Résumé Writing Tips for the New Year

Résumé Writing Tips for the New Year Résumé Writing Tips for the New Year Looking for a job in the new year? Even if you are just thinking about looking for a job, having a "ready to go" résumé is always a good plan. Here are some things to remember when prepping your 2014 résumé.1. Know your audience. Think about the position(s) you would like to target. What are the top five requirements? If you already have a copy of a job description, you can use that as a guide. If not, you can run a search on LinkedIn, Indeed or another job board to find positions similar to what you are targeting. Once you review two to three job postings, you will have a solid list of required qualifications.2. Know yourself. Now that the position requirements are clear, how does your experience match up? An effective résumé clearly establishes that you are qualified in each of the primary desired prerequisites. Your goal is to make it easy for a busy hiring manager to look at your résumé and quickly determine that you are a strong candidate for the open position. A "one si ze fits all" résumé never works as well as one that is customized to a specific role, because it requires the reader to think about how other experiences relate to desired qualifications. Hiring authorities may not take the time or have an interest in doing the extra work.3. Move beyond the duties. Most recruiters know the general duties related to careers within their specific fields. What really stands out is the impact and results you had within your career. For example, a sales associate may have duties of making outbound calls to prospective customers and documenting activity in their customer relationship management system. A more unique way of describing this same position is: "Initiated a minimum of 60 outbound calls daily to C-level professionals in the software industry. Exceeded company activity standards with an average connection rate of 20 percent. Planned and tracked sales funnel in Salesforce.com." Almost every role has a measurement of success â€" customer satisfa ction, time to complete a task, volume of activity completed, error rate or even internal performance measurement rankings. Whenever possible, list those accomplishments or the impact you made in the role.4. Consider "curb appeal." A résumé is a visual document. This means that using a layout that is organized, symmetrical, allows resting places for the eyes with good use of white space and is not overly text heavy or overly styled works best. A document that looks like a novel often scares off the reader because it looks like too much work.5. Location, location, location. Résumés are often opened first on a mobile device. Take a look at your document and see if the top one-third would entice the reader to scroll down. The most important and tailored information should be at the top to get the most attention.6. Print and review. Make changes, print and review again. Writing a résumé is not fun. It is tedious and requires thinking about a tremendous amount of detail. Furthermor e, to give you the greatest advantage, it requires customization for each position. However, the beneficiary of all of this effort is YOU. Hiring managers look at the résumé as your one chance to make a great first impression. If you take the easy way out with your résumé when you are trying to make the best impression, what will that mean when you are an employee? Take the extra time to print out and review your résumé thoroughly. Have a second person print out and review your résumé too. Then make changes and print out again. It is not uncommon that you may print out five copies before it is error free and exactly what you want.A résumé is one the most important tools for the job seeker. While it is not a joyful task for most, writing a well-crafted résumé really helps to sell why you would be an excellent employee. A great one displays commitment to making a great impression, professionalism, writing skills, attention to detail, knowledge of a desired profession and a ssessment of an individual's skills. In 2014, give yourself the gift of a great résumé. It may take a little more time â€" but the investment is worth it. Happy New Year.Robin Reshwan is the founder of Collegial Services, a consulting/staffing firm that connects college students, recent graduates and the organizations that hire them and a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE). She has interviewed, placed and hired thousands of people across a broad spectrum of companies and industries. Her career tips and advice are used by universities, national clubs/associations and businesses. A Certified Professional Résumé Writer, Robin has been honored as a Professional Business Woman of the Year by the American Business Women's Association. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and as a Regents Scholar from University of California, Davis.

Most people miss this step when making a decision

Most people miss this step when making a decision Most people miss this step when making a decision Back in 2010, I made a life-altering decision. At the time, I was a practicing lawyer at a litigation firm in San Francisco. I loved living in the Bay Area and working with a great group of lawyers, but I had grown tired of thinking of my life in six-minute billable increments. I began thinking about leaving the practice of law entirely and entering academia.I spent  months  agonizing over the decision, manufacturing every pro-and-con list imaginable, and consulting numerous people (who inevitably gave me conflicting advice).Enter analysis paralysis. It felt easier to do nothing- to maintain the status quo- than to take a leap of faith.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!  I know I’m not alone here. When we’re about to make an important decision, we demand perfect information and absolute certainty. We don’t start walking forward until we find an approach that’s guarant eed to work (and preferably one that comes with job satisfaction and a six-figure salary).There are several causes of analysis paralysis, but I’m going to focus on one here: A false assumption that each decision we make is final and irreversible.If we take a leap into the unknown, we assume there’s no turning back. If we take a new job, if we move to a new city, if we buy a new house- and things don’t work out the way we hoped- we believe life as we know it will come to an end.But here’s the thing: Not all decisions are created equal. There’s a difference between what Jeff Bezos  calls  irreversible one-way door decisions and reversible two-way door decisions.Contrary to our assumptions, most of our excursions into the unknown come with a two-way door. As Richard Branson writes, “You can walk through, see how it feels, and walk back through to the other side if it isn’t working.” You just have to leave the door unlocked.This was the epiphany that propelled me forward when I was struggling with whether to leave my job. I was assuming this was a one-way door decision, but the assumption was false. I hadn’t burned any bridges. I had built solid connections and could always go back to practicing law, if not at the same law firm then somewhere else. In other words, I could walk through the door of academia, and if I didn’t like what I saw, I could turn around and walk back out.This was the approach Richard Branson followed when he launched his new airline, Virgin Atlantic, back in 1984. Motivated to avoid joining numerous failed airlines littering aviation history, Branson struck a deal with Boeing that allowed him to return the first plane he bought if his airline didn’t take off. Branson took what looked like a one-way door and turned it into a two-way door, allowing him to walk out if he didn’t like what he saw.To be sure, some decisions  are  the irreversible, one-way kind. There’s no turning back from having children or betting your c ompany on a major investment. For these decisions, careful and methodical deliberation is necessary before you take the plunge.But the vast majority of decisions we make fall into the two-way door category. When walking back out is possible, you don’t need to put yourself through an agonizing decision-making process or get tied up in months of approval through the corporate hierarchy. It’s easier to decide quickly, enter the room, and walk back out if you don’t like what you see.The next time you’re making a decision, ask yourself,  Is this a one-way door or a two-way door?  If it’s a two-way door, decide and move quickly.If it appears as a one-way door, ask yourself whether your interpretation is correct. Most decisions that initially appear to be irreversible are actually two-way doors masquerading as one-way doors.If you look carefully, you may find a doorknob hiding on the other side. And if you don’t find a doorknob, you can always take a page from Branson’s playb ook and create one.Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned law professor and bestselling author.  Click here  to download a free copy of his e-book, The Contrarian Handbook: 8 Principles for Innovating Your Thinking. Along with your free e-book, you’ll get the Weekly Contrarian - a newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and changes the way we look at the world (plus access to exclusive content for subscribers only).This article originally appeared on Ozan Varol.  You might also enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people

5 Companies Committed to Supporting Women in the Workplace

5 Companies Committed to Supporting Women in the Workplace 5 Companies Committed to Supporting Women in the Workplace In the wake of International Women’s Day, #MeToo and #TimesUp, it’s no surprise that equality for women in the workplace is a hot topic these days. From equal pay to hiring to promotion and advancement, many prominent companies are under fire for not having women’s best interests in mind, or only taking action when it becomes a scandal. So before this year’s celebration begins, we want to take a moment to recognize a few companies that are going above and beyond to proactively address gender pay gaps and overcome blind spots in women’s struggle for equality in the workplace. Here are five companies that are putting real efforts toward supporting women and making the workplace more equitable: HubSpot, a frequent winner of Glassdoor’s   Best Places to Work ,  brings some seriously female-friendly benefits packages to the often overworked industry of marketing, which includes 16 weeks of paid parental leave and family planning benefits, flexible and remote work arrangements, and unlimited time off. HubSpot is also one of only 20 percent of companies with three female board members and has put a lot of resources into its “How to Become a Board Member” microsite, which features advice on how to become a not-for-profit or corporate board member. IBM has been promoting women in the workforce for decades now - or centuries, if you want to count their   first female hire in 1899  - but one of their biggest achievements came with the announcement of female CEO Ginni Rometty in 2012 and CHRO Diane Gherson in 2013. The company was also named a 2018 Catalyst Award winner for leadership in advancing women in business, specifically focusing on technical women’s career development and advancement. Bain & Company, this year’s #1 Best Place to Work , has also been hard at work helping women in the workplace. The Boston-based company offers eight weeks paid parental leave for all new parents, as well as a number of benefits around fertility and adoption services. The company also supports the advancement of women, mothers and parents by offering flexible schedules and employee-resource groups for parents and caregivers. A reported 66 percent of women  at Bain are in formal mentoring programs focused on advancement. Bon Secours Virginia Health System was recognized by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) as a Top 10 Not-for-Profit for working moms because half of the registrants in the hospital system’s high-potential executive program called Next Generation High Potential are women. The not-for-profit was also recognized in 2018 for having flexible benefits for moms and parents because, in most jobs, employees caring for dependents are able to move from full to part-time to on-call working hours without penalty, and paid leave, medical and dental benefits are provided for employees who work as few as 16 hours per week. As the company makes strides towards eliminating unconscious bias in the workplace, it’s worth noting that Starbucks is 10 years deep into the process of ending pay differences among employees and last year announced it has achieved 100 percent pay equity for women, men and underrepresented minorities. The company has also increased the opportunities for full- and part-time employees to have access to health, education and paid sick leave benefits. This list is a great start, but if you want to make a difference and advocate for women in your workplace, consider asking your organization to take the pay equity pledge or analyze its own gender pay gap .

20 Companies With Tough (But Fair) Interview Processes

20 Companies With Tough (But Fair) Interview Processes 20 Companies With Tough (But Fair) Interview Processes For many job seekers, the interview process is the most stressful aspect of the job search. It can be even more intimidating to prepare if you know you’re applying to a company that’s notoriously tough on interviewing . How hard really will the interview be? Will it last for hours? How many stages are there? Don’t panic! We’ve compiled 20 companies with challenging interview processes along with accounts and advice from job seekers who went through the interview stages and received an offer, so you can know how to anticipate and nail the interview . It’s true, these interviews may be difficult for the uninformed job seeker; but by the end of the list, you’ll be prepared to walk into the interview with an edge on the competition . Interview Difficulty: 4.13/5 Job Seekers Roles Hiring For: Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Innovation Office, Human Resources Representative, YouVersion Copywriter, Financial Reporting Director, LeadershipXP Coordinator & more. What   Job Seekers Say: “ I had a brief initial phone interview. After that I was requested to have an in-person panel interview. After being selected for a final panel interview, I was also asked to complete extensive testing prior to that interview. This whole process took about 3 weeks.” Roles Hiring For: Staff Accountant, Software Engineer, Helpdesk Support Engineer What   Job Seekers Say: “ Overall, positive and reasonable interview experience. First, there’s online test. The test is quite interesting and challenging and consists of questions (mostly multiple choice) about intricacies of specific programming language. Then, there was an in-person interview with 2 engineers (panel-style), which lasted a couple of hours. Interview questions were very reasonable, such as design an algorithm that had to do with file system and actually only pseudo-code was required. General questions about your technical interests, etc. Language-specific and data structure questions, but nothing hard. Then, 1 hour conversation with their CEO, mostly about your professional background and about what company is doing/its direction. Employees/managers were friendly, nice and positive. Company culture seemed to be relaxed/casual and welcoming diversity.” Roles Hiring For: Business Development Representative, Product Marketer, Corporate Account Executive, Sales Operation Manager, Marketing Operations Manager & more. What   Job Seekers Say: “ The interview process was very well thought out. I felt like it was a fair evaluation of my abilities meanwhile allowing me to get to know the people, vision, and work. 1. Algorithmic phone screen with an engineer. 2. Timed take home coding exercise. 3. On-site interview: The night before, I had a casual conversation over dinner with the CEO and two engineers. The day-long interview involved design and implementation of a feature. Afterwards, I had dinner with the CEO and other employees.” Roles Hiring For: Director, Venture for America Class of 2019 Fellow, Marketing Associate, Marketing Manager & more. What   Job Seekers Say: “ As many have said here: first, you fill out an application with basic information about yourself and a few essay questions. Then, there is a 30-minute Skype interview that’s very straightforward and features a number situational and behavioral questions as well as why you’re interested in VFA. Finally, there is Selection Day, which is a day-long process of individual activities, group tasks, and an individual interview. The group interview is intense; candidates are asked to work together for a limited number of time to solve problems and puzzles, create pitches, come to a consensus about a business or ethical issue, etc. The judges are harsh and grill each candidate about his/her decisions and ask candidates to rank the other. In the individual interview, the judges loosen up and just want to know about your interest in VFA and other things about yourself. (Afterward, there is a happy hour for candidates!)” Roles Hiring For: Turnaround and Restructuring Director, Talent Recruitment Associate Enterprise Improvement, Recruiting Manager â€" Enterprise Improvement, Digital â€" CIO Advisory, IT Transformations, Security Assessment Analyst & more. What   Job Seekers Say: “ After submitting the online application one week, I got the first HR screen interview, and then they arranged me to talk with Director, finished assessments, and phone interviewed with a psychologist. The last round was in their office with two interviews and lunch with the team. The whole process is very smooth and quick. I usually got their feedback right after the interviews and knew what’s the next steps. The interviewers are very nice and professional.” Interview Difficulty: 3.56/5   Interviewers Roles Hiring For: Lead Product Designer, Head of Growth, Demand Generation Manager, Account Executive, Quiz Master & more. What   Job Seekers Say: “ I had a fantastic experience with Triplebyte and highly recommend it if you’re looking for an engineering job with a startup. It was a 3 step process for me: a quick online quiz, a 1-hour coding session and a final 2-hour coding session. The coding sessions could be done over video chat or in-person at the SF office. After the process, Triplebyte worked with me to create a list of startups that I found interesting and reached out to them on my behalf â€" taking care of things like scheduling and flights. They also helped me understand how the companies are doing and compare offers.” Roles Hiring For: French-Proficient Research Analyst, Russian-Proficient Research Analyst Intern, Farsi-Proficient Research Analyst, Spanish-Proficient Research Analyst, Japanese-Proficient Research Analyst & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ I had three different interviews. The first interview was in Los Angeles with a senior research analyst, the second was over the phone with a managing director, and the third took place in Los Angeles at the request of the company with a panel of three interviewers (the first two and the CEO). Each interview lasted between 1-2 hours and I completed a language proficiency test at the end of the first interview. I was very impressed by the thorough nature of the interviews and the questions that were asked. It was obvious that the company is very demanding of its employees, but in a very positive manner that produces an exciting work environment.” Roles Hiring For: Contract Buyer, Modeling and Simulation Engineer, Deputy Director of New Shepard Design, Cleaning, Passivation and Verification Technician (Lead), Sr. Director, Program Management & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ It is a grind. Don’t walk into this interview without studying. You will be tested with everything from Bernoulli’s principle to spaceflight history. The interview is with 5-6 engineers and managers who will each be given time to speak with you and evaluate different skills you are expected to have for the job. you will have to give a presentation and will go to lunch with a small group of people from the team you are interviewing for. They are evaluating you for your technical knowledge, as well as your cultural fit in the company.” Roles Hiring For: Affiliate Marketing Account Manager â€" Arabic Speaking, Account Manager, Affiliate Marketing / Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition Specialist / Recruiter, Senior Associate, Affiliate Marketing, Partner Manager/Director & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ The interview process was pretty standard. I had a phone interview with their HR department, followed by an assignment that I needed to complete to confirm if the team wanted to move forward with interviewing me. Next I had a video interview with two folks from the team. Following that I had to put together a presentation that I shared with the three team members that I’d previously met. “ Roles Hiring For: Certified Recovery Specialist, Physical Therapist, Controller, Billing Communication Specialist, Chiropractor & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ The interview process at Airrosti was rigorous, thorough and fun. Very interesting, meet a lot of people, all of them very enthusiastic and passionate about Airrosti. For my position it was a 6 steps interview process: 1 â€" Phone interview with Recruiter. 2 â€" Appointment in one of the clinics, for complementary treatment and to get to know more about Airrosti. 3 â€" Phone interview with Hiring Manager. 4 â€" In person interview with Hiring Manager and VP. 5 â€" Assessment. 6- D-Day, interview with VP of HR, President & COO, CEO, CFO and breakfast with the Finance team. It was a very long process, but the recruiter kept me informed and updated all the time during the process. Even though there were a lot of interview and time spent during the process, it is all worth it. The experience you get and the people you meet through the process are amazing.” Roles Hiring For: Trainee Recruitment Consultant, Marketing Automation Specialist, Events and Communities Marketing Lead, Compliance Coordinator, IT Recruitment Consultant & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ The recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn, then we scheduled a phone interview that lasted about an hour. The next step was a skype interview with two different managers that lasted close to three hours. The skype interview consisted of get to know you questions, and a sales role play activity. The final step in the interview process was an in person interview in the office that lasted about 6 hours. During this interview there was a work sample, lunch with someone who works at the company, a presentation to a few managers, and an intense interview. Overall this was the best and most in depth interview process I have ever gone through. By the time I was offered the position I felt sure SThree would be a good fit because of how much I knew about the company and how much they knew about me.” Roles Hiring For: Quantitative Researcher, Software Developer, Quantitative Research Intern, Quantitative Trader, Linux Engineer & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ 2 phone rounds + onsite (5 interviews of about 1 hour each); fit was only measured implicitly, most of the time was spent doing math questions. Two of the five onsite interviews were collaborative with the other person applying for the internship that day. Problems generally speaking had some sort of tricky edge/corner case to take into account; interviewers look for your ability to identify such cases and to be critical of your own first intuitions. Although there was no explicit fit portion of my interview, personality seems to be evaluated at least implicitly. Also key is keeping cool / staying calm yet not overconfident.” Roles Hiring For: IT Intern, Office Services Assistant, ATI Practice â€" Senior Business Analyst & Associate, Recruiting Administrative Assistant Intern, Manager, Digital Transformation & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ The process consisted of two phone interviews (each with a fairly basic case study) and an all-day interview in Chicago that included 5-7 face to face interview, case studies and lunch with the other interviewees and members of the interviewing team. The interviewers tended to focus on past experiences, the ability to communicate and 3-4 case studies.” Roles Hiring For: Medical Director, Clinical Products â€" Healthcare Analytics, New Ventures, Executive Support Assistant, Senior Software Architect â€" Communications, Digital Content Manager, Expert â€" Transformation Management Office & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ Two stage process: (1) Paper-based problem-solving test. Can’t really prepare for it â€" just show up and do the paper test. (2) Had a power round of 4 x 1hr interviews at the local McKinsey office â€" was with 2 partners and 2 engagement managers. (Typically, there are two rounds of interviews - but they decided to collapse it into a single interview.   Standard interview format â€" personal / behavioral interview and then a standard McKinsey case (command and control structure). One of the partner interviews threw me a curveball â€" the partner decided to do away with the case and just asked me about the latest periodical that I had read. And then we had a deep conversation about that.” Roles Hiring For: Product Manager â€" Content Distribution, Engineering Manager â€" Machine Learning Infrastructure, Product Manager â€" Ads, Site Reliability Engineer â€" Machine Learning Systems, Technical Sourcer & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ A phone screen with the recruiter. Another phone screen with one data engineer. Chatted about research, stats and engineering. Onsite interviews: 1 whiteboard coding interview. 1 data practical with iPython notebook. 2 project experience and culture fit. The whole process is very pleasant and timely. I really enjoyed it. I got the offer a couple of days after the interview.” Roles Hiring For: Happiness Engineer, Marketing Data Analyst, Search Wrangler, Data Engineer, Controller & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ After submitting an application, it took about two weeks to hear back (which I understand is pretty quick). Then we had a Skype interview which went well. I was put on a paid trial period where I got to work on a project, after which it was reviewed. Then I had a final interview with the CEO and got the nod to get hired. Bit of a strange process, but it went well!” Roles Hiring For: Executive Assistant, Manager Assistant, Knowledge Management Specialist (Energy & Natural Resources), Senior Specialist â€" Primary Research, Global Recruiting Associate & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ The process began with a resume drop. I was then invited for a first round interview on campus. Prior to the interview there was a case workshop and a current Associate Consultant gave me a practice case. The first round consisted of 2 30 minute interviews. Nearly all the time was spent on the cases, with only a few minutes to ask questions. Was invited to the office for a second round interview, which consisted of 4 30 minute interviews. 3 of these interviews were cases similar to those in the first round, and the 4th interview was behavioral.” Roles Hiring For: Senior Sales Engineer, Enterprise Account Executive, Sales Development Representative What Job Seekers  Say: “ I was first sent an automated coding test on Codility. After a 100% on that, a recruiter e-mailed me and asked me to submit a 5-minute screencast on a “side project” done outside of a university or a bootcamp. A few days later, I had a 30-minute technical phone interview which covered topics on web applications. I was invited for an on-site about two weeks later, which consisted of a pair programming session followed by three non-technical culture fit interviews. The next day, I had a meeting with the CEO and received a verbal offer before leaving the office.” Roles Hiring For: Agile Coach, Senior Linux Database Administrator, Agile / Scrum Program Manager, Senior Linux Systems Administrator What Job Seekers  Say: “ First round interview was on-campus. After that, I was invited to the office for the second round interview with various members of the management team and former Operations Associates. Questions were largely behavioral but there were also case-style questions and basic technical discussions about prior classes. After the interviews, I was asked for references and then was made the offer. It was one of the slower interview timelines compared to other companies but also the most thorough.” Roles Hiring For: Lead Scrum Master, Lead Software Engineer, Big Data Engineer, Senior QA Engineer, Product Manager & more. What Job Seekers  Say: “ The interview process was a full day agenda: check-in, breakfast, a tour, and multiple interviews (3 for mine). From the beginning to the end you feel welcomed and you receive a gracious glimpse of the everyday culture. The interviews with the three employees of the department for which you are applying lasted around 45 minutes. Each interviewer had a different theme or purpose to their interview. One would just analyze your resume and get to know your background and experiences. Another would test your skills with a few on paper coding tests. The last would ask interesting questions just to understand your thought process.”

How to Turn Childhood Activities into a Dream Job

How to Turn Childhood Activities into a Dream Job How to Turn Childhood Activities into a Dream Job 1 “Your childhood is a great time to consider, as it provides insight into who you are and what you enjoy,” says Porschia Parker, founder of  Fly High Coaching.  â€œFor the most part, children are authentic and true to themselves.  Thinking about your childhood can help you reconnect with yourself and a time before being hit with societal and peer pressure.  You didn’t worry about if random people would approve of your life, income, and hobbies. Getting back to these interests will help you have more fun and create a life you love!” To get the ball rolling, reflect on your answers to the question below about your childhood. Focus on brainstorming and honesty at this point rather than making judgments about practicality. What could I do for hours and lose track of time? What did I want to be when I grew up, and why did I change my mind? Which tasks or school subjects came easy to me? Which topics did I most enjoy learning about in class or on my own? What were my favorite toys? Who were my favorite people to hang around? Who did I grow up admiring? Why? What awards did I win? What positive comments were on my report cards? Look for common themes emerging. Also, take note of which memories particularly bring a smile to your face. Both may hold insight to your true passions. Now comes the challenging part- matching your interests to available jobs. Just because you built awesome models of the solar system as a kid doesn’t mean you’re cut out to be an astronaut nowadays. However, you might be great at teaching science, working at a planetarium, conducting scientific research, or editing science fiction books. If you enjoyed spending Saturday afternoons baking cookies with your grandmother, perhaps you’d do well in a culinary profession, as a recreational director at a nursing home, or as a home eldercare aide. Still remembered as the class clown? Perhaps you’re destined to write humorous blogs or create public service ads that audiences will actually find interesting. Once you have some ideas about who will pay you for what you like to do, research things like salaries, educational qualifications, and future outlook. Talk to people who hold jobs you find fascinating. If you discover yourself bursting with questions and excitement like a second grader, chances are you’ve found a good match- maybe even your dream job. Start looking for your dream job today!  You can search for jobs in over 50 different job categories here!   Readers, what childhood activities would you like to turn into a  dream job? Which would you pick? Share with us below!

How to create a workplace culture of acceptance

How to create a workplace culture of acceptance How to create a workplace culture of acceptance This week I would like to include David Mesa’s ideas and opinions about creating a workplace culture of acceptance in my article. David Mesa, Chief Development Officer of  PJ’s Coffee, an experienced leader with over 25 years at the management level has created robust company culture through building trust, acceptance and understanding with his team members. His tips on how others can do the same below:Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!   Lead with Optimismâ€"  It is important to set the tone from the top. Ensure employee relations, whether it be a meeting or a one-off email, are done in a positive tone that shows you believe in the outputs and capabilities of your team members. This leads to employee empowerment and employee retention in the long term. One way to do so is to start each morning by sending your team members a positive and encouraging email, this will set them off on a high note for the rest of the day. Encourage Mistakesâ€" While detrimental mistakes should be avoided, trying new things that don’t turn out can be a great opportunity for growth. Mesa, takes a very hands-off approach by delegating and then encouraging autonomy. When employees come with questions, he will encourage them to try to find their own answer first. He encourages other leaders to do the same. While mistakes often occur, the learning associated with them can spark innovation. Allow Dissenting Ideasâ€" Mesa encourages his team members to buck tradition and take a leap of faith on new ideas knowing that stagnancy and resting on laurels is often what leads to an organization’s downfall. To make sure creativity is always top of mind, put together structured brainstorms these should be both planned and at the drop of a hat to keep employees fresh and enthralled. Make Collaboration an Everyday Experienceâ€" Collaboration allows team members to open up in a way that may not always be possible when honing in on projects. This helps to create natural trust. To help build this collaboration into everyday create small teams that work interdependently on projects. This article originally appeared on Personal Branding Blog.  You might also enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people

50% of Americans not taking a summer vacation cant afford it

50% of Americans not taking a summer vacation 'can’t afford it' 50% of Americans not taking a summer vacation 'can’t afford it' While workers in certain cities tend to check in with work the most while on vacation, some don’t even make it to this point.A  new Bankrate survey showed that while 49% of Americans say they aren’t “planning a summer vacation” this year - half of them  saying it’s because they just “can’t afford it.”Why people aren’t taking leisure time away from work this summerHere are the results among those say they aren’t planning a vacation. People weren’t limited to one choice, and only the most common reasons are listed below (although there were others). “Can’t afford it:” 50% “Family duty:” 25% “Can’t take time off work:” 22% “Other vacation plans:” 6% “Health/age:” 4% “Don’t want to:” 4% “Retired:” 1% How much cash Americans plan to drop on vacation this yearSurprisingly, the highest percentage of Americans who say they’ll be going on vacation this year say they plan to spend between $1 and $500, at 27%(percentages were rounded, so the total is not 100%). $1-500: 27% $501-1,000: 25% $1,001-2,000: 21% $2,001+: 24% Most Americans want to use all of their time offBankrate found that within the pool of Americans with paid time off, the largest percentage of them said they were aiming to use all the time off they have this year, at 36% (percentages were rounded, so the total is not 100%). “All:” 36% “Almost all:” 19% “About half:” 18% “About a quarter:” 13% “None” (meaning, taking no time off “even if it’s paid time off”): 13% GfK Custom Research North America did the survey for Bankrate, and “the sample consists of 1,000 completed interviews.“