
Funky or Functional? The USP dilemma
Creating an effective USP ( Unique Selling Proposition ) is key for any job seeker or career changer. It a major, invaluable tool in the job search tool box and will serve as a basis for: One sentence bio either written or oral Your online professional profile tagline (120 characters with spacse on LinkedIn) Any introduction…
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Personal Branding Conflict: Who Owns Your Online Contacts
The question of who owns your online contact is a murky issue But a problem waiting to happen. Personal Branding as a career management tool for all employees and job seekers has been strongly encouraged since Tom Peters urged us all to become our own Chief Marketing Officers. Today, many employees network strategically in both their personal and professional…
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Learning difficulties in the workplace
+/- 15% of employees have moderate learning difficulties in the workplace. Although many received support during their education, when they transition into the workplace, for most that support disappears, although the issues regrettably don’t. I actually prefer the U.S. phrase “learning differences”, which covers a wide variety of challenges. This should not to be confused with any intellectual cognitive impairment which…
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Ladies, what would make you take industrial action?
I recently watched “Made in Dagenham” , a movie made about the women machinists at Ford’s Dagenham factory who downed tools in 1968, in protest that they were classed as unskilled workers, while male colleagues doing the same job were thought to be skilled and therefore paid much more for their efforts. The three-week strike brought production…
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I “link” therefore I exist! Modern connectivity
Drowning in the Google pool and sinking into oblivion Modern connectivity There was a time probably no more than 5 years ago, when I could do my job very effectively by going into my contact data base and simply picking up the phone. Those days are gone. In 2008, as world markets crashed taking many…
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Killer heels: Elevator pitch or elevated heels?
A new spin on best foot forward. Where do you stand on high heels? Women are the recipients of dozens of conflicting mixed messages every day, but none is more most confusing and troublesome than the question of those power high heels in the workplace. Are they the hallmark of a successful empowered business woman, or the…
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Why career blips are good
Career pundits encourage us, exhort us even, to aim for professional activities in which we excel or feel passionate about. But for some of us that simply isn’t possible. Oftentimes career blips can work to our advantage. Sometimes, it’s just a case of not having the skills to identify what we are good at, or feel passionate about. In other cases our passions,…
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Unfair dismissal: 8 ways to create a workplace safety net
There have never many guarantees in life as a corporate employee. But now, despite employment protection legislation, there seem to be even fewer. We live in turbulent and changing times and no one is immune. So it’s not just necessary to be strategic about career advancement, but to always have a safety net in place in case of an unexpected fall. Even minor changes which at one time might have produced a little stumble, might send you crashing to your knees
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Criteria for a strategic network
Although not an open networker, I am a strategic one and I have over time become an advocate of the theory that there is strength in a weak network. I don’t connct with just anyone and everyone, but I don’t mind if I don’t know the individual personally. That particular connection may not be directly helpful, but perhaps will be connected to someone who might be. Being naturally curious I am always open to meeting new people.
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A great divide: planned parenthood and corporate planning
Planned parenthood is commonplace for professional men and women today. Yet organisations seem to have contingency plans in place for anthing from a terroist threat to natural disasters, but not maternity leave. Why is that?
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