Why Your Resume Needs Accurate Action Verbs

Why Your Resume Needs Accurate Action Verbs This post is sponsored by  onlineresumebuliders.com, the resume building software available on  your phone, tablet or desktop.   There are many rules to resume writing; an important one being  the need for action words or action verbs. Dont worry if you dont really know what they are, weve got you covered. Action words  are verbs that describe a mental or physical action, and are usually written in the past tense. They are the words that  should be used to start bullet points in your resume, for example: Evaluated training manual for errors. Demonstrated 95% efficiency with SalesForce lead funnel protocols. Facilitated corporate meetings across multiple states. Evaluated, demonstrated and facilitated are all action verbs. They are the first word of the  experience or achievement, and they are considered a “must” on every resume. With a few exceptions, action verbs are the  ideal way to make sure that your resume is ready to get noticed by hiring managers, for the right reasons! Why are they so important, and what are the benefits of using them? Read on. Action words Have more impact Action verbs start each sentence off with a bang! The alternative is  writing your achievements out in complete sentences, with I worked on and I did. This is extremely  repetitive and boring for the hiring manager to read. Writing long sentences full of dull descriptions of the work youve done  does nothing to capture attention or interest.  Strong action words, however, are a  far more  persuasive language tool  that allows you to be  concise and impactful. Make for easy  skim-reading Most employers spend only a few seconds on each resume, before discarding it if they dont find  what they want. Action verbs  provide instant information, and are often the first words that hiring managers see after your  name. Doing your research and using industry-specific action verbs will make it easy for hiring managers to see what they want on your resume and prompt them to spend more time reading through your skills. Help people to picture you in the role Action verbs represent an action. When the verb is specific to  the job to which you are applying, it helps the hiring manager visualize you doing the work. For  example, if you are applying to a job as an assembler, and you use assembled, manufactured and “compiled” as  your  action verbs, the hiring manager is going to naturally  visualize you doing the job. Other examples: Achieved,  completed,  expanded,  exceeded,  improved,  pioneered,  spearheaded,  transformed,  integrated, modeled, modified,  performed, planned, revised, revitalized, shaped, solved Render  your resume unique One caveat is that action verbs should be carefully chosen for both  accuracy and impact. Ideally, choose the most powerful and soecific  action word you can find, and be sure you have used  the word correctly. When you choose great action verbs which accurately showcase your abilities and achievements, you automatically set yourself apart from  applicants who use generic  verbs that send readers to sleep. This will give you the competitive advantage you need when  hiring managers review applications. Give your  resume a  greater flow Finally, action verbs make it easier for you to flow from one  point to the next, without having to use the word “also” or “in addition” regularly. The goal of every resume should be to  make sure that each and every bullet point you place is read, understood and leads nicely onto the next one! Action verbs have a certain power to them that other words do not, and the more time you take determining  which  one  are best for your resume, the more likely you are to have an application that creates an excellent impression on employers. Make sure you take the time to select strong action verbs, and  then wait for the phone to ring with your interview request! About the author:  Micah Abraham is a writer at Online Resume Builders. If you are looking for a new resume, start building yours today at  Onlineresumebuilders.com   it takes as little as 5 minutes.   Image: Shutterstock

How to Dress the Part and Win at Work

How to Dress the Part and Win at Work Whether it’s fair or not, you’d be surprised how much your appearance can play a role in how business associates view you. Showing up with wrinkled clothing and out-of-place hair can have an unwelcome effect on your career. This applies to both men and women, but let’s be honest: women are held to even stricter standards. In male-dominated industries, women must be even more cognizant of how they present themselves. It is simple to cultivate a friendly, tailored and appropriate style for your workplace by following these tips: Dress with thought. Wear clothing that fits properly. Skirts and dresses shouldn’t be higher than two finger-widths above the knee. Stick with heels three inches or shorter and wear minimal jewelry. Skip perfume and heavy makeup, and forgo sleeveless tops and sheer clothing. These may seem like strict tips, but they will help you immensely in professional settings. You never know who you’ll run into outside of the office. When you’re not at work, it’s still important to dress in an acceptable manner. You never know what business acquaintance or work opportunity might present itself outside of the office. In public, you want to show the world that you are smart, confident and taking care of business. Overdress to impress. For women in the business world, overdressing is always your best bet. Dressing professionally even when meeting with clients who are dressed casually can inspire assurance in your abilities. Even consider classy wear on casual Fridays. Look current. If your business is cutting edge, then your wardrobe should match. Make sure that your clothing, hairstyle and eyewear are all chic to the times. Though you always want to dress professionally, weaving in contemporary trends is a good idea. Dress for geographical region and culture. If you are meeting clients from another state or country, or you are traveling to a different state or country, consider dressing appropriately for that region. For example, in some cultures your neck and toes should not be exposed, and in China, white symbolizes mourning. Make sure you do research on the region before meeting with your client. Shop less, dress better. We only wear about 20-30 percent of the clothing in our closets. When shopping for clothes, buy entire outfits instead of random separates. This will prevent you from having a closet of orphaned clothing, and it will make dressing for work much easier. Find a style avatar. Is there a woman in your industry whose style you admire? Take note of her outfits and don’t be afraid to reach out to her for advice. Many women are more than happy to share their fashion tips and tricks. And you should be willing to do the same if an up-and-comer reaches out to you for the same advice. This guest post was authored by Marja Norris Marja Norris is the CEO and founder of MarjaNorris.com, a company dedicated to helping women achieve their career goals with style and confidence. With a distinguished career in finance, she has successfully navigated the male-dominated business world and is passionate about coaching women on how to be taken seriously, be heard, and get what they want at work. Her latest book,  The Unspoken Code: A Businesswoman’s No-Nonsense Guide to Making It in the Corporate World, provides women with the tools to awaken their dreams and reach their highest goals. Visitmarjanorris.com. . Main image credit.

Gamification Why Game Designers Are Better Motivators Than Your Boss

Gamification Why Game Designers Are Better Motivators Than Your Boss Bored at work? Why dont you play a game? Half your co-workers do according to a recent study by Saatchi and Saatchi. But why is that? Why are we more motivated to farm make-believe apples on Facebook rather than finishing the report due tomorrow or making one more sales call? What do these game designers know about us that our own bosses dont? What if our managers could carry that same brainwashing power over our productivity in the office? Or even better, what if we could apply these designers secrets towards our own motivation? The Game Designers Influence Map Game designers influence a kingdom of followers. If you added up all the time gamers have spent playing World of Warcraft alone, it would exceed 5.93 million years. To put this in perspective, 5.93 million years ago was when our earliest primate human ancestors stood up and started walking on two legs. Arguably the most successful phone app, Angry Birds, makes a million dollars a month just from Androids ad supported version. There is no doubt, game developers have our attention and its growing faster than any other entertainment source. So what magic source have they tapped into in order to become the worlds heavy weight motivation champion? To have convinced so many of us to spend millions of dollars and hours on their products? M.A.P. vs Gaming Dynamics One answer may come from Dan Pinks studies on performance and motivation. Dan studied these topics extensively in the business world and discovered certain patterns that were present in motivated work environments vs disengaged environments. He came up with the acronym M.A.P. that stood for the 3 fundamentals of motivation. Mastery, Autonomy, and Purpose. 1. Mastery: The Urge to Get Better and Better at Something That Matters. Professionals seek after mastery in order to differentiate themselves, move up in their careers, and have a general sense of progress. And Game designers get that. Why do you think games show the percent you have completed or your progress with meeting certain goals? THEY WANT YOU TO MASTER IT. Do you find mastery in your work? Are you filling up the progress bars of professional development? If you manage people, can you see why this is important? 2. Autonomy: The Desire to Direct our Lives. Everyday management naturally struggles with this, but Mr. Pink found that if you wanted engagement, self direction was better. Think about it in your own lives. Do you enjoy the work you do on your own more than the work someone is pushing you to do? Thats why games rarely force you on a single path. Games like World of Warcraft let you design a character from scratch, then go off on adventures to your liking. Want to be a dwarf warrior? Go ahead. Rather become a powerful mage? Go for it. Slay a dragon or hunt bunnies, you decide. Managers may want to lay off the hand holding, and take the position of a trusted advisor. Be like a game, give your team some goals, but allow the freedom to complete them according to their abilities. I know it takes faith, but it might surprise you. 3. Purpose: The Yearning to Do What We Do in the Service of Something Larger Than Ourselves Dan Pink found that companies that have a purpose motive tied to their profit motive attract better talent and have happier employees. Games thrive because they often fill that void. Mario is an excellent example. Here you are a chubby little plumber tossed into a world of turtles and mushrooms. From first glance you wouldnt find anything special about your circumstances, but then all of a sudden a princess is kidnapped by a dinosaur/monster/reptile and instantly you are given a purpose. Every goomba squished or brick smashed is getting you closer to fulfilling your purpose. Is your work having you save any princesses, or are you smashing your head against bricks for nothing? Thats how important purpose is. Motivators vs Game Mechanics We conduct motivator assessments as a company so I wanted to see if and how game developers addressed these. 1. Theoretical: The Drive to Accumulate Knowledge, Facts, and Research. Game designers often incorporate knowledge and facts into a game through releasing tips or strategies periodically as the game progresses. The makers of Elder Scrolls IV actually wrote and incorporated hundreds of books into their game. The books served as a way of including additional lore, hints, and secrets. All things that theoretically driven people would be motivated by. 2. Utilitarian: Utilizing Resources to Gain Maximum Return on All Investments. Again, game designers provide several gaming elements that add utilitarian motivations to the mix. Utilitarians will be driven by upgrades, better weapons, and items. Any tools that will help them do the job more efficiently, are highly sought after by these types. Plants Vs Zombies does this by allowing you to unlock improved versions of previous plants. For example, early on you start with a Peashooter which can shoot a single pea at oncoming zombies. But, if you progress far enough, eventually you will be able to unlock a Threepeater which can shoot three peas for about twice the price of a single pea shooter. 3. Aesthetic: Self-Actualization Through Experiencing Variety, Beauty, Harmony and Balance. Some people find enjoyment in beautifying their surroundings and decorating their world. They appreciate the beauty around them. Game designers provide this option in many of their games. One that does this particularly well is The Sims franchise. You can literally hand pick the look of every element of the game. From your characters outfits to your wallpaper or flooring, its all free for you to change. 4. Individualistic: Gaining Power, Advancing Position and Leading Others. Many managers, sales people, and entrepreneurs have some individualistic motivation in them. In the gaming world, this need is met by functions such as leaderboards, trophy rooms, and badges. Game designers understand our competitive nature and therefore utilize it by making it easy to compare our accomplishments, high scores, and skills. Take this trophy room for example. One of the ways the game rewards its players is by displaying their accomplishments in one place where friends can go to compare and see all the achievements of their buddies. 5. Social: Helping People and Eliminating Conflict. Social in this sense doesnt mean playing with others, although that is a motivation for some. In this instance we are talking about the desire to help others or a cause. Many of the social games, the free ones on Facebook or Google+, have many of these dynamics. In Zombie Lane you are encouraged to help your friends fight off their zombies, pick up trash or rubble, fix fences, or revive their withered crops. You could play the game without ever working on your own plot of land and or zombies. 6. Traditional: Following a System That Provides the Basis for Decisions. Traditionals often come from military, religious, or strong family backgrounds. They feel comfortable following patterns or structures theyve gripped onto in their lives. Gaming is full of traditional elements. Often patterns are built into games through dynamics like leveling up, quests, and reward systems. Another element of traditional motivation is in class systems. The picture above comes from Battlefield 3, an online first person shooter. They display four traditional classes gamers tend to play as on FPSs; support, engineer, assault, and sniper. Even the copy PLAY IT YOUR WAY is dead on for traditionals. When they come into a situation they are going to look for the familiar traditions and systems they are used to playing as. Applying Gamification to the Workforce Now why is this even important? How is it even possible to apply this to the work place? Salesforce.coms Chief Scientist presented on this very topic saying, As a new generation of knowledge workers land in jobs at organizations big and small, theyre bringing with them different expectations and are motivated differently than workers once were. What is going to happen when the next generation of workers grew up on Halo instead of Pong? Can they stay motivated by traditional methods, or will workplaces need to adapt in order to attract and retain the top talent? If you need more convincing watch this video, where gaming dynamics such as leveling, achievements, and more are already seeing results in the office. What Do You Think? There might be more to gaming than just fun and games. Is this truly the future of workplaces, or is it an idea that should stay carefully in its entertainment arena? Id enjoy your thoughts.

5-Step Guide Marketing to So-Called Millennials

5-Step Guide Marketing to So-Called Millennials Millennials, millennials, millennials. What if someone  told you that they dont even exist? Well, theyre about to. Brenda Wong is the  social media and community manager at Debut, a careers app that is targeted toward students and recent graduates. Her role is all about engaging people. Not just any people   the right people who happen to be these so-called millennials. You can listen to our interview on iTunes or SoundCloud. Keep reading for a summary of our chat. Millennials dont really exist Brenda believes that millennials dont really exist. She know its a controversial statement: Millennials is a term, of course, it exists. But what Im really trying to put across to anybody I speak to, whether its an employer, or my friend, or somebody at the pub, whenever somebody uses the word millennial, theyre referring to a huge group of people. So companies tend to want to put demographics into these squares into square, circle into circle thing. But real life doesnt work like that. So there are about 13.8 million millennials in the UK. So this is like a figure that I got from The Guardian about a year ago. And apparently, this group of people has an age range of 15 years, they come from different social classes, they come from different cultures, genders, backgrounds, sexualities. Millennials dont exist, because its impossible to market to that big of a group. And if you want to try marketing to millennials, youre just going to be wrong, because thats impossible. Brendas 5-step guide to reaching out to these people Step 1  Research tailor campaigns The first tip is echoing my whole millennials dont exist thing. Tailor your campaigns. Researching who your target audience is and constantly updating that research is so important. So young people occupy different kinds of tribes. So you can have young people into K-Pop, or grime music, or somebody whos obsessed with the Kardashian family. And they all fit into different tribes. You need to do your researches into whether your product is going to be applicable to them, whether they can relate to it, and then from there you make up your own specialized custom audience. Always do that. Step 2 Forget the negatives Number two, dont jump on the negative millennial bandwagon. Now I dont know if youve ever seen articles slamming millennials at all? The gist is that they are lazy, entitled. They cant use things that are not touch screen example. And there was a hashtag, I think how to confuse a millennial. It was just horrible. They were like, Put them in a phone booth and watch how confused they are. People love to hate on millennials, but what I would suggest to brands is dont fall for that. I think encouraging positivity and light is actually a much better approach when it comes to marketing to the millennial group. BuzzSumo that did this huge piece of research on the top 1,000 articles shared in the first half of 2016. And 70% of the articles shared had a positive sentiment. So its clear that people tend to share good news and stuff that is happy and positive and cheerful. Step 3 Get in the know Practical tip number three, jumping on current events is a good idea but only when you do it your way. So I dont know if youve heard but we had a major election recently. So I was at Old Street Station, Im based around Old Street. And there was an amazing pop-up by a company called Appear Here. They took the election and they popped up a store in Old Street. And it allowed passersby to kind of vote for who they wanted. Because obviously we dont get to vote in the US election. But they gave cards to us and we could just put it in the box. And we had a little chat as to whats going to happen. And you can even take away branded Hillary or Donald Trump cupcakes with you. Its leveraging a current event and doing it in their own style, which I found really impressive. Step 4 Understand personal brand Number four, become part of their personal brand. So this is a bit of a sneaky one because were trying to get young people to share stuff, all the time. We want people to not only engage with it, like, and forget about it. We want them to be part of our brand journey. So you have to make things extremely visually beautiful. Make stuff worth sharing. So a great example of personal and corporate branding, of that marriage between the two, is Buffer. Buffers Instagram is #InstagramGold. They take beautiful images taken by their users, so theyve got user generated content. And they mix in together stuff like a beautiful office with a Buffer sticker on the back of a laptop. So its like kind of subliminally inserting images into peoples minds, associating their brand with something amazing. Step 5 Be open useful The final one is to be open, be useful, and always give back. Successful content in a content saturated world usually has one of two things. Either a personal edge or that piece of content is truly and absolutely the most useful version of that piece. So Google can either be your enemy or your friend in this circumstance. If somebody Googles you and says, Okay, your content isnt very good, the millennials see right through you. Theyre digital natives. And with a few taps on their touch screen, they can completely decimate your brand. So you have to be really careful about what you put out there. And be completely honest about who you are, be transparent in your content. The best performing piece of content on Debut weve had so far was a piece about going back to university after youve graduated. And it was a very personal piece by one of our writers. And it takes the readers on a journey and actually really resonates emotionally with our readers. Its not enough to be shiny, happy peo ple all the time. You have to be true. Follow Brenda on Twitter  @BrendaIsARebel.

Real Talk meet the speakers - Debut ERIC festival

Real Talk meet the speakers - Debut ERIC festival Next Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time in Debut history we’ll be teaming up ERIC Festival to host a double-whammy of events for all students and grads who are a bit confused about entering the world of work.  At Real Talk there’ll be workshops, goodies and instagrammable spots… but best of all, there’s going to be some amazing speakers who will be sharing their wisdom with all of the attendees. And it’s not just corporate folk it’s experts who have been there and done ‘it’. The core message of the two-parter event is this: it doesn’t matter if you’re not sure what you want to do just yet. There are many options, and there are unique ways that you can make yourself stand out from the crowd and well be showing you how to do just that. So without further ado, here are the stars of the show(s)… Emma Rosen The question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?”, is not commonly answered with “25 different careers in one year”, but that’s what Emma Rosen did. After gaining her degree and landing a grad job with the government, Emma decided that the traditional work path simply wasn’t for her. The roles she took on included an archaeologist, an alpaca farmer, a movie extra, an investigative journalist and a police dog officer all before she turned 25. Now, she’s here at Real Talk to disprove the claim that you “need to know” your career path once you’ve been handed your diploma. Stefanie Sword-Williams Do you know that it’s totally okay to not be ashamed of self-promotion? Stefanie Sword-Williams certainly does, and she’s here to showcase her own experiences after launching her platform ‘F*ck Being Humble’. The ethos behind the site is to encourage people to be unapologetically proud of their achievements in order to to achieve their career goals. At ‘Real Talk’ she hopes to inspire audience members with advice, guidance and practical tips on how to perfect talking about yourself, getting over FOSS (fear of sounding stupid) and showcasing your talent to the best of its ability. Sanctus Community Manager at Sanctus, Rose Scanlon-Jones, is here to help de-stigmitise the topic of mental health. Sanctus work with businesses on a daily basis to provide safe spaces for professionals to work on their mental health, as well as implement new company cultures to create more inclusive atmospheres. Rose will be discussing her own experience as she transitioned into the world of work. She’ll also be providing some handy tips on mental health that attendees can take forward into their own professional lives. Smarty Train When you enter the working world, you’ll have to manage your so-called ‘personal brand’. But what the hell is that anyway?! Well never fear, Jide Fadojutimi and Lee Warren from Smarty Train are here to provide not just some inspiring talks on this topic, but workshops where people will be able to get hands-on. They will also be helping attendees understand the power of networking and how to do it properly. These guys have worked with government bigwigs, straight-talking businessmen and everyone else in between. So it’s safe to say that they know their stuff when it comes to personal branding and networking. Even if people have never considered either of these things before! And best of all, no matter what attendees feel about their careers be it completely unsure or pretty darn confident there’ll be something to suit everyone. Hence why the event is split into two parts. Students and grads can cherry-pick a night, or come along to both (and get double the food and drink, ‘cos who wouldn’t want that?!). Of course, if you can’t make it along next week, then no worries. We’ll be keeping you up to date on our social handles, plus we’ll be livestreaming part of the events on our channels. These livestreams are also hosted by yours truly, so you’d be mad to miss it. (I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but I’m pretty spectacular). We’ll also be wrapping up the event afterwards with our usual content, so feel free to join in the conversation using the hashtag #DebutRealTalk on your own social accounts. Let’s hear what you guys REALLY think about entering the world of work. Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

Nowhere to hide - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Nowhere to hide - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Lars points to a very funny piece about the Open Space session i hosted in april for Collaboraid. I had no idea that I do power hand gestures, but I kinda like the sound of it. 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

Online Resume Writing Services - Helping You To Get The Best Service

Online Resume Writing Services - Helping You To Get The Best ServiceThe resume writing services Corpus Christi offer a variety of creative resume writing services to fill the growing demand of job seekers. This city offers different things for the people who want to get a professional resume. Writing a resume is something that you need to do for several reasons so that it can be effective in giving you a good resume to help you land that job that you are hoping for.If you want to go for the resume writing services Corpus Christi can offer you, the people who need them must look into a few things first. You must look into what the people are offering and then how they are offering it. It is important that you choose one that will fulfill your needs. After you have done that, you must look into the quality of service that you will be getting from the writers.When you look into this, you must take care of certain criteria like how long they have been in the business and how many people they have helped. Before going ahead, it is important that you have all these in mind so that you can make sure that they are on the right track with helping you. If you know about all the aspects that are required, you will be able to hire them easily.For the people who want to know about the resume writing services Corpus Christi has to go to Google and type the words resume writing services Corpus Christi to know more about them. You can also go to Google and type the words cheap resume writing services Corpus Christi which will give you a list of many companies. Then you just have to choose the one that you think is reliable and can help you in your job search.You should have all this knowledge and details in your hand before you even look at a website that offers the right place for you to look into. Just take note of all the qualities that you will be getting from them and then you can go ahead and make your decision based on that. This will help you in knowing which resume wr iting services Corpus Christi can provide you and will be able to provide you the services that you need.Once you are hired by one of the companies that offer this service, you will have to go ahead and search for the resume writing services Corpus Christi that you will be using in your job search. You must be careful in choosing the resume writing services Corpus Christi that you will be using as you do not want to waste your time with anything that does not meet your requirements. There are so many online resources that can help you with the resume writing services Corpus Christi that you require.All you have to do is to find the one that can give you the best quality writing services for the job that you want. It is important that you take time to find the right website because most of the websites do not deliver what they promise. You can avoid the waste of time and money when you know how to identify the right company for the job.You will definitely get the resume writing servi ces Corpus Christi that you are looking for if you look around the right places. They can help you in your job search and also give you the resume writing services Corpus Christi that you want to get. So, take advantage of their website and the websites that are similar to it and then you will definitely get the services that you want to get.