RESUME, CV, COVER LETTER & CAREER PORTFOLIO
5 Key Concepts for Powerful, Effective Resumes
1. Your resume is YOUR marketing tool, not a personnel document.
2. It is about YOU the job hunter, not just about the jobs you've held.
3. It focuses on your future, not your past.
4. It emphasizes your accomplishments, not your past job duties or job descriptions.
5. It documents skills you enjoy using, not skills you used just because you had to.
10 Steps in Creating a Damn Good Resume
1. Choose a target job (also called a "job objective"). An actual job title works best.
2. Find out what skills, knowledge, and experience are needed to do that target job.
3. Make a list of your 2, 3, or 4 strongest skills or abilities or knowledge that make you a good candidate for the target job.
4. For each key skill, think of several accomplishments from your past work history that illustrate that skill.
5. Describe each accomplishment in a simple, powerful, action statement that emphasizes the results that benefited your employer.
6. Make a list of the primary jobs you've held, in chronological order. Include any unpaid work that fills a gap or that shows you have the skills for the job.
7. Make a list of your training and education that's related to the new job you want.
8. Choose a resume format that fits your situation--either chronological or functional. [Functional works best if you're changing fields; chronological works well if you're moving up in the same field.]
9. Arrange your action statements according to the format you choose.
10. Summarize your key points at the top of your resume.
Creating Your Technical Résumé
• Technical résumés may be one or two pages long. Employers want to see details about what you learned and how you applied the skills. They also want information about your work history, even if it was in a non-technical field.
• Objective statements are optional. They can help the employer determine which type of technical position(s) you seek. For the same reason, an objective statement can limit you. If you use an objective, keep it simple and straightforward. Example: Objective: Help Desk position or Objective: Entry-level Network Technician or Help Desk position
• Technical résumés always contain a section listing information technology skills (hardware, software, networking, Web, programming, etc.) For current students and recent graduates, it works well to place this first on the résumé.
• If you’ve done an internship, include it on the résumé, either in its own “Technical Internship” section or under your work history. Provide a detailed explanation of what you did. Your internship, even if unpaid, constitutes work experience.
• Include seven to ten years of your work history, even if it is unrelated. If you currently work in a technical field, put your work history near the beginning of the résumé. Otherwise, place it at the end after education and class projects. Emphasize skills that will transfer into your new position (i.e. communication skills, customer service, teamwork experience, writing, leadership).
• In the education section, describe your class projects (see page 10 for examples). Use verbs to start each phrase and give enough detail so the potential employer can picture what you accomplished. Since teamwork is an important part of today’s workplace, show your teamwork experience on class projects. Examples: Member of a Systems Analysis team that worked with a representative from the Maple Valley Clinic to outline system requirements for building a custom database. Or you can say, As part of a three-person team…or Served as team leader for….
• Show all of your technical experience, including such things as building or repairing computers for friends/relatives or creating Websites for friends or non-profit organizations. Unless you already have professional experience, it’s essential to demonstrate your skills through class projects and volunteer work.
• Ask yourself, How can I prove that I do good work? What evidence can I provide on my résumé? An example from a class might be: Received 4.0 in Visual Basic 6.0; coded final project in team atmosphere (60 hours a week for two weeks); one of three out of 30 students excused from taking the final due to extremely high point total.
• You can also demonstrate strengths by creating a “Testimonials” section at the end of the résumé and quoting one or two comments from instructors or past supervisors. Example: Sally has a knack for working with databases. She asks the right questions to get the information needed and then works hard to bring about results.
John Jasper, Internship Supervisor
• When applying for a Help Desk position, emphasize your interpersonal skills. If you have a customer service background, consider creating a separate section (after Technical Skills) to highlight your experience and talent for working with people.
Give the ASCII version of your résumé more visual appeal by creative use of capital letters, white space, asterisks, lines, and dashes.
EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL SKILLS SECTIONS
Example: #1
SKILLS SUMMARY
Database Software/OS Networking
Oracle Administration DOS CCNA Certification
OCP Certification Windows 95/98/2000 CISCO Networking
Pl/SQL 2000 Office 2000 LAN Administration
Access 2000 Web Development Basic UNIX
Vision 2000 HTML Troubleshooting
Database Theory and Design Visual Basic 6.0 Quick Books Hardware upgradesInstallation of Software
Example #2
COMPUTER SKILLS
Networking: Certified in RJ-45, Category 5 installation; designed and set-up cost database for LAN (2 segments of 25 & 29 workstations); familiar with hubs, routers, bridges, servers, punch-down blocks, switches, patch panels, topologies, and all cabling.
Programming: Visual Basic 6.0
Hardware: Build PCs from parts; install peripherals and devices; familiar with oscilloscope, function generator, multimeter, and ammeter; Certified in Plated Through Hole and Surface Mount soldering; skilled at Logic Gates and IC technology; familiar with CMOS and Device Manager.
Software: Windows 95/98/2000; MS-DOS; Office 97 & 2000; Internet.
Example: #3
Computer Software & Operating Systems
Courses included: Litigation Practice, Real Estate and Property Law, Commercial Transactions, Evidence, Law Office Management, Interviewing and Investigation Techniques, Advanced Legal Writing and Research.
Microsoft Visual C/C++ 6.0 Cisco IOS 11.0
Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Windows NT 4.0, NetWare 5.0
Red Linus 6.1 MS Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint
Kernel 2.2.12 DOS Windows 9X Visio 2000
Cisco Config Maker 2.4
EXAMPLES OF CLASS PROJECTS
Example: #1
Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood, WA
Visual Basic/C/C++ Certificate 3.9 GPA
• VB Projects: Mortgage Loan Calculator, “Craps” Dice Game, GPA Calculator
• C/C++ projects: Multiple Tuition Calculator using Input and Output Dababase Files
• Java Projects: Computer Science Department Web Pages, Multiple Table/Frame Home Site
• JavaScript Projects: DHTML Page with Image Rollover
• Technical Communication Project: As part of a two-person team, wrote 47-page employee manual for Entry Services Department at college. Information gathered through interviews with staff.
Example: #2
Edmonds Community College, Associate or Technical Arts, December 2001
Computer Information Systems, Networking Specialization
Three quarters of Cisco courses with hands-on experience including:
• Setting up LAN Hubs • Configuring Virtual LAN
• Installing Windows NT 4.0 • Installing Novell NetWare 5.0
• Configuring Cisco 1601, 2500 routers, subnetting a class B network
• Simulating LAN and WAN environment with 5 routers and two 1500 series switches
• Installing, configuring Linux 2.2, adding users, changing permissions
Example: #3
Associate of Technical Arts, Computer Information Systems, August 2001
Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood, WA
• Working in teams, planned and executed several database systems and hardware requirements from the beginning to the SDLC to the final stages
• Setup, configured, and maintained a networked environment containing five routers and switches
• Team leader on the basic design of LAN – designed LAN for two campus buildings
• Team member for a Help Desk Staff of five students – provided technical support for 40+ computers and users, simulating real-world operational problems
Last updated: 08/24/06
Technical Resume Sample
CONNIE A. TECHWIZARD
9999 CIS Lane, Edmonds, WA 98036 ■ 425-111-1111 ■ ctechwiz@hotmail.com
SKILLS SUMMARY
Database Software/OS Networking
Oracle Administration DOS CCNA Certification
OCP Certification Windows 95/98/2000 CISCO Networking
Pl/SQL 2000 Office 2000 LAN Administration
Access 2000 Web Development Basic UNIX
Vision 2000 HTML Troubleshooting
Database Theory and Design Visual Basic 6.0
Quick Books Hardware upgrades
Installation of Software
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
• 10 years of Customer Service Experience
• Highly skilled in dealing with difficult and angry customers
• Accustomed to working in a team environment
• Experienced working with a diverse customer base
TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE
Computer Lab Assistant, Academic Computer Services
Edmonds Community College 2000-date
• Provided hardware/software support for 125 computers and workstations
• Installed and networked computers in classrooms (30+ computers)
• Provided technical support for students using Access, Excel, Word, VB
• Tested software
EDUCATION
Associate of Technical Arts, Computer Information Systems, August 2001
Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood, WA
• Working in teams, planned and executed several database systems and hardware requirements from the beginning to the SDLC to the final stages
• Setup, configured, and maintained a networked environment containing five routers and switches
• Team leader on the basic design of LAN – designed LAN for two campus buildings
• Team member for a Help Desk Staff of five students – provided technical support for 40+ computers and users, simulating real-world operational problems
• Designed, implemented and tested a database in Access 2000
• Served on a six-person team that created a prototype database for the Point Defiance Zoo
• VB Projects: Mortgage Loan Calculator, “Craps” Dice Game, GPA Calculator, Check Register
• Designed a Web site with 22 pages for an online PC Software Support class
WORK HISTORY
Teller/Customer Service Representative
Bank of America, Seattle, WA 1994-1999
• Greeted customer and took care of financial transactions
• Sold financial services to customers
• Balanced cash and transactions daily
• Handled upset and angry customers with patience and poise
Reservations Agent
Alaska Airlines, Seattle, WA 1989-1994
• As part of a customer services team, responded to incoming phone requests for airline reservations
• Responded to customer requests for information
• Resolved customer problems tactfully
• Handled large volume to incoming calls (more than 30 per hour)
A Guide to the Preparation of a Technical Resume
A resume should be a focused summary of the qualifications, skills and experiences you have to offer a potential employer. It should be brief and easy to read, contain concise action phrases rather than complete sentences and reflect balanced use of blank space and margins. Context should be void of personal pronouns.
The resume is a screening device, not a selection device. Each year, companies pass over thousands of qualified applicants who failed to make sure they made the first impression a good one. You can avoid this pitfall by organizing a thorough, meaningful resume.
The resume is your personal document. It should be designed not only to give factual information about you, but to create a specific impression-an impression of how desirable a candidate you are-to motivate an employer to interview you or take another step toward your employment. The resume will not get you a job; its purpose is only to get you off on the right foot. It is a tool that you must learn to use.
There are but a few hard and fast rules: the resume should be neat and well organized, and it should reflect your background in the most positive way. Neat/well-organized - It is always typed, generally printed on quality paper of a conservative color with no typographical, spelling or grammatical errors. Make sure you space it well so it is visually attractive. Positive - Every concept in the resume should be rank-ordered from most important to least important. State your strongest points first and save less important facts for last.
GETTING STARTED
Preparing a resume will help to organize your job campaign. It will start you thinking systematically about your qualifications. A thorough awareness of your skills and abilities will increase your self-confidence as you approach employers.
WHAT TO INCLUDE
Identification
• Full name, address, telephone number, e-mail address
Job Objective
• Clearly defined. A statement that tells the reader you are not looking for just anything that might come along
Educational Background
• Detailed information about your education is most important
• Include degrees earned, beginning with most advanced degree
• List major subject and include kinds of courses taken
• Specialized course work
Work Experience
• Emphasize skills gained, contributions made, promotions earned
• Summer or part-time jobs held
Professional Development
• Memberships in professional organizations, published books and articles, presentations of papers, inventions or patents
Extracurricular Activities
• Affiliation with social organizations or community projects
• Include club memberships, awards, and honors
Selected Personal Data
• Hobbies, pastimes and interests can add character and may show signs of leadership and community service
Special Skills
• List those languages you speak well
• List computer languages learned/hardware with which you are familiar
• Laboratory equipment/techniques
References
• Simply state that references will be furnished upon request (be sure to request permission before using anyone as a reference)
TYPES OF RESUMES
The various forms of the resume all include your education and experience, but may present the material in different ways.
Chronological: This resume form is the most widely used by job applicants and the most accepted by employers. The arrangement of information is the easiest to follow. Your experience is outlined in reverse chronological order beginning with the most recent or current position followed by earlier positions. This format is advantageous when you have held a series of progressively more responsible jobs. The challenge in this approach is to write more than a simple fact sheet.
Functional: This resume focuses on performance and activities, minimizing job titles and employers. The intention is to highlight your most important job functions regardless of actual employment chronology. This is particularly effective for describing positions in which you performed several functions or had frequent changes of assignment in each job. This format is also good for job changers who may want to minimize job titles and emphasize the diversity of their skills.
Analytical: This form combines features of both the chronological and the functional resumes. You outline the major fields of ability and list your specific experience with each.
Who Needs a Cover Letter?
Everyone who sends out a resume does! Even if the cover letter never "came up" in conversation or wasn't mentioned in an advertisement, it's expected that you will write one.
It is regarded as a sign of laziness (sorry about that) to send out a cover letter that is not tailored to the specific company. In the days before word processors, you could maybe get away with it. Not anymore. (Electra must be emphatic: Not anymore.)
Yes, it adds to the wear and tear of looking for a job! But the good news is: the cover letter gives you another chance to emphasize what you have to contribute to the company or organization. Don't give the person screening the resumes a second to entertain the thought: "But how can this person help US?" Your cover letter will answer that question in your own words. Your resume will also answer that question but in a somewhat more rigid format.
What makes a Good Cover Letter?
1. No spelling or typing errors. Not even one.
2. Address it to the person who can hire you. Resumes sent to the personnel department have a tougher time of it. If you can find out (through networking and researching) exactly who is making the hiring decision, address the letter to that person. Be sure the name is spelled correctly and the title is correct. A touch of formality is good too: address the person as "Mr.," "Ms.," "Mrs.," "Miss," "Dr.," or "Professor." (Yes, life is complicated.)
3. Write it in your own words so that it sounds like you--not like something out of a book. (Electra gets in trouble with libraries when she says things like this.) Employers are looking for knowledge, enthusiasm, focus.
4. Being "natural" makes many people nervous. And then even more nervous because they are trying to avoid spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. If you need a little help with grammar (do they still teach grammar?)--check out the classic work on simple writing, Strunk & White's Elements of Style, published in 1918 and now online. A good place to begin is "Chapter 5: Words and Expressions Commonly Misused."
5. Show that you know something about the company and the industry. This is where your research comes in. Don't go overboard--just make it clear that you didn't pick this company out of the phone book. You know who they are, what they do and you have chosen them!
6. Use terms and phrases that are meaningful to the employer. (This is where your industry research and networking come in.) If you are applying for an advertised position, use the requirements in the ad and put them in BOLD type. For example: the ad says--
"2 years' experience processing magnetic media (cartridge, tape, disc); interface with benefit plan design, contracts and claims; and business background with strong analytical & technical skills--dBase, Excel, R&R, SQL."
Make sure your cover letter contains each of these requirements and shows how you measure up.
Your name
Mailing address
City, state, and zip
Telephone number(s)
Email address
Today’s date
Your addressee’s name
Professional title
Organization name
Mailing address
City, state and zip
Dear Mr. (or Ms.) last name,
Start your letter with a grabber—a statement that establishes a connection with your reader, a probing question, or a quotable quote. Briefly say what job you are applying for.
The mid-section of your letter should be one or two short paragraphs that make relevant points about your qualifications. You should not summarize your resume! You may incorporate a column or bullet point format here.
Your last paragraph should initiate action by explaining what you will do next (e.g., call the employer) or instigate the reader to contact you to set up an interview. Close by saying “thank you.”
Sincerely yours,
Your handwritten signature
Your name (typed)
Enclosure: resume
Résumé
A résumé, also spelled resumé or resume; also called curriculum vitae or CV, is a document that contains a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education. The résumé or CV is typically the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when seeking employment.
General
In many contexts, a résumé or CV is short (usually one page), and therefore contains only experience directly relevant to a particular position. Many résumés contain precise keywords that the potential employers are looking for, make heavy use of active verbs, and display content in a flattering manner.
In the past, résumés/CVs used to be no longer than two pages, as potential employers typically did not devote much time to reading résumé details for each applicant. In some countries employers have changed their views regarding acceptable résumé length. Since increasing numbers of job seekers and employers are using Internet-based job search engines to find and fill employment positions, longer résumés/CVs are needed for applicants to differentiate and distinguish themselves. Since the late 1990s, some employers have been more accepting of résumés that are longer than two pages, but not those in Australia. Many professional résumé writers and human resources professionals believe that a résumé/CV should be long enough so that it provides a concise, adequate, and accurate description of an applicant's employment history and skills. The transmission of résumés/CVs directly to employers became increasingly popular as late as 2002. Jobseekers were able to circumvent the job application process and reach employers through direct email contact and résumé blasting, a term meaning the mass distribution of résumés/CVs to increase personal visibility within the job market. However the mass distribution of résumés/CVs to employers often can have a negative effect on the applicant's chances of securing employment as the résumés/CVs tend not to be tailored for the specific positions the applicant is applying for. It is usually therefore more sensible to adjust the résumé/CV for each position applied for.
The complexity and simplicity of various résumé/CV formats tends to produce results that vary from person to person, occupation, and industry. It is important to note that résumés/CV used by medical professionals, professors, artists and people in many other specialized fields may be comparatively longer. For example, an artist's résumé/CV, typically excluding any non-art-related employment, may include extensive lists of solo and group exhibitions.
Terminology
Curriculum vitae is Latin meaning "course of life" and résumé is French meaning "summary". In the business world, the word résumé (also spelled resumé and resume) is used especially in the United States and in English Canada. Curriculum vitae and "CV" are used in the United Kingdom in all contexts, with résumé having very little currency.
In North America, Australia, and India the terms "résumé" and "CV" may be used interchangeably. However, a résumé more often has a free-form organizational style and is used for seeking employment in the private sector, whereas a curriculum vitae (also called a vita, but not curriculum vita, see below) usually has a more standardized look and format for the purpose of seeking positions in academic or educational institutions. Another difference is that a résumé tends to be more descriptive and tailored for a specific purpose or target audience, whereas a curriculum vitae tends to be organized in a way that presents data about one's self in a compact fashion, with a clear chronology. For example, a résumé may begin with a statement about a personal goal, followed by a list of most significant accomplishments or characteristics in order of significance, while a curriculum vitae often includes complete and unembellished lists of data such as educational institutions attended, degrees received, positions held, professional affiliations, publications authored, etc. A résumé may or may not be represented by the person as a complete history of themselves without omission, whereas a curriculum vitae usually implies that there are no omissions, and in particular, no temporal gaps.
The term curriculum vitae means "course of life" in Latin. While it is appropriate to write either curriculum vitae or just vita, it is incorrect to use the phrase curriculum vita, the form vitae being the genitive of vita. The plural of curriculum vitae is curricula vitae.
Styles
A simple résumé is a summary typically limited to one or two pages of size A4 or Letter-size highlighting only those experiences and credentials that the author considers most relevant to the desired position. CVs are typically longer.
Résumés may be organized in different ways:
Chronological résumé
A chronological résumé enumerates a candidate's job experiences in reverse chronological order.
The chronological résumé format is the most common résumé layout in use. In using this format, the main body of the document becomes the Professional Experience section, starting from the most recent experience going chronologically backwards through a succession of previous experience. The chronological résumé works to build credibility through experience gained, while illustrating career growth over time. In the United Kingdom the chronological résumé tends to extend only as far back as the subject's GCSE/Standard Grade qualifications.
Functional résumé
A functional résumé lists work experience and skills sorted by skill area or job function.The functional résumé is used to assert a focus to skills that are specific to the type of position being sought. This format directly emphasizes specific professional capabilities and utilizes experience summaries as its primary means of communicating professional competency. In contrast, the chronological résumé format will briefly highlight these competencies prior to presenting a comprehensive timeline of career growth via reverse-chronological listing with most recent experience listed first. The functional résumé works well for those making a career change, having a varied work history and with little work experience. A functional résumé is also preferred for applications to jobs that require a very specific skill set or clearly defined personality traits.
Combination résumé
The combination résumé balances the functional and chronological approaches. A résumé organized this way typically leads with a functional list of job skills, followed by a chronological list of employers. The combination résumé has a tendency to repeat itself and is therefore less widely utilized than the other two forms.
Curriculum vitae
In the United States and Canada, a CV is expected to include a comprehensive listing of professional history including every term of employment, academic credential, publication, contribution or significant achievement. In certain professions, it may even include samples of the person's work and may run to many pages.
In the European Union, there has been an attempt to develop a standardised CV model known as Europass (in 2004 by the European Parliament and European Commission) and promoted by the EU to ease skilled migration between member countries, although this is not widely used in most contexts.
A standard British CV might have the following points[1]
• Personal details at the top, such as name in bold type, address, contact numbers and, if the subject has one, an e-mail address. Photos are not required at all, unless requested. Modern CVs are more flexible.
• A personal profile, written in either the first or the third person, a short paragraph about the job seeker. This should be purely factual, and free of any opinion about the writer's qualities such as "enthusiastic", "highly motivated", etc.
• A bulleted list of the job seeker's key skills or rather, professional assets - skills alone are somewhat unsophisticated
• A reverse chronological list of the job seeker's work experience, including his or her current role. The CV should account for the writer's entire career history. The career history section should describe achievements rather than duties. The early career can these days be lumped together in a short summary but recent jobs should illustrate concept, planning, achievement, roles.
• A reverse chronological list of the job seeker's education or training, including a list of his or her qualifications such as his or her academic qualifications (GCSEs, A-Levels, Highers, degrees etc.) and his or her professional qualifications (NVQs and memberships of professional organisations etc.). If the job seeker has just left the place of education, the work experience and education are reversed.
• Date of birth, gender if you have an ambiguous first name, whether you have a driving licence used to be standard - but nothing is required and you should not waste space on trivia. An employer requesting date of birth and gender needlessly could find itself on the losing side of recent anti-discrimination legislation.
• The job seeker's hobbies and interests (optional)
It is obligatory for it to be typed or word-processed, not hand-written.
There are certain faux pas for CVs:
• The CV being longer than two full sides of A4 paper. (This rule does not apply to academic positions, for which the CV normally includes a complete list of publications and major conference papers. CVs for positions in postsecondary teaching, research, and academic administration may be of any length.)
• Writing anything pejorative about other persons or businesses.[2]
• If applying for a specific position, omitting a covering letter explaining one's suitability.
CVs should be purely factual without implying skills which do not exist.
As with résumés, CVs are subject to recruiting fads. For example,
• In German-speaking countries, a picture was a mandatory adjunct to the CV for a long time.
• In the huge Indian job market, photos and good looks are strongly preferred in the service industry (hotels, aviation, etc.) and in sales-marketing, front office and customer service jobs. Additionally, Indian employers prefer lengthy résumés.
• Including a photograph of the applicant is strongly discouraged in the U.S. as it would suggest that an employer would discriminate on the basis of a person's appearance — age, race, sex, attractiveness, or the like. The theatre and modeling industries are exceptions, where it is expected that résumés will include photographs; actors refer to such photos as head shots.
• When listing non-academic employment in the U.S., the newest entries generally come first (reverse chronological).
• The use of an "objective statement" at the top of the document (such as "Looking for an entry-level position in stores") was strongly encouraged in the U.S. during the mid-1990s but fell out of favor by the late-1990s. However, with the avalanche of résumés distributed via the Internet since the late 1990s, an "objective" and/or "skills summary" statement has become more common to help recruiters quickly determine the applicant's suitability. It is not prevalent elsewhere.
• A profiling statement (or thumbnail description) was a protocol developed by placement agencies in the late 1980s. Many candidates now open their CV with such a statement. This can be a short paragraph or a handful of bullet points delineating the candidate's most desirable skills and experiences.
• Listing of computer skills (such as proficiency with word processing software) was a strong differentiator during the 1980s but was considered passé for most professional positions by the 1990s.
• In the 1980s and early 1990s in the U.S., the trend was to not allow a résumé to exceed one page in length. In the late 1990s, this restriction fell out of vogue, with two- or even three-page résumés becoming common.
Online résumés
The Internet has brought about a new age for the résumé. As the search for employment has become more electronic, résumés have followed suit. It is not uncommon for employers to only accept résumés electronically, either out of practicality or preference. This electronic boom has changed much about the way résumés are written, read, and handled.
• Job seekers must choose a file format in which to maintain their résumé. Many employers, especially recruitment agencies on their behalf, insist on receiving résumés only as Microsoft Word documents. Others will only accept résumés formatted in HTML, PDF, or plain ASCII text.
• Many potential employers now find candidates' résumés through search engines, which makes it more important for candidates to use appropriate keywords when writing a résumé.
• Including an e-mail address in an online résumé may expose the job seeker to spam (see Spambot).
Some career fields include a special section listing the life-long works of the author. For computer-related fields, the softography; for musicians and composers, the discography; for actors, a filmography.
Keeping résumés online has become increasingly common for people in professions that benefit from the multimedia and rich detail that are offered by an HTML résumé, such as actors, photographers, graphic designers, developers, dancers, etc.
Job seekers are finding an ever increasing demand to have an electronic version of their résumé available to employers and professionals who use Internet recruiting at any time. Internet résumés differ from conventional résumés in that they are comprehensive and allow for self-reflection. Unlike regular 2 page résumés, which only show recent work experience and education, Internet résumés also show an individual's skill development over his or her career.
For job seekers, taking résumés online also facilitates distribution to multiple employers via Internet. Online résumé distribution services have emerged to allow job seekers to distribute their résumés to employers of their choices via email.
Another advantage to internet résumés is the significant cost savings over traditional hiring methods. The Employment Management Association has included internet advertising in its cost-per-hire surveys for several years. In 1997, for example, it reported that the average cost-per-hire for a print ad was $3,295, while the average cost-per-hire with the Internet was $377.[3] This in turn has cut costs for many growing organizations, as well as saving time and energy in recruitment. Until the development of résumés in an electronic format, employers would have to sort through massive stacks of paper to find suitable candidates without any way of filtering out the poor candidates. Employers are now able to set search parameters in their database of résumés to reduce the number of résumés which must be reviewed in detail in the search for the ideal candidate.
Finally, the internet is enabling new technologies to be employed with résumés, such as video résumés--especially popular for multimedia job seekers. Another emerging technology is graphic-enabled résumés, such as Visual CV. [4]
When applying for a job or submitting a resume blindly to a company, you should always include a cover letter. You can submit the cover letter along with the resume in person, by mail, e-mail or even post it to an Internet job board
Cover letters are used to introduce yourself and your resume, while clearly stating your desire to apply for a job position in a new company or make yourself available for a job position within a company. The cover letter is the formal introduction that provides a brief explanation of your job field, experience, areas of expertise and relevant knowledge in relationship to the job being applied for. The cover letter should highlight key points in the resume and specifically should address all items within the summary of your resume.
The cover letter writing articles below provide helpful tips, advice and guidelines for developing a professional quality cover letter. All content has been provided by industry leading professional resume
and cove letter writers. You can visit our sponsor sites for more information on their background, publications and services offered.
Your Job Skills Portfolio: Giving You an Edge in the Marketplace
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
An old job-hunting tool is making a big comeback. For years, graphic artists, journalists, teachers, and other creative types have used career
portfolios while job-hunting, but it is only recently that the idea has caught on for all types of job-seekers.
What is a job skills, job-search, or career portfolio? It is a job-hunting tool that you develop that gives employers a complete picture of who you are -– your experience, your education, your accomplishments, your skill sets -– and what you have the potential to become -– much more than just a cover letter and resume
can provide. You can use your career portfolio in job interviews to showcase a point, to illustrate the depth of your skills and experience, or to use as a tool to get a second interview.
This article will show you how to develop your job-search portfolio, key elements to consider in developing your job-search portfolio, and the best resources to explore job-search portfolios in more depth.
Your biggest time commitment will be the initial development of your portfolio, but once you've developed it, keeping it current and up-to-date should be fairly easy. Your two biggest decisions in developing your portfolio are determining the format of the portfolio and the organization of the portfolio.
Most experts agree that the portfolio should be kept in a professional three-ring binder (zipper closure optional). You should include a table of contents and use some kind of system -– such as tabs or dividers -– to separate the various parts of the portfolio.
Besides the traditional portfolio, if you have access to space on a Web site, you should also consider developing an online Web-based portfolio.
Once the development is complete, you then have to gather, write, copy, and assemble the material that goes in the portfolio. This process will not only result in a professional portfolio, but should help you be better prepared for your job search.
So, what types of things go in a portfolio? Here are the basic categories. Don't feel you need to use these exact ones for your portfolio. The key to remember as you contemplate these items is that you want to give reasons for the employer to hire you -- you want to showcase your education and work experience by showing examples and evidence of your work, skills, and accomplishments.
1. Career Summary and Goals: A description of what you stand for (such as work ethic, organizational interests, management philosophy, etc.) and where you see yourself in two to five years.
2. Professional Philosophy/Mission Statement: A short description of the guiding principles that drive you and give you purpose. Read more in our article, Using a Personal Mission Statement to Chart Your Career Course.
3. Traditional Resume: A summary of your education, achievements, and work experience, using a chronological or functional format. If you need help developing a resume, visit Quintessential Careers: Fundamentals of a Good Resume.
4. Scannable/Text-Based Resume: A text-only version of your resume should also be included. More information about this type of resume can be found at: Quintessential Careers: Scannable Resume Fundamentals.
5. Skills, Abilities and Marketable Qualities: A detailed examination of your skills and experience. This section should include the name of the skill area; the performance or behavior, knowledge, or personal traits that contribute to your success in that skill area; your background and specific experiences that demonstrate your application of the skill.
6. List of Accomplishments: A detailed listing that highlights the major accomplishments in your career to date. Accomplishments are one of the most important elements of any good job-search. Read more in our article, For Job-Hunting Success: Track and Leverage Your Accomplishments.
7. Samples of Your Work: A sampling of your best work, including reports, papers, studies, brochures, projects, presentations, etc. Besides print samples, you can also include CD-ROMs, videos, and other multimedia formats.
8. Research, Publications, Reports: A way to showcase multiple skills, including your written communications abilities. Include any published papers and conference proceedings.
9. Testimonials and Letters of Recommendations: A collection of any kudos you have received -– from customers, clients, colleagues, past employers, professors, etc. Some experts even suggest including copies of favorable employer evaluations and reviews.
10. Awards and Honors: A collection of any certificates of awards, honors, and scholarships.
11. Conference and Workshops: A list of conferences, seminars, and workshops you've participated in and/or attended.
12. Transcripts, Degrees, Licenses, and Certifications: A description of relevant courses, degrees, licenses, and certifications.
13. Professional Development Activities: A listing of professional associations and conferences attended -- and any other professional development activities.
14. Military records, awards, and badges: A listing of your military service, if applicable.
15. Volunteering/Community Service: A description of any community service activities, volunteer or pro bono work you have completed, especially as it relates to your career.
16. References List: A list of three to five people (including full names, titles, addresses, and phone/email) who are willing to speak about your strengths, abilities, and experience. At least one reference should be a former manager. Read more in our article: The Keys to Choosing and Using the Best Job References in Your Job Search.
And remember . . . once you've created your job search portfolio, be sure to take it with you to all interviews and use it as a tool to getting job offers.
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I. LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
A well-written introduction is an important requirement of the Career Portfolio. This letter introduces you to prospective employers and colleges. It should be both personal and informative and spotlight your best work. A letter of introduction serves as a first impression. It is critical that you address—
Why you are interested in this position/business/college (if you do not have a particular
position/business/college in mind, choose one that might interest you).
Your career aspirations and goals.
The skills and abilities that would make you successful in a particular career or at a
particular college.
Why this business or college should select you.
This letter should be no longer than one (1) single-spaced, typewritten page. Be sure that it is typed neatly and is both grammatically correct and free of spelling errors.
Preparing a Resume
A resume is a summary of a person’s qualifications. Effective resumes use short statements to inform potential interviewers about important facts regarding the applicant and to catch their attention. The important facts:
Who you are.
How you may be contacted (mail, telephone, e-mail).
Your experiences, skills, and abilities for the position.
Think about yourself. What skills do you have? What should a potential interviewer know about you? What achievement(s) could you highlight to help you get the interview?
Draft a resume. Each resume should be personal and reflect your individual strengths. Basic guidelines for an effective resume:
Type and spell-check it.
Have another person proofread it.
Make it look professional.
Make it short--one page if possible.
Omit personal pronouns.
Use action verbs when describing your job responsibilities.
Sample Resume
JESSICA NADEAU
42 Washington Avenue
Auburn, Maine 04240
(207) 555-5555
jnadeau@emailaddress.com
Career Objective: Computer support technician in central Maine
Education: High School Diploma, June 2002
Edward Little High School, Auburn Heights, Auburn, ME 04210
G.P.A. 3.2 Class Rank: 45 out of 411
Honors and Awards:
Honor Roll for last three semesters
Perfect Attendance Award for the last two academic years
Relevant Courses:
Introduction to Computer Repair I Introduction to BASIC
Database & Spreadsheets Word Processing I
Computer Experience: Neighborhood "Computer Expert" - 2001-present. Performed
troubleshooting for several friends and relatives who were having difficulty
with their hardware or software.
Network Assistant {volunteer) - Edward Little High School.
September 2001-May 2002. Assembled 20 computers for new computer
laboratory, loaded software on each one, and networked them.
Other Experience: Waitperson, Rolandeau's, Auburn, Maine. Summer 2001.
Provided efficient, friendly, quality service in busy fine dining atmosphere.
Child care provider - Freeport. Maine. Summer 200. Provided safe, warm
environment for two children aged 4 and 7. Supervised their self-directed
play and prepared meals and snacks.
Activities: Soccer Team - 1998-2002 - Co-captain 2000-2002
Civil Rights Team - 2002
Soup Kitchen Volunteer - 1999-2001
[Remove this page once the section is complete.]
SAMPLES OF WORK
Your portfolio should include samples of your work. You are responsible for selecting and gathering these samples. Choose samples of which you are proud—work that shows care and planning. This section of the portfolio demonstrates what you can do and how well you can do it.
Wherever possible, choose samples that display skills appropriate to the position for which you are applying.
Samples of work that are three-dimensional and cannot be placed in the binder may accompany the portfolio. However, instead of the sample itself, your portfolio can include a photograph and a note explaining the physical item. Please also include notes where necessary to explain a little about when, why, and for whom a project was completed. If you were responsible for only part of the project, explain your contribution.
Possible examples of academic work:
Research papers, book reports, essays
Math projects
Science projects
Exams that show achievement
Computer projects
Mechanical/technical drawings
Other samples of work:
Pictures, projects, descriptions of activities relating to personal interests and hobbies (i.e., photography, poetry, cooking, woodworking, etc.)
Pictures, projects, descriptions of activities relating to community involvement outside of school (i.e., Scouts, religious organizations, 4-H, etc.)
Friday, November 28, 2008
Interview : Important questions and answers
Interview Questions and Answers
Tell me about yourself:
The most often asked question in interviews. You need to have a short
statement prepared in your mind. Be careful that it does not sound
rehearsed. Limit it to work-related items unless instructed otherwise.
Talk about things you have done and jobs you have held that relate to
the position you are interviewing for. Start with the item farthest
back and work up to the present.
2. Why did you leave your last job?
Stay positive regardless of the circumstances. Never refer to a major
problem with management and never speak ill of supervisors, co-workers
or the organization. If you do, you will be the one looking bad. Keep
smiling and talk about leaving for a positive reason such as an
opportunity, a chance to do something special or other forward-looking
reasons.
3. What experience do you have in this field?
Speak about specifics that relate to the position you are applying for.
If you do not have specific experience, get as close as you can.
4. Do you consider yourself successful?
You should always answer yes and briefly explain why. A good
explanation is that you have set goals, and you have met some and are
on track to achieve the others.
5. What do co-workers say about you?
Be prepared with a quote or two from co-workers. Either a specific
statement or a paraphrase will work. Jill Clark, a co-worker at Smith
Company, always said I was the hardest workers she had ever known. It
is as powerful as Jill having said it at the interview herself.
6. What do you know about this organization?
This question is one reason to do some research on the organization
before the interview. Find out where they have been and where they are
going. What are the current issues and who are the major players?
7. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year?
Try to include improvement activities that relate to the job. A wide
variety of activities can be mentioned as positive self-improvement.
Have some good ones handy to mention.
8. Are you applying for other jobs?
Be honest but do not spend a lot of time in this area. Keep the focus
on this job and what you can do for this organization. Anything else is
a distraction.
9. Why do you want to work for this organization?
This may take some thought and certainly, should be based on the
research you have done on the organization. Sincerity is extremely
important here and will easily be sensed. Relate it to your long-term
career goals.
10. Do you know anyone who works for us?
Be aware of the policy on relatives working for the organization. This
can affect your answer even though they asked about friends not
relatives. Be careful to mention a friend only if they are well thought
of.
11. What kind of salary do you need?
A loaded question. A nasty little game that you will probably lose if
you answer first. So, do not answer it. Instead, say something like,
That’s a tough question. Can you tell me the range for this position?
In most cases, the interviewer, taken off guard, will tell you. If not,
say that it can depend on the details of the job. Then give a wide
range.
12. Are you a team player?
You are, of course, a team player. Be sure to have examples ready.
Specifics that show you often perform for the good of the team rather
than for yourself are good evidence of your team attitude. Do not brag,
just say it in a matter-of-fact tone. This is a key point.
13. How long would you expect to work for us if hired?
Specifics here are not good. Something like this should work: I’d like
it to be a long time. Or As long as we both feel I’m doing a good job.
14. Have you ever had to fire anyone? How did you feel about that?
This is serious. Do not make light of it or in any way seem like you
like to fire people. At the same time, you will do it when it is the
right thing to do. When it comes to the organization versus the
individual who has created a harmful situation, you will protect the
organization. Remember firing is not the same as layoff or reduction in
force.
15. What is your philosophy towards work?
The interviewer is not looking for a long or flowery dissertation here.
Do you have strong feelings that the job gets done? Yes. That’s the
type of answer that works best here. Short and positive, showing a
benefit to the organization.
16. If you had enough money to retire right now, would you?
Answer yes if you would. But since you need to work, this is the type
of work you prefer. Do not say yes if you do not mean it.
17. Have you ever been asked to leave a position?
If you have not, say no. If you have, be honest, brief and avoid saying
negative things about the people or organization involved.
18. Explain how you would be an asset to this organization
You should be anxious for this question. It gives you a chance to
highlight your best points as they relate to the position being
discussed. Give a little advance thought to this relationship.
19. Why should we hire you?
Point out how your assets meet what the organization needs. Do not
mention any other candidates to make a comparison.
20. Tell me about a suggestion you have made
Have a good one ready. Be sure and use a suggestion that was accepted
and was then considered successful. One related to the type of work
applied for is a real plus.
21. What irritates you about co-workers?
This is a trap question. Think real hard but fail to come up with
anything that irritates you. A short statement that you seem to get
along with folks is great.
22. What is your greatest strength?
Numerous answers are good, just stay positive. A few good examples:
Your ability to prioritize, Your problem-solving skills, Your ability
to work under pressure, Your ability to focus on projects, Your
professional expertise, Your leadership skills, Your positive attitude
23. Tell me about your dream job.
Stay away from a specific job. You cannot win. If you say the job you
are contending for is it, you strain credibility. If you say another
job is it, you plant the suspicion that you will be dissatisfied with
this position if hired. The best is to stay genetic and say something
like: A job where I love the work, like the people, can contribute and
can’t wait to get to work.
24. Why do you think you would do well at this job?
Give several reasons and include skills, experience and interest.
25. What are you looking for in a job?
See answer # 23
26. What kind of person would you refuse to work with?
Do not be trivial. It would take disloyalty to the organization,
violence or lawbreaking to get you to object. Minor objections will
label you as a whiner.
27. What is more important to you: the money or the work?
Money is always important, but the work is the most important. There is
no better answer.
28. What would your previous supervisor say your strongest point is?
There are numerous good possibilities:
Loyalty, Energy, Positive attitude, Leadership, Team player, Expertise,
Initiative, Patience, Hard work, Creativity, Problem solver
29. Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor
Biggest trap of all. This is a test to see if you will speak ill of
your boss. If you fall for it and tell about a problem with a former
boss, you may well below the interview right there. Stay positive and
develop a poor memory about any trouble with a supervisor.
30. What has disappointed you about a job?
Don’t get trivial or negative. Safe areas are few but can include:
Not enough of a challenge. You were laid off in a reduction Company did
not win a contract, which would have given you more responsibility.
31. Tell me about your ability to work under pressure.
You may say that you thrive under certain types of pressure. Give an
example that relates to the type of position applied for.
32. Do your skills match this job or another job more closely?
Probably this one. Do not give fuel to the suspicion that you may want
another job more than this one.
33. What motivates you to do your best on the job?
This is a personal trait that only you can say, but good examples are:
Challenge, Achievement, Recognition
34. Are you willing to work overtime? Nights? Weekends?
This is up to you. Be totally honest.
35. How would you know you were successful on this job?
Several ways are good measures:
You set high standards for yourself and meet them. Your outcomes are a
success.Your boss tell you that you are successful
36. Would you be willing to relocate if required?
You should be clear on this with your family prior to the interview if
you think there is a chance it may come up. Do not say yes just to get
the job if the real answer is no. This can create a lot of problems
later on in your career. Be honest at this point and save yourself
future grief.
37. Are you willing to put the interests of the organization ahead of your own?
This is a straight loyalty and dedication question. Do not worry about
the deep ethical and philosophical implications. Just say yes.
38. Describe your management style.
Try to avoid labels. Some of the more common labels, like progressive,
salesman or consensus, can have several meanings or descriptions
depending on which management expert you listen to. The situational
style is safe, because it says you will manage according to the
situation, instead of one size fits all.
39. What have you learned from mistakes on the job?
Here you have to come up with something or you strain credibility. Make
it small, well intentioned mistake with a positive lesson learned. An
example would be working too far ahead of colleagues on a project and
thus throwing coordination off.
40. Do you have any blind spots?
Trick question. If you know about blind spots, they are no longer blind
spots. Do not reveal any personal areas of concern here. Let them do
their own discovery on your bad points. Do not hand it to them.
41. If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for?
Be careful to mention traits that are needed and that you have.
42. Do you think you are overqualified for this position?
Regardless of your qualifications, state that you are very well
qualified for the position.
43. How do you propose to compensate for your lack of experience?
First, if you have experience that the interviewer does not know about,
bring that up: Then, point out (if true) that you are a hard working
quick learner.
44. What qualities do you look for in a boss?
Be generic and positive. Safe qualities are knowledgeable, a sense of
humor, fair, loyal to subordinates and holder of high standards. All
bosses think they have these traits.
45. Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute between others.
Pick a specific incident. Concentrate on your problem solving technique
and not the dispute you settled.
46. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?
Be honest. If you are comfortable in different roles, point that out.
47. Describe your work ethic.
Emphasize benefits to the organization. Things like, determination to
get the job done and work hard but enjoy your work are good.
48. What has been your biggest professional disappointment?
Be sure that you refer to something that was beyond your control. Show
acceptance and no negative feelings.
49. Tell me about the most fun you have had on the job.
Talk about having fun by accomplishing something for the organization.
50. Do you have any questions for me?
Always have some questions prepared. Questions prepared where you will be an asset to the organization are good. How soon will I be able to be productive? and What type of projects will I be able to assist on? are
examples.
Interview Dos
Dress appropriately for the industry; err on the side of being conservative to show you take the interview seriously. Your personal grooming and cleanliness should be impeccable.
Know the exact time and location of your interview; know how long it takes to get there, park, find a rest room to freshen up, etc.
Arrive early; 10 minutes prior to the interview start time.
Treat other people you encounter with courtesy and respect. Their opinions of you might be solicited during hiring decisions.
Offer a firm handshake, make eye contact, and have a friendly expression when you are greeted by your interviewer.
Listen to be sure you understand your interviewer's name and the correct pronunciation.
Even when your interviewer gives you a first and last name, address your interviewer by title (Ms., Mr., Dr.) and last name, until invited to do otherwise.
Maintain good eye contact during the interview.
Sit still in your seat; avoid fidgeting and slouching.
Respond to questions and back up your statements about yourself with specific examples whenever possible.
Ask for clarification if you don't understand a question.
Be thorough in your responses, while being concise in your wording.
Be honest and be yourself. Dishonesty gets discovered and is grounds for withdrawing job offers and for firing. You want a good match between yourself and your employer. If you get hired by acting like someone other than yourself, you and your employer will both be unhappy.
Treat the interview seriously and as though you are truly interested in the employer and the opportunity presented.
Exhibit a positive attitude. The interviewer is evaluating you as a potential co-worker. Behave like someone you would want to work with.
Have intelligent questions prepared to ask the interviewer. Having done your research about the employer in advance, ask questions which you did not find answered in your research.
Evaluate the interviewer and the organization s/he represents. An interview is a two-way street. Conduct yourself cordially and respectfully, while thinking critically about the way you are treated and the values and priorities of the organization.
Do expect to be treated appropriately. If you believe you were treated inappropriately or asked questions that were inappropriate or made you uncomfortable, discuss this with a Career Services advisor or the director.
Make sure you understand the employer's next step in the hiring process; know when and from whom you should expect to hear next. Know what action you are expected to take next, if any.
When the interviewer concludes the interview, offer a firm handshake and make eye contact. Depart gracefully.
After the interview, make notes right away so you don't forget critical details. Write a thank-you letter to your interviewer promptly.
Interview DON'Ts
Don't make excuses. Take responsibility for your decisions and your actions.
Don't make negative comments about previous employers or professors (or others).
Don't falsify application materials or answers to interview questions.
Don't treat the interview casually, as if you are just shopping around or doing the interview for practice. This is an insult to the interviewer and to the organization.
Don't give the impression that you are only interested in an organization because of its geographic location.
Don't give the impression you are only interested in salary; don't ask about salary and benefits issues until the subject is brought up by your interviewer.
Don't act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.
Don't make the interviewer guess what type of work you are interested in; it is not the interviewer's job to act as a career advisor to you.
Don't be unprepared for typical interview questions. You may not be asked all of them in every interview, but being unprepared looks foolish.
A job search can be hard work and involve frustrations; don't exhibit frustrations or a negative attitude in an interview.
Don't go to extremes with your posture; don't slouch, and don't sit rigidly on the edge of your chair.
Don't assume that a female interviewer is "Mrs." or "Miss." Address her as "Ms." unless told otherwise. Her marital status is irrelevant to the purpose of the interview.
Don't chew gum or smell like smoke.
Don't allow your cell phone to sound during the interview. (If it does, apologize quickly and ignore it.) Don't take a cell phone call.
Don't take your parents, your pet (an assistance animal is not a pet in this circumstance), spouse, fiance, friends or enemies to an interview. If you are not grown up and independent enough to attend an interview alone, you're insufficiently grown up and independent for a job. (They can certainly visit your new city, at their own expense, but cannot attend your inter
What your clothes say about you • In an interview your attire plays a supporting role. • Your conduct, your interpersonal skills and your ability to articulate intelligent and well thought out responses to questions are the most important elements. • Appropriate attire supports your image as a person who takes the interview process seriously and understands the nature of the industry in which you are trying to become employed. • Be aware that in some industries, customer contact and image presented to the customer is critical. In such industries, your attire will be judged more critically. • Your attire should be noticed as being appropriate and well-fitting, but it should not take center stage. • If you are primarily remembered for your interview attire, this is probably because you made an error in judgment! • Dressing nicely and appropriately is a compliment to the person you meet, so if in doubt, err on the side of dressing better than you might need to. • Even if you are aware that employees of an organization dress casually on the job, dress up for the interview unless you are specifically told otherwise by the employer. • Never confuse an interview or business function with a social event. Don't dress for a party or a date. • Not every contact with an employer requires interview attire. For some occasions business casual is appropriate. See business casual for when to wear it and what it is. Interview attire guidelines for men and women • Suit:
A two piece matched suit is always the best and safest choice. • But what if the job is in a non-suit-wearing work environment:
Even if you would or could wear jeans on the job, or the work environment is outdoors and very non-suit, wearing a suit to the interview shows you take the interview seriously as a professional meeting. Dressing well is a compliment to the person(s) with whom you meet. If you think the industry in which you're interviewing would frown on a suit, or the interview will involve going to a work site where a suit would be inappropriate, look for advice through professional organizations, your professors who have been employed in that industry, and/or by asking the employer directly and politely. • Conservative colors / fabric:
Navy, dark gray (and black for women) — are safe.
Other color trends may come and go; avoid the extremes.
Solids or very subtle weave patterns or plaids (the kind that look solid across a room) are safest.
Wool, wool blends, or good quality micro fiber for women only, are generally the best fabrics in all seasons. Avoid acetate / rayon blends. • Cost / quality:
You are not expected to be able to afford the same clothing as a corporate CEO. Do invest in quality that will look appropriate during your first two or three years on the job. One good quality suit is sufficient for a job search if that is all your budget allows. You can vary your shirt/blouse tie/accessories. • Details:
Everything should be clean and well pressed.
Carefully inspect clothes for tags, dangling threads, etc. Additional interview attire specifics for men • Suit:
A two-piece matched suit is always the best and safest choice. Don't combine a suit jacket with pants that don't match. • Conservative colors / fabric:
Navy and dark gray are safe and are the most conservative for men. Black for men was once considered severe or overly formal, and may still be considered so in very conservative industries, although it is commonly worn by many. Other color trends may come and go; avoid the extremes. Choose a solid or very subtle weave pattern or plaid (the kind that look solid across a room). Wool, wool blends, or very high quality blends with natural fiber, are the only acceptable fabrics for a conservative men's suit. • Cost / quality:
You are not expected to be able to afford the same clothing as a corporate CEO. Do invest in quality that will look appropriate during your first two or three years on the job. One good quality suit is sufficient for a job search if that is all your budget allows. You can vary your shirt and tie. • Ties:
Tie styles come and go. Select good quality silk ties.
Avoid fashion extremes, like character ties, in interviews.
Notice what men in your industry wear on the job, at career fairs, at information sessions, when they meet with clients. • Shirts:
Long-sleeved shirts, even in summer. Choose white or light blue solid, or conservative stripes. • Socks:
Dark socks, mid-calf length so no skin is visible when you sit down. • Shoes:
Leather, lace-up or slip-on business shoes, preferably black or cordovan. Invest in a good pair; even if you don't wear them daily on the job, you'll need them for other occasions and you should expect to get lots of years out of good shoes. • Belt:
Black or cordovan leather, to match your shoes. • Facial hair:
If worn, should be well-groomed. Observe men in your industry if you are unsure what's appropriate or are considering changing your look. • Jewelry:
Wear a conservative watch. If you choose to wear other jewelry, be conservative. Removing earrings is safest. For conservative industries, don't wear earrings. Observe other men in your industry to see what is acceptable. • Details:
Everything should be clean and well pressed. Suits typically have tacking stitches to hold vents — on the jacket back and on sleeves — in place before the garment is purchased. Cut them off if your retailer / tailor doesn't. And that tag stitched on the outside of your sleeve is not meant to stay there like a Tommy Hilfiger label — cut it off! Carefully inspect clothes dangling threads, etc. Additional interview attire specifics for women • Don't confuse club attire with business attire. If you would wear it to a club, you probably shouldn't wear it in a business environment. • Suit:
Wear a two-piece matched suit. • Suit - pants / skirts:
Tailored pants suits are appropriate for women. Pants suits can be an excellent choice for site visits, particularly if the visit involves getting in and out of vehicles and/or the site is (or includes) a manufacturing plant or industrial facility. If you wear pants, they should be creased and tailored, not tight or flowing. If you are pursuing a conservative industry and are in doubt, observe well dressed women in your industry on the job, at career fairs, at information sessions, etc. • Skirt lengths:
Much of what you see on television shows that masquerades for professional attire is actually inappropriate for a work environment. Your skirt should cover your thighs when you are seated. Showing a lot of thigh makes you look naive at best, foolish at worst. A skirt that ends at the knee when you're standing looks chic and professional. Longer skirts are professional too; just make sure they are narrow enough not to be billowing, but not so narrow that you can't climb stairs comfortably. Don't purchase a skirt or decide on a hem length until you sit in the skirt facing a mirror. That's what your interviewer will see. Ask yourself whether it will be distracting or reinforce your image as a person who looks appropriate for a business environment or gathering. High slits in skirts are not appropriate. A small back, center slit in a knee-length skirt is appropriate. On a calf length skirt, a slit to the knee to facilitate walking and stair climbing is appropriate. • Color / fabric:
Navy, dark gray, brown and black are safe. Other color trends may come and go; avoid the extremes. Women generally have more options with suit color than men. For example, while a women could look conservative in a slate blue or light gray suit, these colors would be inappropriate for men. Choose a solid or very subtle weave pattern or plaid (the kind that look solid across a room). Wool, wool blends, and high quality blends and synthetics are apprpriate for women's suiting. • Shirt / sweaters:
Underneath the suit jacket, wear a tailored blouse in a color or small print that coordinates nicely with your suit. A fine gauge, good quality knit shell is also appropriate underneath your suit jacket. Don't show cleavage. • Jewelry / accessories:
Wear a conservative watch. Jewelry and scarf styles come and go. Keep your choices simple and leaning toward conservative. Avoid extremes of style and color. If your industry is creative, you may have more flexibility than someone pursuing a conservative industry. • Cosmetics:
Keep makeup conservative. A little is usually better than none for a polished look. Nails should be clean and well groomed. Avoid extremes of nail length and polish color, especially in conservative industries. • Shoes:
Should be leather or fabric / micro fiber. Shoe styles and heel heights come and go. Choose closed-toe pumps. Regardless of what is in style, avoid extremes; no stilettos or chunky platforms. Make certain you can walk comfortably in your shoes; hobbling in uncomfortable shoes does not convey a professional appearance. • Hosiery:
Should be plainly styled (no patterns), sheer (not opaque), and in neutral colors complementing your suit. Avoid high contrast between your suit and hosiery color. • Purse / bag:
If you carry a purse, keep it small and simple, especially if you also carry a briefcase. Purse color should coordinate with your shoes. You may choose to carry a small briefcase or business-like tote bag in place of a purse. Leather is the best choice for briefcases; micro fiber or fine wovens are also acceptable. Grooming tips for everyone • Hair:
Should be clean and neat. • Shoes:
Should be in polished condition. Make sure heels are not worn. • Details:
No missing buttons, no lint; and don't forget to remove external tags and tacking stitches from new clothes. • Hands:
Clean fingernails. • Fit:
Clothes should be clean, neatly pressed, and fit properly. • Smell:
Perfume or cologne should be used sparingly or not at all. No odors in clothes. Don't smell like smoke. • Pad folios:
Preferred over a bulky briefcase. A small briefcase is also appropriate. But if you have no reason to carry a briefcase, don't; you risk looking silly. • Book bags:
Leave it at home for an on-site interview. For an on-campus interview, you can leave it in the waiting area.view.)
Typical interview format Differences Because each interviewer is different, there are many types of interviews. Some interviewers are skilled at interviewing; others are not. Some are talkative; others let you do most of the talking. Most interviews, however, will range from open-ended, in which the interviewer asks questions and lets you do most of the talking, to the highly structured, in which the interviewer asks many specific questions following a planned format. Many interviews will fall between these extremes; you should be prepared for any style. The following are four basic stages that can occur in a typical interview:
Typical stages of the interview
1. Introductory stage The interviewer will establish rapport and create a relaxed, though businesslike, atmosphere. This is where the interviewer gets the very important first impression of you. 2. Review of your background and interests This usually takes the form of "what," "why," "where," and "when" types of questions. Focus on what you are like, and what you have accomplished, your academic and work background, and your goals. One of the interviewer's objectives is to see if your qualifications match your declared work interests. Give concise but thorough responses to questions. 3. Matching begins Assuming you have the necessary qualifications, the interviewer will begin the process of determining whether the employer's job opening(s) match your interests and qualifications. If there seems to be a match, the interviewer will probably explain job details to see how interested you are in the position. 4. Conclusion In this stage, the interviewer should explain what the next steps are in the hiring process. Be sure you understand them. Promptly provide any additional information requested. There should be ample opportunity for you at this point to ask any questions you have.
Tell me about yourself:
The most often asked question in interviews. You need to have a short
statement prepared in your mind. Be careful that it does not sound
rehearsed. Limit it to work-related items unless instructed otherwise.
Talk about things you have done and jobs you have held that relate to
the position you are interviewing for. Start with the item farthest
back and work up to the present.
2. Why did you leave your last job?
Stay positive regardless of the circumstances. Never refer to a major
problem with management and never speak ill of supervisors, co-workers
or the organization. If you do, you will be the one looking bad. Keep
smiling and talk about leaving for a positive reason such as an
opportunity, a chance to do something special or other forward-looking
reasons.
3. What experience do you have in this field?
Speak about specifics that relate to the position you are applying for.
If you do not have specific experience, get as close as you can.
4. Do you consider yourself successful?
You should always answer yes and briefly explain why. A good
explanation is that you have set goals, and you have met some and are
on track to achieve the others.
5. What do co-workers say about you?
Be prepared with a quote or two from co-workers. Either a specific
statement or a paraphrase will work. Jill Clark, a co-worker at Smith
Company, always said I was the hardest workers she had ever known. It
is as powerful as Jill having said it at the interview herself.
6. What do you know about this organization?
This question is one reason to do some research on the organization
before the interview. Find out where they have been and where they are
going. What are the current issues and who are the major players?
7. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year?
Try to include improvement activities that relate to the job. A wide
variety of activities can be mentioned as positive self-improvement.
Have some good ones handy to mention.
8. Are you applying for other jobs?
Be honest but do not spend a lot of time in this area. Keep the focus
on this job and what you can do for this organization. Anything else is
a distraction.
9. Why do you want to work for this organization?
This may take some thought and certainly, should be based on the
research you have done on the organization. Sincerity is extremely
important here and will easily be sensed. Relate it to your long-term
career goals.
10. Do you know anyone who works for us?
Be aware of the policy on relatives working for the organization. This
can affect your answer even though they asked about friends not
relatives. Be careful to mention a friend only if they are well thought
of.
11. What kind of salary do you need?
A loaded question. A nasty little game that you will probably lose if
you answer first. So, do not answer it. Instead, say something like,
That’s a tough question. Can you tell me the range for this position?
In most cases, the interviewer, taken off guard, will tell you. If not,
say that it can depend on the details of the job. Then give a wide
range.
12. Are you a team player?
You are, of course, a team player. Be sure to have examples ready.
Specifics that show you often perform for the good of the team rather
than for yourself are good evidence of your team attitude. Do not brag,
just say it in a matter-of-fact tone. This is a key point.
13. How long would you expect to work for us if hired?
Specifics here are not good. Something like this should work: I’d like
it to be a long time. Or As long as we both feel I’m doing a good job.
14. Have you ever had to fire anyone? How did you feel about that?
This is serious. Do not make light of it or in any way seem like you
like to fire people. At the same time, you will do it when it is the
right thing to do. When it comes to the organization versus the
individual who has created a harmful situation, you will protect the
organization. Remember firing is not the same as layoff or reduction in
force.
15. What is your philosophy towards work?
The interviewer is not looking for a long or flowery dissertation here.
Do you have strong feelings that the job gets done? Yes. That’s the
type of answer that works best here. Short and positive, showing a
benefit to the organization.
16. If you had enough money to retire right now, would you?
Answer yes if you would. But since you need to work, this is the type
of work you prefer. Do not say yes if you do not mean it.
17. Have you ever been asked to leave a position?
If you have not, say no. If you have, be honest, brief and avoid saying
negative things about the people or organization involved.
18. Explain how you would be an asset to this organization
You should be anxious for this question. It gives you a chance to
highlight your best points as they relate to the position being
discussed. Give a little advance thought to this relationship.
19. Why should we hire you?
Point out how your assets meet what the organization needs. Do not
mention any other candidates to make a comparison.
20. Tell me about a suggestion you have made
Have a good one ready. Be sure and use a suggestion that was accepted
and was then considered successful. One related to the type of work
applied for is a real plus.
21. What irritates you about co-workers?
This is a trap question. Think real hard but fail to come up with
anything that irritates you. A short statement that you seem to get
along with folks is great.
22. What is your greatest strength?
Numerous answers are good, just stay positive. A few good examples:
Your ability to prioritize, Your problem-solving skills, Your ability
to work under pressure, Your ability to focus on projects, Your
professional expertise, Your leadership skills, Your positive attitude
23. Tell me about your dream job.
Stay away from a specific job. You cannot win. If you say the job you
are contending for is it, you strain credibility. If you say another
job is it, you plant the suspicion that you will be dissatisfied with
this position if hired. The best is to stay genetic and say something
like: A job where I love the work, like the people, can contribute and
can’t wait to get to work.
24. Why do you think you would do well at this job?
Give several reasons and include skills, experience and interest.
25. What are you looking for in a job?
See answer # 23
26. What kind of person would you refuse to work with?
Do not be trivial. It would take disloyalty to the organization,
violence or lawbreaking to get you to object. Minor objections will
label you as a whiner.
27. What is more important to you: the money or the work?
Money is always important, but the work is the most important. There is
no better answer.
28. What would your previous supervisor say your strongest point is?
There are numerous good possibilities:
Loyalty, Energy, Positive attitude, Leadership, Team player, Expertise,
Initiative, Patience, Hard work, Creativity, Problem solver
29. Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor
Biggest trap of all. This is a test to see if you will speak ill of
your boss. If you fall for it and tell about a problem with a former
boss, you may well below the interview right there. Stay positive and
develop a poor memory about any trouble with a supervisor.
30. What has disappointed you about a job?
Don’t get trivial or negative. Safe areas are few but can include:
Not enough of a challenge. You were laid off in a reduction Company did
not win a contract, which would have given you more responsibility.
31. Tell me about your ability to work under pressure.
You may say that you thrive under certain types of pressure. Give an
example that relates to the type of position applied for.
32. Do your skills match this job or another job more closely?
Probably this one. Do not give fuel to the suspicion that you may want
another job more than this one.
33. What motivates you to do your best on the job?
This is a personal trait that only you can say, but good examples are:
Challenge, Achievement, Recognition
34. Are you willing to work overtime? Nights? Weekends?
This is up to you. Be totally honest.
35. How would you know you were successful on this job?
Several ways are good measures:
You set high standards for yourself and meet them. Your outcomes are a
success.Your boss tell you that you are successful
36. Would you be willing to relocate if required?
You should be clear on this with your family prior to the interview if
you think there is a chance it may come up. Do not say yes just to get
the job if the real answer is no. This can create a lot of problems
later on in your career. Be honest at this point and save yourself
future grief.
37. Are you willing to put the interests of the organization ahead of your own?
This is a straight loyalty and dedication question. Do not worry about
the deep ethical and philosophical implications. Just say yes.
38. Describe your management style.
Try to avoid labels. Some of the more common labels, like progressive,
salesman or consensus, can have several meanings or descriptions
depending on which management expert you listen to. The situational
style is safe, because it says you will manage according to the
situation, instead of one size fits all.
39. What have you learned from mistakes on the job?
Here you have to come up with something or you strain credibility. Make
it small, well intentioned mistake with a positive lesson learned. An
example would be working too far ahead of colleagues on a project and
thus throwing coordination off.
40. Do you have any blind spots?
Trick question. If you know about blind spots, they are no longer blind
spots. Do not reveal any personal areas of concern here. Let them do
their own discovery on your bad points. Do not hand it to them.
41. If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for?
Be careful to mention traits that are needed and that you have.
42. Do you think you are overqualified for this position?
Regardless of your qualifications, state that you are very well
qualified for the position.
43. How do you propose to compensate for your lack of experience?
First, if you have experience that the interviewer does not know about,
bring that up: Then, point out (if true) that you are a hard working
quick learner.
44. What qualities do you look for in a boss?
Be generic and positive. Safe qualities are knowledgeable, a sense of
humor, fair, loyal to subordinates and holder of high standards. All
bosses think they have these traits.
45. Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute between others.
Pick a specific incident. Concentrate on your problem solving technique
and not the dispute you settled.
46. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?
Be honest. If you are comfortable in different roles, point that out.
47. Describe your work ethic.
Emphasize benefits to the organization. Things like, determination to
get the job done and work hard but enjoy your work are good.
48. What has been your biggest professional disappointment?
Be sure that you refer to something that was beyond your control. Show
acceptance and no negative feelings.
49. Tell me about the most fun you have had on the job.
Talk about having fun by accomplishing something for the organization.
50. Do you have any questions for me?
Always have some questions prepared. Questions prepared where you will be an asset to the organization are good. How soon will I be able to be productive? and What type of projects will I be able to assist on? are
examples.
Interview Dos
Dress appropriately for the industry; err on the side of being conservative to show you take the interview seriously. Your personal grooming and cleanliness should be impeccable.
Know the exact time and location of your interview; know how long it takes to get there, park, find a rest room to freshen up, etc.
Arrive early; 10 minutes prior to the interview start time.
Treat other people you encounter with courtesy and respect. Their opinions of you might be solicited during hiring decisions.
Offer a firm handshake, make eye contact, and have a friendly expression when you are greeted by your interviewer.
Listen to be sure you understand your interviewer's name and the correct pronunciation.
Even when your interviewer gives you a first and last name, address your interviewer by title (Ms., Mr., Dr.) and last name, until invited to do otherwise.
Maintain good eye contact during the interview.
Sit still in your seat; avoid fidgeting and slouching.
Respond to questions and back up your statements about yourself with specific examples whenever possible.
Ask for clarification if you don't understand a question.
Be thorough in your responses, while being concise in your wording.
Be honest and be yourself. Dishonesty gets discovered and is grounds for withdrawing job offers and for firing. You want a good match between yourself and your employer. If you get hired by acting like someone other than yourself, you and your employer will both be unhappy.
Treat the interview seriously and as though you are truly interested in the employer and the opportunity presented.
Exhibit a positive attitude. The interviewer is evaluating you as a potential co-worker. Behave like someone you would want to work with.
Have intelligent questions prepared to ask the interviewer. Having done your research about the employer in advance, ask questions which you did not find answered in your research.
Evaluate the interviewer and the organization s/he represents. An interview is a two-way street. Conduct yourself cordially and respectfully, while thinking critically about the way you are treated and the values and priorities of the organization.
Do expect to be treated appropriately. If you believe you were treated inappropriately or asked questions that were inappropriate or made you uncomfortable, discuss this with a Career Services advisor or the director.
Make sure you understand the employer's next step in the hiring process; know when and from whom you should expect to hear next. Know what action you are expected to take next, if any.
When the interviewer concludes the interview, offer a firm handshake and make eye contact. Depart gracefully.
After the interview, make notes right away so you don't forget critical details. Write a thank-you letter to your interviewer promptly.
Interview DON'Ts
Don't make excuses. Take responsibility for your decisions and your actions.
Don't make negative comments about previous employers or professors (or others).
Don't falsify application materials or answers to interview questions.
Don't treat the interview casually, as if you are just shopping around or doing the interview for practice. This is an insult to the interviewer and to the organization.
Don't give the impression that you are only interested in an organization because of its geographic location.
Don't give the impression you are only interested in salary; don't ask about salary and benefits issues until the subject is brought up by your interviewer.
Don't act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.
Don't make the interviewer guess what type of work you are interested in; it is not the interviewer's job to act as a career advisor to you.
Don't be unprepared for typical interview questions. You may not be asked all of them in every interview, but being unprepared looks foolish.
A job search can be hard work and involve frustrations; don't exhibit frustrations or a negative attitude in an interview.
Don't go to extremes with your posture; don't slouch, and don't sit rigidly on the edge of your chair.
Don't assume that a female interviewer is "Mrs." or "Miss." Address her as "Ms." unless told otherwise. Her marital status is irrelevant to the purpose of the interview.
Don't chew gum or smell like smoke.
Don't allow your cell phone to sound during the interview. (If it does, apologize quickly and ignore it.) Don't take a cell phone call.
Don't take your parents, your pet (an assistance animal is not a pet in this circumstance), spouse, fiance, friends or enemies to an interview. If you are not grown up and independent enough to attend an interview alone, you're insufficiently grown up and independent for a job. (They can certainly visit your new city, at their own expense, but cannot attend your inter
What your clothes say about you • In an interview your attire plays a supporting role. • Your conduct, your interpersonal skills and your ability to articulate intelligent and well thought out responses to questions are the most important elements. • Appropriate attire supports your image as a person who takes the interview process seriously and understands the nature of the industry in which you are trying to become employed. • Be aware that in some industries, customer contact and image presented to the customer is critical. In such industries, your attire will be judged more critically. • Your attire should be noticed as being appropriate and well-fitting, but it should not take center stage. • If you are primarily remembered for your interview attire, this is probably because you made an error in judgment! • Dressing nicely and appropriately is a compliment to the person you meet, so if in doubt, err on the side of dressing better than you might need to. • Even if you are aware that employees of an organization dress casually on the job, dress up for the interview unless you are specifically told otherwise by the employer. • Never confuse an interview or business function with a social event. Don't dress for a party or a date. • Not every contact with an employer requires interview attire. For some occasions business casual is appropriate. See business casual for when to wear it and what it is. Interview attire guidelines for men and women • Suit:
A two piece matched suit is always the best and safest choice. • But what if the job is in a non-suit-wearing work environment:
Even if you would or could wear jeans on the job, or the work environment is outdoors and very non-suit, wearing a suit to the interview shows you take the interview seriously as a professional meeting. Dressing well is a compliment to the person(s) with whom you meet. If you think the industry in which you're interviewing would frown on a suit, or the interview will involve going to a work site where a suit would be inappropriate, look for advice through professional organizations, your professors who have been employed in that industry, and/or by asking the employer directly and politely. • Conservative colors / fabric:
Navy, dark gray (and black for women) — are safe.
Other color trends may come and go; avoid the extremes.
Solids or very subtle weave patterns or plaids (the kind that look solid across a room) are safest.
Wool, wool blends, or good quality micro fiber for women only, are generally the best fabrics in all seasons. Avoid acetate / rayon blends. • Cost / quality:
You are not expected to be able to afford the same clothing as a corporate CEO. Do invest in quality that will look appropriate during your first two or three years on the job. One good quality suit is sufficient for a job search if that is all your budget allows. You can vary your shirt/blouse tie/accessories. • Details:
Everything should be clean and well pressed.
Carefully inspect clothes for tags, dangling threads, etc. Additional interview attire specifics for men • Suit:
A two-piece matched suit is always the best and safest choice. Don't combine a suit jacket with pants that don't match. • Conservative colors / fabric:
Navy and dark gray are safe and are the most conservative for men. Black for men was once considered severe or overly formal, and may still be considered so in very conservative industries, although it is commonly worn by many. Other color trends may come and go; avoid the extremes. Choose a solid or very subtle weave pattern or plaid (the kind that look solid across a room). Wool, wool blends, or very high quality blends with natural fiber, are the only acceptable fabrics for a conservative men's suit. • Cost / quality:
You are not expected to be able to afford the same clothing as a corporate CEO. Do invest in quality that will look appropriate during your first two or three years on the job. One good quality suit is sufficient for a job search if that is all your budget allows. You can vary your shirt and tie. • Ties:
Tie styles come and go. Select good quality silk ties.
Avoid fashion extremes, like character ties, in interviews.
Notice what men in your industry wear on the job, at career fairs, at information sessions, when they meet with clients. • Shirts:
Long-sleeved shirts, even in summer. Choose white or light blue solid, or conservative stripes. • Socks:
Dark socks, mid-calf length so no skin is visible when you sit down. • Shoes:
Leather, lace-up or slip-on business shoes, preferably black or cordovan. Invest in a good pair; even if you don't wear them daily on the job, you'll need them for other occasions and you should expect to get lots of years out of good shoes. • Belt:
Black or cordovan leather, to match your shoes. • Facial hair:
If worn, should be well-groomed. Observe men in your industry if you are unsure what's appropriate or are considering changing your look. • Jewelry:
Wear a conservative watch. If you choose to wear other jewelry, be conservative. Removing earrings is safest. For conservative industries, don't wear earrings. Observe other men in your industry to see what is acceptable. • Details:
Everything should be clean and well pressed. Suits typically have tacking stitches to hold vents — on the jacket back and on sleeves — in place before the garment is purchased. Cut them off if your retailer / tailor doesn't. And that tag stitched on the outside of your sleeve is not meant to stay there like a Tommy Hilfiger label — cut it off! Carefully inspect clothes dangling threads, etc. Additional interview attire specifics for women • Don't confuse club attire with business attire. If you would wear it to a club, you probably shouldn't wear it in a business environment. • Suit:
Wear a two-piece matched suit. • Suit - pants / skirts:
Tailored pants suits are appropriate for women. Pants suits can be an excellent choice for site visits, particularly if the visit involves getting in and out of vehicles and/or the site is (or includes) a manufacturing plant or industrial facility. If you wear pants, they should be creased and tailored, not tight or flowing. If you are pursuing a conservative industry and are in doubt, observe well dressed women in your industry on the job, at career fairs, at information sessions, etc. • Skirt lengths:
Much of what you see on television shows that masquerades for professional attire is actually inappropriate for a work environment. Your skirt should cover your thighs when you are seated. Showing a lot of thigh makes you look naive at best, foolish at worst. A skirt that ends at the knee when you're standing looks chic and professional. Longer skirts are professional too; just make sure they are narrow enough not to be billowing, but not so narrow that you can't climb stairs comfortably. Don't purchase a skirt or decide on a hem length until you sit in the skirt facing a mirror. That's what your interviewer will see. Ask yourself whether it will be distracting or reinforce your image as a person who looks appropriate for a business environment or gathering. High slits in skirts are not appropriate. A small back, center slit in a knee-length skirt is appropriate. On a calf length skirt, a slit to the knee to facilitate walking and stair climbing is appropriate. • Color / fabric:
Navy, dark gray, brown and black are safe. Other color trends may come and go; avoid the extremes. Women generally have more options with suit color than men. For example, while a women could look conservative in a slate blue or light gray suit, these colors would be inappropriate for men. Choose a solid or very subtle weave pattern or plaid (the kind that look solid across a room). Wool, wool blends, and high quality blends and synthetics are apprpriate for women's suiting. • Shirt / sweaters:
Underneath the suit jacket, wear a tailored blouse in a color or small print that coordinates nicely with your suit. A fine gauge, good quality knit shell is also appropriate underneath your suit jacket. Don't show cleavage. • Jewelry / accessories:
Wear a conservative watch. Jewelry and scarf styles come and go. Keep your choices simple and leaning toward conservative. Avoid extremes of style and color. If your industry is creative, you may have more flexibility than someone pursuing a conservative industry. • Cosmetics:
Keep makeup conservative. A little is usually better than none for a polished look. Nails should be clean and well groomed. Avoid extremes of nail length and polish color, especially in conservative industries. • Shoes:
Should be leather or fabric / micro fiber. Shoe styles and heel heights come and go. Choose closed-toe pumps. Regardless of what is in style, avoid extremes; no stilettos or chunky platforms. Make certain you can walk comfortably in your shoes; hobbling in uncomfortable shoes does not convey a professional appearance. • Hosiery:
Should be plainly styled (no patterns), sheer (not opaque), and in neutral colors complementing your suit. Avoid high contrast between your suit and hosiery color. • Purse / bag:
If you carry a purse, keep it small and simple, especially if you also carry a briefcase. Purse color should coordinate with your shoes. You may choose to carry a small briefcase or business-like tote bag in place of a purse. Leather is the best choice for briefcases; micro fiber or fine wovens are also acceptable. Grooming tips for everyone • Hair:
Should be clean and neat. • Shoes:
Should be in polished condition. Make sure heels are not worn. • Details:
No missing buttons, no lint; and don't forget to remove external tags and tacking stitches from new clothes. • Hands:
Clean fingernails. • Fit:
Clothes should be clean, neatly pressed, and fit properly. • Smell:
Perfume or cologne should be used sparingly or not at all. No odors in clothes. Don't smell like smoke. • Pad folios:
Preferred over a bulky briefcase. A small briefcase is also appropriate. But if you have no reason to carry a briefcase, don't; you risk looking silly. • Book bags:
Leave it at home for an on-site interview. For an on-campus interview, you can leave it in the waiting area.view.)
Typical interview format Differences Because each interviewer is different, there are many types of interviews. Some interviewers are skilled at interviewing; others are not. Some are talkative; others let you do most of the talking. Most interviews, however, will range from open-ended, in which the interviewer asks questions and lets you do most of the talking, to the highly structured, in which the interviewer asks many specific questions following a planned format. Many interviews will fall between these extremes; you should be prepared for any style. The following are four basic stages that can occur in a typical interview:
Typical stages of the interview
1. Introductory stage The interviewer will establish rapport and create a relaxed, though businesslike, atmosphere. This is where the interviewer gets the very important first impression of you. 2. Review of your background and interests This usually takes the form of "what," "why," "where," and "when" types of questions. Focus on what you are like, and what you have accomplished, your academic and work background, and your goals. One of the interviewer's objectives is to see if your qualifications match your declared work interests. Give concise but thorough responses to questions. 3. Matching begins Assuming you have the necessary qualifications, the interviewer will begin the process of determining whether the employer's job opening(s) match your interests and qualifications. If there seems to be a match, the interviewer will probably explain job details to see how interested you are in the position. 4. Conclusion In this stage, the interviewer should explain what the next steps are in the hiring process. Be sure you understand them. Promptly provide any additional information requested. There should be ample opportunity for you at this point to ask any questions you have.
Soft Skills GD
I. LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
A well-written introduction is an important requirement of the Career Portfolio. This letter introduces you to prospective employers and colleges. It should be both personal and informative and spotlight your best work. A letter of introduction serves as a first impression. It is critical that you address—
Why you are interested in this position/business/college (if you do not have a particular
position/business/college in mind, choose one that might interest you).
Your career aspirations and goals.
The skills and abilities that would make you successful in a particular career or at a
particular college.
Why this business or college should select you.
This letter should be no longer than one (1) single-spaced, typewritten page. Be sure that it is typed neatly and is both grammatically correct and free of spelling errors.
Preparing a Resume
A resume is a summary of a person’s qualifications. Effective resumes use short statements to inform potential interviewers about important facts regarding the applicant and to catch their attention. The important facts:
Who you are.
How you may be contacted (mail, telephone, e-mail).
Your experiences, skills, and abilities for the position.
Think about yourself. What skills do you have? What should a potential interviewer know about you? What achievement(s) could you highlight to help you get the interview?
Draft a resume. Each resume should be personal and reflect your individual strengths. Basic guidelines for an effective resume:
Type and spell-check it.
Have another person proofread it.
Make it look professional.
Make it short--one page if possible.
Omit personal pronouns.
Use action verbs when describing your job responsibilities.
Sample Resume
JESSICA NADEAU
42 Washington Avenue
Auburn, Maine 04240
(207) 555-5555
jnadeau@emailaddress.com
Career Objective: Computer support technician in central Maine
Education: High School Diploma, June 2002
Edward Little High School, Auburn Heights, Auburn, ME 04210
G.P.A. 3.2 Class Rank: 45 out of 411
Honors and Awards:
Honor Roll for last three semesters
Perfect Attendance Award for the last two academic years
Relevant Courses:
Introduction to Computer Repair I Introduction to BASIC
Database & Spreadsheets Word Processing I
Computer Experience: Neighborhood "Computer Expert" - 2001-present. Performed
troubleshooting for several friends and relatives who were having difficulty
with their hardware or software.
Network Assistant {volunteer) - Edward Little High School.
September 2001-May 2002. Assembled 20 computers for new computer
laboratory, loaded software on each one, and networked them.
Other Experience: Waitperson, Rolandeau's, Auburn, Maine. Summer 2001.
Provided efficient, friendly, quality service in busy fine dining atmosphere.
Child care provider - Freeport. Maine. Summer 200. Provided safe, warm
environment for two children aged 4 and 7. Supervised their self-directed
play and prepared meals and snacks.
Activities: Soccer Team - 1998-2002 - Co-captain 2000-2002
Civil Rights Team - 2002
Soup Kitchen Volunteer - 1999-2001
[Remove this page once the section is complete.]
SAMPLES OF WORK
Your portfolio should include samples of your work. You are responsible for selecting and gathering these samples. Choose samples of which you are proud—work that shows care and planning. This section of the portfolio demonstrates what you can do and how well you can do it.
Wherever possible, choose samples that display skills appropriate to the position for which you are applying.
Samples of work that are three-dimensional and cannot be placed in the binder may accompany the portfolio. However, instead of the sample itself, your portfolio can include a photograph and a note explaining the physical item. Please also include notes where necessary to explain a little about when, why, and for whom a project was completed. If you were responsible for only part of the project, explain your contribution.
Possible examples of academic work:
Research papers, book reports, essays
Math projects
Science projects
Exams that show achievement
Computer projects
Mechanical/technical drawings
Other samples of work:
Pictures, projects, descriptions of activities relating to personal interests and hobbies (i.e., photography, poetry, cooking, woodworking, etc.)
Pictures, projects, descriptions of activities relating to community involvement outside of school (i.e., Scouts, religious organizations, 4-H, etc.)
A well-written introduction is an important requirement of the Career Portfolio. This letter introduces you to prospective employers and colleges. It should be both personal and informative and spotlight your best work. A letter of introduction serves as a first impression. It is critical that you address—
Why you are interested in this position/business/college (if you do not have a particular
position/business/college in mind, choose one that might interest you).
Your career aspirations and goals.
The skills and abilities that would make you successful in a particular career or at a
particular college.
Why this business or college should select you.
This letter should be no longer than one (1) single-spaced, typewritten page. Be sure that it is typed neatly and is both grammatically correct and free of spelling errors.
Preparing a Resume
A resume is a summary of a person’s qualifications. Effective resumes use short statements to inform potential interviewers about important facts regarding the applicant and to catch their attention. The important facts:
Who you are.
How you may be contacted (mail, telephone, e-mail).
Your experiences, skills, and abilities for the position.
Think about yourself. What skills do you have? What should a potential interviewer know about you? What achievement(s) could you highlight to help you get the interview?
Draft a resume. Each resume should be personal and reflect your individual strengths. Basic guidelines for an effective resume:
Type and spell-check it.
Have another person proofread it.
Make it look professional.
Make it short--one page if possible.
Omit personal pronouns.
Use action verbs when describing your job responsibilities.
Sample Resume
JESSICA NADEAU
42 Washington Avenue
Auburn, Maine 04240
(207) 555-5555
jnadeau@emailaddress.com
Career Objective: Computer support technician in central Maine
Education: High School Diploma, June 2002
Edward Little High School, Auburn Heights, Auburn, ME 04210
G.P.A. 3.2 Class Rank: 45 out of 411
Honors and Awards:
Honor Roll for last three semesters
Perfect Attendance Award for the last two academic years
Relevant Courses:
Introduction to Computer Repair I Introduction to BASIC
Database & Spreadsheets Word Processing I
Computer Experience: Neighborhood "Computer Expert" - 2001-present. Performed
troubleshooting for several friends and relatives who were having difficulty
with their hardware or software.
Network Assistant {volunteer) - Edward Little High School.
September 2001-May 2002. Assembled 20 computers for new computer
laboratory, loaded software on each one, and networked them.
Other Experience: Waitperson, Rolandeau's, Auburn, Maine. Summer 2001.
Provided efficient, friendly, quality service in busy fine dining atmosphere.
Child care provider - Freeport. Maine. Summer 200. Provided safe, warm
environment for two children aged 4 and 7. Supervised their self-directed
play and prepared meals and snacks.
Activities: Soccer Team - 1998-2002 - Co-captain 2000-2002
Civil Rights Team - 2002
Soup Kitchen Volunteer - 1999-2001
[Remove this page once the section is complete.]
SAMPLES OF WORK
Your portfolio should include samples of your work. You are responsible for selecting and gathering these samples. Choose samples of which you are proud—work that shows care and planning. This section of the portfolio demonstrates what you can do and how well you can do it.
Wherever possible, choose samples that display skills appropriate to the position for which you are applying.
Samples of work that are three-dimensional and cannot be placed in the binder may accompany the portfolio. However, instead of the sample itself, your portfolio can include a photograph and a note explaining the physical item. Please also include notes where necessary to explain a little about when, why, and for whom a project was completed. If you were responsible for only part of the project, explain your contribution.
Possible examples of academic work:
Research papers, book reports, essays
Math projects
Science projects
Exams that show achievement
Computer projects
Mechanical/technical drawings
Other samples of work:
Pictures, projects, descriptions of activities relating to personal interests and hobbies (i.e., photography, poetry, cooking, woodworking, etc.)
Pictures, projects, descriptions of activities relating to community involvement outside of school (i.e., Scouts, religious organizations, 4-H, etc.)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Soft Skills
Soft skills
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."-NELSON MANDELA
Softskills, as opposed to hard skills (such as technical skills), focuses on those elements of training that require changes in behavior and thinking. Organizations today recognize that the soft skills training of their employees play an important part in maintaining relationships with their customers and developing a successful business. Organizations that endeavor to be on the path of continuous learning will often find that upgrading the ‘soft skills’ of their workforce is a necessary part of business. It not only helps improve service but also shows the interest that an organization has in the professional development of their employees, which in turn leads to higher employee retention.
Soft skills is a sociological term for a person's "EQ" (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), which refers to the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, ability with language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that mark people to varying degrees. Soft skills complement hard skills (part of a person's IQ), which are the technical requirements of a job.
A person's soft skill EQ can also be an important part of the success of an organization. Organizations, particularly those frequently dealing with customers face-to-face, are generally more prosperous if they train their staff to use these skills. Screening or training for personal habits or traits such as dependability and conscientiousness can yield significant return on investment for an organization. [1] For this reason, soft skills are increasingly sought out by employers in addition to standard qualifications.
It has been suggested that in a number of professions soft skills are more important over the long term than technical skills, for example in the legal profession where the ability to deal with people effectively and politely can determine the professional success of a lawyer more than his or her mere technical skills.[2]
Personal Qualities
• Being responsible
• Possessing self-esteem
• Possessing sociability
• Ability to self-manage
• Possessing integrity and honesty
• Identifying the truth
• Problem solving
• Time management
• Interpersonal communication
• Active listening skills
• Presentation skills
• Leadership
Interpersonal Skills
• Participates as a member of the Team
• Teaches others
• Serves Client / Customers
• Exercises Leadership
• Negotiates
• Works with cultural diversity
• Motivates others
More and more corporations around the world recognize that, in order to gain a competitive advantage, they also need to make sure their people know how to handle themselves at work and how to relate with their customers and peers. From showing empathy and optimism to extreme self-awareness to knowing what's going on around them, these vital competencies are an integral part of a progressive organization. They fall under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence (EI).
These soft-skills, or emotional intelligence skills, revelations open the door to a lot of discussion. The western civilization and our traditional management theories tend to lead us in the direction of individualistic promotion. They display our strengths rather than the demonstration of our humanness. These ideas have been so tightly woven into our leadership mentality that they can be challenging to break.
Unfortunately, most graduate schools don't teach you how to cultivate your soft skills. While courses such as Business Writing and Public Speaking are offered, I have never seen a course entitled, "The Effective Art of Listening to Your Customer." We live in a society that measures intelligence through quantifiable metrics. A professor will give you good grades once you know XYZ, but he or she will not increase your grade for being able to deal with a difficult situation, showing compassion, or solving an unexpected problem. Yet most compliments that you or your employees receive deal more with the use of soft skills than with your actual knowledge about a particular situation. Most customers appreciate a "willingness to help" and the fact that "she listened to my complaint." The use of these skills is what elevates your organization above the competition.
You don't compete only with products anymore, rather with how well you use your people. Too often we focus on what employees need to "know" when evaluating and hiring them instead of "who they really are." I will illustrate this with an example.
John was promoted to Technical Project Manager at his consulting company. Some people wondered why John had risen to this level of management. His educational level was lower than others in the firm and his degree wasn't in an area that pertained to consulting. However, one of the strengths that was nowhere on his resume was his ability to be positive in all situations and to naturally motivate people. He was quick to smile and see the positive side of every project. He was generous in praising people and was consistently happy. These were his strengths - his natural attributes. They made up the sum of who John was. These soft skills are just as important as what John knows.
The challenge nowadays is to introduce a program that will allow your leaders to learn and capitalize fast on their soft-skills competencies. Soft skills are important and always have been. It seems we have laid them aside and opted to emphasize too much on expertise and credentials. Let's get back to our values and the basics of good internal and external customer service.
Soft skills are the underlying principles that trademark a company for professionalism and excellent customer service. They provide differentiation between all the cookie-cutter look-alikes and play a vital role in customer loyalty. In today's working environment, where customers and employees are demanding more, instilling the use of soft skills in your team members is something you simply can't survive without.
Soft skills are intrapersonal and interpersonal skills that determine a person's ability to excel or at least fit in a particular social structure, such as a project team, a company or even a jazz quartet. These skills include competencies in areas such as Emotional Intelligence, communication, leadership ability, etiquette, conflict resolution, decision making, self-motivation, self-discipline, persuasion, etc.
Experts ranging from psychologists to business and spiritual leaders, such as Donald Trump and the Dalai Lama, agree that one or more of the soft skills have the greatest impact on your level of success. It has been said that your IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is fixed from birth. But your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), your IPQ (Influence and Persuasion Quotient), your MQ (Motivation Quotient), and any other type of "Q" that you want to invent can be improved.
Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which tend to be specific to a certain type of task or activity, soft skills are broadly applicable.
Soft skills are sometimes broken down into personal attributes, such as:
• optimism
• responsibility
• a sense of humor
• integrity
• time-management
• motivation.
and interpersonal abilities, such as:
• empathy
• leadership
• communication
• good manners
• sociability
• the ability to teach.
It's often said that hard skills will get you an interview but you need soft skills to get (and keep) the job.
Some of the most common soft skills employers are looking for and will be assessing you on include:
• Strong Work Ethic. Are you motivated and dedicated to getting the job done, no matter what? Will you be conscientious and do your best work?
• Positive Attitude. Are you optimistic and upbeat? Will you generate good energy and good will?
• Good Communication Skills. Are you both verbally articulate and a good listener? Can you make your case and express your needs in a way that builds bridges with colleagues, customers and vendors?
• Time Management Abilities. Do you know how to prioritize tasks and work on a number of different projects at once? Will you use your time on the job wisely?
• Problem-Solving Skills. Are you resourceful and able to creatively solve problems that will inevitably arise? Will you take ownership of problems or leave them for someone else?
• Acting as a Team Player. Will you work well in groups and teams? Will you be cooperative and take a leadership role when appropriate?
• Self-Confidence. Do you truly believe you can do the job? Will you project a sense of calm and inspire confidence in others? Will you have the courage to ask questions that need to be asked and to freely contribute your ideas?
• Ability to Accept and Learn From Criticism. Will you be able to handle criticism? Are you coachable and open to learning and growing as a person and as a professional?
• Flexibility/Adaptability. Are you able to adapt to new situations and challenges? Will you embrace change and be open to new ideas?
• Working Well Under Pressure. Can you handle the stress that accompanies deadlines and crises? Will you be able to do your best work and come through in a pinch?
When job-hunting, Kocon advises that you focus on the skills most likely to interest the prospective employer and learn to demonstrate these skills through your r_¨sum_¨, in an interview or in dealing with potential employers at career fairs or industry association gatherings.
For example, tell a story of how you successfully handled a crisis or challenge at your company. Mention honors you received or even bring along letters of thanks or commendation from an employer or customer.
Remember, whether you are applying for a service position or a technical job, it's your combination of core and soft skills that will set you apart from the crowd!
Communication Skills - Start Here!
Why you need to get your message across
Effective communication is all about conveying your messages to other people clearly and unambiguously. It's also about receiving information that others are sending to you, with as little distortion as possible.
Doing this involves effort from both the sender of the message and the receiver. And it's a process that can be fraught with error, with messages muddled by the sender, or misinterpreted by the recipient. When this isn't detected, it can cause tremendous confusion, wasted effort and missed opportunity.
In fact, communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of the communication.
By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you actually send do not necessarily reflect what you think, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals – both personally and professionally.
In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single more important decisive factor in choosing managers. The survey, conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Business School, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work with others, are the main factor contributing to job success.
In spite of the increasing importance placed on communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively – whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression.
Being able to communicate effectively is therefore essential if you want to build a successful career. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must also weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and cultural context.
Communications Skills – The Importance of Removing Barriers
Problems with communication can pop-up at every stage of the communication process (which consists of the sender, encoding, the channel, decoding, the receiver, feedback and the context – see the diagram below). At each stage, there is the potential for misunderstanding and confusion.
To be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and confusion, your goal should be to lessen the frequency of problems at each stage of this process, with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications. We follow the process through below:
Source...
As the source of the message, you need to be clear about why you're communicating, and what you want to communicate. You also need to be confident that the information you're communicating is useful and accurate.
Message...
The message is the information that you want to communicate.
Encoding...
This is the process of transferring the information you want to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly decoded at the other end. Your success in encoding depends partly on your ability to convey information clearly and simply, but also on your ability to anticipate and eliminate sources of confusion (for example, cultural issues, mistaken assumptions, and missing information.)
A key part of this is knowing your audience: Failure to understand who you are communicating with will result in delivering messages that are misunderstood.
Channel...
Messages are conveyed through channels, with verbal channels including face-to-face meetings, telephone and videoconferencing; and written channels including letters, emails, memos and reports.
Different channels have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, it's not particularly effective to give a long list of directions verbally, while you'll quickly cause problems if you give someone negative feedback using email.
Decoding...
Just as successful encoding is a skill, so is successful decoding (involving, for example, taking the time to read a message carefully, or listen actively to it.) Just as confusion can arise from errors in encoding, it can also arise from decoding errors. This is particularly the case if the decoder doesn't have enough knowledge to understand the message.
Receiver...
Your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message, and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should consider these before delivering your message, and act appropriately.
Feedback...
Your audience will provide you with feedback, as verbal and nonverbal reactions to your communicated message. Pay close attention to this feedback, as it is the only thing that can give you confidence that your audience has understood your message. If you find that there has been a misunderstanding, at least you have the opportunity to send the message a second time.
Context...
The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the surrounding environment or broader culture (corporate culture, international cultures, and so on).
Removing Barriers at All These Stages
To deliver your messages effectively, you must commit to breaking down the barriers that exist within each of these stages of the communication process.
Let’s begin with the message itself. If your message is too lengthy, disorganized, or contains errors, you can expect the message to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Use of poor verbal and body language can also confuse the message.
Barriers in context tend to stem from senders offering too much information too fast. When in doubt here, less is oftentimes more. It is best to be mindful of the demands on other people’s time, especially in today’s ultra-busy society.
Once you understand this, you need to work to understand your audience’s culture, making sure you can converse and deliver your message to people of different backgrounds and cultures within your own organization, in your country and even abroad
Making a Great First Impression!
It takes just a quick glance, maybe three seconds, for someone to evaluate you when you meet for the first time. In this short time, the other person forms an opinion about you based on your appearance, your body language, your demeanor, your mannerisms, and how you are dressed.
With every new encounter, you are evaluated and yet another person’s impression of you is formed. These first impression can be nearly impossible to reverse or undo, making those first encounters extremely important, for they set the tone for the all the relationships that follows.
So, whether they are in your career or social life, it’s important to know how to create a good first impression. This article provides some useful tips to help you do this.
Be on Time
The person you are meeting for the first time is not interested in your “good excuse” for running late. Plan to arrive a few minutes early. And allow flexibility for possible delays in traffic or taking a wrong turn. Arriving early is much better that arriving late, hands down, and is the first step in creating a great first impression.
Be Yourself, Be at Ease
If you are feeling uncomfortable and on edge, this can make the other person ill at ease and that’s a sure way to create the wrong impression. If you are calm and confident, so the other person will feel more at ease, and so have a solid foundation for making that first impression a good one. See our section on relaxation techniques to find out how to calm that adrenaline!
Present Yourself Appropriately
Of course physical appearance matters. The person you are meeting for the first time does not know you and your appearance is usually the first clue he or she has to go on.
But it certainly does not mean you need to look like a model to create a strong and positive first impression. (Unless you are interviewing with your local model agency, of course!)
No. The key to a good impression is to present yourself appropriately.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and so the “picture” you first present says much about you to the person you are meeting. Is your appearance saying the right things to help create the right first impression?
Start with the way you dress. What is the appropriate dress for the meeting or occasion? In a business setting, what is the appropriate business attire? Suit, blazer, casual? And ask yourself what the person you'll be meeting is likely to wear - if your contact is in advertising or the music industry, a pinstripe business suit may not strike the right note!
For business and social meetings, appropriate dress also varies between countries and cultures, so it’s something that you should pay particular attention to when in an unfamiliar setting or country. Make sure you know the traditions and norms.
And what about your personal grooming? Clean and tidy appearance is appropriate for most business and social occasions. A good haircut or shave. Clean and tidy clothes. Neat and tidy make up. Make sure your grooming is appropriate and helps make you feel “the part”.
Appropriate dressing and grooming help make a good first impression and also help you feel “the part”, and so feel more calm and confident. Add all of this up and you are well on your way to creating a good first impression.
A Word about Individuality
The good news is you can usually create a good impression without total conformity or losing your individuality. Yes, to make a good first impression you do need to “fit in” to some degree. But it all goes back to being appropriate for the situation. If in a business setting, wear appropriate business attire. If at a formal evening social event, wear appropriate evening attire. And express your individuality appropriately within that context.
A Winning Smile!
“Smile and the world smiles too.”* So there’s nothing like a smile to create a good first impression. A warm and confident smile will put both you and the other person at ease. So smiling is a winner when it comes to great first impressions. But don't go overboard with this - people who take this too far can seem insincere and smarmy, or can be seen to be "lightweights".
(*Author Unknown)
Be Open and Confident
When it comes to making the first impression, body language as well as appearance speaks much louder than words.
Use your body language to project appropriate confidence and self-assurance. Stand tall, smile (of course), make eye contact, greet with a firm handshake. All of this will help you project confidence and encourage both you and the other person feel better at ease.
Almost everyone gets a little nervous when meeting someone for the first time, which can lead to nervous habits or sweaty palms. By being aware of your nervous habits, you can try to keep them in check. And controlling a nervous jitter or a nervous laugh will give you confidence and help the other person feel at ease. Again, see our section on relaxation techniques for help with this.
Small Talk Goes a Long Way…
Conversations are based on verbal give and take. It may help you to prepare questions you have for the person you are meeting for the first time beforehand. Or, take a few minutes to learn something about the person you meet for the first time before you get together. For instance, does he play golf? Does she work with a local charitable foundation?
Is there anything that you know of that you have in common with the person you are meeting? If so, this can be a great way to open the conversation and to keep it flowing.
Be Positive
Your attitude shows through in everything you do. Project a positive attitude, even in the face of criticism or in the case of nervousness. Strive to learn from your meeting and to contribute appropriately, maintaining an upbeat manner and a smile.
Be Courteous And Attentive
It goes without saying that good manners and polite, attentive and courteous behavior help make a good first impression. In fact, anything less can ruin the one chance you have at making that first impression. So be on your best behavior!
One modern manner worth mentioning is “turn off your mobile phone”. What first impression will you create if you are already speaking to someone other than the person you are meeting for the first time? Your new acquaintance deserves 100% of your attention. Anything less and you’ll create a less than good first impression.
Key Points
You have just a few seconds to make a good first impression and it’s almost impossible ever to change it. So it’s worth giving each new encounter your best shot. Much of what you need to do to make a good impression is common sense. But with a little extra thought and preparation, you can hone your intuitive style and make every first impression not just good but great.
The Johari Window
Creating Better Understanding Between Individuals and Groups
The Johari Window is a communication model that can be used to improve understanding between individuals within a team or in a group setting. Based on disclosure, self-disclosure and feedback, the Johari Window can also be used to improve a group's relationship with other groups
Developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham (the word “Johari” comes from Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham), there are two key ideas behind the tool:
1. That individuals can build trust between themselves by disclosing information about themselves; and
2. That they can learn about themselves and come to terms with personal issues with the help of feedback from others.
By explaining the idea of the Johari Window to your team, you can help team members understand the value of self-disclosure, and gently encourage people to give and accept feedback. Done sensitively, this can help people build more-trusting relationships with one another, solve issues and work more effectively as a team.
Explaining the Johari Window:
The Johari Window model consists of a foursquare grid (think of taking a piece of paper and dividing it into four parts by drawing one line down the middle of the paper from top to bottom, and another line through the middle of the paper from side-to-side). This is shown in the diagram below:
Using the Johari model, each person is represented by their own four-quadrant, or four-pane, window. Each of these contains and represents personal information – feelings, motivation – about the person, and shows whether the information is known or not known by themselves or other people.
The four quadrants are:
Quadrant 1: Open Area
What is known by the person about him/herself and is also known by others.
Quadrant 2: Blind Area, or "Blind Spot"
What is unknown by the person about him/herself but which others know. This can be simple information, or can involve deep issues (for example, feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, unworthiness, rejection) which are difficult for individuals to face directly, and yet can be seen by others.
Quadrant 3: Hidden or Avoided Area
What the person knows about him/herself that others do not.
Quadrant 4: Unknown Area
What is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by others.
The process of enlarging the open quadrant vertically is called self-disclosure, a give and take process between the person and the people he/she interacts with.
As information is shared, the boundary with the hidden quadrant moves downwards. And as other people reciprocate, trust tends to build between them.
Tip 1:
Don’t be rash in your self-disclosure. Disclosing harmless items builds trust. However, disclosing information which could damage people’s respect for you can put you in a position of weakness.
Using the Tool:
The process of enlarging the open quadrant horizontally is one of feedback. Here the individual learns things about him- or her-self that others can see, but he or she can’t.
Tip 2:
Be careful in the way you give feedback. Some cultures have a very open and accepting approach to feedback. Others don’t. You can cause incredible offence if you offer personal feedback to someone who’s not used to it. Be sensitive, and start gradually.
If anyone is interested in learning more about this individual, they reciprocate by disclosing information in their hidden quadrant.
For example, the first participant may disclose that he/she is a runner. The other participant may respond by adding that he/she works out regularly at the local gym, and may then disclose that the gym has recently added an indoor jogging track for winter runners.
As your levels of confidence and self-esteem rises, it is easier to invite others to comment on your blind spots. Obviously, active and empathic listening skills are useful in this exercise.
The Johari Window in a Team Context
Keep in mind that established team members will have larger open areas than new team members. New team members start with smaller open areas because little knowledge about the new team member has yet been shared. The size of the Open Area can be expanded horizontally into the blind space, by seeking and actively listening to feedback from other group members.
Group members should strive to assist a team member in expanding their Open Area by offering constructive feedback. The size of the Open Area can also be expanded vertically downwards into the hidden or avoided space by the sender’s disclosure of information, feelings, etc about himself/herself to the group and group members.
Also, group members can help a person expand their Open Area into the hidden area by asking the sender about himself/herself. Managers and team leaders play a key role here, facilitating feedback and disclosure among group members, and by providing constructive feedback to individuals about their own blind areas.
Key Points:
In most cases, the aim in groups should be to develop the Open Area for every person.
Working in this area with others usually allows for enhanced individual and team effectiveness and productivity. The Open Area is the ‘space’ where good communications and cooperation occur, free from confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.
Self-disclosure is the process by which people expand the Open Area vertically. Feedback is the process by which people expand this area horizontally.
By encouraging healthy self-disclosure and sensitive feedback, you can build a stronger and more effective team.
Better Public Speaking and Presentation
Ensure Your Words Are Always Understood
Think of the last really memorable talk or presentation that you attended. Now, was that easy to do, or did you really have to rack your brains to remember one? Sadly, too many presentations are easy to forget. And that's a big problem because the only reason the presenter gave the talk was to communicate something to you!
However, there are three basic things that you can do to ensure that your verbal messages are understood – and remembered – time and time again.
Although somewhat obvious and deceptively simple, these are:
• Understand the purpose of the presentation
• Keep the message clear and concise
• Be prepared
• Be vivid when delivering the message
Understand what you want to achieve
Before you start working on your talk or presentation, it's vital that you really understand what you want to say, who you want to tell and why they might want to hear it. To do this, ask yourself: Who? What? How? When? Where? Why?
Who are you speaking to? What are their interests, presuppositions and values? What do they share in common with others; how are they unique?
What do you wish to communicate? One way of answering this question is to ask yourself about the ‘success criteria’. How do you know if and when you have successfully communicated what you have in mind?
How can you best convey your message? Language is important here, as are the nonverbal cues discussed earlier. Choose your words and your nonverbal cues with your audience in mind. Plan a beginning, middle and end. If time and place allow, consider and prepare audio-visual aids.
When? Timing is important here. Develop a sense of timing, so that your contributions are seen and heard as relevant to the issue or matter at hand. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. ‘It’s better to be silent than sing a bad tune.’
Where? What is the physical context of the communication in mind? You may have time to visit the room, for example, and rearrange the furniture. Check for availability and visibility if you are using audio or visual aids.
Why? In order to convert hearers into listeners, you need to know why they should listen to you – and tell them if necessary. What disposes them to listen? That implies that you know yourself why you are seeking to communicate – the value or worth or interest of what you are going to say.
Keep it simple
When it comes to wording your message, less is more. You're giving your audience headlines. They don't need to and are usually not expecting to become experts on the subject as a result of hearing your talk.
If you're using slides, limit the content of each one to a few bullet points, or one statement or a very simple diagram
Be prepared
Preparation is underrated. In fact, it is one of the most important factors in determining your communication successes. When possible, set meeting times and speaking and presentation times well in advance, thus allowing yourself the time you need to prepare your communications, mindful of the entire communication process (source, encoding, channel, decoding, receiver, feedback and context). By paying close attention to each of these stages and preparing accordingly, you ensure your communications will be more effective and better understood.
Of course, not all communications can be scheduled. In this case, preparation may mean having a good, thorough understanding of the office goings-on, enabling you to communicate with the knowledge you need to be effective, both through verbal and written communications.
Unforgettable delivery
Your delivery of your speech or presentation will make or break it, no matter how well you've prepared and crafted your clear, concise message. Some useful tips for keeping your presentation vivid include:
• Use examples to bring your points to life
• Keep your body language up-beat – don't stay stuck behind a rostrum
• Don't talk to fast. Less is more here too. Pauses are effective.
• Use a variety of tones of voice
• Use visual aids.
Writing Skills
Before You Write It Down, Know This
Many people are intimidated by writing. Even so, there are times when writing is the best way to communicate, and oftentimes the only way to get your message across.
Write With Necessary Caution...
When writing, be mindful of the fact that once something is in written form, it cannot be taken back. Communicating in this way is more concrete than verbal communications, with less room for error and even less room for mistakes. This presents written communicators with new challenges, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, even writing style and actual wording.
Thankfully, today’s technology makes memo, letter and proposal writing much easier by providing reliable tools that check and even correct misspelled words and incorrect grammar use. Unfortunately, these tools are not fail proof and will require your support, making your knowledge in this area important.
The Importance of "Style"...
Some of the most basic tips to remember when writing include:
• Avoid the use of slang words
• Try not to use abbreviations (unless appropriately defined)
• Steer away from the use of symbols (such as ampersands [&])
• Clichés should be avoided, or at the very least, used with caution
• Brackets are used to play down words or phrases
• Dashes are generally used for emphasis
• Great care should ALWAYS be taken to spell the names of people and companies correctly
• Numbers should be expressed as words when the number is less than 10 or is used to start a sentence (example: Ten years ago, my brother and I…). The number 10, or anything greater than 10, should be expressed as a figure (example: My brother has 13 Matchbox cars.)
• Quotation marks should be placed around any directly quoted speech or text and around titles of publications.
• Keep sentences short
While the above tips cover the most common mistakes made when writing letters, memos and reports, they in no way cover everything you need to know to ensure your written communications are accurate and understood.
While this takes some practice, there are many sources available to assist with writing style, including “The Elements of Style”, by Strunk and White. One glance in any newsroom or on the desk of even the most accomplished writers and you are sure to find this small, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, no-nonsense guide to writing. It is clear, concise and perhaps the best book of its kind. If you plan on writing a great deal of letters or even proposals, it is strongly recommended that you pick up this nifty guide, which by the way, will fit in your shirt pocket.
Letter Writing Hints...
When writing letters, it is best to address the letter to an individual. And, when beginning the letter with a personal name, be sure to end it with an appropriate closing, such as ‘Sincerely yours’. If you cannot obtain an individual’s name, consider ending it with a more generic (less personal) closing, such as ‘With kindest regards’.
For normal business letters, your letter should start with an overall summary, showing in the first paragraph why the letter is relevant to the reader. It’s not a good practice to make the reader go past the first paragraph to find out why the letter was sent to them.
The body of the letter needs to explain the reason for the correspondence, including any relevant background and current information. Make sure the information flows logically, ensuring you are making your points effectively.
The closing of the letter is the final impression you leave with the reader. End with an action point, such as ‘I will call you later this week to discuss this further’.
The Importance of Careful Proofing
Perhaps the most important thing to remember when writing a letter is to check it thoroughly when it is completed. Even when you think it is exactly what you want, read it one more time. This “unwritten” rule holds true for everything you write – memos, letters, proposals, and so on.
Use both the grammar and spell check on your computer, paying very, very close attention to every word highlighted. Do not place total faith on your computer here. Instead, you should have both a printed dictionary and thesaurus nearby to double-check everything your computers editing tools highlight, as these tools are certainly not always reliable, for a variety of reasons.
When checking your written communications, make sure the document is clear and concise. Is there anything in the written communication that could be misinterpreted? Does it raise unanswered questions or fail to make the point you need to get across?
Can you cut down on the number of words used? For instance, don’t use 20 words when you can use 10. While you do not want to be curt or abrupt, you do not want to waste the reader’s time with unnecessary words or phrases.
Is your written communication well organized? Does each idea proceed logically to the next? Make sure your written communications are easy to read and contain the necessary information, using facts where needed and avoiding information that is not relevant. Again, outline the course of action you expect, such as a return call or visit.
Close appropriately, making sure to include your contact information. While this may seem obvious, it is sometimes overlooked and can make your written communications look amateurish. This can diminish your chances of meeting your written communication’s goals.
Effective Email
How to communicate powerfully by email
When you're trying to locate some information in an e-mail someone sent you a few weeks back, what helps you find it quickly? If the sender included the information you want in a long message covering lots of points, the chances are that it will take you time to find it. Worse, if the sender is someone you communicate with regularly, and he or she just pressed Reply to a previous message about a different point, the heading of the mail you need won't actually be related to the information you want.
There are a few simple rules to ensure that your emails are read in the first place and stay useful to the recipient.
Subject Lines are Headlines
The headline in a newspaper does two things: It grabs your attention and informs you what the article is about so you can decide whether you want to read further. Email subject lines need to do the same thing. Use the subject line to inform the receiver of EXACTLY what the email is about in a few well-chosen words. You might include a call to action such as "Please respond by 7 November", and if your message is one of a regular series of mails, such as a weekly project report, include the date in the subject line too.
Because everyone gets emails they do not want (spam), appropriate use of the subject line increases the chances your email will be read and not deleted without so much as a glance.
Of course, just as it would be ridiculous to publish a newspaper without headlines, never leave the subject line blank.
Make One Point per Email
The beauty of email, compared with letters, is that it doesn't cost any more to send several mails than it does to send one. So, if you need to communicate with someone about several matters, write a separate email on each subject. That way your correspondent can reply to each one in the appropriate time-frame. One topic might only require a short reply that he or she can make straight away. Another topic might require more research. By writing separate emails, you get clearer answers.
However, as with traditional business letters, the email should be clear and concise, with the purpose of the email detailed in the very first paragraph. Sentences should be kept short and to the point.
The body of the email should contain all pertinent information (see our articles on Writing Skills and on The Rhetorical Triangle) and should be direct and informative.
Specify the Response You Want
Make sure to include any call to action you desire, such as a phone call or follow-up appointment. Then, make sure you include your contact information, including your name, title, and phone numbers. Do this even with internal messages: The easier you make it for someone else to respond, the more likely they are to do so.
Be a Good Correspondent
If you regularly correspond using email, make sure to clean out your email inbox at least once each day. This is a simple act of courtesy and will also serve to encourage senders to return your emails in a timely manner.
If a lengthy response is required to an email, but you don't have the time to pull together the information required now, send a holding reply saying that you have received the message, and indicating when you will respond fully.
Always set your Out of Office agent when you are going to be away from your email for a day or more, whether on leave or because you're at meetings.
Internal Email
Internal email should be checked regularly throughout the working day and returned in a much quicker manner as it often involves timely projects, immediate updates, meeting notes, and so on. Nonetheless, internal emails, just like other emails, should not be informal. Remember, these are written forms of communication that can be printed out and viewed by others than those originally intended for. Always use your spell checker, and avoid slang.
Ice Breakers
Getting everyone to contribute at the start of a successful event
Ice Breakers can be an effective way of starting a training session or team-building event. As interactive and often fun sessions run before the main proceedings, they help people get to know each other and buy into the purpose of the event.
If an ice breaker session is well-designed and well-facilitated, it can really help get things off to a great start. By getting to know each other, getting to know the facilitators and learning about the objectives of the event, people can become more engaged in the proceedings and so contribute more effectively towards a successful outcome.
But have you ever been to an event when the ice breaker session went badly? Just as a great ice breaker session can smooth the way for a great event, so a bad ice breaker session can be a recipe for disaster. A bad ice breaker session is at best simply a waste of time, or worse an embarrassment for everyone involved.
As a facilitator, the secret of a successful icebreaking session is to keep it simple: Design the session with specific objectives in mind and make sure the session is appropriate and comfortable for everyone involved.
This article helps you think through the objectives of your ice breaker session, and then suggests various types of ice breaker you might use. As a facilitator, make sure your ice breakers are remembered for the right reasons – as a great start to a great event!
When to Use Icebreakers
As the name suggests, an ice breaker session is designed to “break the ice” at an event or meeting. The technique is often used when people who do not usually work together, or may not know each other at all, meet for a specific, common purpose.
Consider using an ice breaker when:
• Participants come from different backgrounds;
• People need to bond quickly so as to work towards a common goal;
• Your team is newly formed;
• The topics you are discussing are new or unfamiliar to many people involved; or
• As facilitator you need to get to know participants and have them know you better.
So What’s the “Ice”?
When designing your ice breaker, think about the “ice” that needs to be broken.
If you are bringing together like-minded people, the “ice” may simply reflect the fact that people have not yet met.
If you are bringing together people of different grades and levels in your organization for an open discussion, the “ice” may come from the difference in status between participants.
If you are bringing together people of different backgrounds, cultures and outlooks for work within your community, then the “ice” may come from people’s perceptions of each other.
You’ll need to handle these differences sensitively. Only focus on what’s important to your event. (Remember, you want to break some ice for your event, not uncover the whole iceberg, or bring about world peace!)
And as you move on to design and facilitate the event, it’s always best to focus on similarities (rather than differences), such as a shared interest in the event’s outcome.
Designing Your Icebreaker
The key to a successful ice breaker is to make sure the ice breaker is specifically focused on meeting your objectives and appropriate to the group of people involved.
Once you have established what the “ice” is, the next step is to clarify the specific objectives for your ice breaker session.
For example, when meeting to solve problems at work, the ice breaker objectives may be:
“To establish a productive working environment for today’s event with good participation from everyone involved, irrespective of their level or job role in the organization.”
With clear objectives, you can start to design the session. Ask yourself questions about how you will meet your objectives. For example:
• “How will people become comfortable with contributing?
• “How will you establish a level playing field for people with different levels and jobs?
• “How will you create a common sense of purpose?...”
and so on.
These questions can be used as a check list once you have designed the ice breaker session:
“Will this ice breaker session help people feel comfortable… establish a level playing field… etc”
As a further check, you should also ask yourself how each person is likely to react to the session. Will participants feel comfortable? Will they feel the session is appropriate and worthwhile?
Example Ice Breakers
There are many types of ice breakers, each suited to different types of objectives. Here we look at a few of the more popular types of ice breakers and how they can be used.
Introductory Ice Breakers
Introductory ice breakers are used to introduce participants to each other and to facilitate conversation amongst the participants.
The Little Known Fact: Ask participants to share their name, department or role in the organization, length of service, and one little known fact about themselves.
This "little known fact" becomes a humanizing element that can help break down differences such as grade / status in future interaction.
True or False: Ask your participants to introduce themselves and make three or four statements about themselves, one of which is false. Now get the rest of the group to vote on which fact is false.
As well as getting to know each other as individuals, this ice breaker helps to start interaction within the group.
Interviews: Ask participants to get into twos. Each person then interviews his or her partner for a set time while paired up. When the group reconvenes, each person introduces their interviewee to the rest of the group.
Problem Solvers: Ask participants to work in small groups. Create a simple problem scenario for them to work on in a short time. Once the group have analyzed the problem and prepared their feedback, ask each group in turn to present their analysis and solutions to the wider group.
Tip:
Choose a fairly simple scenario that everyone can contribute to. The idea is not to solve a real problem but to “warm up” the group for further interaction or problem solving later in the event. The group will also learn each other's styles of problem-solving and interaction.
Team-Building Ice Breakers
Team-building ice breakers are used to bring together individuals who are in the early stages of team building. This can help the people start working together more cohesively towards shared goals or plans.
The Human Web: This ice breaker focuses on how people in the group inter-relate and depend on each other.
The facilitator begins with a ball of yarn. Keeping one end, pass the ball to one of the participants, and the person to introduce him- or her-self and their role in the organization. Once this person has made their introduction, ask him or her to pass the ball of yarn on to another person in the group. The person handing over the ball must describe how he/she relates (or expects to relate) to the other person. The process continues until everyone is introduced.
To emphasis the interdependencies amongst the team, the facilitator then pulls on the starting thread and everyone's hand should move.
Ball Challenge: This exercise creates a simple, timed challenge for the team to help focus on shared goals, and also encourages people to include other people.
The facilitator arranges the group in a circle and asks each person to throw the ball across the circle, first announcing his or her own name, and then announcing the name of the person to whom they are throwing the ball (the first few times, each person throws the ball to someone whose name they already know.) When every person in the group has thrown the ball at least once, it’s time to set the challenge – to pass the ball around all group members as quickly as possible. Time the process, then ask the group to beat that timing. As the challenge progresses, the team will improve their process, for example by standing closer together. And so the group will learn to work as a team.
Hope, Fears and Expectations: Best done when participants already have a good understanding of their challenge as a team. Group people into 2s or 3s, and ask people to discuss their expectations for the event or work ahead, then what they fears and their hopes. Gather the group’s response by collating 3-4 hopes, fears and expectation from pairing or threesome.
Topic exploration ice breakers
Topic exploration ice breakers can be used to explore the topic at the outset, or perhaps to change pace and re-energize people during the even.
Word association: This ice breaker helps people explore the breadth of the area under discussion. Generate a list of words related to the topic of your event or training. For example, in a health and safety workshop, ask participants what words or phrases come to mind relating to "hazardous materials". Participants may suggest: 'danger,' 'corrosive,' 'flammable,' 'warning,' 'skull and crossbones,' etc. Write all suggestions on the board, perhaps clustering by theme. You can use this opportunity to introduce essential terms and discuss the scope (what’s in and what’s out) of your training or event.
Burning questions: This ice breaker gives each person the opportunity to ask key questions they hope to cover in the event or training. Again you can use this opportunity to discuss key terminology and scope. Be sure to keep the questions and refer back to them as the event progresses and concludes.
Brainstorm: Brainstorming can be used as an ice breaker or re-energizer during an event. If people are getting bogged down in the detail during problem solving, for example, you can change pace easily by running a quick-fire brainstorming session. If you are looking for answers to customer service problems, try brainstorming how to create problems rather than solve them. This can help people think creatively again and gives the group a boost when energy levels are flagging.
Running Effective Meetings
Meetings are wonderful tools for generating ideas, expanding on thoughts and managing group activity. But this face-to-face contact with team members and colleagues can easily fail without adequate preparation and leadership.
The Importance of Preparation
To ensure everyone involved has the opportunity to provide their input, start your meeting off on the right foot by designating a meeting time that allows all participants the time needed to adequately prepare.
Once a meeting time and place has been chosen, make yourself available for questions that may arise as participants prepare for the meeting. If you are the meeting leader, make a meeting agenda, complete with detailed notes.
In these notes, outline the goal and proposed structure of the meeting, and share this with the participants. This will allow all involved to prepare and to come to the meeting ready to work together to meet the goal(s) at hand.
The success of the meeting depends largely on the skills displayed by the meeting leader. To ensure the meeting is successful, the leader should:
• Issue an agenda
• Start the discussion and encourage active participation
• Work to keep the meeting at a comfortable pace – not moving too fast or too slow
• Summarize the discussion and the recommendations at the end of each logical section
• Ensure all participants receive minutes promptly
While these tips will help ensure your meeting is productive and well-received, there are other important areas that need to be touched on to make sure your meeting and negotiation skills are fine-tuned.
Managing a Meeting
Choosing the right participants is key to the success of any meeting. Make sure all participants can contribute and choose good decision-makers and problem-solvers. Try to keep the number of participants to a maximum of 12, preferably fewer. Make sure the people with the necessary information for the items listed in the meeting agenda are the ones that are invited.
Tip:
Stop for a minute to consider the hourly cost to your organization of the people attending your meeting. You'll realise that calling a meeting is expensive, so it's important to ensure that every person attending and every minute of your meeting adds value. So don't invite people who won't participate but will simply report back to their boss or team (sending a copy of the minutes will be a more effective way of achieving this). Equally, don't use meetings to tell people things that could be communicated just as effectively by email or memo.
If you are the leader, work diligently to ensure everyone’s thoughts and ideas are heard by guiding the meeting so that there is a free flow of debate with no individual dominating and no extensive discussions between two people. As time dwindles for each item on the distributed agenda, you may find it useful to stop the discussion, then quickly summarize the debate on that agenda item and move on the next item on the agenda.
When an agenda item is resolved or action is agreed upon, make it clear who in the meeting will be responsible for this. In an effort to bypass confusion and misunderstandings, summarize the action to be taken and include this in the meeting’s minutes.
Time Keeping
Meetings are notorious for eating up people's time. Here are some ways of ensuring that time is not wasted in meetings:
• Start on time.
• Don't recap what you've covered if someone comes in late: doing so sends the message that it is OK to be late for meetings, and it wastes everyone else's valuable time.
• State a finish time for the meeting and don't over-run.
• To help stick to the stated finish time, arrange your agenda in order of importance so that if you have to omit or rush items at the end to make the finish time, you don't omit or skimp on important items.
• Finish the meeting before the stated finish time if you have achieved everything you need to.
Issuing Minutes
Minutes record the decisions of the meeting and the actions agreed. They provide a record of the meeting and, importantly, they provide a review document for use at the next meeting so that progress can be measured – this makes them a useful disciplining technique as individuals' performance and non-performance of agreed actions is given high visibility.
The style of the minutes issued depends on the circumstances – in situations of critical importance and where the record is important, then you may need to take detailed minutes. Where this is not the case, then minutes can be simple lists of decisions made and of actions to be taken (with the responsible person identified). Generally, they should be as short as possible as long as all key information is shown – this makes them quick and easy to prepare and digest.
It is always impressive if the leader of a meeting issues minutes within 24 hours of the end of the meeting – it's even better if they are issued on the same day.
Win-Win Negotiation
Finding a fair compromise
Do you feel that someone is continually taking advantage of you? Do you seem to have to fight your corner aggressively, or ally with others, to win the resources you need? Or do you struggle to get what you want from people whose help you need, but over whom you have little direct authority? If so, you may need to brush up your win-win negotiation skills.
Effective negotiation helps you to resolve situations where what you want conflicts with what someone else wants. The aim of win-win negotiation is to find a solution that is acceptable to both parties, and leaves both parties feeling that they've won, in some way, after the event.
There are different styles of negotiation, depending on circumstances.
Where you do not expect to deal with people ever again and you do not need their goodwill, then it may be appropriate to "play hardball", seeking to win a negotiation while the other person loses out. Many people go through this when they buy or sell a house – this is why house-buying can be such a confrontational and unpleasant experience.
Similarly, where there is a great deal at stake in a negotiation, then it may be appropriate to prepare in detail and legitimate "gamesmanship" to gain advantage. Anyone who has been involved with large sales negotiations will be familiar with this.
Neither of these approaches is usually much good for resolving disputes with people with whom you have an ongoing relationship: If one person plays hardball, then this disadvantages the other person – this may, quite fairly, lead to reprisal later. Similarly, using tricks and manipulation during a negotiation can undermine trust and damage teamwork. While a manipulative person may not get caught out if negotiation is infrequent, this is not the case when people work together routinely. Here, honesty and openness are almost always the best policies.
Preparing for a successful negotiation…
Depending on the scale of the disagreement, some preparation may be appropriate for conducting a successful negotiation.
For small disagreements, excessive preparation can be counter-productive because it takes time that is better used elsewhere. It can also be seen as manipulative because, just as it strengthens your position, it can weaken the other person’s.
However, if you need to resolve a major disagreement, then make sure you prepare thoroughly. Using our free worksheet, think through the following points before you start negotiating:
• Goals: what do you want to get out of the negotiation? What do you think the other person wants?
• Trades: What do you and the other person have that you can trade? What do you each have that the other wants? What are you each comfortable giving away?
• Alternatives: if you don’t reach agreement with the other person, what alternatives do you have? Are these good or bad? How much does it matter if you do not reach agreement? Does failure to reach an agreement cut you out of future opportunities? And what alternatives might the other person have?
• Relationships: what is the history of the relationship? Could or should this history impact the negotiation? Will there be any hidden issues that may influence the negotiation? How will you handle these?
• Expected outcomes: what outcome will people be expecting from this negotiation? What has the outcome been in the past, and what precedents have been set?
• The consequences: what are the consequences for you of winning or losing this negotiation? What are the consequences for the other person?
• Power: who has what power in the relationship? Who controls resources? Who stands to lose the most if agreement isn’t reached? What power does the other person have to deliver what you hope for?
• Possible solutions: based on all of the considerations, what possible compromises might there be?
Style is critical…
For a negotiation to be 'win-win', both parties should feel positive about the negotiation once it's over. This helps people keep good working relationships afterwards. This governs the style of the negotiation – histrionics and displays of emotion are clearly inappropriate because they undermine the rational basis of the negotiation and because they bring a manipulative aspect to them.
Despite this, emotion can be an important subject of discussion because people's emotional needs must fairly be met. If emotion is not discussed where it needs to be, then the agreement reached can be unsatisfactory and temporary. Be as detached as possible when discussing your own emotions – perhaps discuss them as if they belong to someone else.
Negotiating successfully…
The negotiation itself is a careful exploration of your position and the other person’s position, with the goal of finding a mutually acceptable compromise that gives you both as much of what you want as possible. People's positions are rarely as fundamentally opposed as they may initially appear - the other person may have very different goals from the ones you expect!
In an ideal situation, you will find that the other person wants what you are prepared to trade, and that you are prepared to give what the other person wants.
If this is not the case and one person must give way, then it is fair for this person to try to negotiate some form of compensation for doing so – the scale of this compensation will often depend on the many of the factors we discussed above. Ultimately, both sides should feel comfortable with the final solution if the agreement is to be considered win-win.
Only consider win-lose negotiation if you don't need to have an ongoing relationship with the other party as, having lost, they are unlikely to want to work with you again. Equally, you should expect that if they need to fulfill some part of a deal in which you have "won," they may be uncooperative and legalistic about the way they do this.
Speaking to an Audience
Communicate Complex Ideas Successfully
Speaking to an audience can be fun and exciting. However, lack of preparation or not clearly defining the presentation’s goals and its audience can make even the best-intended presentation a complete disaster.
Preparation – The Key to Successful Speaking...
To ensure your presentation is effective, first determine your objective. Ask yourself:
• Why am I giving the presentation?
• What do I want the audience to take away from the presentation?
Second, determine your audience. Their familiarity with the presentation topic will determine the level at which you present your speech.
How to Structure Your Presentation
Once you have determined your presentation’s objective and overall goal, as well as the audience, it’s time to structure your presentation. You will need to start this process by determining the length of the presentation.
Take the allotted time and break it into smaller segments, with each segment tackling a specific task (all of which reflect the overall objective of the presentation). For example, the fist segment should be the presentation introduction. In this segment, you should give an overview of your presentation, or a short summary of your speech, explaining the topic, why you are covering this topic, and what you hope to accomplish.
The next segment should tackle the first item on your agenda, with the following segment tackling the following item on your agenda, and so on.
Once you have developed the introduction and outlined the following segments, spend some time thinking about the conclusion of the presentation. The introduction of the presentation and the conclusion of the presentation are the most important parts and should have the strongest impact.
Achieving Clarity and Impact
Keep your presentation short and simple. Your audience will not remember every point of your presentation, so highlight the most important parts. The longer the presentation, the higher the risk of boredom.
When in doubt, use the “tell ‘em” structure:
• Tell them what you are going to tell them (For instance, “In this presentation I will show you…”).
• Tell them the key points, expanding and illustrating each one, clearly and concisely.
• Tell them what you have told them (For instance, “In closing…” or “In summary…”) and conclude.
Reinforce Your Message With Visual Aids
Next, consider the use of visual aids. Slide projectors, data projectors, video machines and computers should be tested out beforehand to make sure they are operating correctly and that you know how to use them.
Make sure you do not cram too much information onto any single visual. A good rule of thumb to follow is to keep each visual to six lines or less. Also, make sure any type or graphics are large enough the audience can see it clearly (from all seats) and make sure the colors used are easy on the eyes, taking into account the lighting.
A sad fact is that much of your authority will be judged by the quality of your slides – you need to make sure that their design supports the style of your message.
Overheads should be clearly marked and arranged in order beforehand. Flip charts should be prepared in advance when possible. When used during the presentation to take notes, make print large enough for all participants to see.
When using these various visuals, do not turn your back to the audience. Position yourself so you can use the visuals while facing your audience.
Arranging the Room
If possible, visit the room in which you will make the presentation well in advance. Determine seating (circle seating encourages interaction, rows of seats discourages interaction, etc.) and determine how the visual aids you choose will work. Consider lighting, space, even the temperature of the room. Consider placing notepads and pencils at each seat if participants need to take notes. Or, you may want to have glasses at each seat with a few pitchers of water if the presentation is going to last more than half of an hour. If you do this, make sure you allow time for bathroom breaks.
While you do not need to memorize your entire presentation, make yourself very, very familiar with it through several practice runs. Rehearse the presentation in its entirety as often as you can before delivering it to a live audience. The more you rehearse, the more confident you will be and the more fluent you will seem to your audience – if you know your subject matter and have adequately prepared, you will be able to deliver your message loud and clear.
When in doubt or nervous, stay focused on your purpose – helping your audience understand your message. Direct your thoughts to the subject at hand. The audience has come to hear your presentation and you will succeed!
Tips and Techniques
Tips to help make your presentation a smashing success:
• Avoid too many statistics and confusing information in your presentation. Instead, put this information in a handout for participants to refer to at a later date.
• If you forget your words, pause for a moment and remember your objective. While the words may not come right back to you, this will help keep you on track and may even help you to think of additional thoughts and ideas your audience will benefit from hearing.
• Visualize yourself succeeding.
• Begin by breathing.
• Before the presentation, focus on the needs of the audience.
• Take a public speaking course at a local college or university. These are oftentimes offered as night courses and are usually very inexpensive, while providing you with important skills that will enhance your confidence in this area.
• Videotape yourself going through the presentation. All you need to do this is a video camera and a tripod. Then, run through the video and make changes according to your thoughts on the taped presentation.
Active Listening
Hear What People Are Really Saying
Listening is one of the most important skills you can have. How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness, and on the quality of your relationships with others.
We listen to obtain information.
We listen to understand.
We listen for enjoyment.
We listen to learn.
Given all this listening we do, you would think we’d be good at it! In fact we’re not. Depending on the study being quoted, we remember a dismal 25-50% of what we hear. That means that when you talk to your boss, colleagues, customers or spouse for 10 minutes, they only really hear 2½-5 minutes of the conversation.
Turn it around and it reveals that when you are receiving directions or being presented with information, you aren’t hearing the whole message either. You hope the important parts are captured in your 25- 50%, but what if they’re not?
Clearly, listening is a skill that we can all benefit from improving. By becoming a better listener, you will improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade negotiate. What’s more, you’ll avoid conflict and misunderstandings – all necessary for workplace success. )
Good communication skills require a high level of self-awareness. By understanding your personal style of communicating, you will go a long way towards creating good and lasting impressions with others.
The way to become a better listener is to practice “active listening”. This is where you make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, to try and understand the total message being sent.
In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person very carefully.
You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by what else may be going on around you, or by forming counter arguments that you’ll make when the other person stops speaking. Nor can you allow yourself to lose focus on what the other person is saying. All of these barriers contribute to a lack of listening and understanding.
Tip:
If you're finding it particularly difficult to concentrate on what someone is saying, try repeating their words mentally as they say it – this will reinforce their message and help you control mind drift.
To enhance your listening skills, you need to let the other person know that you are listening to what he or she is saying. To understand the importance of this, ask yourself if you’ve ever been engaged in a conversation when you wondered if the other person was listening to what you were saying. You wonder if your message is getting across, or if it’s even worthwhile to continue speaking. It feels like talking to a brick wall and it’s something you want to avoid.
Acknowledgement can be something as simple as a nod of the head or a simple “uh huh.” You aren’t necessarily agreeing with the person, you are simply indicating that you are listening. Using body language and other signs to acknowledge you are listening also reminds you to pay attention and not let your mind wander.
You should also try to respond to the speaker in a way that will both encourage him or her to continue speaking, so that you can get the information if you need. While nodding and “uh huhing” says you’re interested, an occasional question or comment to recap what has been said communicates that you understand the message as well.
Becoming an Active Listener
There are five key elements of active listening. They all help you ensure that you hear the other person, and that the other person knows you are hearing what they are saying.
1. Pay attention.
Give the speaker your undivided attention and acknowledge the message. Recognize that what is not said also speaks loudly.
o Look at the speaker directly.
o Put aside distracting thoughts. Don’t mentally prepare a rebuttal!
o Avoid being distracted by environmental factors.
o “Listen” to the speaker’s body language.
o Refrain from side conversations when listening in a group setting.
2. Show that you are listening.
Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.
o Nod occasionally.
o Smile and use other facial expressions.
o Note your posture and make sure it is open and inviting.
o Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes, and uh huh.
3. Provide feedback.
Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear. As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said. This may require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions.
o Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. “What I’m hearing is…” and “Sounds like you are saying…” are great ways to reflect back.
o Ask questions to clarify certain points. “What do you mean when you say…” “Is this what you mean?”
o Summarize the speaker’s comments periodically.
Tip:
If you find yourself responding emotionally to what someone said, say so, and ask for more information: "I may not be understanding you correctly, and I find myself taking what you said personally. What I thought you just said is XXX; is that what you meant?"
4. Defer judgment.
Interrupting is a waste of time. It frustrates the speaker and limits full understanding of the message.
o Allow the speaker to finish.
o Don’t interrupt with counterarguments.
5. Respond Appropriately.
Active listening is a model for respect and understanding. You are gaining information and perspective. You add nothing by attacking the speaker or otherwise putting him or her down.
o Be candid, open, and honest in your response.
o Assert your opinions respectfully.
o Treat the other person as he or she would want to be treated.
Key Points:
It takes a lot of concentration and determination to be an active listener. Old habits are hard to break, and if your listening habits are as bad as many people’s are, then there’s a lot of habit-breaking to do!
Be deliberate with your listening and remind yourself constantly that your goal is to truly hear what the other person is saying. Set aside all other thoughts and behaviors and concentrate on the message. Ask question, reflect, and paraphrase to ensure you understand the message. If you don’t, then you’ll find that what someone says to you and what you hear can be amazingly different!
Start using active listening today to become a better communicator and improve your workplace productivity and relationships.
Presentation Planning Checklist
This presentation checklist will help you deliver successful presentation. This is adapted in part from Business Communications: A Cultural and Strategic Approach by Michael J. Rouse and Sandra Rouse.
Presentation:
• Does your introduction grab participant’s attention and explain your objectives?
• Do you follow this by clearly defining the points of the presentation?
• Are these main points in logical sequence?
• Do these flow well?
• Do the main points need support from visual aids?
• Does your closing summarize the presentation clearly and concisely?
• Is the conclusion strong?
• Have your tied the conclusion to the introduction?
Delivery:
• Are you knowledgeable about the topic covered in your presentation?
• Do you have your notes in order?
• Where and how will you present (indoors, outdoors, standing, sitting, etc.)?
• Have you visited the presentation site?
• Have you checked your visual aids to ensure they are working and you know how to use them?
Appearance:
• Make sure you are dressed and groomed appropriately and in keeping with the audience’s expectations.
• Practice your speech standing (or sitting, if applicable), paying close attention to your body language, even your posture, both of which will be assessed by the audience.
Visual Aids:
• Are the visual aids easy to read and easy to understand?
• Are they tied into the points you are trying to communicate?
• Can they be easily seen from all areas of the room?
0 Tips for Effective E-mail
by Ellen Dowling, PhD
1. Think before you write. Just because you can send information faster than ever before, it doesn’t mean that you should send it. Analyze your readers to make certain that you are sending a message that will be both clear and useful.
2. Remember that you can always deny that you said it. But if you write it, you may be held accountable for many moons. You may be surprised to find where your message may end up. (As an example of “What Not To Do” in Ellen Dowling’s Writing Strategies class?)
3. Keep your message concise. Remember that the view screen in most e-mail programs shows only approximately one half of a hard-copy page. Save longer messages and formal reports for attachments. On the other hand, do not keep your message so short that the reader has no idea what you’re talking about. Include at least a summary (action or information?) in the first paragraph of your message.
4. Remember that e-mail is not necessarily confidential. Some companies will retain the right to monitor employees’ messages. (Refer to #1 and #2, above.) Don’t send anything you wouldn’t be comfortable seeing published in your company’s newsletter (or your community’s newspaper).
5. Don’t attempt to “discipline” your readers. It’s unprofessional to lose control in person—to do so in writing usually just makes the situation worse.
6. Don’t “spam” your readers. Don’t send them unnecessary or frivolous messages. Soon, they’ll quit opening any message from you.
7. DON’T TYPE IN ALL CAPS! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE YELLING AT THE READERS! Remember, if you emphasize everything, you will have emphasized nothing.
8. Don’t type in all lower case. (Unless you’re e.e. Cummings.) If you violate the rules of english grammar and usage, you make it difficult for the reader to read.
9. Use the “Subject” line to get the readers’ attention. Replace vague lines (“Information on XYZ Project,” or “Status Report Q1”) with better “hooks”: “Need your input on Tralfamadore Project,” or “Analysis of recent problems with the new Veeblefetzer.”
10. Take the time to poofread your document before you sent it. Rub the document thru the spell checker and/or the grammer checker. Even simpl tipos will make you look sloppie and damage you’re proffessional credubility.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."-NELSON MANDELA
Softskills, as opposed to hard skills (such as technical skills), focuses on those elements of training that require changes in behavior and thinking. Organizations today recognize that the soft skills training of their employees play an important part in maintaining relationships with their customers and developing a successful business. Organizations that endeavor to be on the path of continuous learning will often find that upgrading the ‘soft skills’ of their workforce is a necessary part of business. It not only helps improve service but also shows the interest that an organization has in the professional development of their employees, which in turn leads to higher employee retention.
Soft skills is a sociological term for a person's "EQ" (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), which refers to the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, ability with language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that mark people to varying degrees. Soft skills complement hard skills (part of a person's IQ), which are the technical requirements of a job.
A person's soft skill EQ can also be an important part of the success of an organization. Organizations, particularly those frequently dealing with customers face-to-face, are generally more prosperous if they train their staff to use these skills. Screening or training for personal habits or traits such as dependability and conscientiousness can yield significant return on investment for an organization. [1] For this reason, soft skills are increasingly sought out by employers in addition to standard qualifications.
It has been suggested that in a number of professions soft skills are more important over the long term than technical skills, for example in the legal profession where the ability to deal with people effectively and politely can determine the professional success of a lawyer more than his or her mere technical skills.[2]
Personal Qualities
• Being responsible
• Possessing self-esteem
• Possessing sociability
• Ability to self-manage
• Possessing integrity and honesty
• Identifying the truth
• Problem solving
• Time management
• Interpersonal communication
• Active listening skills
• Presentation skills
• Leadership
Interpersonal Skills
• Participates as a member of the Team
• Teaches others
• Serves Client / Customers
• Exercises Leadership
• Negotiates
• Works with cultural diversity
• Motivates others
More and more corporations around the world recognize that, in order to gain a competitive advantage, they also need to make sure their people know how to handle themselves at work and how to relate with their customers and peers. From showing empathy and optimism to extreme self-awareness to knowing what's going on around them, these vital competencies are an integral part of a progressive organization. They fall under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence (EI).
These soft-skills, or emotional intelligence skills, revelations open the door to a lot of discussion. The western civilization and our traditional management theories tend to lead us in the direction of individualistic promotion. They display our strengths rather than the demonstration of our humanness. These ideas have been so tightly woven into our leadership mentality that they can be challenging to break.
Unfortunately, most graduate schools don't teach you how to cultivate your soft skills. While courses such as Business Writing and Public Speaking are offered, I have never seen a course entitled, "The Effective Art of Listening to Your Customer." We live in a society that measures intelligence through quantifiable metrics. A professor will give you good grades once you know XYZ, but he or she will not increase your grade for being able to deal with a difficult situation, showing compassion, or solving an unexpected problem. Yet most compliments that you or your employees receive deal more with the use of soft skills than with your actual knowledge about a particular situation. Most customers appreciate a "willingness to help" and the fact that "she listened to my complaint." The use of these skills is what elevates your organization above the competition.
You don't compete only with products anymore, rather with how well you use your people. Too often we focus on what employees need to "know" when evaluating and hiring them instead of "who they really are." I will illustrate this with an example.
John was promoted to Technical Project Manager at his consulting company. Some people wondered why John had risen to this level of management. His educational level was lower than others in the firm and his degree wasn't in an area that pertained to consulting. However, one of the strengths that was nowhere on his resume was his ability to be positive in all situations and to naturally motivate people. He was quick to smile and see the positive side of every project. He was generous in praising people and was consistently happy. These were his strengths - his natural attributes. They made up the sum of who John was. These soft skills are just as important as what John knows.
The challenge nowadays is to introduce a program that will allow your leaders to learn and capitalize fast on their soft-skills competencies. Soft skills are important and always have been. It seems we have laid them aside and opted to emphasize too much on expertise and credentials. Let's get back to our values and the basics of good internal and external customer service.
Soft skills are the underlying principles that trademark a company for professionalism and excellent customer service. They provide differentiation between all the cookie-cutter look-alikes and play a vital role in customer loyalty. In today's working environment, where customers and employees are demanding more, instilling the use of soft skills in your team members is something you simply can't survive without.
Soft skills are intrapersonal and interpersonal skills that determine a person's ability to excel or at least fit in a particular social structure, such as a project team, a company or even a jazz quartet. These skills include competencies in areas such as Emotional Intelligence, communication, leadership ability, etiquette, conflict resolution, decision making, self-motivation, self-discipline, persuasion, etc.
Experts ranging from psychologists to business and spiritual leaders, such as Donald Trump and the Dalai Lama, agree that one or more of the soft skills have the greatest impact on your level of success. It has been said that your IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is fixed from birth. But your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), your IPQ (Influence and Persuasion Quotient), your MQ (Motivation Quotient), and any other type of "Q" that you want to invent can be improved.
Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which tend to be specific to a certain type of task or activity, soft skills are broadly applicable.
Soft skills are sometimes broken down into personal attributes, such as:
• optimism
• responsibility
• a sense of humor
• integrity
• time-management
• motivation.
and interpersonal abilities, such as:
• empathy
• leadership
• communication
• good manners
• sociability
• the ability to teach.
It's often said that hard skills will get you an interview but you need soft skills to get (and keep) the job.
Some of the most common soft skills employers are looking for and will be assessing you on include:
• Strong Work Ethic. Are you motivated and dedicated to getting the job done, no matter what? Will you be conscientious and do your best work?
• Positive Attitude. Are you optimistic and upbeat? Will you generate good energy and good will?
• Good Communication Skills. Are you both verbally articulate and a good listener? Can you make your case and express your needs in a way that builds bridges with colleagues, customers and vendors?
• Time Management Abilities. Do you know how to prioritize tasks and work on a number of different projects at once? Will you use your time on the job wisely?
• Problem-Solving Skills. Are you resourceful and able to creatively solve problems that will inevitably arise? Will you take ownership of problems or leave them for someone else?
• Acting as a Team Player. Will you work well in groups and teams? Will you be cooperative and take a leadership role when appropriate?
• Self-Confidence. Do you truly believe you can do the job? Will you project a sense of calm and inspire confidence in others? Will you have the courage to ask questions that need to be asked and to freely contribute your ideas?
• Ability to Accept and Learn From Criticism. Will you be able to handle criticism? Are you coachable and open to learning and growing as a person and as a professional?
• Flexibility/Adaptability. Are you able to adapt to new situations and challenges? Will you embrace change and be open to new ideas?
• Working Well Under Pressure. Can you handle the stress that accompanies deadlines and crises? Will you be able to do your best work and come through in a pinch?
When job-hunting, Kocon advises that you focus on the skills most likely to interest the prospective employer and learn to demonstrate these skills through your r_¨sum_¨, in an interview or in dealing with potential employers at career fairs or industry association gatherings.
For example, tell a story of how you successfully handled a crisis or challenge at your company. Mention honors you received or even bring along letters of thanks or commendation from an employer or customer.
Remember, whether you are applying for a service position or a technical job, it's your combination of core and soft skills that will set you apart from the crowd!
Communication Skills - Start Here!
Why you need to get your message across
Effective communication is all about conveying your messages to other people clearly and unambiguously. It's also about receiving information that others are sending to you, with as little distortion as possible.
Doing this involves effort from both the sender of the message and the receiver. And it's a process that can be fraught with error, with messages muddled by the sender, or misinterpreted by the recipient. When this isn't detected, it can cause tremendous confusion, wasted effort and missed opportunity.
In fact, communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of the communication.
By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you actually send do not necessarily reflect what you think, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals – both personally and professionally.
In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single more important decisive factor in choosing managers. The survey, conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Business School, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work with others, are the main factor contributing to job success.
In spite of the increasing importance placed on communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively – whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression.
Being able to communicate effectively is therefore essential if you want to build a successful career. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must also weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and cultural context.
Communications Skills – The Importance of Removing Barriers
Problems with communication can pop-up at every stage of the communication process (which consists of the sender, encoding, the channel, decoding, the receiver, feedback and the context – see the diagram below). At each stage, there is the potential for misunderstanding and confusion.
To be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and confusion, your goal should be to lessen the frequency of problems at each stage of this process, with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications. We follow the process through below:
Source...
As the source of the message, you need to be clear about why you're communicating, and what you want to communicate. You also need to be confident that the information you're communicating is useful and accurate.
Message...
The message is the information that you want to communicate.
Encoding...
This is the process of transferring the information you want to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly decoded at the other end. Your success in encoding depends partly on your ability to convey information clearly and simply, but also on your ability to anticipate and eliminate sources of confusion (for example, cultural issues, mistaken assumptions, and missing information.)
A key part of this is knowing your audience: Failure to understand who you are communicating with will result in delivering messages that are misunderstood.
Channel...
Messages are conveyed through channels, with verbal channels including face-to-face meetings, telephone and videoconferencing; and written channels including letters, emails, memos and reports.
Different channels have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, it's not particularly effective to give a long list of directions verbally, while you'll quickly cause problems if you give someone negative feedback using email.
Decoding...
Just as successful encoding is a skill, so is successful decoding (involving, for example, taking the time to read a message carefully, or listen actively to it.) Just as confusion can arise from errors in encoding, it can also arise from decoding errors. This is particularly the case if the decoder doesn't have enough knowledge to understand the message.
Receiver...
Your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message, and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should consider these before delivering your message, and act appropriately.
Feedback...
Your audience will provide you with feedback, as verbal and nonverbal reactions to your communicated message. Pay close attention to this feedback, as it is the only thing that can give you confidence that your audience has understood your message. If you find that there has been a misunderstanding, at least you have the opportunity to send the message a second time.
Context...
The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the surrounding environment or broader culture (corporate culture, international cultures, and so on).
Removing Barriers at All These Stages
To deliver your messages effectively, you must commit to breaking down the barriers that exist within each of these stages of the communication process.
Let’s begin with the message itself. If your message is too lengthy, disorganized, or contains errors, you can expect the message to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Use of poor verbal and body language can also confuse the message.
Barriers in context tend to stem from senders offering too much information too fast. When in doubt here, less is oftentimes more. It is best to be mindful of the demands on other people’s time, especially in today’s ultra-busy society.
Once you understand this, you need to work to understand your audience’s culture, making sure you can converse and deliver your message to people of different backgrounds and cultures within your own organization, in your country and even abroad
Making a Great First Impression!
It takes just a quick glance, maybe three seconds, for someone to evaluate you when you meet for the first time. In this short time, the other person forms an opinion about you based on your appearance, your body language, your demeanor, your mannerisms, and how you are dressed.
With every new encounter, you are evaluated and yet another person’s impression of you is formed. These first impression can be nearly impossible to reverse or undo, making those first encounters extremely important, for they set the tone for the all the relationships that follows.
So, whether they are in your career or social life, it’s important to know how to create a good first impression. This article provides some useful tips to help you do this.
Be on Time
The person you are meeting for the first time is not interested in your “good excuse” for running late. Plan to arrive a few minutes early. And allow flexibility for possible delays in traffic or taking a wrong turn. Arriving early is much better that arriving late, hands down, and is the first step in creating a great first impression.
Be Yourself, Be at Ease
If you are feeling uncomfortable and on edge, this can make the other person ill at ease and that’s a sure way to create the wrong impression. If you are calm and confident, so the other person will feel more at ease, and so have a solid foundation for making that first impression a good one. See our section on relaxation techniques to find out how to calm that adrenaline!
Present Yourself Appropriately
Of course physical appearance matters. The person you are meeting for the first time does not know you and your appearance is usually the first clue he or she has to go on.
But it certainly does not mean you need to look like a model to create a strong and positive first impression. (Unless you are interviewing with your local model agency, of course!)
No. The key to a good impression is to present yourself appropriately.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and so the “picture” you first present says much about you to the person you are meeting. Is your appearance saying the right things to help create the right first impression?
Start with the way you dress. What is the appropriate dress for the meeting or occasion? In a business setting, what is the appropriate business attire? Suit, blazer, casual? And ask yourself what the person you'll be meeting is likely to wear - if your contact is in advertising or the music industry, a pinstripe business suit may not strike the right note!
For business and social meetings, appropriate dress also varies between countries and cultures, so it’s something that you should pay particular attention to when in an unfamiliar setting or country. Make sure you know the traditions and norms.
And what about your personal grooming? Clean and tidy appearance is appropriate for most business and social occasions. A good haircut or shave. Clean and tidy clothes. Neat and tidy make up. Make sure your grooming is appropriate and helps make you feel “the part”.
Appropriate dressing and grooming help make a good first impression and also help you feel “the part”, and so feel more calm and confident. Add all of this up and you are well on your way to creating a good first impression.
A Word about Individuality
The good news is you can usually create a good impression without total conformity or losing your individuality. Yes, to make a good first impression you do need to “fit in” to some degree. But it all goes back to being appropriate for the situation. If in a business setting, wear appropriate business attire. If at a formal evening social event, wear appropriate evening attire. And express your individuality appropriately within that context.
A Winning Smile!
“Smile and the world smiles too.”* So there’s nothing like a smile to create a good first impression. A warm and confident smile will put both you and the other person at ease. So smiling is a winner when it comes to great first impressions. But don't go overboard with this - people who take this too far can seem insincere and smarmy, or can be seen to be "lightweights".
(*Author Unknown)
Be Open and Confident
When it comes to making the first impression, body language as well as appearance speaks much louder than words.
Use your body language to project appropriate confidence and self-assurance. Stand tall, smile (of course), make eye contact, greet with a firm handshake. All of this will help you project confidence and encourage both you and the other person feel better at ease.
Almost everyone gets a little nervous when meeting someone for the first time, which can lead to nervous habits or sweaty palms. By being aware of your nervous habits, you can try to keep them in check. And controlling a nervous jitter or a nervous laugh will give you confidence and help the other person feel at ease. Again, see our section on relaxation techniques for help with this.
Small Talk Goes a Long Way…
Conversations are based on verbal give and take. It may help you to prepare questions you have for the person you are meeting for the first time beforehand. Or, take a few minutes to learn something about the person you meet for the first time before you get together. For instance, does he play golf? Does she work with a local charitable foundation?
Is there anything that you know of that you have in common with the person you are meeting? If so, this can be a great way to open the conversation and to keep it flowing.
Be Positive
Your attitude shows through in everything you do. Project a positive attitude, even in the face of criticism or in the case of nervousness. Strive to learn from your meeting and to contribute appropriately, maintaining an upbeat manner and a smile.
Be Courteous And Attentive
It goes without saying that good manners and polite, attentive and courteous behavior help make a good first impression. In fact, anything less can ruin the one chance you have at making that first impression. So be on your best behavior!
One modern manner worth mentioning is “turn off your mobile phone”. What first impression will you create if you are already speaking to someone other than the person you are meeting for the first time? Your new acquaintance deserves 100% of your attention. Anything less and you’ll create a less than good first impression.
Key Points
You have just a few seconds to make a good first impression and it’s almost impossible ever to change it. So it’s worth giving each new encounter your best shot. Much of what you need to do to make a good impression is common sense. But with a little extra thought and preparation, you can hone your intuitive style and make every first impression not just good but great.
The Johari Window
Creating Better Understanding Between Individuals and Groups
The Johari Window is a communication model that can be used to improve understanding between individuals within a team or in a group setting. Based on disclosure, self-disclosure and feedback, the Johari Window can also be used to improve a group's relationship with other groups
Developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham (the word “Johari” comes from Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham), there are two key ideas behind the tool:
1. That individuals can build trust between themselves by disclosing information about themselves; and
2. That they can learn about themselves and come to terms with personal issues with the help of feedback from others.
By explaining the idea of the Johari Window to your team, you can help team members understand the value of self-disclosure, and gently encourage people to give and accept feedback. Done sensitively, this can help people build more-trusting relationships with one another, solve issues and work more effectively as a team.
Explaining the Johari Window:
The Johari Window model consists of a foursquare grid (think of taking a piece of paper and dividing it into four parts by drawing one line down the middle of the paper from top to bottom, and another line through the middle of the paper from side-to-side). This is shown in the diagram below:
Using the Johari model, each person is represented by their own four-quadrant, or four-pane, window. Each of these contains and represents personal information – feelings, motivation – about the person, and shows whether the information is known or not known by themselves or other people.
The four quadrants are:
Quadrant 1: Open Area
What is known by the person about him/herself and is also known by others.
Quadrant 2: Blind Area, or "Blind Spot"
What is unknown by the person about him/herself but which others know. This can be simple information, or can involve deep issues (for example, feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, unworthiness, rejection) which are difficult for individuals to face directly, and yet can be seen by others.
Quadrant 3: Hidden or Avoided Area
What the person knows about him/herself that others do not.
Quadrant 4: Unknown Area
What is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by others.
The process of enlarging the open quadrant vertically is called self-disclosure, a give and take process between the person and the people he/she interacts with.
As information is shared, the boundary with the hidden quadrant moves downwards. And as other people reciprocate, trust tends to build between them.
Tip 1:
Don’t be rash in your self-disclosure. Disclosing harmless items builds trust. However, disclosing information which could damage people’s respect for you can put you in a position of weakness.
Using the Tool:
The process of enlarging the open quadrant horizontally is one of feedback. Here the individual learns things about him- or her-self that others can see, but he or she can’t.
Tip 2:
Be careful in the way you give feedback. Some cultures have a very open and accepting approach to feedback. Others don’t. You can cause incredible offence if you offer personal feedback to someone who’s not used to it. Be sensitive, and start gradually.
If anyone is interested in learning more about this individual, they reciprocate by disclosing information in their hidden quadrant.
For example, the first participant may disclose that he/she is a runner. The other participant may respond by adding that he/she works out regularly at the local gym, and may then disclose that the gym has recently added an indoor jogging track for winter runners.
As your levels of confidence and self-esteem rises, it is easier to invite others to comment on your blind spots. Obviously, active and empathic listening skills are useful in this exercise.
The Johari Window in a Team Context
Keep in mind that established team members will have larger open areas than new team members. New team members start with smaller open areas because little knowledge about the new team member has yet been shared. The size of the Open Area can be expanded horizontally into the blind space, by seeking and actively listening to feedback from other group members.
Group members should strive to assist a team member in expanding their Open Area by offering constructive feedback. The size of the Open Area can also be expanded vertically downwards into the hidden or avoided space by the sender’s disclosure of information, feelings, etc about himself/herself to the group and group members.
Also, group members can help a person expand their Open Area into the hidden area by asking the sender about himself/herself. Managers and team leaders play a key role here, facilitating feedback and disclosure among group members, and by providing constructive feedback to individuals about their own blind areas.
Key Points:
In most cases, the aim in groups should be to develop the Open Area for every person.
Working in this area with others usually allows for enhanced individual and team effectiveness and productivity. The Open Area is the ‘space’ where good communications and cooperation occur, free from confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.
Self-disclosure is the process by which people expand the Open Area vertically. Feedback is the process by which people expand this area horizontally.
By encouraging healthy self-disclosure and sensitive feedback, you can build a stronger and more effective team.
Better Public Speaking and Presentation
Ensure Your Words Are Always Understood
Think of the last really memorable talk or presentation that you attended. Now, was that easy to do, or did you really have to rack your brains to remember one? Sadly, too many presentations are easy to forget. And that's a big problem because the only reason the presenter gave the talk was to communicate something to you!
However, there are three basic things that you can do to ensure that your verbal messages are understood – and remembered – time and time again.
Although somewhat obvious and deceptively simple, these are:
• Understand the purpose of the presentation
• Keep the message clear and concise
• Be prepared
• Be vivid when delivering the message
Understand what you want to achieve
Before you start working on your talk or presentation, it's vital that you really understand what you want to say, who you want to tell and why they might want to hear it. To do this, ask yourself: Who? What? How? When? Where? Why?
Who are you speaking to? What are their interests, presuppositions and values? What do they share in common with others; how are they unique?
What do you wish to communicate? One way of answering this question is to ask yourself about the ‘success criteria’. How do you know if and when you have successfully communicated what you have in mind?
How can you best convey your message? Language is important here, as are the nonverbal cues discussed earlier. Choose your words and your nonverbal cues with your audience in mind. Plan a beginning, middle and end. If time and place allow, consider and prepare audio-visual aids.
When? Timing is important here. Develop a sense of timing, so that your contributions are seen and heard as relevant to the issue or matter at hand. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. ‘It’s better to be silent than sing a bad tune.’
Where? What is the physical context of the communication in mind? You may have time to visit the room, for example, and rearrange the furniture. Check for availability and visibility if you are using audio or visual aids.
Why? In order to convert hearers into listeners, you need to know why they should listen to you – and tell them if necessary. What disposes them to listen? That implies that you know yourself why you are seeking to communicate – the value or worth or interest of what you are going to say.
Keep it simple
When it comes to wording your message, less is more. You're giving your audience headlines. They don't need to and are usually not expecting to become experts on the subject as a result of hearing your talk.
If you're using slides, limit the content of each one to a few bullet points, or one statement or a very simple diagram
Be prepared
Preparation is underrated. In fact, it is one of the most important factors in determining your communication successes. When possible, set meeting times and speaking and presentation times well in advance, thus allowing yourself the time you need to prepare your communications, mindful of the entire communication process (source, encoding, channel, decoding, receiver, feedback and context). By paying close attention to each of these stages and preparing accordingly, you ensure your communications will be more effective and better understood.
Of course, not all communications can be scheduled. In this case, preparation may mean having a good, thorough understanding of the office goings-on, enabling you to communicate with the knowledge you need to be effective, both through verbal and written communications.
Unforgettable delivery
Your delivery of your speech or presentation will make or break it, no matter how well you've prepared and crafted your clear, concise message. Some useful tips for keeping your presentation vivid include:
• Use examples to bring your points to life
• Keep your body language up-beat – don't stay stuck behind a rostrum
• Don't talk to fast. Less is more here too. Pauses are effective.
• Use a variety of tones of voice
• Use visual aids.
Writing Skills
Before You Write It Down, Know This
Many people are intimidated by writing. Even so, there are times when writing is the best way to communicate, and oftentimes the only way to get your message across.
Write With Necessary Caution...
When writing, be mindful of the fact that once something is in written form, it cannot be taken back. Communicating in this way is more concrete than verbal communications, with less room for error and even less room for mistakes. This presents written communicators with new challenges, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, even writing style and actual wording.
Thankfully, today’s technology makes memo, letter and proposal writing much easier by providing reliable tools that check and even correct misspelled words and incorrect grammar use. Unfortunately, these tools are not fail proof and will require your support, making your knowledge in this area important.
The Importance of "Style"...
Some of the most basic tips to remember when writing include:
• Avoid the use of slang words
• Try not to use abbreviations (unless appropriately defined)
• Steer away from the use of symbols (such as ampersands [&])
• Clichés should be avoided, or at the very least, used with caution
• Brackets are used to play down words or phrases
• Dashes are generally used for emphasis
• Great care should ALWAYS be taken to spell the names of people and companies correctly
• Numbers should be expressed as words when the number is less than 10 or is used to start a sentence (example: Ten years ago, my brother and I…). The number 10, or anything greater than 10, should be expressed as a figure (example: My brother has 13 Matchbox cars.)
• Quotation marks should be placed around any directly quoted speech or text and around titles of publications.
• Keep sentences short
While the above tips cover the most common mistakes made when writing letters, memos and reports, they in no way cover everything you need to know to ensure your written communications are accurate and understood.
While this takes some practice, there are many sources available to assist with writing style, including “The Elements of Style”, by Strunk and White. One glance in any newsroom or on the desk of even the most accomplished writers and you are sure to find this small, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, no-nonsense guide to writing. It is clear, concise and perhaps the best book of its kind. If you plan on writing a great deal of letters or even proposals, it is strongly recommended that you pick up this nifty guide, which by the way, will fit in your shirt pocket.
Letter Writing Hints...
When writing letters, it is best to address the letter to an individual. And, when beginning the letter with a personal name, be sure to end it with an appropriate closing, such as ‘Sincerely yours’. If you cannot obtain an individual’s name, consider ending it with a more generic (less personal) closing, such as ‘With kindest regards’.
For normal business letters, your letter should start with an overall summary, showing in the first paragraph why the letter is relevant to the reader. It’s not a good practice to make the reader go past the first paragraph to find out why the letter was sent to them.
The body of the letter needs to explain the reason for the correspondence, including any relevant background and current information. Make sure the information flows logically, ensuring you are making your points effectively.
The closing of the letter is the final impression you leave with the reader. End with an action point, such as ‘I will call you later this week to discuss this further’.
The Importance of Careful Proofing
Perhaps the most important thing to remember when writing a letter is to check it thoroughly when it is completed. Even when you think it is exactly what you want, read it one more time. This “unwritten” rule holds true for everything you write – memos, letters, proposals, and so on.
Use both the grammar and spell check on your computer, paying very, very close attention to every word highlighted. Do not place total faith on your computer here. Instead, you should have both a printed dictionary and thesaurus nearby to double-check everything your computers editing tools highlight, as these tools are certainly not always reliable, for a variety of reasons.
When checking your written communications, make sure the document is clear and concise. Is there anything in the written communication that could be misinterpreted? Does it raise unanswered questions or fail to make the point you need to get across?
Can you cut down on the number of words used? For instance, don’t use 20 words when you can use 10. While you do not want to be curt or abrupt, you do not want to waste the reader’s time with unnecessary words or phrases.
Is your written communication well organized? Does each idea proceed logically to the next? Make sure your written communications are easy to read and contain the necessary information, using facts where needed and avoiding information that is not relevant. Again, outline the course of action you expect, such as a return call or visit.
Close appropriately, making sure to include your contact information. While this may seem obvious, it is sometimes overlooked and can make your written communications look amateurish. This can diminish your chances of meeting your written communication’s goals.
Effective Email
How to communicate powerfully by email
When you're trying to locate some information in an e-mail someone sent you a few weeks back, what helps you find it quickly? If the sender included the information you want in a long message covering lots of points, the chances are that it will take you time to find it. Worse, if the sender is someone you communicate with regularly, and he or she just pressed Reply to a previous message about a different point, the heading of the mail you need won't actually be related to the information you want.
There are a few simple rules to ensure that your emails are read in the first place and stay useful to the recipient.
Subject Lines are Headlines
The headline in a newspaper does two things: It grabs your attention and informs you what the article is about so you can decide whether you want to read further. Email subject lines need to do the same thing. Use the subject line to inform the receiver of EXACTLY what the email is about in a few well-chosen words. You might include a call to action such as "Please respond by 7 November", and if your message is one of a regular series of mails, such as a weekly project report, include the date in the subject line too.
Because everyone gets emails they do not want (spam), appropriate use of the subject line increases the chances your email will be read and not deleted without so much as a glance.
Of course, just as it would be ridiculous to publish a newspaper without headlines, never leave the subject line blank.
Make One Point per Email
The beauty of email, compared with letters, is that it doesn't cost any more to send several mails than it does to send one. So, if you need to communicate with someone about several matters, write a separate email on each subject. That way your correspondent can reply to each one in the appropriate time-frame. One topic might only require a short reply that he or she can make straight away. Another topic might require more research. By writing separate emails, you get clearer answers.
However, as with traditional business letters, the email should be clear and concise, with the purpose of the email detailed in the very first paragraph. Sentences should be kept short and to the point.
The body of the email should contain all pertinent information (see our articles on Writing Skills and on The Rhetorical Triangle) and should be direct and informative.
Specify the Response You Want
Make sure to include any call to action you desire, such as a phone call or follow-up appointment. Then, make sure you include your contact information, including your name, title, and phone numbers. Do this even with internal messages: The easier you make it for someone else to respond, the more likely they are to do so.
Be a Good Correspondent
If you regularly correspond using email, make sure to clean out your email inbox at least once each day. This is a simple act of courtesy and will also serve to encourage senders to return your emails in a timely manner.
If a lengthy response is required to an email, but you don't have the time to pull together the information required now, send a holding reply saying that you have received the message, and indicating when you will respond fully.
Always set your Out of Office agent when you are going to be away from your email for a day or more, whether on leave or because you're at meetings.
Internal Email
Internal email should be checked regularly throughout the working day and returned in a much quicker manner as it often involves timely projects, immediate updates, meeting notes, and so on. Nonetheless, internal emails, just like other emails, should not be informal. Remember, these are written forms of communication that can be printed out and viewed by others than those originally intended for. Always use your spell checker, and avoid slang.
Ice Breakers
Getting everyone to contribute at the start of a successful event
Ice Breakers can be an effective way of starting a training session or team-building event. As interactive and often fun sessions run before the main proceedings, they help people get to know each other and buy into the purpose of the event.
If an ice breaker session is well-designed and well-facilitated, it can really help get things off to a great start. By getting to know each other, getting to know the facilitators and learning about the objectives of the event, people can become more engaged in the proceedings and so contribute more effectively towards a successful outcome.
But have you ever been to an event when the ice breaker session went badly? Just as a great ice breaker session can smooth the way for a great event, so a bad ice breaker session can be a recipe for disaster. A bad ice breaker session is at best simply a waste of time, or worse an embarrassment for everyone involved.
As a facilitator, the secret of a successful icebreaking session is to keep it simple: Design the session with specific objectives in mind and make sure the session is appropriate and comfortable for everyone involved.
This article helps you think through the objectives of your ice breaker session, and then suggests various types of ice breaker you might use. As a facilitator, make sure your ice breakers are remembered for the right reasons – as a great start to a great event!
When to Use Icebreakers
As the name suggests, an ice breaker session is designed to “break the ice” at an event or meeting. The technique is often used when people who do not usually work together, or may not know each other at all, meet for a specific, common purpose.
Consider using an ice breaker when:
• Participants come from different backgrounds;
• People need to bond quickly so as to work towards a common goal;
• Your team is newly formed;
• The topics you are discussing are new or unfamiliar to many people involved; or
• As facilitator you need to get to know participants and have them know you better.
So What’s the “Ice”?
When designing your ice breaker, think about the “ice” that needs to be broken.
If you are bringing together like-minded people, the “ice” may simply reflect the fact that people have not yet met.
If you are bringing together people of different grades and levels in your organization for an open discussion, the “ice” may come from the difference in status between participants.
If you are bringing together people of different backgrounds, cultures and outlooks for work within your community, then the “ice” may come from people’s perceptions of each other.
You’ll need to handle these differences sensitively. Only focus on what’s important to your event. (Remember, you want to break some ice for your event, not uncover the whole iceberg, or bring about world peace!)
And as you move on to design and facilitate the event, it’s always best to focus on similarities (rather than differences), such as a shared interest in the event’s outcome.
Designing Your Icebreaker
The key to a successful ice breaker is to make sure the ice breaker is specifically focused on meeting your objectives and appropriate to the group of people involved.
Once you have established what the “ice” is, the next step is to clarify the specific objectives for your ice breaker session.
For example, when meeting to solve problems at work, the ice breaker objectives may be:
“To establish a productive working environment for today’s event with good participation from everyone involved, irrespective of their level or job role in the organization.”
With clear objectives, you can start to design the session. Ask yourself questions about how you will meet your objectives. For example:
• “How will people become comfortable with contributing?
• “How will you establish a level playing field for people with different levels and jobs?
• “How will you create a common sense of purpose?...”
and so on.
These questions can be used as a check list once you have designed the ice breaker session:
“Will this ice breaker session help people feel comfortable… establish a level playing field… etc”
As a further check, you should also ask yourself how each person is likely to react to the session. Will participants feel comfortable? Will they feel the session is appropriate and worthwhile?
Example Ice Breakers
There are many types of ice breakers, each suited to different types of objectives. Here we look at a few of the more popular types of ice breakers and how they can be used.
Introductory Ice Breakers
Introductory ice breakers are used to introduce participants to each other and to facilitate conversation amongst the participants.
The Little Known Fact: Ask participants to share their name, department or role in the organization, length of service, and one little known fact about themselves.
This "little known fact" becomes a humanizing element that can help break down differences such as grade / status in future interaction.
True or False: Ask your participants to introduce themselves and make three or four statements about themselves, one of which is false. Now get the rest of the group to vote on which fact is false.
As well as getting to know each other as individuals, this ice breaker helps to start interaction within the group.
Interviews: Ask participants to get into twos. Each person then interviews his or her partner for a set time while paired up. When the group reconvenes, each person introduces their interviewee to the rest of the group.
Problem Solvers: Ask participants to work in small groups. Create a simple problem scenario for them to work on in a short time. Once the group have analyzed the problem and prepared their feedback, ask each group in turn to present their analysis and solutions to the wider group.
Tip:
Choose a fairly simple scenario that everyone can contribute to. The idea is not to solve a real problem but to “warm up” the group for further interaction or problem solving later in the event. The group will also learn each other's styles of problem-solving and interaction.
Team-Building Ice Breakers
Team-building ice breakers are used to bring together individuals who are in the early stages of team building. This can help the people start working together more cohesively towards shared goals or plans.
The Human Web: This ice breaker focuses on how people in the group inter-relate and depend on each other.
The facilitator begins with a ball of yarn. Keeping one end, pass the ball to one of the participants, and the person to introduce him- or her-self and their role in the organization. Once this person has made their introduction, ask him or her to pass the ball of yarn on to another person in the group. The person handing over the ball must describe how he/she relates (or expects to relate) to the other person. The process continues until everyone is introduced.
To emphasis the interdependencies amongst the team, the facilitator then pulls on the starting thread and everyone's hand should move.
Ball Challenge: This exercise creates a simple, timed challenge for the team to help focus on shared goals, and also encourages people to include other people.
The facilitator arranges the group in a circle and asks each person to throw the ball across the circle, first announcing his or her own name, and then announcing the name of the person to whom they are throwing the ball (the first few times, each person throws the ball to someone whose name they already know.) When every person in the group has thrown the ball at least once, it’s time to set the challenge – to pass the ball around all group members as quickly as possible. Time the process, then ask the group to beat that timing. As the challenge progresses, the team will improve their process, for example by standing closer together. And so the group will learn to work as a team.
Hope, Fears and Expectations: Best done when participants already have a good understanding of their challenge as a team. Group people into 2s or 3s, and ask people to discuss their expectations for the event or work ahead, then what they fears and their hopes. Gather the group’s response by collating 3-4 hopes, fears and expectation from pairing or threesome.
Topic exploration ice breakers
Topic exploration ice breakers can be used to explore the topic at the outset, or perhaps to change pace and re-energize people during the even.
Word association: This ice breaker helps people explore the breadth of the area under discussion. Generate a list of words related to the topic of your event or training. For example, in a health and safety workshop, ask participants what words or phrases come to mind relating to "hazardous materials". Participants may suggest: 'danger,' 'corrosive,' 'flammable,' 'warning,' 'skull and crossbones,' etc. Write all suggestions on the board, perhaps clustering by theme. You can use this opportunity to introduce essential terms and discuss the scope (what’s in and what’s out) of your training or event.
Burning questions: This ice breaker gives each person the opportunity to ask key questions they hope to cover in the event or training. Again you can use this opportunity to discuss key terminology and scope. Be sure to keep the questions and refer back to them as the event progresses and concludes.
Brainstorm: Brainstorming can be used as an ice breaker or re-energizer during an event. If people are getting bogged down in the detail during problem solving, for example, you can change pace easily by running a quick-fire brainstorming session. If you are looking for answers to customer service problems, try brainstorming how to create problems rather than solve them. This can help people think creatively again and gives the group a boost when energy levels are flagging.
Running Effective Meetings
Meetings are wonderful tools for generating ideas, expanding on thoughts and managing group activity. But this face-to-face contact with team members and colleagues can easily fail without adequate preparation and leadership.
The Importance of Preparation
To ensure everyone involved has the opportunity to provide their input, start your meeting off on the right foot by designating a meeting time that allows all participants the time needed to adequately prepare.
Once a meeting time and place has been chosen, make yourself available for questions that may arise as participants prepare for the meeting. If you are the meeting leader, make a meeting agenda, complete with detailed notes.
In these notes, outline the goal and proposed structure of the meeting, and share this with the participants. This will allow all involved to prepare and to come to the meeting ready to work together to meet the goal(s) at hand.
The success of the meeting depends largely on the skills displayed by the meeting leader. To ensure the meeting is successful, the leader should:
• Issue an agenda
• Start the discussion and encourage active participation
• Work to keep the meeting at a comfortable pace – not moving too fast or too slow
• Summarize the discussion and the recommendations at the end of each logical section
• Ensure all participants receive minutes promptly
While these tips will help ensure your meeting is productive and well-received, there are other important areas that need to be touched on to make sure your meeting and negotiation skills are fine-tuned.
Managing a Meeting
Choosing the right participants is key to the success of any meeting. Make sure all participants can contribute and choose good decision-makers and problem-solvers. Try to keep the number of participants to a maximum of 12, preferably fewer. Make sure the people with the necessary information for the items listed in the meeting agenda are the ones that are invited.
Tip:
Stop for a minute to consider the hourly cost to your organization of the people attending your meeting. You'll realise that calling a meeting is expensive, so it's important to ensure that every person attending and every minute of your meeting adds value. So don't invite people who won't participate but will simply report back to their boss or team (sending a copy of the minutes will be a more effective way of achieving this). Equally, don't use meetings to tell people things that could be communicated just as effectively by email or memo.
If you are the leader, work diligently to ensure everyone’s thoughts and ideas are heard by guiding the meeting so that there is a free flow of debate with no individual dominating and no extensive discussions between two people. As time dwindles for each item on the distributed agenda, you may find it useful to stop the discussion, then quickly summarize the debate on that agenda item and move on the next item on the agenda.
When an agenda item is resolved or action is agreed upon, make it clear who in the meeting will be responsible for this. In an effort to bypass confusion and misunderstandings, summarize the action to be taken and include this in the meeting’s minutes.
Time Keeping
Meetings are notorious for eating up people's time. Here are some ways of ensuring that time is not wasted in meetings:
• Start on time.
• Don't recap what you've covered if someone comes in late: doing so sends the message that it is OK to be late for meetings, and it wastes everyone else's valuable time.
• State a finish time for the meeting and don't over-run.
• To help stick to the stated finish time, arrange your agenda in order of importance so that if you have to omit or rush items at the end to make the finish time, you don't omit or skimp on important items.
• Finish the meeting before the stated finish time if you have achieved everything you need to.
Issuing Minutes
Minutes record the decisions of the meeting and the actions agreed. They provide a record of the meeting and, importantly, they provide a review document for use at the next meeting so that progress can be measured – this makes them a useful disciplining technique as individuals' performance and non-performance of agreed actions is given high visibility.
The style of the minutes issued depends on the circumstances – in situations of critical importance and where the record is important, then you may need to take detailed minutes. Where this is not the case, then minutes can be simple lists of decisions made and of actions to be taken (with the responsible person identified). Generally, they should be as short as possible as long as all key information is shown – this makes them quick and easy to prepare and digest.
It is always impressive if the leader of a meeting issues minutes within 24 hours of the end of the meeting – it's even better if they are issued on the same day.
Win-Win Negotiation
Finding a fair compromise
Do you feel that someone is continually taking advantage of you? Do you seem to have to fight your corner aggressively, or ally with others, to win the resources you need? Or do you struggle to get what you want from people whose help you need, but over whom you have little direct authority? If so, you may need to brush up your win-win negotiation skills.
Effective negotiation helps you to resolve situations where what you want conflicts with what someone else wants. The aim of win-win negotiation is to find a solution that is acceptable to both parties, and leaves both parties feeling that they've won, in some way, after the event.
There are different styles of negotiation, depending on circumstances.
Where you do not expect to deal with people ever again and you do not need their goodwill, then it may be appropriate to "play hardball", seeking to win a negotiation while the other person loses out. Many people go through this when they buy or sell a house – this is why house-buying can be such a confrontational and unpleasant experience.
Similarly, where there is a great deal at stake in a negotiation, then it may be appropriate to prepare in detail and legitimate "gamesmanship" to gain advantage. Anyone who has been involved with large sales negotiations will be familiar with this.
Neither of these approaches is usually much good for resolving disputes with people with whom you have an ongoing relationship: If one person plays hardball, then this disadvantages the other person – this may, quite fairly, lead to reprisal later. Similarly, using tricks and manipulation during a negotiation can undermine trust and damage teamwork. While a manipulative person may not get caught out if negotiation is infrequent, this is not the case when people work together routinely. Here, honesty and openness are almost always the best policies.
Preparing for a successful negotiation…
Depending on the scale of the disagreement, some preparation may be appropriate for conducting a successful negotiation.
For small disagreements, excessive preparation can be counter-productive because it takes time that is better used elsewhere. It can also be seen as manipulative because, just as it strengthens your position, it can weaken the other person’s.
However, if you need to resolve a major disagreement, then make sure you prepare thoroughly. Using our free worksheet, think through the following points before you start negotiating:
• Goals: what do you want to get out of the negotiation? What do you think the other person wants?
• Trades: What do you and the other person have that you can trade? What do you each have that the other wants? What are you each comfortable giving away?
• Alternatives: if you don’t reach agreement with the other person, what alternatives do you have? Are these good or bad? How much does it matter if you do not reach agreement? Does failure to reach an agreement cut you out of future opportunities? And what alternatives might the other person have?
• Relationships: what is the history of the relationship? Could or should this history impact the negotiation? Will there be any hidden issues that may influence the negotiation? How will you handle these?
• Expected outcomes: what outcome will people be expecting from this negotiation? What has the outcome been in the past, and what precedents have been set?
• The consequences: what are the consequences for you of winning or losing this negotiation? What are the consequences for the other person?
• Power: who has what power in the relationship? Who controls resources? Who stands to lose the most if agreement isn’t reached? What power does the other person have to deliver what you hope for?
• Possible solutions: based on all of the considerations, what possible compromises might there be?
Style is critical…
For a negotiation to be 'win-win', both parties should feel positive about the negotiation once it's over. This helps people keep good working relationships afterwards. This governs the style of the negotiation – histrionics and displays of emotion are clearly inappropriate because they undermine the rational basis of the negotiation and because they bring a manipulative aspect to them.
Despite this, emotion can be an important subject of discussion because people's emotional needs must fairly be met. If emotion is not discussed where it needs to be, then the agreement reached can be unsatisfactory and temporary. Be as detached as possible when discussing your own emotions – perhaps discuss them as if they belong to someone else.
Negotiating successfully…
The negotiation itself is a careful exploration of your position and the other person’s position, with the goal of finding a mutually acceptable compromise that gives you both as much of what you want as possible. People's positions are rarely as fundamentally opposed as they may initially appear - the other person may have very different goals from the ones you expect!
In an ideal situation, you will find that the other person wants what you are prepared to trade, and that you are prepared to give what the other person wants.
If this is not the case and one person must give way, then it is fair for this person to try to negotiate some form of compensation for doing so – the scale of this compensation will often depend on the many of the factors we discussed above. Ultimately, both sides should feel comfortable with the final solution if the agreement is to be considered win-win.
Only consider win-lose negotiation if you don't need to have an ongoing relationship with the other party as, having lost, they are unlikely to want to work with you again. Equally, you should expect that if they need to fulfill some part of a deal in which you have "won," they may be uncooperative and legalistic about the way they do this.
Speaking to an Audience
Communicate Complex Ideas Successfully
Speaking to an audience can be fun and exciting. However, lack of preparation or not clearly defining the presentation’s goals and its audience can make even the best-intended presentation a complete disaster.
Preparation – The Key to Successful Speaking...
To ensure your presentation is effective, first determine your objective. Ask yourself:
• Why am I giving the presentation?
• What do I want the audience to take away from the presentation?
Second, determine your audience. Their familiarity with the presentation topic will determine the level at which you present your speech.
How to Structure Your Presentation
Once you have determined your presentation’s objective and overall goal, as well as the audience, it’s time to structure your presentation. You will need to start this process by determining the length of the presentation.
Take the allotted time and break it into smaller segments, with each segment tackling a specific task (all of which reflect the overall objective of the presentation). For example, the fist segment should be the presentation introduction. In this segment, you should give an overview of your presentation, or a short summary of your speech, explaining the topic, why you are covering this topic, and what you hope to accomplish.
The next segment should tackle the first item on your agenda, with the following segment tackling the following item on your agenda, and so on.
Once you have developed the introduction and outlined the following segments, spend some time thinking about the conclusion of the presentation. The introduction of the presentation and the conclusion of the presentation are the most important parts and should have the strongest impact.
Achieving Clarity and Impact
Keep your presentation short and simple. Your audience will not remember every point of your presentation, so highlight the most important parts. The longer the presentation, the higher the risk of boredom.
When in doubt, use the “tell ‘em” structure:
• Tell them what you are going to tell them (For instance, “In this presentation I will show you…”).
• Tell them the key points, expanding and illustrating each one, clearly and concisely.
• Tell them what you have told them (For instance, “In closing…” or “In summary…”) and conclude.
Reinforce Your Message With Visual Aids
Next, consider the use of visual aids. Slide projectors, data projectors, video machines and computers should be tested out beforehand to make sure they are operating correctly and that you know how to use them.
Make sure you do not cram too much information onto any single visual. A good rule of thumb to follow is to keep each visual to six lines or less. Also, make sure any type or graphics are large enough the audience can see it clearly (from all seats) and make sure the colors used are easy on the eyes, taking into account the lighting.
A sad fact is that much of your authority will be judged by the quality of your slides – you need to make sure that their design supports the style of your message.
Overheads should be clearly marked and arranged in order beforehand. Flip charts should be prepared in advance when possible. When used during the presentation to take notes, make print large enough for all participants to see.
When using these various visuals, do not turn your back to the audience. Position yourself so you can use the visuals while facing your audience.
Arranging the Room
If possible, visit the room in which you will make the presentation well in advance. Determine seating (circle seating encourages interaction, rows of seats discourages interaction, etc.) and determine how the visual aids you choose will work. Consider lighting, space, even the temperature of the room. Consider placing notepads and pencils at each seat if participants need to take notes. Or, you may want to have glasses at each seat with a few pitchers of water if the presentation is going to last more than half of an hour. If you do this, make sure you allow time for bathroom breaks.
While you do not need to memorize your entire presentation, make yourself very, very familiar with it through several practice runs. Rehearse the presentation in its entirety as often as you can before delivering it to a live audience. The more you rehearse, the more confident you will be and the more fluent you will seem to your audience – if you know your subject matter and have adequately prepared, you will be able to deliver your message loud and clear.
When in doubt or nervous, stay focused on your purpose – helping your audience understand your message. Direct your thoughts to the subject at hand. The audience has come to hear your presentation and you will succeed!
Tips and Techniques
Tips to help make your presentation a smashing success:
• Avoid too many statistics and confusing information in your presentation. Instead, put this information in a handout for participants to refer to at a later date.
• If you forget your words, pause for a moment and remember your objective. While the words may not come right back to you, this will help keep you on track and may even help you to think of additional thoughts and ideas your audience will benefit from hearing.
• Visualize yourself succeeding.
• Begin by breathing.
• Before the presentation, focus on the needs of the audience.
• Take a public speaking course at a local college or university. These are oftentimes offered as night courses and are usually very inexpensive, while providing you with important skills that will enhance your confidence in this area.
• Videotape yourself going through the presentation. All you need to do this is a video camera and a tripod. Then, run through the video and make changes according to your thoughts on the taped presentation.
Active Listening
Hear What People Are Really Saying
Listening is one of the most important skills you can have. How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness, and on the quality of your relationships with others.
We listen to obtain information.
We listen to understand.
We listen for enjoyment.
We listen to learn.
Given all this listening we do, you would think we’d be good at it! In fact we’re not. Depending on the study being quoted, we remember a dismal 25-50% of what we hear. That means that when you talk to your boss, colleagues, customers or spouse for 10 minutes, they only really hear 2½-5 minutes of the conversation.
Turn it around and it reveals that when you are receiving directions or being presented with information, you aren’t hearing the whole message either. You hope the important parts are captured in your 25- 50%, but what if they’re not?
Clearly, listening is a skill that we can all benefit from improving. By becoming a better listener, you will improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade negotiate. What’s more, you’ll avoid conflict and misunderstandings – all necessary for workplace success. )
Good communication skills require a high level of self-awareness. By understanding your personal style of communicating, you will go a long way towards creating good and lasting impressions with others.
The way to become a better listener is to practice “active listening”. This is where you make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, to try and understand the total message being sent.
In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person very carefully.
You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by what else may be going on around you, or by forming counter arguments that you’ll make when the other person stops speaking. Nor can you allow yourself to lose focus on what the other person is saying. All of these barriers contribute to a lack of listening and understanding.
Tip:
If you're finding it particularly difficult to concentrate on what someone is saying, try repeating their words mentally as they say it – this will reinforce their message and help you control mind drift.
To enhance your listening skills, you need to let the other person know that you are listening to what he or she is saying. To understand the importance of this, ask yourself if you’ve ever been engaged in a conversation when you wondered if the other person was listening to what you were saying. You wonder if your message is getting across, or if it’s even worthwhile to continue speaking. It feels like talking to a brick wall and it’s something you want to avoid.
Acknowledgement can be something as simple as a nod of the head or a simple “uh huh.” You aren’t necessarily agreeing with the person, you are simply indicating that you are listening. Using body language and other signs to acknowledge you are listening also reminds you to pay attention and not let your mind wander.
You should also try to respond to the speaker in a way that will both encourage him or her to continue speaking, so that you can get the information if you need. While nodding and “uh huhing” says you’re interested, an occasional question or comment to recap what has been said communicates that you understand the message as well.
Becoming an Active Listener
There are five key elements of active listening. They all help you ensure that you hear the other person, and that the other person knows you are hearing what they are saying.
1. Pay attention.
Give the speaker your undivided attention and acknowledge the message. Recognize that what is not said also speaks loudly.
o Look at the speaker directly.
o Put aside distracting thoughts. Don’t mentally prepare a rebuttal!
o Avoid being distracted by environmental factors.
o “Listen” to the speaker’s body language.
o Refrain from side conversations when listening in a group setting.
2. Show that you are listening.
Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.
o Nod occasionally.
o Smile and use other facial expressions.
o Note your posture and make sure it is open and inviting.
o Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes, and uh huh.
3. Provide feedback.
Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear. As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said. This may require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions.
o Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. “What I’m hearing is…” and “Sounds like you are saying…” are great ways to reflect back.
o Ask questions to clarify certain points. “What do you mean when you say…” “Is this what you mean?”
o Summarize the speaker’s comments periodically.
Tip:
If you find yourself responding emotionally to what someone said, say so, and ask for more information: "I may not be understanding you correctly, and I find myself taking what you said personally. What I thought you just said is XXX; is that what you meant?"
4. Defer judgment.
Interrupting is a waste of time. It frustrates the speaker and limits full understanding of the message.
o Allow the speaker to finish.
o Don’t interrupt with counterarguments.
5. Respond Appropriately.
Active listening is a model for respect and understanding. You are gaining information and perspective. You add nothing by attacking the speaker or otherwise putting him or her down.
o Be candid, open, and honest in your response.
o Assert your opinions respectfully.
o Treat the other person as he or she would want to be treated.
Key Points:
It takes a lot of concentration and determination to be an active listener. Old habits are hard to break, and if your listening habits are as bad as many people’s are, then there’s a lot of habit-breaking to do!
Be deliberate with your listening and remind yourself constantly that your goal is to truly hear what the other person is saying. Set aside all other thoughts and behaviors and concentrate on the message. Ask question, reflect, and paraphrase to ensure you understand the message. If you don’t, then you’ll find that what someone says to you and what you hear can be amazingly different!
Start using active listening today to become a better communicator and improve your workplace productivity and relationships.
Presentation Planning Checklist
This presentation checklist will help you deliver successful presentation. This is adapted in part from Business Communications: A Cultural and Strategic Approach by Michael J. Rouse and Sandra Rouse.
Presentation:
• Does your introduction grab participant’s attention and explain your objectives?
• Do you follow this by clearly defining the points of the presentation?
• Are these main points in logical sequence?
• Do these flow well?
• Do the main points need support from visual aids?
• Does your closing summarize the presentation clearly and concisely?
• Is the conclusion strong?
• Have your tied the conclusion to the introduction?
Delivery:
• Are you knowledgeable about the topic covered in your presentation?
• Do you have your notes in order?
• Where and how will you present (indoors, outdoors, standing, sitting, etc.)?
• Have you visited the presentation site?
• Have you checked your visual aids to ensure they are working and you know how to use them?
Appearance:
• Make sure you are dressed and groomed appropriately and in keeping with the audience’s expectations.
• Practice your speech standing (or sitting, if applicable), paying close attention to your body language, even your posture, both of which will be assessed by the audience.
Visual Aids:
• Are the visual aids easy to read and easy to understand?
• Are they tied into the points you are trying to communicate?
• Can they be easily seen from all areas of the room?
0 Tips for Effective E-mail
by Ellen Dowling, PhD
1. Think before you write. Just because you can send information faster than ever before, it doesn’t mean that you should send it. Analyze your readers to make certain that you are sending a message that will be both clear and useful.
2. Remember that you can always deny that you said it. But if you write it, you may be held accountable for many moons. You may be surprised to find where your message may end up. (As an example of “What Not To Do” in Ellen Dowling’s Writing Strategies class?)
3. Keep your message concise. Remember that the view screen in most e-mail programs shows only approximately one half of a hard-copy page. Save longer messages and formal reports for attachments. On the other hand, do not keep your message so short that the reader has no idea what you’re talking about. Include at least a summary (action or information?) in the first paragraph of your message.
4. Remember that e-mail is not necessarily confidential. Some companies will retain the right to monitor employees’ messages. (Refer to #1 and #2, above.) Don’t send anything you wouldn’t be comfortable seeing published in your company’s newsletter (or your community’s newspaper).
5. Don’t attempt to “discipline” your readers. It’s unprofessional to lose control in person—to do so in writing usually just makes the situation worse.
6. Don’t “spam” your readers. Don’t send them unnecessary or frivolous messages. Soon, they’ll quit opening any message from you.
7. DON’T TYPE IN ALL CAPS! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE YELLING AT THE READERS! Remember, if you emphasize everything, you will have emphasized nothing.
8. Don’t type in all lower case. (Unless you’re e.e. Cummings.) If you violate the rules of english grammar and usage, you make it difficult for the reader to read.
9. Use the “Subject” line to get the readers’ attention. Replace vague lines (“Information on XYZ Project,” or “Status Report Q1”) with better “hooks”: “Need your input on Tralfamadore Project,” or “Analysis of recent problems with the new Veeblefetzer.”
10. Take the time to poofread your document before you sent it. Rub the document thru the spell checker and/or the grammer checker. Even simpl tipos will make you look sloppie and damage you’re proffessional credubility.
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