Book Reviews, Comments & Stories, Quotes, & Poetry & More
"Connections and Why They Matter"
Most of what happens in our life will spark a connection. Life connects with what has been found in books. Books connect with what happens in life. Use the connections to help you see more clearly. A love of reading and writing is what motivated the creation of this blog. Thank you for coming to the blog.
Resume key points include names, titles, companies, start & end dates, keywords, and education, and these may all be seen by a potential employer
who may only spend 6 - 7 seconds scanning the resume to decide whether to spend more time.
Job titles are important because they allow members of your own and other organizations to know the type of work you do and your experience level. If you are looking for a job, the job title is the most vital message initially seen on your resume and serves multiple purposes, but it needs to describe the duties you performed.
If your job title is unique and vague, consider adding corresponding traditional tags next to yours in parentheses on resumes and LinkedIn profiles which will help match employers’ keyword searches.
A good time to consider the strength of your job title is each time your job changes by adding new responsibilities. Asking to have the job title changed or expanded to include the additional burden will be an essential way to show your job growth and track record on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
The word career change is so common today that it might be considered a buzzword regarding today’s employment situation. Career change is taking on a role that differs from your recent work experience. This includes involuntary changes driven by circumstances and changes pursued to improve quality of life, job satisfaction, or remuneration. Both big decisions and thinking of them as being labeled by a buzzword seem disrespectful.
Everyone, not just the job seekers, probably are wondering where we are really at with the economy and all the changes that have taken place.
Business articles on “Holistic” hiring and employee focus emphasize that the real focus, almost sacred, is on win-win situations. With the coming expansion of new jobs, this seems optimistic, but how do you get an exact fit for a job that hasn’t been tried and tested?
A new term trending is “Great Resignations.” This term is accompanied by other business articles suggesting that 25% to 40% of those holding or looking for jobs want to change careers. This seems like bad news for those looking and trying to find a fit for themselves or restaffing for companies—another example of labeling a problem before it has even been defined.
Will this term become a part of our buzzword vocabulary? It likely will continue as long as workers aren't paid properly. Job hopping may have a bad reputation among employers, but employees say it's born out of a lack of financial and emotional support at work.
Do “Buzzwords” help our understanding of the worlds we live in? Many buzzwords seem to focus on a segmented part of our world, which only means that the world's intent is better understood by those familiar with that segment. A question as to whether the use of buzzwords is just a shortcut to glossing over a subject or the inability to explain it seems implied.
For example, if the advice you get is to take a “deep dive” into the “customer journey” experience and draw conclusions about the “impact” on “ROA,” then are you getting any direction on where to start the process?
It depends on the “core competency” of the person asking the question and the one trying to act on it. That will probably require that “synergy” exist. (Forgive the author for this “tongue and cheek” “pun.”
Examples of Buzzwords
Synergy.
Return on investment.
Customer journey.
Deep dive.
Impact.
Ballpark.
Core competency.
Visibility.
Holistic
So when you add up all these buzzwords, the conclusion as to their actual value in communication could be more precise. They can be used, to sum up, but they also can be used to cover up. Your choice of buzzwords doesn’t matter nearly as much as your understanding, and you plan to act on that understanding. Decide what you want to do. Listen carefully to those you meet while working on the plan, and don’t be discouraged if your result isn’t felt to be a “holistic” experience by the company.
A job can be just working to earn a paycheck, and your current position in those cases has nothing to do with your last job or your next job.
A career means that each of your jobs, experiences, and training programs is helping you advance in pay or responsibility. The sequence of employment you have built on each other makes the next job more valuable if you use good career planning.
People often want to know if they can easily change jobs in midlife, and the answer is that it is easier to change jobs than to change careers.
The fundamental difference between a job and a career is your attitude about your work. People who want a career are always thinking about their long-term goals.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, Beethoven composed music, and Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say,
“Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
Sales skills are hard and soft skills that help a professional successfully sell a company's goods and services to third parties. Organizations that base their business on clients or customers buying their products or services rely on sales professionals to generate transactions constantly.
Hard selling skills are easier to teach and measure and have to do the technical side of a product. Product knowledge is needed as an understanding of why the product works.
Soft skills are sometimes harder to define, but they include how effectively the salespeople relate and communicate with others, especially customers. Critical soft skills have emotional intelligence, communication skills, charisma, confidence, and more. Selling is so people-centric and emphasizes the human element in services.
To sell a product, you usually need to understand the technical side of the product to help the customer see what he wants the product to be available. Then to finish the job and help the customer understand that the technical benefits will not only be the ones he wants but that the product offered is desirable and the right product requires soft skills in presentation, communication, and instilling confidence.
