressing empathy herself. She knew at first hand the importance of acknowledging loss. Her mother died while Crowe was in her early twenties after years of estrangement. There wasnt anyone to express sympathy, says Crowe, but I knew that I wanted someone to say or do something. I knew how it felt not to be recognized as grieving.