5 Driving Tips to be a Thought-Leader

5 Driving Tips to be a Thought-Leader Personal branding  is quickly becoming a household term. The current global economy combined with the huge role social media plays in our daily lives demands that each one of us considers how we can stand out amongst all others who offer similar skills, talents, and backgrounds.    Of course our credentials still have value as they are the table-stakes that anyone must have for a specific job or position. However, it is our character, our personal brand, that ultimately gets us recognized. One of the ways we demonstrate our personal brand is through thought-leadership. Our resume might tout our expertise but in the day of Web 2.0 people are looking online for how we communicate our expertise, knowledge, and brand message. Being a Driver not Just a Passenger So how do you use your personal brand to drive discussions and build a reputation as a thought-leader? Here are 5 driving tips to get you started on the road to being recognized for your unique expertise. Tip 1: Be a Personal Publisher William Arruda identified personal publishing as one of the key personal branding trends in 2012.  Blogs and online portals are enabling any one of us to be published and extend our personal brands. Other ways to be a personal publisher to drive your thought-leadership is to write a white paper or manifesto to state your position on a topic. Or, search for opportunities to be a guest blogger on blogs related to your area of expertise. Blog owners are always looking for great content. Appearing in a blog owned by a top influencer in your field is surely a way to get recognized. A good resource for this is  My Blog Guest  where blog owners post daily requests for guest bloggers. Tip 2: Be Active on Twitter Twitter is probably the best platform to drive your thought-leadership. After all, it is a form of micro-blogging and your expertise is available for the whole  twitter-sphere  to see. Always keep in mind that your role as a thought-leader here must follow the 80/20 rule. Spend more of your time sharing the thought-leadership of others and the remaining time contributing your ideas. Keep your tweets consistently and constantly related to the area you want to gain your reputation as a leader. Tip 3: Comment, comment, comment Commenting on other blogs or in LinkedIn groups within your area of influence is a great way to drive forward your thought-leadership. Your comments will show up on Google searches of your name, and the blog owner and others will begin to recognize your input. Just remember to upload a head-shot to  Gravatar  so your image consistently appears next to all the comments you make. Tip 4: Use video as a tool Video is fast becoming the best way for you to be seen as a thought-leader. Simply put, video is the most complete form of communication to build your reputation. Your ideas are supported by visual imagery and your actual presence, which creates immediate trust, authenticity and credibility. Remember, your videos do not need to be professionally produced. Most smart phones now have HD quality video, and current apps such as Mobli, Tout, and videoBIOtv enable you to record a thought-leadership clip and immediately share it in your Twitter feed or Facebook page. Tip 5: Be a Resource for Media Journalists and reporters are always looking for resources for their articles. By signing up with  HARO (Help a Reporter Out)  you will receive daily emails with requests from major media outlets for expertise in a wide variety of areas. Once you find a request that matches your thought-leadership you can contact the reporter to express your interest and hopefully your idea will be picked up. HARO does take commitment and while it may take time before your story is selected, you are likely to be featured in a high profile publication. Another great resource is  The Reporter Connection. You Cannot be a Thought-Leader if Others Dont Follow I read the above quote in a  Forbes article by Shel Israel  and to me it really sums up the most important condition of being a thought-leader. The key here, however, is to  ensure that those who do follow are truly engaged  with the thought-leadership you provide. Do not get caught up in  the numbers game. It is not important how many followers you have on Twitter, how many people liked a post on Facebook, or what number Klout gives you for your influence. Move  away from measuring how many and focus on WHY your page, post, tweet, etc. is popular. Was it a question you asked that prompted a lot of comments? Did a video you post result in a high number of re-tweets? Did a thought-leader in your sphere of influence mention your post in their blog or tweet? All of these are authentic indicators of your thought-leadership. Related: Top 3 Ways To Become an Expert in Your Industry.

Profile on Your Resume

Profile on Your ResumeWriting a profile on your resume can be quite an easy task. It's not only the qualifications that you should emphasize in your resume, but also the experience that you have. When looking for a job, you can always take an extra moment to go over your resume. The skills that you have can prove to be a much better selling point to a potential employer than the credentials that you possess.Sometimes, the information on your resume may be outdated. If you don't take the time to update it regularly, it will become a distraction to potential employers. It may appear as if you are lacking experience, which can be a turn off. So, you should make a point to do this regularly.Many people make the mistake of not looking at their resume after they have received it in the mail. They may think that they have written it correctly, but when they look back at it, it might be one of the first things that they notice. If you do miss this opportunity, there is no need to fret, you c an easily fix the problem by revising your resume and taking the time to make any necessary changes. It may seem like you'll be forced to do this, but it won't take long to find a good resource for looking up the information you need to include on your resume.There are some areas where your resume is just too simple. It's not the time to gloss over these details either. Your resume should highlight your work experience. For example, the fact that you held a job at McDonald's, a position at a local bank, or a managerial position at your favorite sports team would all be very helpful to your potential employer.Your resume focuses on what you have done, not who you are. For example, if you are a writer, a radio talk show host, or a social worker, these details should all be mentioned. You should highlight these experiences in your resume and highlight them in your cover letter.On the other hand, you should try to get past the resume and focus on what you can do for the employer. Someti mes it can be hard to find information about your education, but it can be easy to find relevant employment related training. You should include any skills that you possess in the proper section of your resume.If you are being interviewed, there should be nothing on your resume that you haven't done already. You can get by with a few general references, but you should not create a lengthy resume. This could end up making your resume look like a bunch of pieces of paper.Profile on your resume is just another way to get the message across. When you use this tactic, you will find that it is far more effective than trying to get overqualified for a job because you didn't list your experience properly.

Where Are You Focusing On Vision or Damage Control - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Where Are You Focusing On Vision or Damage Control - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career A participant in my workshop was telling me that he wanted to get one more promotion before he retires. His desire sounded quite fair! Curious me dug deeper and asked what would that give him. He candidly said, I want it because otherwise it will be embarrassing if my son knows that I worked in such a low level. In short damage control was the motivation behind. And this is not an isolated story, from the low level to high level, everywhere I hear a variation for this story. Growth is a very basic sense of self-esteem and the recognition of growth is mostly coming from the organizations manifestation job promotion. In reality even if an employee is completing all the job responsibilities well, due to the pyramid structure not everyone will be able to grow by job promotions. If you are already disappointed about the lack for promotion, its time to shift the gear, better hold on to something more sustainable, your vision. I agree, it is hard. After all you have done for the company why not get the recognition you deserve. Trust me, I have been there. There is a valid human reason to feel under recognized and unfairly treated. Once you have your ways of processing it, lets talk about an alternative strategy. My definition of vision is, it is more generic than tied to a specific kind of organization. The concept of vision is so simple that it would make sense to anyone who lived 50 years ago and those who will be here 50 years from now. Imagine, you are a painter and you are going to draw a picture. You have a very rough idea of what you want to draw though you dont have all the details yet. You start anyway with what you have. In the course of time you realize you need a finer brush, a new color that you dont have in your stock. You go to the store to buy those. On your way back you see something and that gives you a new idea about the painting. Some days if you dont have the color you want, you mix primary colors to make it work. Eventually that painting starts to take a shape, your family and friends can see it. They praise it, sometimes they question about it and give you their opinions. Some you find useful, some not so much. Eventually you complete it or you finish it as you want to move on. The finished product may not be exactly what you had wanted at the beginning, but it is still a picture and you being present in the process, by utilizing your creativity, by making choices and compromises totally made it a reality. Lets map the painting metaphor to your career, notice that you start somewhere (you initial education/interests/job/roles), along the way you find new brushes, colors and ideas (trainings/feedback/newly found passion/forced changes due to market changes). In the end you have a complete painting, driven by your creativity and passion, fine tuned by the feedback and current reality. What would it be like if you were to draw the picture solely because it was your job, because your manager wanted it or because you wanted to look good to your son? Dont get me wrong, there are many kinds of jobs you can get just because you need the paycheck. But if you are a knowledge worker of todays world (your job looks like the real candle problem as Dan Pink mentioned), you will have a hard to time to fulfill your sense of growth and need for creative contribution solely based on those external reasons. Damage control mindset may seem enough to jump the potholes on your way, but you will need the fue l from your vision to go the extra mile.

How to succeed on an internship the interns perspective

How to succeed on an internship the interns perspective Oscar Smith is a Politics, Philosophy and Economics student at the University of Warwick. Here he shares his experience as an intern with Titanium Tutors. It’s fair to say that there is a bit of a panic scene amongst students when it comes to the subject of internships and work experience. If you’ve spent time with university undergraduates, I’m sure you’ll be aware of the mania that comes with trying to secure a revered ‘spring week’ or the bitter disappointment of seeing seemingly hundreds of speculative CVs and cover letters sent to the abyss of a company email inbox. It is against this backdrop of intense pressure and increasingly rigorous application processes that many students decide the whole thing is just too daunting and quit before they’ve even had a go! This is where the Warwick Summer Internship programme  (WSI) comes in. After a telephone and a face-to-face interview, I was lucky enough to be invited to work with Joe Hytner and his team at Titanium Tutors to take on the role of marketing intern; I was certainly excited and couldn’t wait to see where I ended up at the end of my 6 weeks working in their office in Camden Town, London. What did I work on? I knew there would be the opportunity to manage TT’s social media accounts and to write articles for their rolling blog, and soon found out that these elements could be brought together when Joe introduced me to the world of ‘Search Engine Optimisation’. Tasked with identifying how we could try and raise the company’s website presence in popular search engines, I had a lot to learn (I had never heard of SEO before stepping into the office!) and I knew I had my work cut out for me. With my three ‘pillars’ of social media, blogging and website presence established, I started to settle into a groove while developing my skills across all three areas, thanks to expert guidance from marketing professionals which Joe arranged for me to have introductory sessions with. There was certainly a learning curve involved, but the support I received along the way was fantastic and kept me inspired and motivated throughout my 6 weeks. How did it compare to university life? For starters, working 9-5 (plus my commute from my home in London zone 5 to the office in zone 2) is much harder than rolling out of bed on campus accommodation to your 10am lecture. You certainly learn to use your evenings and weekends for relaxing, as well as getting a proper 8 hours of sleep in! I also found myself needing to structure my days a bit more than normal, typically spending my morning working on website presence, updating the socials around lunch time (timed so I could hit peak user traffic!), before writing up or editing any blog posts in the afternoon. I also found that I needed to stay pretty flexible and open to new tasks which emerged. One Friday, we received a call from an advertising agency looking to move on a quarter page ad space â€" the first part of my Friday was spent negotiating and the second half was spent re-learning how to use Photoshop and writing up ad copy for the final advertisement! I think it was at times like these when I was quite thankful that I study PPE, where switching between very different tasks during the day (think regression analysis in an econometrics lecture one moment and then epistemology in a philosophy seminar straight after) is the norm. What did I learn? Looking back at the 6 weeks, I certainly felt like I had gone through a real learning experience and the way I approached the three pillars evolved quite dramatically. I think my proudest moment was writing a blog on educational board games which got noticed and ‘retweeted’ by major board game publisher Calliope Games in the US thanks to a Twitter post I made â€" this led to me writing a guest article on Calliope’s website, which was a great shout-out for TT. Moments like this really made all the hard work pay off in a satisfying way. On the skills side, I became far more literate with professional tools such as Moz Pro and Ahrefs, built my confidence by conducting outreach and running social media, as well as honing a more relaxed and less academic style of writing in my blogs. In summary, it was a fantastic experience, and a great introduction to the world of modern marketing. My advice for Warwick undergraduates Give one of the CV or application workshops a go check out the next available session on My Advantage  portal Apply to a few vacancies when the WSI scheme opens in 2020 â€" I found that doing 3 applications (but putting a lot of time into them) really helped me in the interview stages. Most importantly, seek out opportunities which are going to inspire you and stretch you â€" you need something to motivate you to get out of bed!

Why Writing an Industry Resume May Be Essential For Those Seeking Employment

Why Writing an Industry Resume May Be Essential For Those Seeking EmploymentWriting an industry resume can be a great way to get your career up the ladder of success. It may not seem like it now, but industries can change at any time. But you can always write an industry resume to help with this.The holidays are a great time for any job seeker to go out and find the most pertinent information possible. There will be people applying for positions who have already found employment. These people are currently working at companies that have something in common.With this in mind, they will also be informed of how to help other people in their industry. Some of these people may be all too willing to help others. The best thing to do is to take advantage of these people and try to help them find their career. By creating an industry resume, you are going to make a great impression on these individuals.Your resume should contain information that shows the potential employer that you are inte rested in getting yourself up the ladder of success. This is a perfect time to make this happen. You don't want to wait around for an old resume, so go ahead and begin creating an industry resume today.It is crucial that you make a great impression on the individual who is going to be reviewing your resume. Since many of these people will only hear about the resumes from those who were recently laid off, you want to make sure you leave your own experience in the past. This will give you a boost when it comes to finding employment.Remember, you will only be seeing one or two of these individuals. So make sure that you make the most of your brief moment of company by touching base with as many people as possible. You never know who is going to see your resume and then take the necessary steps to hire you. Industry resumes are perfect for today's job hunters. They are essential if you want to move forward and possibly land the position that you seek. It can even make the difference bet ween being a second or even first hire.Industry resumes are great because they show potential employers that you are serious about this career choice. The resume can tell the individual that you are making the effort to reach your career goals. You don't want to miss out on this wonderful opportunity.

Step Up At Work By Upping Your Game

Step Up At Work By Upping Your Game When you’re chasing your dream promotion, it can be tough to stand out. The competition is strong, while opportunities to progress can be few and far between. These days, getting noticed at work is a long and often tiring journey, but with the right attitude and some hard work there’s no reason why you can’t start moving up the ladder. Ready to try for that promotion? Take a look at some of the ways you can up your game to step up at work. Depart the procrastination station You might think that you work hard during office hours, but are you as productive as you think you are? If you check Facebook at various points of the day or get sucked into Buzzfeed your hours spent at your desk might not be as worthwhile as you think. There are ways to stop procrastination that will help you to focus on the task at hand and get more done during the working day. Proving yourself shouldn’t have to mean working extra hours, it’s about being efficient with your time while you’re there. Make your voice heard Do you struggle to share your ideas at work? It might be time for you to start speaking up. Speaking up at work is never easy, but you can always try it by starting with a smaller audience first. Sharing your ideas in a one-to-one with your manager can offer you many benefits, and could lead to some new and exciting projects to work on. When you’re in big meetings, don’t be afraid to use your voice and speak up so that you start to get noticed as someone with something to say. Improve your skills Training is an important part of securing a promotion, and you should seek opportunities to improve your skills whenever possible. Take advantage of training courses offered by your employer, and seek opportunities outside of work to help you boost your skills. Learning a language is a great example of something you can do outside of working hours. If you need to improve your English, the Effortless English Club has some great tutorials to help you, or you can try learning another language that could present you with opportunities. Learning new things will keep your mind sharp, as well as show that you’re serious about your future career. Be prepared to help out Successfully achieving a promotion will involve demonstrating that you have the experience and skills necessary for the role. Without them, you could easily be passed over for someone else who does possess the right qualities. Find out more about what the next step entails and start putting your hand up to help out on different projects. Not only will you gain some valuable experience, but you’ll also get yourself noticed by others in the company. While there are many strategies for landing your dream job, one thing you must do is earn it. Knuckle down, work hard and start doing what you can to stand out. Focus on continuous improvement to help you step up at work your efforts will be worth it when you land that dream job.

Creating A Video Resume- Job Search in the Digital Age - CareerAlley

Creating A Video Resume- Job Search in the Digital Age - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Did you know that job recruiters only spend six seconds looking at a resume? Thats not a lot of time to prove your worth to an employer. To stand out from the crowd, many job seekers are submitting video resumes to complement or replace the traditional paper version. Considering how difficult it is to find a job these days, video resumes are a great way to stand out in the crowd and jump to the top of the list for a recruiter who goes through thousands of paper applications each day. Keep the following suggestions in mind if you want to create the ideal video resume. Why you should create a video resume With a video resume, it is easier for candidates to present themselves to prospective employers. Moreover, it also helps employers to assess the skills and experience of a candidate that would have been presented in a traditional resume. 1. Visual Resumes Showcase Your Personality A personal video can be a powerful tool that can help present your personality in 3 or so minutes of footage. If you are good at expressing yourself, then a video resume is a great option. Creating a video of your profile with positive body language will help potential employers feel engaged. This gives you an edge over other applicants who either cannot express themselves or only use a traditional resume. 2. If You Are Photogenic, this is a Great Option If you think you photograph well, then a video resume is a plus. Employers prefer candidates who are confident and have a pleasant personality. Using a video resume will help you capture the attention of an employer and (hopefully) land an in-person job interview. 3. Reflects Your Enthusiasm A video resume helps you express your enthusiasm more effectively than a paper resume. It can easily express your interest in seeing new opportunities as well as your career aspirations. With a video resume, you can display your enthusiasm in your body language, and that will help convince hiring managers that you are serious about the job. 4. Creates A Perfect First Impression When it comes to creating a good impression, a video resume can help provide more control over what you would like the hiring manager to focus on. Unlike a face-to-face interview, you are free to present yourself in a way that highlights your interpersonal and communication skills. Before we go on, lets check out an example of a video resume. 5. Sells Your Skills If you are familiar with the 30-second elevator speech, then you know that a video resume can help you pitch your best skills and experience. A video resume gives you the flexibility to demonstrate your technical skills in both a verbal and a non-verbal manner. You can demonstrate your sales skills, speak to accomplishments and give a demonstration of the best you. 6. Shows Your Sense Of Technology A video resume reflects that you are a technologically savvy person, who has a knack for current trends. Employers give preferences to candidates who understand, embrace and are aware of leading-edge practices in technology. This is more challenging to portray via a paper resume. 7. Simple And Easy To Do Creating a video resume does not require a team of people. It is a simple and hassle-free process. There are quite a few choices in video editing tools that can help you create your resume the way you want. 8. Video Resumes are Unique Video resumes are unique and will certainly get the attention of hiring managers. If you want to stand out from the crowd (and you do), video resumes are the way to go. You have the advantage of creating a perfect video, and you will have the undivided attention of potential employers. Employers look for candidates who have a sense of humor, are personable have good speaking skills and know what they want. Keep it concise and focus on your skills and create your best first impression. Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. Samuel Johnson How to create a video resume 1. Dress the Part If you want to be taken seriously by the recruiter, you need to follow the same advice as if you were going to an interview and dress for the job you want. Never submit a video resume of yourself in gym clothes, a revealing outfit, or anything that doesnt scream professional. That usually means a suit and tie for men and something along the same lines for women. You can incorporate your style into your interview attire, but make sure that its appropriate and composed. 2. Stage the Scene Pay attention to the background when you are filming your video resume. This is something that many people dont think about until its too late. You could be dressed to impress, but it wont matter if the recruiter can see a messy bed and dirty laundry behind you. Before you begin recording, find a nice spot that is clean and modern as a backdrop. Any organized office or even a clean dining room table with few distractions should do the trick. Its not necessary to have your video resume produced by a professional film crew but make sure that you have a quality video to show. Remember that you only have six seconds to catch the eye of the recruiter. If he or she can barely see your face or hear what youre saying, youve already blown your chance of landing that job. Strategic lighting and clear audio are both necessary components of a good video resume. 3. Keep it Short and Sweet Plan out what youre going to say during the video because you only have so much time to do so. You want to avoid rambling on and saying too much. A useful video resume is concise and to the point. It should take no longer than two minutes for you to convince the recruiter that youre the right person for the job. 4. Dont Just Read Your Resume Never recite your resume from a piece of paper during a video resume because thats boring. The point of doing one is to make a sales pitch by being exciting and unique. Show off your personality through your words and unique perspective. The recruiter can relate and connect with you better in 60 seconds with a video interview than by taking ten minutes to review your cover letter, resume, and entire professional portfolio. 5. Promote Your Resume As youve no doubt discovered, having an Internet connection is vital when looking for a job, especially when using video and social media to set yourself apart from the crowd. No matter where you live in the U.S., there are DSL providers that can help make sure you have a reliable connection. You can upload your video resume to YouTube and link to it either in your resume or cover letter emails. There are also career networking sites like CareerBuilder and Jobster that offer profile fields where you can upload a video directly. Wherever you choose to host your video, make sure to include a link to it on your LinkedIn profile and anywhere else you have a dedicated job search profile. While many employers dont require video resumes, they are a great way to advertise yourself. Remember that the selection process isnt necessarily an objective one. Recruiters dont always choose the best candidates for the jobthey usually choose the ones that they like most. Do your best to leave a lasting impression during a video resume if you want to join the workforce. A video resume is a developing trend that job seekers pursue to stand out among others. A video resume gives a more precise representation of your personality or attitude than the conventional hard-copy resume. Video resumes can be easily uploaded online with a variety of tools, including YouTube, LinkedIn or Dailymotion, etc. A video resume highlights your personality for hiring managers. And here is one more awesome video resume for the road. Market Yourself with a Video Resume Price: Buy Now from Amazon We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Last Updated: March 2, 2020 What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to make a resume and cover letter that gets you hired. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search