You’ve got your eye on an amazing opportunity. You update your resume, perfect your cover letter, and line up your references. So far, you’re doing everything right. But before you submit your application documents, ask yourself this important question: What sets me apart?

You may have an extraordinary cover letter and resume with strong references. Great—but there will probably be other candidates with very comparable documents. So if you really want the gig, you have to be bold and prove your worth—before you’re asked to.

When I was a college student and member of the campus newspaper staff, I participated in interviewing a candidate for Director of Student Publications. While perusing her application materials, I noticed something unique: a newsletter she created announcing her hiring. It demonstrated her design and writing ability, and it made a bold statement about her desire for the job—which she got.

I still remembered that director about 10 years later, when I really wanted an open position with my alma mater, but assumed there would be other qualified individuals who wanted it, too. I asked myself what I could do—beyond writing a standout cover letter and resume—to showcase my abilities.

I ended up developing and submitting a program proposal that demonstrated my ability to plan an event grounded in theory and research, my strong writing skills, and my ability to think creatively. Less than three weeks later, I started in the new role. The proposal had served the exact purpose I wanted it to: It caught the hiring committee’s attention, confirmed my abilities, and showed a level of drive and enthusiasm that none of the other candidates demonstrated in quite the same way.

To be bold in your job search, you need to provide quality information to your potential employer beyond what a standard cover letter and resume convey. However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. My approach for a position in higher education probably wouldn’t work at a corporate accounting firm. So, how do you make this work for you and your unique situation? It comes down to simply providing evidence that you are the ideal fit. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Submit a “Pain Letter”

Follow the advice of Liz Ryan, and substitute a pain letter for your cover letter. A pain letter identifies a challenge the company is facing and explains how you, if hired, would solve that problem. This demonstrates an uncommon depth of company knowledge and your unique ability to solve problems—which can seriously boost your appeal as a candidate.

2. Connect With an Insider

Don’t rely on a recruiter to understand your value solely based on what you put on paper as your cover letter and resume. Find someone influential on the inside of the company and send your information directly to that person—or, depending on the relationship you form, ask that person to vouch for you. It’s a gutsy move (especially if you have no prior connection to that person), but a personal reference almost always results in a higher success rate than relying solely on your cover letter and resume to get you the job.

There are a variety of ways to connect with that influencer: Try connecting on LinkedIn, joining a professional organization he or she is a member of, or use your personal network to garner an introduction. Then, continue forging that connection by conveying your passion and the value you can bring to the role.

You could send an email or LinkedIn message, for example, that says:

Hi, John,

I was researching your company because I am applying for the open marketing position there, and I came across your profile on LinkedIn. I saw that you recently published a post about the BuzzFeed approach to viral content. I’m sending a link to a website I helped develop as a marketing intern for my university’s Division of Student Life, which used a BuzzFeed approach.

As you can see from the data I’ve included, it increased traffic to online campus resources by 25%, supporting your theory. I thought this site might be an interesting resource for you. I would be happy to provide you with more details if you are interested, and I would greatly value your support in my pursuit of the marketing position.

With this, you’re making a meaningful connection, without just asking for a favor.

3. Showcase Your Skills

A cover letter and resume can only go so far to describe what you can do; a portfolio provides concrete evidence of those abilities. Have you done a lot of writing in your previous roles? Don’t just tell an employer that you have strong writing skills on your resume; include samples of your writing in your portfolio.

You can bring this portfolio with you to the interview, but that assumes you actually get an interview. Instead, do yourself a favor and build an online portfolio that employers can access immediately when they receive your application materials. Your portfolio then becomes a tool that helps you land the interview, instead of something you showcase at the interview.

Plus, an online portfolio also allows you to include media that a traditional portfolio doesn’t. Do you have experience developing proposals and securing funding for projects? Include a proposal, timeline, and photos or a time-lapse video of the project in your portfolio.

4. Demonstrate Your Value

In addition to an online portfolio, consider submitting additional documents that can demonstrate your value to the company. Think about what the company needs, and develop something unique around that. For example, you could develop a proposal for a new program, an out-of-the-box marketing tactic, or a grant opportunity. The opportunities are endless—you simply have to use your knowledge of the company and your creativity to develop something relevant and realistic.

This approach will demonstrate your depth of knowledge of what the company needs and your ability to realistically meet those needs. It also proves your effort and enthusiasm—qualities that any sane employer wants in every employee.

5. Ask Bold Questions

When you snag an interview, you’ll certainly need to prepare for the questions that interviewer will ask you—but don’t forget that the interview is a two-way street. You should prepare a few questions of your own to help you decide if this is the right position for you and show just how interested you are in pursuing the opportunity.

This doesn’t mean you should be overly aggressive—but being willing to ask straightforward questions will show you know what you want. Lily Zhang suggests three strong wrap-up questions here.
I recently interviewed for a new opportunity on campus. I came to the interview with two proposals—one for a new counseling practicum position and one for a new student group—both closely aligned with the goals of the office. I hadn’t been asked to develop either item as part of the application process, but I saw an opportunity to showcase my potential impact in the role.

I closed the interview by asking one of Zhang’s bold wrap-up questions (among several other pointed questions), and in general, I did everything in my power to make it easy for everyone involved in the hiring decision to see what I envisioned for this new role and to understand that I had the experience to pull it off. And guess what? I started my new job April 13.

In your job search, you can submit the same old cover letter and resume like every other job seeker, or you can look for a way to stand out from the competition for all the right reasons. Will you make the investment in yourself?

Credit : themuse.com

Let’s get this out of the way: Mental toughness is not a quality you either do or don’t have.

Sure, some people may have greater self-discipline than you possess. Some people may be better at resisting temptation than you are. But that’s probably not because they were born with some certain special something inside of them—instead, they’ve found ways to develop mental toughness and use it when it really matters.

They’re mentally strong because they’ve learned how to be—and you can too.

Here’s how:

1. Always Assume You Are in Complete Control

There’s a quote often credited to Ignatius: “Pray as if God will take care of all; act as if all is up to you.” (It’s a very cool quote.)

The same premise applies to luck. Many people feel luck has a lot to do with success or failure. If they succeed, luck favored them, and if they fail, luck was against them.

Most successful people do feel good luck played some role in their success. But they don’t wait for good luck, or worry about bad luck. They act as if success or failure is totally within their control.

If they succeed, they caused it. If they fail, they caused it.

By not wasting mental energy worrying about what might happen to you, you can put all your effort into making things happen. (And then, if you get lucky, hey, you’re even better off.)

You can’t control what luck does for you, but you can definitely control what you do for yourself.

2. Make a Lot Fewer Choices

We all have a finite store of mental energy for exercising self-control.

The more choices we make during the day, the harder each one is on our brain—and the more we start to look for shortcuts. (When you’re tired, you’re a lot more likely to say, “Oh, the heck with it.”)

Then we get impulsive. Then we get reckless. Then we make decisions we know we shouldn’t make, but we just can’t seem to help ourselves.

In fact, we can’t help ourselves: We’ve run out of the mental energy we need to make smart choices.

That’s why the fewer choices we have to make, the smarter choices we can make when we do need to make a decision.

Say you want to drink more water and less soda. Easy: Keep three water bottles on your desk at all times. Then you won’t need to go to the refrigerator and make a choice.

Or, say you struggle to keep from constantly checking your email. Easy: Turn off all your alerts. Or, shut down your email and open it only once an hour. Or, take your mail program off your desktop and keep it on a laptop across the room. Make it hard to check, because then you’re more likely not to.

Or, say you want to make fewer impulse purchases. Easy: Keep your credit card in a drawer. Then you can’t make an impulse buy. Or, require two sign-offs for all purchases over a certain amount, because you will have to run those decisions by someone else (which probably means you’ll think twice and won’t even bother).

Choices are the enemy of mental toughness. So are ease and convenience. Think of decisions that require you to be mentally strong, and then take willpower totally out of the equation.

3. Put Aside Things You Have No Ability to Impact

Mental strength is like muscle strength—no one has an unlimited supply. So why waste your power on things you can’t control?

For some people, it’s politics. For others, it’s family. For others, it’s global warming. Whatever it is, you care, and you want others to care.

Fine. Do what you can do: Vote. Lend a listening ear. Recycle, and reduce your carbon footprint. Do what you can do. Be your own change—but don’t try to make everyone else change.

(They won’t.)

4. See the Past as Valuable Training and Nothing More

The past is valuable. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from the mistakes of others.

Then let it go.

Easier said than done? It depends on your perspective. When something bad happens to you, see it as an opportunity to learn something you didn’t know. When another person makes a mistake, don’t just learn from it—see it as an opportunity to be kind, forgiving, and understanding.

The past is just training; it doesn’t define you. Think about what went wrong but only in terms of how you will make sure that next time, you and the people around you will know how to make sure it goes right.

5. Actively Celebrate the Success of Others

Many people—I guarantee you know at least a few—see success as a zero-sum game. To them, there’s only so much to go around, so if someone else shines, they think that diminishes the light from their star.

Resentment sucks up a massive amount of mental energy—energy better applied elsewhere.

When a friend does something awesome, that doesn’t preclude you from doing something awesome. In fact, where success is concerned, birds of a feather tend to flock together—so draw your successful friends even closer.

Don’t resent awesomeness. Create and celebrate awesomeness, wherever you find it, and in time you’ll find even more of it in yourself.

6. Never Allow Yourself to Complain or Criticize

Your words have power, especially over you. Whining about your problems always makes you feel worse, not better.

So if something is wrong, don’t waste time complaining. Put that mental energy into making the situation better. (Unless you want to whine about it forever, eventually you’ll have to make it better.)

So why waste time? Fix it now. Don’t talk about what’s wrong. Talk about how you’ll make things better, even if that conversation is only with yourself.

And do the same with your friends or colleagues. Don’t just serve as a shoulder they can cry on. Friends don’t let friends whine; friends help friends make their lives better.

7. Don’t Try to Impress Others; Impress Yourself Instead

No one likes you for your clothes, your car, your possessions, your title, or your accomplishments. Those are all things. People may like your things—but that doesn’t mean they like you.

(Sure, superficially they might seem to like you, but what’s superficial is also insubstantial, and a relationship not based on substance is not a real relationship.)

Genuine relationships make you happier, and you’ll only form genuine relationships when you stop trying to impress and start trying to just be yourself.

And you’ll have a lot more mental energy to spend on the people who really do matter in your life.

8. Consistently Review Your Long-Term Goals

Say you want to build a bigger company; when you’re mentally tired, it’s easy to rationalize that you’ll do your best tomorrow, not today. Say you want to lose weight; when you’re mentally tired, it’s easy to rationalize that you’ll start changing your eating and exercise habits tomorrow, not today. Say you want to better engage with your employees; when you’re mentally tired, it’s easy to rationalize that you really need to work on some report today; tomorrow you’ll worry about your employees.

Mental fatigue makes us take the easy way out—even though the easy way takes us the wrong way. That’s why it’s so important to maintain tangible reminders to pull you back from the impulse brink.

A friend has a copy of his bank note taped to his computer monitor as a constant reminder of an obligation he must meet. Another keeps a photo of himself on his refrigerator taken when he weighed 250 pounds so he’s constantly reminded of the person he never wants to be again. Katheryn Winnick, the star of Vikings, keeps a list of goals on her computer desktop so she’s forced to look at them every day. (She’s also hosted a vision board party, one of the cooler ideas I’ve heard in a while.)

Think of moments when you are most likely to give in to impulses that take you further away from your long-term goals. Then use tangible reminders of those long-term goals to interrupt the impulse and keep you on track.

9. Count Your Blessings

Take a second every night before you turn out the light and, in that moment, quit worrying about what you don’t have. Quit worrying about what others have that you don’t.

Think about what you do have. You have a lot to be thankful for. Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?

Feeling better about yourself is the best way of all to recharge your mental batteries

Credit : themuse.com

So, you just found out you’re an introvert. Now you have a new way of understanding yourself and how you relate to the world. You can’t get enough of your new identity, so you’re reading every listicle and blog post about introverts that graces your Facebook news feed. Some articles describe you with frightening accuracy: You like spending time alone, you prefer calm environments, you often think deeply and reflect, and you’d rather text than call.

Yet, other articles don’t resonate with you at all: You don’t sit home alone every weekend watching Netflix in your pajamas and you actually enjoy the occasional party. You start to wonder, am I really an introvert?

Bottom line: If you need downtime after socializing, you probably are an introvert. What you actually are is an outgoing introvert.

Introversion and extroversion are not black and white. Think of a continuum with introversion on one end and extroversion on the other. Some people fall closer to the introverted end, while others are near the middle. There’s actually a word for these middle-of-the-road people: ambiverts. An ambivert is someone who displays characteristics of both introversion and extroversion.

Are you an outgoing introvert (or an ambivert)? Here are 10 signs that you might be:

1. Your Energy Level Is Closely Tied to Your Environment

You’re sensitive to how your surroundings look, what kind of music is being played, how many people are present, and the volume level of the room. The ambiance of a bar or restaurant can either energize or drain you, depending on if the place fits your preferences. Likewise, a loud rock concert in a crowded stadium might be overwhelming, but an up-close-and-personal acoustic set at your favorite local music club relaxes you.

2. You Find People to Be Both Intriguing and Exhausting

People watching? Yes. Meeting new people and hearing their life stories? Fascinating. Spending every weeknight hanging out with a different group of friends? Not a chance—as much as you enjoy people, you can only endure so much socializing before you need downtime. After a busy weekend or a long day at work, you feel the need to disappear and recharge by being alone or with just one other person (a best friend, a trusted roommate or your significant other).

3. Certain People and Interactions Drain You While Others Actually Recharge You

You have a few friends who you could hang out with for practically forever. It seems like you never run out of things to talk about and being with them is just easy. You actually feel better after spending time with them, not drained. Other people eventually tire or bore you and you need to get away. Being alone is better than settling for second-rate company.

4. You Can Be Charming, But Also Deeply Introspective and Reflective

You make small talk when it’s expected of you because you know it can lead to deeper, more authentic conversation. People feel comfortable around you, and you easily get others talking and opening up about themselves. When you’re out on a Saturday night, you make sure your friends have a good time. However, most people don’t realize how “in your head” you really are. Although you appear easy-going and chatty, inside, your mind is always going.

5. When You Feel Rested and Recharged, You Reach Out to Others

Often you’re the one who gets all your friends together on the weekend. Or maybe you organize the weekly after-work happy hour or throw parties at your house. Playing the host allows you to socialize on your own terms. You get to set the parameters, like what time the event starts, where it will happen and who is invited. But when you’re feeling drained, like a true introvert, you go silent and hibernate at home. This is when the Netflix and pajamas thing makes sense.

6. You Need Time to Warm Up in Social Situations

But once you feel comfortable with someone, you have no trouble chatting. Likewise, you won’t spill your entire life story to someone within the first half hour of meeting them, but you will reveal personal details when trust is built up. The more someone gets to know you, the more your quirky personality (and your cherished inner world—the part of you that feels most authentic) comes out.

7. It Actually Takes Less Energy to Say What’s on Your Mind Than to Make Small Talk

Introverts like talking about ideas or connecting authentically. Fake small talk bores you and drains your life force.

8. You’re Selectively Social

It’s hard to find people you click with, so you only have a few close friends. But you’re OK with that. You’d rather make your limited “people” energy count by investing it into relationships that are truly fulfilling.

9. You Have No Interest in Trying to Prove Yourself in a Crowd of Strangers

“Working the room” isn’t your thing. Nor do you feel the need to draw a lot of attention to yourself. You’re content hanging out at the edges of the party, talking to just one or two people.

10. You’re Often Confused for an Extrovert

Your friends and family don’t buy that you’re an introvert because you’re just so social. In fact, it may have taken a while for you to realize you’re an introvert because you play the extrovert so well. Now you find yourself constantly having to explain your introversion and how you get your energy, but people still don’t get it.

Keep in mind there’s no wrong way to do introversion. It’s all about understanding your needs and honoring your own style—even if that means being the life of the party one night then binge watching Netflix alone the next night.

Credit : themuse.com

We’ve all been in a position where we feel our superiors aren’t handling things correctly. It could be that your direct supervisor isn’t managing your schedule efficiently or isn’t using you to your full potential. It could be that your CEO has a concerning new vision for the company’s future. It could be that your manager isn’t treating you and your peers on equal ground.

Poor and ineffective management come in many forms, and all of them can wear on you professionally. When you deal with these habits daily, it’s only natural to want a change, but many people immediately resort to the final option: quitting and looking for a new job.

There’s no question about it; some workplaces are toxic, and downright hostile, and in these cases the only logical option is to pursue a different opportunity. But in most cases, ineffective management can be dealt with, and you can keep your job without having to tolerate it further.

1. Look at the Situation Objectively

Your first step is to try and objectively analyze the situation. You may feel that your boss has directly insulted or offended you, but one incident doesn’t necessarily mean your boss is an ineffective manager. Everybody makes mistakes and has weaknesses, so it’s rarely worth taking action over one irritating incident.

It’s also possible you’re taking things too personally. If you find your boss is giving you lots of negative feedback, it may be his or her way of trying to help you grow as a professional. On the other hand, it could be an unfair or unproductive means of evaluation. Try to step back from the situation to see if there really is a pattern. Talk to your friends and family about the situation, focusing only on the facts, and see what they think. You can also reach out to other co-workers you trust—but remember that gossip can only do harm. If you determine that your manager is objectively taking bad or counterproductive actions, you can start taking action.

2. Talk to Your Boss Directly

Your first step must be speaking with your boss directly. Do not ignore the problem. Do not go above your manager’s head. Do not adopt a passive-aggressive attitude. All of these measures are counterproductive. Instead, schedule a meeting with your manager and tell him or her exactly how you feel about the situation.

When you initiate this, be careful not to criticize your manager harshly or personally. Instead, focus on your professional needs and how he or she is or isn’t fulfilling them. Describe specific events to illustrate your points, and listen to what your manager has to say about them. In most cases, you’ll find your manager can illuminate these situations with an alternative perspective, and your manager will be more than willing to make adjustments in the future.

If you find your manager is unwilling to talk about the problem, or is unreceptive to your requests for change, you’ll need to find an alternate route.

3. Avoid Making Ultimatums

Throughout the course of your discussion and even in the back of your own mind, avoid making ultimatums or becoming fixated on one solution. For example, saying to yourself, “If he doesn’t stop demanding me to be here half an hour early, I’m going to quit,” can distract your attention from the root of the problem and can prevent you from making other meaningful changes. Threatening to quit in front of your manager or in front of others can also make you appear unprofessional and weaken your overall position. Instead, try to keep an open mind.

4. Find Compromises

There is always more than one solution to a problem. In the above example, a manager is demanding his or her staff to arrive half an hour early every day when it isn’t necessary. To the worker, eliminating this practice altogether may seem like the obvious solution. However, finding a compromise can help your manager understand and compensate for your objections without completely disrupting his or her original vision. For example, maybe coming in 10 minutes early is plenty, or maybe you can come in half an hour early for two days out of the week.

This is a simple example, but what’s important to remember is that compromises are always available to those willing to search for them.

5. Speak to Others Who Can Help

If your direct conversation didn’t happen, if it didn’t help, and none of your compromises are panning out, don’t hesitate to go to someone else in the company for some extra assistance. Your manager’s supervisor or your HR Director shouldn’t be your first stop, but if you’ve made a serious effort for positive change with no results, these people can help drive a more meaningful change. Your identity can be kept confidential, and these superiors can help oversee a process that targets and corrects the destructive behavior.

6. Escalate Your Actions

If none of these options work and upper management isn’t taking your complaints seriously enough, escalate your actions at the ground level. Gather your peers, co-workers, and other managers to discuss the problem and petition for a change. Many voices have more power than one voice, and if you’re having a problem with a manager, chances are someone else is too.

Put these strategies to use if you’re currently dealing with ineffective management in your position. After consistent use, you may find that they aren’t of any help; if this is the case, it’s likely in your best interest to move on to a new opportunity. However, you may find that these strategies negate, improve, or lessen the impact of those nasty managerial habits, leaving you to better enjoy and execute your daily work.

Source : themuse

For most people, expectations are very high when it comes to their very first job. They dream about working in fancy offices, spinning around chairs and receiving huge salaries. But this is always the opposite as most graduates find that even when they have a job, things are not so rosy after all.

According to one Mrs Kirimi , the Head Of Marketing and Communication at ABC Bank, her first job taught her one of the best career lessons as she shares her experience with the Business Daily.

Career Lessons No One Taught You

1. The First Job Is Always Tough

Have you ever seen that job advert that looked so attractive on a newspaper and you decided to give it a shot?
According to Mrs Kirimi, her first job after graduation many years back was as a merchandiser in Uchumi supermarkets. The ad read ‘‘Engaging customers, with a view to up selling’’, seemed impressive and very important work.

But in her job, she had to encounter various types of customers she had not prepared for.

“From the middle aged men with their inappropriate comments, to their overbearing wives who marched past my chatter as though I was a pillar of salt. But that was not all. At the end of the day as we did our tally, I discovered another brand of customer — the ever so courteous one who would graciously accept my rice – but leave it in the trolley at check out.”

Lesson learnt? Even the jobs that look entirely dreamy on paper can turn out to be harrowing experiences.

2. Some Of Your School Mates Will Get Better Jobs

In the career world and as well as in life, everybody has their own luck. Just because you struggled to get a job does not mean that everybody you schooled with will have the same journey. Some of your classmates will land into very high paying jobs the moment they graduate.

And one more thing, you never want them to see how you are struggling with life and feel sorry for you. With her, some of her classmates who worked in big corporate firms happened to bump into her!

“My blood froze the day I ran into my former campus mates. Or more precisely, the day my former campus mates ran into me,” she describes.

According to her, they had hit the job jackpot. “I shrank a few inches more when they graciously accepted my rice, and (rather pitifully) wished me luck.” After this she realized that everyone must run their own race.

3. Accept Your Fate And Soldier On

As life is, you don’t have to keep feeling sorry for yourself just because you have not found a great job. You need to accept your reality and instead turn your situation into something great.

According to her, revolving targets, aching ankles and waning confidence were not her expectation but she had to soldier on as this was the work that was available for her.

With her experience, she managed to incorporate it into her CV as this could very well be the stepping stone to greatness.

“Within a few months the boss’ assistant quit and based on my performance I was chosen to replace her!”

4. Who You Know Matters A Great Deal

The traditional career lesson dictates that networking is the number one way to get a job. Whether it about a hiring manager or who works where, knowing people can take you places. This was the case when she got to work closer to her boss.

Her boss knew of opportunities long before they became public knowledge, and they landed well-paying job after job, as a result. I learnt this one well.

Every job she got since this one came through networking. Her advice? “You need to know the right people, because as you rise higher and higher up the ladder, it’s who you know, not what you know, that counts. Grossly unfair, yes, but nevertheless it is the hard truth.”

5. Choose The Impossible Bosses

According to Mrs Kirimi, the office isn’t a place you should seek comfort, and certainly not within your first 10 years. If you are relaxed, it’s time to get out! A good boss will stretch you to the limit, a limit you don’t think you could possibly endure.

As much as she complained about how tough her boss was, she noticed that tough bosses are often very fair and surprisingly generous once you rise to their expected level of performance.

6. Expect Hits And Misses

As fate would have it, she realized that life is a mixed bag. Her experience of selling rice still remains to be a great career lesson for her. The good comes with the bad so is life, expect some hits and some misses.

Whichever job you get to land, working your way up in a company can be difficult if you fail to learn these important lessons.

Are you struggling to write that winning CV that’s going to land you your dream job? In Today’s society we know that it’s becoming ever more difficult to make yourself stand out from the crowd. What is important on a CV is equally what it looks like and what it says. So how do you make yourself stand out on paper? Here are some guidelines and tips to writing that CV.

The key elements to have on your CV:

Your Personal Details

Personal details include things like your name, surname etc. and relevant contact details. Always make sure to double check that your contact details are correct.

Work history

Although I say work history this does not mean that you should jot down the time you were a waiter/waitress in high school, what you should do is tailor this section of your CV to the job you are applying for.

Education history

Once again you should include only what is relevant, so you can start from which high school you attended to any tertiary education thereafter or even short courses which you completed.

Skills

Being able to juggle five knives while blindfolded does not count (unless you’re applying for a job at the circus). Try and avoid saying phrases like ‘energetic’, ‘good communicator’ as this should speak for itself from your CV as a whole.

Achievements

This section should be what makes your CV unique. Achievements may include for example any specific training you did at your previous job.

Remember that your CV represents you so it should be honest, accurate and relevant. Try avoiding things like spelling errors and poor grammar. Do not trust your computers spell check, but rather get someone to double check your CV for you. Avoid copying your previous job description – rather write down what you achieved whilst you were working there. Other things to avoid would be long paragraphs, being vague and breaking the two page rule.
Tips to help you make your CV stand out are the use of bullet points to break text into more ‘manageable’ sizes, the use of fonts such as; Georgia, Arial, Calibri etc. as these fonts are quite clear, for the main page header it is recommended to be 22points in size, subheadings 14points and for the body text 10-11points and remember to be consistent with fonts.

These tips should be sure to land you an interview and remember the golden rule when it comes to writing a CV would be to not lie or over exaggerate.

So, you’ve got a bunch of friends who keep getting promoted and landing awesome new jobs (with accompanying awesome titles) and you’re feeling like your career is falling behind. You just can’t stop asking yourself how you’ll ever catch up.

Remember that old story about the tortoise and the hare? Well, as someone who’s always been in a hurry to get to the next level, I’ve come to realize that slow and steady is actually a really great approach. There is simply no substitute for hard-earned experience if you truly want to be successful in your chosen field.

My career’s journeyed for over 20 years through the airline industry, the music business as it was imploding, sports footwear, apparel, and nutrition where I ended up as Global President of Gatorade, and finally my most recent role as President of Equinox, the leader in the fitness industry. I’ve had some amazing team successes on my journey that’ll forever take me to that happy place in my mind—and I’ve also had some epic, epic fails.

Yeah, I’m not talking the type of fail like when you mistakenly forward an email to a giant CC list and announce a crush on your co-worker to your entire company. Nope. I’m talking the kind of fails where you get fired, laid off, and lose your legal right to work in this country. My path is certainly not one that’s for the faint of heart!

And what I can say from my experience is that every time the big blunders happened, it was almost always when I had gotten ahead of my skis. Like when someone had promoted me to a big job with an even bigger title because I interviewed really well and came across as a smart thinker. But whenever that happened and someone had overlooked my lack of experience (no doubt because I had regaled them in the interview with my daaaaaarling Kiwi accent and my witty repartee)—that’s when I got into trouble.

Now don’t get me wrong , I don’t have any regrets. Because in the end, after lots of bumps and bruises, it’s all worked out. But what I do know to be true is that there’s no substitute for experience. You can’t jump the line of experience—you really need to get in there and do it to have the depth, resilience, and strength it really takes to be a powerhouse leader.

Here are three big reasons why:

1. Depth Gives You Credibility

The higher up you get in an organization, the more people will look to you for assurance that you actually know what you’re doing. And here’s the truth: There’s going to be a lot of stuff that you’re asked to weigh in on that you actually don’t know much about and you’re going to feel really unsure of yourself a lot more than you’d like.

But if you have real depth in just one specific area—what one of my bosses used to call “your hit pocket skill”—then you’ll have one place in which you know you’re adding value to the team. And that’s where you will turn when you need a confidence boost.

This in turn will make you more comfortable to be more vulnerable and open to asking questions in the areas that are foreign to you. Leaders never have all of the answers, and one of the greatest traits of good managers is the willingness to acknowledge what they don’t know and ask for help. So, if you know you’re kicking ass and adding value because of your depth and expertise in one area, then you’re going to be far more likely to ask for help with your weaker bits. And that will make you far more well-rounded and less likely to have big, ugly blind spots that could drive your team into trouble.

2. The Power to Have Influence Comes From Real Experience

Leadership’s so much about your ability to influence others, especially with the pace of change in organizations today, and a major cultural shift away from “command and control” style leadership. Ultimately—even when you have a big title like President or Chief Something—people are not going to really follow you if you can’t inspire and influence them to do so. And it’s not just the folks that report to you—very often the toughest audiences are your peers or other stakeholders you need to get onboard with your team’s plan.

I’m a huge fan of Wharton Professor Adam Grant’s book, Originals: How Non-Comformists Move the World. In it, he discusses his research around “power without status.”

“When people sought to exert influence but lacked respect, others perceived them as difficult, coercive, and self serving. Since they haven’t earned our admiration, we don’t feel they have the right to tell us what to do, and we push back.”

It reiterates the fact that you really can’t influence people until you have had the experiences that earn you the right to do so.

I experienced this when I joined Equinox. Even though I came on board as the president of the company, I had this distinct feeling in my first year or so that people thought of me like a new season’s TV show. They might have DVR-ed me, but they hadn’t yet committed to watching because they didn’t know if I was going to be worthy of following!

So I spent time getting out into our field, working every position that I could in our clubs, from maintenance to front desk, to selling a membership and being a “floor trainer” handing out fresh towels to members. Not only did I have a blast, but by the time I came back to start thinking about the future of our company, I was so much more grounded in what really makes the business work. And, not surprisingly, employees were far more willing to give me input knowing that I had experienced the business properly.

3. You Need to Have the Courage of Your Convictions

To be a great leader, you have to be able to see a future that others are unable to see. And what that means is that you’re going to come up against weeks, months, and probably even years of conversations with people telling you all the reasons why your ideas won’t work. And let me tell you, it’s really freaking hard not to be affected by that. But if you have real depth of time and experience that enables you to see that future so clearly, you’ll have light years more resilience and drive to get to the future than if you don’t.

In my case, leading Gatorade from the world of sports drinks to the world of sports nutrition, or seeing Equinox as an “always on fitness lifestyle partner” instead of a gym—both of those experiences were hugely necessary in teaching me the grit required to drive innovation and change, and giving me the courage to launch my own business, EXTREMEYOU.

While I’ve had countless people tell me why this might not be for me—mostly because starting a business presents a very different set of challenges to revamping an existing one—I know the time is right for me to do this. With 20 years of experience under my belt, I have the mentors and relationships that provide the kind of moral support that’s hugely needed when you’re embarking upon something new and scary. And critically, I have legitimate subject matter depth on the topic of human potential, which is the area my business idea is focused on.

So, no matter where you are in your career: Remember that story of the tortoise and the hare. It’s important to keep feeling and encourage your restless desire to progress, but just remember, you can’t skip over the important experience steps if you want to really get the most out of your own potential in the long run.

Credit : themuse.com