Writing your resume is about showing yourself in the best light. This informative infographic put together by Colorado Technical University gives tips on fonts and typefaces to make it easier for the recipient to read on a computer screen, as well as other advice for the traditional paper resume.
Paying attention to these basic elements and more can make all the difference in having a resume that gets noticed.
Posted in career
Tagged business, career, infographic, job search, personal brand, Résumé
Administrative Professionals Week this year is April 21-27, 2013.
Over many decades, the job of an administrative professional has changed dramatically thanks to new tools, and corporate culture itself. Administrators are one of the engines of business, and Administrative Professionals Day is a great time to observe the importance of administrative professionals in the workplace.
The Vancouver chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) will host their annual breakfast event on Administrative Professionals Day, Wednesday, April 24th at the Vancouver Convention Centre East, Parkview Terrace.
The event runs 7:00am-9:40am. Elaine Allison, founder of Positive Presentations Plus Inc., is this year’s guest speaker.
The theme of the 2013 Administrative Professionals Week and Day is “Honouring the office professionals who make offices work”. This theme is designed to be inclusive of not only administrative and executive assistants, but also office managers and coordinators, IT specialists, accounting and payroll clerks, and other administrative professionals in your office.
Membership in the International Association of Administrative Professionals is an investment in your future that will increase your knowledge and broaden your experience. Participating in IAAP will increase your value in the workplace by providing opportunities to learn new skills directly applicable to the office.
If interested in attending the April 24th event, click here to register.
What do you really think about your job?
According to a survey conducted by FreshGigs.ca, 61% of Canadian professionals are happy with their current job.
Do you agree with some of these trends in the workplace? Check out this infographic below.
Posted in career
Tagged Business and Economy, Canada, Employment, infographic, Job hunting
Have you ever contemplated a drastic career change? Sometimes the thought could be frightening or exhilarating. Jobs come and go. As well, specific responsibilities and the scope of some jobs change. What we want out of work also changes, with our values shifting as we get older. Are we all happy doing what we’re doing right now, this very moment? Could we think of doing anything else?
I was watching TV the other night, and caught the last 20 minutes of the classic 1984 mock ‘rockumentary’ This is Spinal Tap. This funny movie left us with many iconic pop culture lines such as “It’s like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.” and “Put it up to eleven.”
“Eleven. Exactly. One louder.”
Some of the best lines are at the end when they are running the credits. The documentary filmmaker, Marty DiBergi, played by Rob Reiner asks the bandmembers “If you could not play Rock and Roll, what would you do?” Some of the answers are hilarious, but my favourite is the exchange between Marty DiBergi and lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel played by Christopher Guest at the very end. Start watching at 4:30
Nigel Tufnel: [on what he would do if he couldn't be a rock star] Well, I suppose I could, uh, work in a shop of some kind, or… or do, uh, freelance, uh, selling of some sort of, uh, product. You know…
Marty DiBergi: A salesman?
Nigel Tufnel: A salesman, like maybe in a, uh, haberdasher, or maybe like a, uh, um… a chapeau shop or something. You know, like, “Would you… what size do you wear, sir?” And then you answer me.
Marty DiBergi: Uh… seven and a quarter.
Nigel Tufnel: “I think we have that.” See, something like that I could do.
Marty DiBergi: Yeah… you think you’d be happy doing something like-…
Nigel Tufnel: “No; we’re all out. Do you wear black?” See, that sort of thing I think I could probably… muster up.
Marty DiBergi: Do you think you’d be happy doing that?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, I don’t know – wh-wh-… what’re the hours?
I don’t know about you, I just can’t picture Nigel Tufnel being happy selling hats. 
Posted in career
Tagged career, happiness, laughter, Marty DiBergi, Nigel Tufnel, Rob Reiner, This Is Spinal Tap, Up to eleven, video
Here is some career advice we can all be reminded of:
Sometimes we let our guard down, and forget that what we share on our social networks is indexed by Google and other search engines, and our not so squeaky clean behaviour can be found online by a potential or current employer. As a golden rule, be the person online that you are offline.
With data from Jobvite, the folks at Column Five Media have put together this fantastic infographic of tips for using social media and making positive first impressions with the job seeker in mind.
Posted in career
Tagged business, career, facebook, Google, infographic, job search, personal brand, social media
On a quest for a fresh start in his career, Marc Smith has created the website 30 Day Adventures , chronicling a new adventure every day in the beautiful city of Vancouver. Followers of the blog suggest adventures that Marc can do. Right now, he is two-thirds of the way through his month long adventure.
In a recent tweet (follow Marc’s adventures at #30DayAdventures) Marc said, “I’m trying to figure out how to make this my career, it’s so fun”.
We asked Marc how he is enjoying his adventure so far.
Marc Smith and Nathan Fong
I felt stuck, and I felt that I was in the same spot, doing the same work, getting the same results, achieving the same, same, same. I knew I needed to do something different. I posted on Facebook that ‘I was having a day of being stuck’ and I needed something different to do. I had over 25 responses in under 2 hours – all of them I’d never done before, and it sparked the idea in my head that I’ve lived in Vancouver for 23 years and I had still not achieved the true Vancouver experience because there were so many things I hadn’t done yet. The next thing I know I created a website, launched 30 Day Adventures, and the floodgates of ideas just opened up. People just jumped on the ship, and away it went.
I have relearned there is nothing I can’t do. I have relearned that I really like who I am. I’ve learned that I’m actually capable of things that I didn’t think I was capable of. I didn’t think I was a photographer, and in fact I’ve said many times, that I’m not a photographer. I think I’ve taken some pretty spectacular shots in the last 20 days. I think being a good photographer is sometimes being at the right place at the right time with the right lighting. I’ve insisted that I’m not a good writer and I still don’t think I’m a great writer, but I think I’m an adequate conversationalist in text form. I’ve learned that at 43 years old, life is not even close to being over. It is actually just beginning for me.
I love the fact that people have gotten excited about this. I love the ideas that people have thrown my way. I’ve loved just the randomness of people contacting me, telling me that this has actually helped them realize that they were stuck and unhappy and they didn’t know it. This has actually inspired them to do something about it. On a personal note, I think one of the most rewarding things about this for me has been the personal emails I’ve been getting from my Mom, telling me how much she’s enjoying reading and living this adventure with me and how proud she is, so that’s been a pretty cool thing.
It’s the one that’s going to happen tomorrow. The adventure tomorrow is more exciting than the adventures I’ve done. Everything I’ve done has been great, but who knows what tomorrow brings. Who knows…
I think they’re all translatable. Everything I’ve ever done is relevant to everything I will ever do. There is nothing in my life or my work history that I don’t use in my life and my work today. All of these adventures are translatable. If I never build another website again, chance are I will manage a team that does oversee a website, I now have better insight as to what works and what doesn’t work. There are some things that you learn and some things that you do on a regular basis which resonate more than on other things and you can know them, but actually experiencing that first hand is very powerful.
I hope to gain a renewed sense of purpose. I’ve lost that. The economy, the business, the negative attitude of not myself, but so many other people, just the general malaise that’s hung over the economy in Canada in general has really taken the joy out of creating for me. I’m more energized than I’ve been in a very long time. I’m really looking forward to taking this energy and doing something with it. And doing something positive and really taking the community that’s become deeper engaged with me and the new folks that have joined and seeing what I can do with it. Seeing what we can create together.
What I don’t want to be now. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with money. And so if you look back at my journal that was kept from kindergarten until grade 8, the line was ‘what does Marc want to be when he grows up’ – It was always, ‘Marc wants to be a millionaire’. The answer today, what I want to be when I grow up – I want to be a person that loved, respected and liked. The rest of it comes.
Posted in career, Inspiration
Tagged 30 Day Adventures, career, community, empowering, inspiration, Marc Smith, personal brand, Vancouver
Next week is time to celebrate Administrative Professionals Day / Week. This is a great time to observe the importance of administrative professionals in the workplace.
Joe Fortes Restaurant is celebrating by offering a complimentary lunch for administrative professionals during the week of April 23-27. See the details here.
The Vancouver chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) will host their annual breakfast event on April 25th at the Vancouver Convention Centre West.
Doors open at 7:00 am and a plated breakfast will be served at 7:30 am, when Michelle Ray, founder of Lead Yourself First Institute, takes the podium.
The theme of the 2012 Administrative Professionals Week and Day is “Admins, the Pulse of the Office”.
Download the Administrative Professionals event info with event details and registration info.
Ask anybody how they got their last job, and the typical answer would be networking. That definition can be blurred now, from offline networking to online networking. As we know there are many useful tools out there for job seekers to help in their pursuit of new employment. This infographic from Jobvite shows some interesting statistics about the social network job search.
source: JobvitePosted in career
Tagged Employment, facebook, infographic, LinkedIn, social media, twitter
Image via Wikipedia
Research shows that people who are happy at work, are better performers, have strong relationships with colleagues, and open communication with their managers. All of this leads to high employee retention, work satisfaction and a healthy corporate culture.
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we ask you one quick question…
Posted in career
Tagged communication, corporate culture, employee retention, happiness, Valentine Day
More and more savvy job seekers are using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to help them find a job. Most people associate LinkedIn with job searches more than Facebook, but this infographic shows some interesting statistics that may surprise you. MBA Online have put together this intriguing infographic on Social Job Search – Can Facebook Get You a Job?
How did you find your last job? Feel free to share in the comments below how much of a role social media played in your last job search.
Infographic courtesy of MBA Online
Posted in career
Tagged business, career, facebook, infographic, job search, LinkedIn, social media, twitter
