This summer, I was fortunate enough to be able to relax and thoughtfully enter the next phase of my working life. For the first time in my life, I could take the next step in my career on my terms. After enjoying the spoils of working for myself, I was ready to join a company again. This led to me spending a handful of weeks looking for the perfect fit. As I talked to friends and browsed company websites I found myself caring about one question above all others: “What’s it like to work there?”

Read the full article here!

A job interview doesn’t start with the first question. Hiring managers begin to assess candidates from the moment they arrive. Here are the seven things they notice first about you.

Your Arrival Time

Arriving late is a serious misstep, but showing up too early could rattle your interview. Plan on showing up five to 10 minutes before the appointed time, and you’ll hit the sweet spot.

Read the full article on usnews.com!

When it comes to travel, it’s easy to get stuck in the “I’m too busy” trap. Sure, work takes up the majority of our time and scheduling vacation days can be a hassle. But as writer and avid traveler Matt Kepnes explains, changing the way you travel (weekend trips instead of several days, for example) opens up a whole world of possibilities.

Time. There just never seems to be enough of it. I mean, it’s already October. Didn’t we just celebrate the start of 2012? I feel like I was just ringing in the New Year in Thailand weeks ago! Time moves too fast (and every year it seems to just move faster)!

Time is something people always tell me they don’t have enough of and is one of the main reasons why they don’t travel as much as they would like. (Money is also an issue but I’ll cover that in depth in the coming weeks.)

Read the rest on lifehacker.com!

Many new hires are so anxious to make friends and a good impression that they often make mistakes that will leave them with neither.

To ensure this isn’t you, check out the list below of 10 things you should be cautious of when you’re the new kid on the block:

1. Don’t tell your new manager how your old manager did things.

Unless you were hired to be a change agent in your new position, your new company has little interest in how your old company handled things. Your new company has likely been successfully doing things the same way for a while, and there isn’t much that will scorch a manager’s ears like a new hire trying to change policies and procedures that have worked well.

There are two Silicon Valleys. In one, workers choose among lucrative offers from desperate employers, enjoy free food and massages at the office, and learn applied cryptography in their spare time.

In the other, the unemployment rate has shot above the national average, employers are flooded with applicants, and education must result in immediately marketable skills.

The first, elite Silicon Valley, is both the focus and birthplace of the big startups in the flourishing online education sector. Udacity and Singularity University, for example, offer courses in applied sciences to graduates and working professionals, while Udacity also targets those seeking what it calls a “university-level education.” That latter group is also targeted by Coursera and the Minerva Project.

For the other Silicon Valley, there’s LearnUp, a job-training startup launched earlier this year by two entrepreneurs who spent six months walking the unemployment lines and interviewing the Valley’s underclass. Co-founder Alexis Ringwald had successfully sold her startup Valence, which made energy management software, but was struck by the bleak economic scene around her — “High unemployment rates and vacant office buildings everywhere,” as she put it, a sharp contrast to the bustling Indian economy she’d witnessed firsthand as a Fulbright Scholar from 2006 to 2009.

Read the rest on wired.com!

Reverse write your resume

This one is no fun, but can be really effective. Forget everything you already have on your resume. Go open a new blank document. On your second screen (if you’re a LifeHacker reader, you have two screens, right?) pop open the job description of the job you’re seeking.

Now reverse chronologically write your resume, by focusing exclusively on “what have I done that the people who wrote this description will like?” If you can, match it bullet by bullet (try not to be too obvious about this). The process of building a resume from scratch that is targeted towards a particular job forces you to let go of the unnecessary material you have in your generic resume. Be a salesperson, not a fact-reciter.

Read the rest on lifehacker.com!

Via chicagoideas.com

Throughout the history of innovation and entrepreneurship, the most profound achievements havenʼt necessarily been marked by victories of technology on its own, but rather the ability to connect that technology to people in a deeply human way.

The underlying story is most often that connective tissue between the two.

People are innately narrative creatures. Dating back to the cavemen and the petroglyphs, we have recorded mundane events, moved nations to war, fallen in love, treated disease, created religion, and affected pretty much every other element of the human condition, in one way or another, through storytelling.

For this reason, story has to be central in any attempt to innovate, or build a new enterprise more broadly. Yet it is far too often the forgotten and missing piece. Some engineers might tell you that building a better mousetrap is enough, but theyʼre wrong on that one. Whether forming a startup or working on an innovation team inside a big company, entrepreneurs ought to
integrate story into their creations from the very outset, because thatʼs what ultimately moves people.

Read the rest!

Wordle is a free, online tool that generates word clouds based on text inputted by the user. This may seem like an obscure recommendation for a job seeker, but it can be immensely helpful in determining key words from a job description. It’s also a great way to visually see which keywords are most prevalent in your own resume (or cover letter).

In some cases, employers are using an electronic applicant tracking tool to determine which candidates are a good fit for their openings. If they are relying on keywords only, you can set yourself up to do better than a candidate who doesn’t do this type of analysis.

If you can cut and paste, you can use Wordle. It is an extremely simple tool to use. Once your content is pasted into the create screen, the tool analyzes the words contained in the text and creates a word cloud. The actual format of the word cloud is randomized, so it’s best to make a few changes once the cloud is created:

Read the rest on careerealism.com!

FORTUNE — A few weeks ago, at the age of 54, I announced my retirement after 30 years in the communications business. The overwhelming response to my surprising news from friends, associates and family who are at least 40-years old is “I am envious.” From the over 50 crowd, there is often the added comment of “and I am right behind you.”

For the under 40s, the response is disbelief. One friend said, “I just don’t believe you. It won’t happen.” This goes as well for the retread or failed retirees. “You will be back!” they warn.

I am not headed to Florida to play golf. I will stay active writing, serving as a director on corporate boards and a maintaining a meaningful non-profit role. But I will not be back. There is too much else that beckons and, as I have discovered, life is both precious and precarious. It needs to be lived fully.

Read the rest on http://finance.fortune.cnn.com!

Steve Jobs was an American icon and one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history. His accomplishments as the founder and CEO of Apple (AAPL) and Pixar are unmatched in modern times.

What made Jobs so successful were his unique talents and his powerful self-image. He truly believed he was special. Ironically, that same quality may have been the reason why he refused potentially life-saving surgery for pancreatic cancer, something he later regretted, according to biographer Walter Isaacson.

That’s what makes the legacy of Steve Jobs so inspiring, and yet so endearing. In his life we see greatness, but also frailty. In his speeches we find both power and humility. This was a man who did what few have done. He actually did make a dent in the universe. But, after all, he was just a man.

Read the rest on cbsnews.com!

Startup Bright.com aims to use big data to make the job-seeking process more efficient and effective.

The information technology revolution is often portrayed as a job killer. ATMs eliminate the need for bank tellers, voice-recognition software has put many stenographers out of business, and payment-processing applications will reduce the need for checkout-counter workers.

But it’s also quite possible that number-crunching machines and algorithms could help reduce the unemployment rate, by tuning up the highly inefficient job-seeking and hiring process. That’s the bet Bright.com, a Silicon Valley start-up, is making.

As we gear up to dissect another monthly jobs report, analysts overlook a largely ignored problem. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that there were 3.7 million jobs open in the U.S. at the end of July, up a mere 0.2 percent from July 2011. But only 3.2 percent of those posts were filled in the month. Why aren’t available positions being filled?

Read the rest on thedailybeast.com!

It’s the reason Steve Jobs sold millions of iPods by skipping the technical specifications and simply stating that one thousand songs could now fit in your pocket. It’s the reason trial lawyers appeal to a jury’s humanity as much as the letter of the law. It’s the reason political candidates fight to define each other’s narrative. When human beings need to persuade people about ideas, we tell stories.

In 2007, the American Association of Advertising Agencies published the results of a two-and-a-half year study that charted the effectiveness of two types of ads: ads that told a story and ads that appealed to rational reasoning. The result?

“For the most part, ads that tell stories and engage and involve consumers create stronger emotional relevance than product-centric ads,” the study concluded.

Read the rest on http://99u.com!

The world of job-seeking has been turned upside down by social media. You have unprecedented access to companies (and hiring managers), you should be building a “personal brand,” you should express personality, but not be aggressive. It can be a tough road to navigate. If you’re looking for a job and some insights about how to land one, it helps to pay attention to the experts. Below, we outline 14 career experts whom you’d be wise to follow on Twitter.

Check out this valuable list on http://mashable.com!

The HR discipline is evolving into a strategic voice because its sphere of influence — talent attraction, engagement and retention — is now recognized as the foundation to organizational success. But the pervasive influence of social media on the work world demands change in the way employers motivate and communicate with talent. We’ve seen success with a novel approach to talent engagement: an integrated HR-Marketing strategy that teams Marketing’s brand messaging savvy with HR’s internal perspective and expertise. When HR brings a communication orientation to its role, the entire company benefits. The partnership brings added value to Marketing as well. How much more effective could a CMO be if he or she knew for certain that talent would deliver on the brand promise made in every external marketing message?

We discovered the power of the HR-Marketing connection when Versant, the marketing firm that Will runs, and Xerox, where Patricia was CHRO, collaborated on several projects. Our first, in 2005, aimed to transform the way Xerox’s HR staff connected with its workforce and align Xerox employees with new business goals. Together, we developed a strategic communication plan to build HR staff engagement for this new HR orientation. Over the next two years, Xerox’s joint team worked closely with Versant to develop the creative messaging, and roll it out to the internal HR audience.

Read the full article at hbr.org!

Network After Work-Chicago – Thursday (Sept. 13th) at Bevy Nightclub

Network After Work-Chicago is a business and social networking event company. The events are created for professionals who want to expand their network, create new business opportunities, and mingle with other professionals. The events range in size from 200-600 professionals and take place in Chicago’s best bars, nightclubs, and hotels. We specialize in networking, happy hour and nightlife events.

Get more info here!

People often wonder why they never hear anything back after they hit ‘send’ on the email with a resume attached or on the on-line job application. If you’re very lucky, you might have a preliminary email exchange with a recruiter and then never hear from them again.

It’s a depressing experience, and one which also casts a shadow on the hiring company’s reputation. So why does it happen? Is it you, is it them, or is it just something every candidate must prepare for in the hiring process?

There’s no question job seekers face an uphill climb. High unemployment nationally means more competition for every position; according to a January 2012 article in the Wall Street Journal, Starbucks “… attracted 7.6 million job applicants over the past 12 months for about 65,000 corporate and retail job openings…”

Network After Work

Expand your professional network on Thursday September 13th at Bevy (215 W. Ontario) from 6-9pm. We are expecting 400 professionals to be in attendance. Complimentary Ultimat Vodka and appetizers will be served from 6-7pm. Make sure to Refer a Colleague using the link in the right column.

To RSVP please visit:
http://chicago.networkafterwork.com

Is creativity something people are just born with? For many of us, creative thinking isn’t purely intuitive—it’s also plain hard work. As writer Iris Shoor explains, coming up with fresh ideas isn’t always a natural gift—it’s a skill that can be learned.

A few days ago I was telling someone about my startup company. “How did you come up with the idea?” he asked, and added very nicely, “you must be very creative.” This line always makes me smile, as I believe being creative is not a natural gift. Every day I try not to think outside the box, but rather work hard on trying to live outside of it. I believe that creativity can be taught, and I know for a fact that I’ve become more creative over time. It’s not about finding the ‘one’ idea, but rather about using creativity to achieve everyday personal and professional goals. I use creative thinking to sell my product and ideas to people, design better, and even to overcome personal obstacles, going outside my comfort zone.

Here are some methodologies I use to come up with fresh ideas.

Read the rest on lifehacker.com!

There’s no doubt resumes can be boring—the standard black-text-on-white-paper format is nothing new to most employers or job seekers. Many professionals want to stand out from the crowd of job applicants, but they feel forced into the standard resume templates that don’t adequately display their personalities or eye for creativity.

Your resume is a powerful tool for marketing and branding yourself, and there’s no reason you need to stick to a bland template if you don’t feel it’s an effective representation of who you are as a professional. But crafting a compelling creative resume is a fine line to walk—you don’t want to come across as desperate or overdo it. Keep these three tips in mind when utilizing a creative resume for your job search:

1. Ensure It Stays Relevant.

If you’re not applying for jobs in design or other creative fields, try to avoid going too over-the-top. Remember, employers are mainly interested in your skills and experience, so remember to keep it readable and focused on what makes you employable. Though you don’t have to rule out colors altogether, colored text is often a bad idea, as it can be difficult to read. Your creative resume should be tasteful and clean, not distracting.

Read the rest on glassdoor.com!

An expert shares the mindfulness techniques that can help employees thrive.

Can you be a success in the world of business and still be mindful? What exactly does it mean to be “mindful” anyway? According to Mirabai Bush, one of the creators of a mindfulness course developed for Google employees called “Search Inside Yourself,” you will be more productive and motivated if you use respect, compassion and generosity in the workplace.

“Mindfulness has to do with paying attention to what’s happening in the moment without judgment,” said Bush. “Sometimes people think being mindful means being slow — it’s not about being slow, it’s about being slow enough that you can pay attention to things. It requires a certain intelligence to be able to focus on many things at the same time.”

Bush, who is the co-founder of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, has helped several companies benefit from mindfulness techniques, but admits it can be challenging to try to convince those in the business world to embrace things like meditation and compassion.

Read the rest on chicagotribune.com!