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While it's not so difficult to add a connection on LinkedIn when you already know the person, approaching someone you don't know, like a hiring manager, recruiter, the head of the department you want to work for, or a contact that can help get you through to the decision-maker is a different story.
Here are five tips on how to approach people you don't know, or don't know very well, and what you can say to get them to connect with you on LinkedIn:
1. Have A Reason To Connect
Don't send a blank (or default) invitation to connect. It's unlikely that the person you're trying to connect with will accept it.
If it's a hiring manager who interviewed you, but you didn't get the job, it may still be a relationship worth maintaining. Your message could say, "Thank you for the interview opportunity. I would love to be considered for future positions that come up and have you as a professional connection no matter where we may possibly cross paths again."
The act of simply taking the time to write a personal message with your invitation makes you worthy of consideration.
2. Share What You Have In Common
In your LinkedIn connection request, find ways to form an instant bond by sharing what you have in common. For example, when you're both a member of the same group, club, or volunteer organization, it's easier to approach the individual.
People also want to know or be reminded of how you know them or found them. So, you can say something like, "I'm also a member of XYZ on LinkedIn. I noticed you're the head of the marketing department at 123 Company, and I was hoping you could share some advice to how you got started in your career because I'm looking to pursue a similar path."
This approach is less likely to come off like a cold call. If there are other things you have in common, like a similar education or background, share that as well.
3. Mention A Mutual Acquaintance
Whenever possible, it's easier to start an introduction with the help of a mutual acquaintance. After the help of an introduction, it's up to you to build rapport.
If you connect with someone who works for a company you want to work for, you may consider a message like, "I'm a former colleague of John Smith, who's told me a lot about you and your work. I'm considering a position at 123 Company. Would you mind if I ask you some questions related to your experience with the application and interview process?"
The saying, "It's not what you know. It's who you know," has never been truer. Take advantage of your current connections and use them to expand your professional network today.
4, Don't Ask For A Job On First Contact
Avoid sending your resume on first contact, or asking if your new connection knows of any job openings at their company. Your first message to a new connection should focus on starting a conversation, and you can effectively do that by asking for general advice rather than requesting for a job.
Also, remember to keep questions open-ended so you can build conversation, not end it.
5. Congratulate And Give Recognition
Who doesn't like to be greeted with a nice word of recognition like "Congratulations on the recent award!" or "Great article! I found it really insightful"? It informs the individual you admire their work, making it easier to get their attention and find a reason to connect with you.
If you're already connected, giving kudos to this person will strengthen your relationship and make them more willing to help you in your career.
Having a good network of connections is NOT about quantity, but the quality of the people and the strength of the relationships. Take the time to really evaluate who is worth connecting with, and when you do try, have a compelling reasons to why you want to connect with them so they will sincerely consider your request.
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Are you in your 40s and thinking of changing careers? You're not alone. And you're certainly not crazy. In fact, if there's ever a time you can—and should—reinvent yourself, that time is now.
Below are four ways to start your career transition so you can successfully change careers in your 40s.
1. Stop Making Excuses
You've become accustomed to the fact that your 20s were the years where you figure out what you want to do with your life and then suffer through your choice for the rest of your life. Wrong! You are most definitely not the first person that has considered changing careers in their 40s and there are many stories of people just like you, succeeding against the odds. Now, once you've stopped denying that you are unhappy with your current job, you are thinking up excuses why it's ridiculous to switch careers. It's never too late to make choices that will benefit your health and wellness. Yes, a career you love will benefit you in all aspects of your life, including your health and wellness.
If you already know which career you want to change to, you are luckier than most confused career individuals. Don't try and jeopardize the journey ahead by making excuses such as:
Though these might seem relevant at the time, it will only lead to more procrastination with a choice you know in your heart you want to make. And if you feel 40 is too late, how will it be when you are 50 and still unhappy with the job that you are doing? During your interview, the prospective employer will be able to pick up whether you are holding yourself back or making excuses and this will reflect on your being less "flexible" rather than open-minded and eager to develop.
2. Take A Leap Of Faith
For some, a career change can sound just as daunting as jumping out of a plane or swimming with sharks, but it's mostly the fear of failure that holds us back. Doing the same job and managing the same lifestyle has become the comfort zone and anything different feels like the end of the world. In order to really become satisfied with the life you are living and the career you are building, you have to take some chances. With every change there comes a fair amount of risk. Once you've analyzed the possible risk factors—and have distinguished between real and false fears—you might be able to gain control of the change.
Taking this leap of faith into the unknown of a new and challenging career can help you rediscover your true passion and purpose. The odds might always seem against you, and running back into the comfort that was your previously lifestyle might sound much more appealing than restarting the steps of your career ladder, but it will be much more satisfying and rewarding than being stuck in a job that you hate.
3. Take Your Experience With You
One of the greatest benefits of changing careers in your 40s is probably the fact that you have a world of experience to take with you. Unlike the inexperienced post-grad student applying for the job, you will have an impressive portfolio to offer. Even if you don't have experience in the career field that you want to switch to, your previous experience is still very much relevant. Apart from the actual skills and responsibilities, your work history will showcase your credibility. It will show the prospective employer what attributes and characteristics previous employers valued in you. Don't be afraid to quantify and mention your previous achievements; this will most definitely count in your favor. Just because you are switching careers doesn't mean your past experience is irrelevant.
Before looking for your new job, draw up a list of your skills, expertise, and experience. If you are making a career shift, you probably want to focus on something that either challenges you more, comes naturally, or something that you are passionate about. Organize your strengths and capabilities in such a way that you will be the "natural" choice for the hiring company.
4. Make Use Of Old Contacts
Being on this earth for over 40 years probably means that you've met quite a few people. Whether it was on a plane, at a networking event, or even at the gym, chances are you know people in all walks of life. Make use of your professional network to find a path to your new career. Don't make the mistake in thinking you have to do everything yourself.
Changing careers sounds scary when you don't know where to start. If you are making the transition from working as an office assistant to running your own fashion line, it probably won't happen overnight. Call up that fashion maven you've kept up with since college and invite them for coffee. Get some caffeine in them and start asking questions. Feed from those that are already successful instead of assuming you have to start from the bottom in order to succeed.
Switching careers in your 40s is not as daunting or difficult as you might think. Yes, you'll need a plan and it might take some time, but after the transition is complete, you'll be glad you did it.
Or, join our career growth club today and get access to one-on-one career coaching, resume and cover letter reviews, online tutorials, and unlimited networking opportunities—all in your back pocket!
Check out Work It Daily's Incredible Companies page to see snapshots of companies hiring. Work It Daily also highlights job opportunities on a daily basis on TikTok.
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
How long has it been since you last updated your resume? A few months? Years? During your last job search? If you haven't taken a look at your resume in a while, it's probably in need of some good TLC.
For every professional, not just job seekers, it's important to update your resume regularly. Careers take unexpected turns. You always want to be prepared in case you suddenly need to find a new job. Remember, every job is temporary. You don't want to waste time bringing your resume back from the dead when you should be focused on applying for new positions.
If you have cobwebs on your resume, here are three ways to bring your resume back to life so you can land more job interviews and get hired.
1. Optimize Your Resume With Keywords
In order for your resume to actually reach the hiring manager, it has to get past the ATS. Optimizing your resume with keywords is the best way to accomplish this. And you can't properly optimize your resume if you're not customizing it for each position you apply for.
Look at the job description before customizing your resume for the job you're applying for. Most job seekers don't realize that they could be missing out on job opportunities if they fail to do this. You need to customize your resume for each position you apply for, and it's because you need to get your resume past the ATS, which is only possible if you have the right kind (and amount) of keywords on your resume. Customizing your resume means you're including the keywords from a specific job description to give yourself a better chance of landing a job interview for that specific position.
After reading the job description, pick out the specific skills, technologies, and terms the employer mentions in the job posting and add them to your resume if they match up with your experience and qualifications. If the ATS reads your resume and sees that it contains enough of the keywords the employer is looking for, you'll "pass" as being qualified for the position and your resume won't get tossed. You won't get screened out of the hiring process because you'll be considered a qualified job candidate at first glance. A lifeless, unoptimized resume won't get you that far.
2. Update Your Formatting
Nothing makes it harder for hiring managers to get the information they need from your resume than outdated, inconsistent formatting. Maybe it hasn't been that long since you updated the content on your resume. But, when was the last time you updated your resume format? Have you just been adding more and more text to it? Moving sections and bullet points around? Stretching the margins so everything fits on one page?
If you actually want hiring managers to read your resume, you need to make it readable. This means making sure you're using a simple resume format and a clean-line font like Arial or Calibri. It also means making sure you have enough white space so you don't overwhelm the reader. If you're stretching margins and trying to cram everything onto one page, chances are your resume doesn't have enough white space. Use bullet points and one-inch margins to avoid large blocks of text that hiring managers will just skip over. You want to make it easy for hiring managers and recruiters to see your value. Don't make it difficult for them to see your skills and accomplishments.
With an outdated resume format, you also run the risk of looking old and out of touch, which won't help your case if you're already worried about age discrimination. So, one of the best ways to bring your resume back to life is simply by updating your formatting.
3. Add Numbers To Your Bullet Points
What good is updating your resume if you don't show what you've accomplished since the last time you updated it? Take a look at your resume in its current state. Do all of your bullet points contain numbers? Do you have measurable accomplishments that prove you save or make companies money? If not, your resume still has some cobwebs. You still have some updating to do.
Breathe life back into your resume by quantifying your work experience. Add numbers to each bullet point in the "Work History" section of your resume. Think about what have you accomplished at work. Think about the service you provide as a business-of-one. What is your specialty? Do you get results? What have you accomplished that proves you're a valuable employee? If you can't quantify something, it doesn't belong on your resume.
Including numbers on your resume not only shows hiring managers what you can do, but they also help your resume stand out from the competition. They give hiring managers something tangible to measure your success and potential on. If there's one thing that can bring your resume back to life, it's quantifiable information.
Need More Help Bringing Your Resume Back To Life?
An updated, well-formatted, optimized resume is best way to market yourself to employers and stand out in the first step of the hiring process. If employers can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing an interview.
Thankfully, you can learn how to build a customized, strategic resume that gets past the ATS and impresses hiring managers in our "Resume Plan" course!
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A well-defined brand architecture strategy helps organizations grow, transform, attract customers, and build perceptions. In this post, we'll look at the different types and benefits of a brand architecture strategy, as well as a step-by-step guide so you can create a successful framework for your organization.
Without a well-defined brand architecture strategy, an organization can experience brand dilution. When brands start selling unrelated products that don't fit their brand promise, they overlap with other brands within the organization, working against each other.
A brand architecture strategy has eight primary benefits:
A brand architecture describes how a business organizes, manages, and markets its brands. There are three main types of brand architecture models: the monolithic/branded house, the pluralistic/house of brands, and the endorsed/hybrid. Figuring out which approach is right for your business has several implications: how people perceive your business, how new products or services launch, and how other brands get integrated. Let's take a closer look at these three brand architecture models.
MONOLITHIC/ BRANDED HOUSE: Under this structure, the company has a master brand with several sub-brands that usually share the same name with a qualifier to explain what the sub-brand does. This model capitalizes on customer loyalty.
Examples include:
Google: Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Ads, Google Analytics
Efficiency: Focused marketing spending on a single brand strategy.
Ease: Easier for consumers to recognize by keeping all offerings under one brand.
Acceptance: Consumers are more accepting of new products and line extensions from a brand they already trust.
Increased Awareness: As the master brand grows, the sub-brands receive increased awareness.
Some downsides to this strategy include:
Reputation: Sub-brands are tied to the master brand's perception and reputation. If one brand experiences backlash, everything suffers.
Dilution: If a brand is positioned too broadly across multiple categories, it can become diluted and ineffective.
Risks: Mergers and acquisitions come with their risks (when Microsoft acquired Skype users lost trust in it). Source
Ambiguity: It's difficult to maintain one brand identity across hundreds of brands as confusion over what your brand does sets in (e.g. Apple computers? Phone? Music? Wearable?).
PLURALISTIC/HOUSE OF BRANDS:In this structure, the master brand takes a back seat, giving the sub-brands the focus. Brands under this model have their audiences, brand identities, and marketing strategies. Businesses that want to reach diverse markets with a more tailored value proposition are likely to use this approach.
Unilever: Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Dove, Lipton, Popsicle, Klondike, Hellmann's
General Motors: GMC, Chevrolet, Jeep, Buick, Cadillac
The benefits of this strategy include:
Minimizes Risks: One brand can deal with the bad press while the rest of the brands and company can maintain their reputation.
Reach: Each brand can broaden its reach through unique brand value propositions.
Safety Net: An organization can take more risks knowing they have a strong brand to withstand the heat.
Some downsides to this strategy include:
Cost: Managing multiple brands is difficult and expensive.
Image: Confusion about the parent company's identity can occur.
Reputation: The main brand cannot be relied upon to bolster the sub-brands reputation.
ENDORSED/HYBRID:The product or division is endorsed by the master brand. Each sub-brand and brand extensions have their own separate identities, but most are associated with the master brand. This strategy allows for flexibility in that you can choose to leverage your master brand or have an independent brand strategy. This approach often comes from mergers and acquisitions rather than a proactive strategy.
Examples include:
Marriott: Bvlgari, The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn and Suites, Residence Inn, Westin, Sheraton
The purpose of a brand architecture strategy is to make your offerings clearer to your organization, stakeholders (i.e. investors, vendors, clients, agencies, etc.), and customers. This will guide you to which brand architecture type will best support your business strategy and those you serve. Here are three steps in creating a brand architecture strategy:
CONDUCT AUDIT:The first step is to conduct an audit of your current organization's situation. This will help you determine what type of brand architecture will be most relevant for your organization. Things to evaluate in your audit include:
How do your customers make decisions?
Evaluate each brand's equity in comparison to other brands and the market.
Conduct a competitive audit and SWOT analysis.
Look at each brand, division, and corporate organization and how they are interconnected.
IDENTIFY APPROACH: The next step is to identify the best brand architecture strategy that fits your organization's needs. Questions to ask as you evaluate your alternatives:
List out the pros and cons of each brand architecture strategy
Resources (budget/human) - How many brands can your organization afford to support? Do you have the resources to support each strategy?
Do these brand architecture strategies meet your business objectives?
Is having a connecting link between the master brand, brands, and divisions a priority?
To what extent do your brands need to remain independent?
Do you have a valuable and loyal customer following that you want to leverage?
What is your growth strategy? Does your business entail pending mergers, acquisitions, or alliances? Are you planning new products, services, line extensions? And you don't want to impact your master brand?
Are you looking to maintain a consistent brand identity throughout all of your sub-brands?
Are there special circumstances (partnerships, licenses, etc.) that dictate tighter or looser brand linkages?
Do your products or services target a particular market? Are you looking to expand into other market segments?
How much disruption are you willing to endure reorganizing your brand architecture?
To what extent should your brands cross-reference and promote each other? Will your customers be confused by cross promoting between your brands?
DEVELOP STRATEGY: Now you're ready to develop your brand architecture strategy, execution plan, and timeline. Develop a brand strategy for each brand under the brand architecture strategy that you've identified that best fits your organization. Last, create a decision tree to maintain your brand architecture. A formal decision tree provides your organization with a guideline on the brand strategy across the portfolio.
Takeaway
Your brand architecture is critical to get right for your internal organization, external partners, and customers to understand. A defined brand architecture strategy helps organizations grow, transform, attract customers and build perceptions. Start building your brand leadership today. You've got this!
The term "career management" is a bit abstract for some people. It sounds like this fluffy, indefinable concept that doesn't really mean a whole lot. In reality, career management is a very significant and specific process that, when done properly, helps to ensure long-term career success.
Career management is sort of like contributing to your own career piggy bank. It's similar to good financial planning. A disciplined investment in your career made on a regular basis yields a greater return. In other words, if you want to grow your career, you have to "work it daily."
In order to get the most out of your career, you have to put some effort into caring for it. Left to its own devices, your career may end up wildly off course. Without a structured career management plan, you'll quickly find yourself doing what's easy or convenient or what others want you to do. You may discover your future goals don't align with your present-day actions. And, before you know it, your career will be managing you.
Here's the truth about the process and purpose of career management.
1. Career Management Is A Lifelong Process
The first point to understand is career management is not a single event; it's a part of your career journey. Don't put it off until you suddenly realize there's a problem. Just like a car, regular maintenance will help ensure a smooth ride.
2. Career Management Is An Active Process
You can't simply sit back and let others do the work for you. Otherwise, you'll end up in someone else's career! You have to be an active, engaged participant—a proactive professional.
3. Career Management Is A Structured Process
Career management is most beneficial when it is carefully structured. Without structure, most of us would neglect it until an emergency came along. Structure helps keep the process moving at a steady, stable pace regardless of what's happening.
4. Career Management Is About Establishing, Tracking, And Correcting
Here are some things you need to establish, track, and correct in your career:
Establish Goals - The real nitty-gritty of career management is in understanding what you're trying to achieve. This, for many people, can also be the hardest part. Each goal should be broken down into tasks that, once completed, will achieve the goal. A timeline can then be created to map each step along the way.
Track Goals - Monitoring progress is a satisfying and useful strategy. Career management involves regularly checking in on established goals and the movement being made. This helps prevent stagnation and ensures career goals are being methodically incorporated into the rest of your life.
Course-Correct - Career goals will change and grow just as you do. Part of the career management process involves monitoring and adjusting them as needed. Each step along the way will heighten your understanding of what you want and how to get there. The map isn't set in stone. As you move forward, the career management process will help you identify new paths and new destinations.
Participating in a structured career management process demonstrates the important role career plays in your life as a whole. For most people, your career can provide you with the means to achieve a great number of other personal goals, like buying a house or starting a family or traveling the world. Work also occupies a huge portion of our time spent on this planet, so managing your career is clearly a worthwhile investment of energy.
Or, join our career growth club today and get access to one-on-one career coaching, resume and cover letter reviews, online tutorials, and unlimited networking opportunities—all in your back pocket!
Check out Work It Daily's Incredible Companies page to see snapshots of companies hiring. Work It Daily also highlights job opportunities on a daily basis on TikTok.
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
"I’ve been working with CAREEREALISM on three different job stories over the past month, and she has been fantastic to work with. They have provided new ideas and worked with me on changes to better meet the needs of our target audience for different positions. Our HR and marketing managers have loved the job stories and they have provided a creative outside-the-box look at our company. I have especially appreciated being able to use the articles for our company LinkedIn and Facebook pages, because they describe the culture of our company rather than just a job description." - Lindsey Kepley
"I’ve been working with CAREEREALISM on three different job stories over the past month, and she has been fantastic to work with. They have provided new ideas and worked with me on changes to better meet the needs of our target audience for different positions.
Our HR and marketing managers have loved the job stories and they have provided a creative outside-the-box look at our company. I have especially appreciated being able to use the articles for our company LinkedIn and Facebook pages, because they describe the culture of our company rather than just a job description."
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