How to Brand Yourself in 14 Short Steps Wondering how to brand yourself? One of the best ways to articulate your skills, experience, knowledge, and overall worth in today's competitive job market is to create a personal brand that helps you stand out in the crowd. According to management expert and author Tom Peters, "We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer of a brand called You." This article explores 14 steps to branding yourself successfully. Step 1: Determine your unique value proposition Spend some time thinking ... view article details

Somerset Maugham said, 'The unfortunate thing about this world is that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones.' Being constantly late and spending the majority of your work day playing computer games are bad habits that can put the kibosh on job advancement. But did you know that some bad habits actually have good effects? The following 12 habits may get a bad rap, but they may also have a positive impact on your career.Procrastinating Today's work culture expects us to multitask, run from one project to the next, and constantly... view article details

Get a Tan & a Raise If the winter of 2013-2014 felt like one of the worst on record in your town, it probably was. The amount of snow in Chicago and New York City was in the top 10 all time, while Minneapolis had 50 days with temperatures below zero (and not surprising, reported 225 cases of frostbite). And even if you tried to escape it, the number of canceled flights was the worst in two decades.In other words, bring on summer!However, just because you can finally exchange your snowsuit for your swimsuit, it doesn’t mean you should ignore your career for the next few months.Here are... view article details

Volunteering Has Many Benefits Millennials love to volunteer. Why? In short, it makes them happy. But surprisingly, college students and young professionals also lead the pack in volunteerism as a means of developing themselves professionally.In fact, an employer’s involvement in causes was cited in the 2014 Millennial Impact Report as the third most important factor when determining whether to apply for a job. And a Deloitte study found that Millennials who frequently participated in workplace volunteer activities were more likely to be proud, loyal, and satisfied employees.Millennia... view article details

You Only Get One Chance to Make a Good First Impression Finding a great job can be a challenge. But once you land that dream job, you need to realize the real challenge is still looming in the distance.Sure, take a moment to pat yourself on the back and celebrate getting hired. Good for you! But if you want to lay the groundwork for short- and long-term job success, you can’t relax and become complacent.It’s possible to get your future co-workers to take notice of you before you even start your new job. You can confirm why you were chosen for your position without stepping foot in the... view article details

Are Your New Year's Resolutions Not So New (or Resolved)? It’s March. Raise your hand if you remember the resolutions you made on New Year’s Eve. Anyone? C’mon now. Just one.Hmmm. That’s what I thought. New year’s resolutions are for new years. Once the year has lost its newness, March rolls around along with streets full of icky, melted snow and we tend to lose the fresh-faced, 'bring on the change!' attitude we had back in January.What happened to all that enthusiasm? Productivity guru David Allen wisely pointed out making resolutions at the end of the year may not be such a good id... view article details

Don't Check Out During the Holidays When you look at your career calendar, it’s easy to see December as a forgotten month. You stumble into the first week fresh off a Thanksgiving food and shopping hangover, and once the 20th hits, you’re days away from Christmas, which rolls directly into New Years. The “out of office for the rest of the year” and “let’s touch base in January” replies fly fast and furiously.But before you put on your Santa hat, take a moment to cross off a few things on your wish list and propel your career forward.7. Summarize Your Accomplishments I consist... view article details

In October 2008, the U. S. Labor Department reported the tenth straight month of job losses. With the current economic situation, it can be anticipated that this trend will continue. Most industries are expected to suffer although jobs in security, health care, the environmental sector, energy and education are expected to fare somewhat better. So how do you manage your career through an economic crisis? The best thing to do in uncertain times is to prepare yourself for the worst case scenario. Stay where you are – if you can During a recession, even if you are unhappy with your current emplo... view article details

This summer, Americans were paying, on average, $4.09 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline to fuel the vehicles they rely on to get to and from work everyday. This represents an increase of $1.14 over the same time last year.Salary.com™ set out to calculate just how much the escalating cost of commuting to work is eating into the average worker's take home pay. To accomplish this, we established some reasonable criteria.The average worker travels, round-trip, 29 miles each day. Vehicle fuel economy varies, but we will assume an average fuel efficiency rate of 18.8 miles per gallon. We will... view article details

In October 2008, the U. S. Labor Department reported the tenth straight month of job losses. With the current economic situation, it can be anticipated that this trend will continue. Most industries are expected to suffer although jobs in security, health care, the environmental sector, energy and education are expected to fare somewhat better. So how do you manage your career through an economic crisis? The best thing to do in uncertain times is to prepare yourself for the worst case scenario.Stay where you are – if you can During a recession, even if you are un... view article details