Get Over the Feeling That Youre Not Good Enough - The Msue

Get Over the Feeling That Youre Not Good Enough - The Msue Get Over the Feeling That Youre Not Good Enough - The Msue “You’re doing great!” That’s what everyone tells you at work. And there’s plenty of evidence to back up the claim: Your co-workers like you, you get positive performance reviews, there’s even been hinting that you might get a promotion soon. But here’s the problem: Despite the adulation, you’re feeling less than great. You may project confidence, but underneath that self-assured veneer, you’re certain that any day now, someone will find out that you’re not actually cut out for your job, that you only got where you are because you’re lucky. You’re worried that you’ll stumble and reveal how supremely untalented you really are. Sound familiar? If so, you may suffer from a phenomenon first identified as impostor syndrome by two researchers at Georgia State University in the late ‘70s to describe an experience common among a select group of high-achieving women who felt like “intellectual phonies” despite their “outstanding academic and professional accomplishments.” “I think the best way to know if you do have the impostor syndrome is if you have low-level fear or high-level anxiety that you’re going to be ‘found out,’” Dr. Valerie Young, author of The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women, told me. “You downplay your accomplishments and think, if I can do it, anybody can. You look for reasons outside of yourself to explain your success.” This kind of chronic self-doubt, while unfortunately common, may prevent you from taking on worthwhile challenges and realizing your potential. With that in mind, here are three tools to begin quieting your inner impostor. 1. Redefine Competence and Success for Yourself Dr. Young explains that impostors have an “unsustainable definition of competence.” For some, the word “success” might not even resonate because they feel they’re not smart enough to be accomplished. For others, this might mean that they only deem themselves successful if they’re awarded the equivalent of a “gold medal” at work: a perfect performance review every time, the right answer to every question, or knowledge of every single facet of their field. For others still, they may only feel accomplished if they get ahead without any help at all. Getting away from this kind of mentality requires a huge shift in beliefs. To do this, you have to keep reminding yourself that you’re never going to be perfect all the time and that, if you equate success with perfection or not failing, then you will prevent yourself from learning and growing from worthwhile failures. Easier said than done, right? To start making this shift happen, Dr. Young suggests changing the tone of your self-talk. When confronted with a challenge, if the dialogue in your head tends to be something like, “Oh my God, I’m in over my head! People are going to find out the truth about me,” Dr. Young says to instead try reminding yourself, “Wow- I’m really going to learn a lot.” It will take time, but fostering this kinder voice can do you wonders in the long run. 2. Validate Your Skills Even though she had earned an Ivy League MBA and become the first female African American Vice President of Global Marketing for Avon Inc., Joyce Roché felt like a fraud and constantly feared she was going to stumble. In her book The Empress Has No Clothes:  Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success, Roché explains how she discovered she was dealing with the impostor syndrome and the coping mechanisms she adopted to quiet the drone of self-doubt that was preventing her from enjoying her successes. One of her most effective tools, she says in her book, was simply making a list.” Either with a pen and paper or with someone you trust, write down an inventory of your accomplishments,” she explains. “This will give you the ability to internally validate yourself.” Armed with this concrete list of your achievements, you now have something to focus on when you find yourself feeling like a failure. (Coincidentally, this list also gives you great material to update your resume and LinkedIn profile or to mention to your boss when seeking out a promotion or raise.) 3. Fake It Until You Make It Even if you aren’t feeling totally sure of yourself and your abilities, it’s important you present yourself otherwise. That means shifting your body language to portray confidence. So, while you may be so nervous before your big interview or meeting that you want to curl into a ball, resist the temptation to cower or make yourself smaller, and walk in with your head held high. The best news is, this shift in body language can not only trick others into believing your confidence, but it can change how you perceive yourself as well. In her remarkable TED Talk, Amy Cuddy explains her research into body language and how simply tweaking the way we carry ourselves can significantly change the way our lives unfold. Her experiments show that by power posing“ for just two minutes, people were able to raise hormones associated with leadership and perform significantly better in high-stress interviews- meaning it’s possible to use powerful body language to actually feel more confident. Cuddy concludes her talk with an emotional story describing her own experience with impostor syndrome: She explains how, for most of her career, she felt like she wasn’t supposed to be there, but was encouraged to fake it until she made it. She did just that- accepting every speaking opportunity and pretending to be smart enough- until she realized one day that she had faked it until she became it. She was the confident person she never thought she could be. While it may be far easier to be successful than it is to feel successful- because we can always change our definition of success, strive for perfection, or move the “success target” farther away from where we stand- allowing yourself to acknowledge your accomplishments is important for your career. Once you take ownership of your wins at work, you’ll be able to embrace your talent and acknowledge that you are, indeed, doing great.

Wordsmithing Your Resume Tenses, Plurals, and Optimized Keywords

Wordsmithing Your Resume Tenses, Plurals, and Optimized Keywords Wordsmithing Your Resume Tenses, Plurals, and Optimized Keywords If youre unsure whether to write your resume in past tense or present tense, traditional advice sides with common sense. If youre describing something in your past, use past tense.  Managed, coded, designed, marketed.  If youre describing something youre still doing in your current job, use present tense.  Manage, code, design, market.   Simple enough, right? Not so fast. If someone is actually reading your resume top to bottom, that advice is sufficient. But most large companies use software that adds a layer of complexity to your word choices that extends beyond past and present tenses. Every resume keyword must be carefully considered. Blame it on Applicant Tracking Systems When you click submit on an online job application, your resume isnt usually zapped directly to a hiring managers inbox for review.  Most large companies use an applicant tracking system (ATS) as an intermediary. These systems can automatically rate applicants or allow the hiring manager to search for specific terms. The problem with that? The matching and search capabilities of most ATS stink. Many ATS bill themselves as an all-in-one human resources tool. Many can post job listings, schedule interviews, and onboard new employees alongside their core applicant tracking functions. When ATS companies try to do too much, applicants fall through the cracks. ATS companies dont focus a lot of effort into making search better because they sell the comprehensive solution, Jobscan CEO James Hu recently said on the CareerCloud Radio podcast. That becomes a problem for job seekers because search is not great. Theyre often lost during that process. If a hiring manager searches their ATS for the noun analyst but you only have the verb analyze on your resume, they probably wont find you. Even worse, the same problem can arise if they search for the present tense manage but you only have the past tense managed. Resume Keyword Optimization Job seekers have to work around this. A major part of optimizing your  ATS resume is figuring out exactly which search terms and  keywords a hiring manager is likely to use, right down to the tense or conjugation. The most direct way to do that is to look at the job description. By reviewing what a hiring manager asked for and how they asked for it, you can get an idea of which words theyll plug into the ATS after applications have been collected. Carefully read through the job description or use Jobscan to determine which keywords (in whatever tense or style) are used the most. Work them into your resume exactly as they appear. When Optimization and Traditional Advice Clash What are you supposed to do when using the optimized form of a keyword throws a wrench into the style or tense of the rest of your resume? This is a major frustration in the fight against ATS, as stated by several Jobscan users in a recent survey. Changing the tense of a verb just to satisfy an ATS often creates a resume that appears sloppy to a human reader because adjacent bullet points are in different word tenses, Darren W. told Jobscan. I need to make the change to get past the ATS, but end up with a poor resume when presented to a reader. It would be great if the system were more intuitive to understand plural use or, even better, different tenses in order to get an accurate read, said Matt S. I often find myself creating awkwardly phrased sentences in order to satisfy the system. It is beyond frustrating that the ATS do not recognize various differences in verb tense and singular-plural variants, said Scott H. It forces the applicant to wordsmith and re-write sentences or entire sections to be counted as a match. Some users, like Joy S., are at a loss: How on earth do you get your past tense resume to match present tense job descriptions? Wordsmithing Your Resume Present tense keywords in past experience It might not come naturally to convert a past tense action verb like managed to manage or managing, but its possible without abandoning traditional advice. Simply move the tense to a different word in the sentence. For example: Current Phrase (Past tense) Optimized Keyword New Phrase (Past Tense) Managed team of 15 engineers Manage Brought in to manage team of 15 engineers Manager Served as manager for team of 15 engineers Managing Tasked with managing team of 15 engineers Management Excelled in management role over team of 15 engineers Use the same thought process when converting between singulars and plurals or nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Dont just plug your optimized keyword into your old sentence. Instead, build a new sentence around the optimized keyword. Current Phrase (Past Tense) Optimized Keyword New Phrase (Past Tense) Researched and implemented marketing strategies Strategy Shaped marketing strategy through research and implementation of Strategize Required me to strategize, research, and implement the marketing plan Strategist Marketing strategist tasked with research and implementation of Strategic Researched and implemented strategic marketing initiatives Tweaking job titles is OK In many cases, hiring managers prefer candidates who have done the job before. With this in mind, the number one resume keyword is always going to be the job title for which youre applying. There are many variations of job titles based on industry, company culture, or experience levels. For example, you might be applying for a job as a front end developer but your most recent experience is as a front end engineer. If the job descriptions are practically the same, its not inappropriate to change the job title on your resume. Ask for help If youre struggling to figure out how to insert an optimized keyword into your resume, get feedback from a friend. Writing and wordsmithing might come easier to others than it does to you, and sometimes all it takes is a set of fresh eyes. When in doubt, use common sense At the end of the day, my best advice is to put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter, Hu continued on the podcast. Would you be searching for this keyword? If the answer is yes, then it would make sense to include it in your resume.

What Does Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahis Resume Look Like

What Does Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s Resume Look Like What Does Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s Resume Look Like Theres a new CEO in town over at Uber. But who is Dara Khosrowshahi, and does he have what it takes to turn the companys culture around? A new infographic from the professional resume-builder Novoresume  aims to answer that question â€" or at least shine some light on Khosrowshahi â€" by presenting the CEOs hypothetical resume. Take a look below to get an idea of who Ubers new leader is and what he might do for the company: Master the art of closing deals and making placements. Take our Recruiter Certification Program today. We're SHRM certified. Learn at your own pace during this 12-week program. Access over 20 courses. Great for those who want to break into recruiting, or recruiters who want to further their career.

How to Propose Change at Work - The Muse

How to Propose Change at Work - The Muse How to Propose Change at Work What is it about humans and change? We don’t just avoid it, we downright fear it. Especially when it involves the office, a place that thrives on routine, schedules, and managers saying, “That’s just the way we do things around here.” As anyone who’s ever tried to enact changes in the workplace knows, it’s incredibly difficult to convince the people around you it’s a good idea. But, what if you see a way that things can be done differently, more effectively, or more profitably? Well, one option is to write it off and just complain to your co-workers: “Nothing here is ever going to change.” Or, you can go make it happen. Professionally, of course. So, the question becomes, how can you become a change agent at work, responsibly and respectfully? Here’s a four-point plan for staging your revolution in a way that will get you the results you want. So now you can go beyond just talking about what would make your company better- and actually get it done. Step 1: Get Feedback on Your Idea Our ideas sound really great, especially when they’re bouncing around in our own heads. That’s why you need to reality-test your idea before letting it see the light of day and figure out if it’s actually a good one. Embrace the naysayers. If your idea isn’t an immediate winner among your colleagues, don’t just write them off as dream-stompers who fear change. Listen to their perspectives, and use their objections to strengthen your idea. Their reservations may point to holes in your plan. Shore up the foundation, and then give them credit for contributing to the idea. (That’s called a win-win: You get support for your ideas and you make your co-workers feel appreciated.) Even if you got a lot more negative feedback than you anticipated, trust your gut. Entrepreneur Seth Adam Cohen says he always asks himself, “Do I believe in this? Is there passion there?” If you can answer yes, then keep moving forward. Just remember that you have to be able to stand firmly behind your idea if you’re going to communicate its value and drive its implementation. Step 2: Get Your Co-workers on Your Side For a long time, people believed that leadership needed to spearhead and guide the implementation of change in the workplace. However, a bottom-up approach is often more effective when innovation is truly the goal. When you build a bottom-up consensus, you are enlisting ideas from everyone the change involves, specifically the people who are actually doing the work in question. As you test your idea, these are the folks who can offer experience-based feedback. They’ll also be the people to support your idea when you bring it to the higher-ups. To employ a bottom-up strategy, think in terms of collaborations. Invite your colleagues to join you in your revolution. Give them individual tasks and let them participate in the discussion about how you will define the change’s success. This strategy demands that the process be completely transparent, from budgets to schedules to results. Step 3: Appeal to Loss Aversion to Convince Your Superiors It’s the Right Move Loss aversion is a common psychological bias that speaks to our innate desire to avert loss by being willing to take a risky action. (Think about the person who continues to gamble in an effort to make up for the loss incurred from the first bet placed- even though the odds are stacked against him.) This phenomenon has even been seen in nations’ foreign policies. The United States was found to invest more effort in disputes that were framed as potential losses. What does this mean for you? Your idea could win over your superiors if you appeal to their willingness to accept the risk of trying something new because it could avert further losses. To do this, provide evidence of the existing problem and the current loss in time, money, productivity, or morale that’s happening as a consequence. Then, outline how your solution is worth the investment in time and resources. Since this is a serious conversation, you want to treat it as such- meaning, don’t make your pitch as you walk to lunch with your manager. Instead set up a meeting and make sure your conversation hits three points: the current problem, your solution, and your plan. For example: “As you know, the team’s recently struggled to complete their quarterly sales goal. I think this is due to the database system we’re currently using- it’s slow and it’s hard to track individual progress. I’ve done some research and found a few other options that look much more user-friendly. While they all cost a little bit more money than what we’re spending now, they’re so much faster that my projections show us actually increasing sales by 20%. I’d like to set up a trial period for my team this month, track our results, and see if it does make us more efficient.” Step 4: Be Prepared for People to Freak Out We all fear change, right? We may say we embrace it, but in the back of our minds, there’s the scary unknown lingering like a monster under the bed, waiting to grab our ankles. Daniel Lock, an expert on change management, suggests that we don’t exactly fear change itself. We fear and dislike ambiguity. When you come up against resistance, look at it not as a rejection of your idea, but rather a reaction to the ambiguity in the process and the unknowns that exist. To address these, present a clear plan that outlines how you see your idea rolling out sustainably, beyond the testing period. Add easy-to-understand visuals, relevant projections, and statistics wherever possible. Bonus: If you can show that the current workflow will not be disrupted, it will give your manager peace of mind as you get your plan moving. To go make change at work, you must be strategically brave. You also must be smart. You know your management. If they like to be kept in the loop, make sure you stay in close contact and report on results as you implement your idea. Otherwise, take a cue from Grace Hopper, the woman who coined the phrase, “It’s much easier to apologize than it is to get permission.” Let me know if this inspired you to go rogue at work. Tweet me @AmandaBerlin. Photo of plant growing courtesy of Shutterstock.

What Millennials Need - Feedback and Mentoring - The Muse

What Millennials Need - Feedback and Mentoring - The Muse What Millennials Need - Feedback and Mentoring These days, you can’t make it through a piece of media content on Millennials in the workplace without coming across the same, solemn prognosis: “Need for constant feedback.” Houston, we have a problem here. It’s not the prognosis itself that bothers me as a Millennial (it’s accurate) so much as the dismissive, condescending, and ultimately misguided belief that it always belies: My generation’s need for constant feedback is ultimately founded in narcissism, self-absorption, or some other greater failing of our overall character. Stop to consider this for a second: Maybe workforce-age Millennials haven’t figured ourselves out yet. And no, I’m not talking about existential ideas of “What fulfills me?” or “What is my purpose in life?” I’m talking about fundamental, concrete questions every professional asks oneself: “Am I good at what I do?” “Am I meeting expectations?” “Where are my professional weaknesses?” Recently, a New York Times feature on Millennials concluded with this wry quip from a group of marketing researchers: “No one truly understands millennials. Not even millennials.” Isn’t this indicative of a generation that is not so much narcissistic as we are uncertain? Everyone’s calling for humility, but what I see is a need for direction. On a professional level, there is compelling evidence that Boomer and Gen-X mentorship is the cure for bridging the generation gap and “fixing” Millennials, for the betterment of all parties involved. To that effect, here are the three biggest reasons we Millennials need elder generations to adopt and mentor us in the workplace. 1. We’ve Come of Age During a Time of Massive Uncertainty 9/11. A Great Recession. A taxpayer-funded bailout. Two lingering wars (never mind the War on Terror). Record-low approval ratings for Congress. I could go on, but the point here is that my generation has been uniquely, dramatically shaped by the major events (mostly lowlights) of the new Millennium. Moreover, we are entering an increasingly globalized world where everything is constantly changing and the idea of a “heroic” public figure seems as antiquated as a $20 CD. The result: We have no reason to trust institutions, and that goes for employers as well. The proof here is in the pudding. At 28, I can count on one hand the number of peers I know still working for the same employer they joined upon graduating college. Contrast that with my Greatest Generation grandfather, who spent his entire career working for Heinz. Small wonder that Gen-X journalist Rick Newman recently presented one of the fairest appraisals of my generation I’ve yet heard: “Cynical, untrusting and mercenary,” that is, the traits we consider “necessary to survive.” Look: We watched the CEO of the world’s sixth-large energy company refuse to accept blame for a devastating oil spill. From his yacht. Yes, we badly need respectable professional mentors. 2. We Are Conditioned to Expect a Constant Feedback Loop It’s no secret that Millennials are the most educated and tech-savvy generation in history. Our generation (myself included) entered law school in record numbers, completed unprecedented Ivy League applications, and now shoulder monumental levels of student debt. Why? Our parents drilled into us a desire to succeed, to set ourselves apart, to become the unique, special snowflakes we’re rapidly learning to be as real as Tyler Durden in Fight Club. The need for constant feedback, on a subconscious level, goes back to these origins. Studies have identified that Millennials were raised with a heavy emphasis on structure and measuring systems, constant coaching, and feedback. And now, we expect it to continue in the workplace. Bottom line: Our desire for parent-like oversight, nurturing, and feedback in the workplace at times borders on unreasonable. That being said, the indicators, here and elsewhere, point to mere occasional doses of coaching as an effective solution for addressing Millennial need for feedback. Experts have denoted that “encouragement doesn’t always need to be a substantial time investment” and that “even a few minutes can help make employees feel valued and strengthen company ties.” 3. We Sense Your Antipathy and Measure Ourselves Against Peer Success Ticking off some of the most recent, unflattering characterizations of Millennials- “narcissistic, godless, precious, lazy and probably much worse,” Newman drives home an important point about workforce-age Millennials: We hear all the disrespect, disdain, and downright antipathy being heaped upon us by our elders. When major news articles are declaring you likely the most maligned generation in American history, you know where you stand. If we seem obsessed with how we are performing, it’s because we Millennials have spent years being bombarded with not just a constant stream of negative mainstream media coverage, but daily, self-promotional social media updates from friends and acquaintances celebrating promotions, graduations, and career milestones, ad infinitum. Case in point: I failed the bar exam, twice. Both times, I watched my successful colleagues unleash a non-stop wave of jubilant posts all over Facebook and social media. All this goes back to the fact that Millennials, subconsciously, measure ourselves against our parents’ generation, and against one another. We think about the six-figure student loan debt on our back. Most critically, we recognize the fortune and opportunity that comes with our youth: We still have time to reach our maximum potential. Here, ultimately, is where the pleas for coaching and constant feedback originate. Baby Boomers and Gen-X workforce members: Expect a return on your investment if you adopt a Millennial in your workplace. Why take my word for it? Six months ago, I entered Lamp Post Group, a startup incubator in Chattanooga, populated by Millennials and run by Gen-X entrepreneurs-turned-venture capitalists, who started mentoring me the second I arrived. They have enabled me to unlock untapped potential, set new professional goals, and provide a vital role to my company, Ambition. That’s the power of mentorship. So I beseech my prospective Boomer and Gen-X mentors out there: Mentor a Millennial. A lot of my colleagues are where I was six short months ago- they could use your help, too. Photo of man on bench courtesy of Shutterstock.

Technology Positions in Demand

Technology Positions in Demand Technology Positions in Demand TECHNOLOGY POSITIONS IN DEMAND PACIFIC 1. Help Desk 2. Web Developer 3. Software Developer 4. Systems Engineer 5. Security Engineer MOUNTAIN 1. Software Engineer 2. Systems Administrator 3. .NET Developer 4. Help Desk 5. Web Developer WEST SOUTH CENTRAL 1. Network Engineer 2. ERP Technical Developer 3. Help Desk 4. Software Engineer 5. .NET Developer WEST NORTH CENTRAL 1. .NET Developer 2. Web Developer 3. Systems Administrator 4. Software Developer 5. Help Desk EAST NORTH CENTRAL 1. Help Desk 2. .NET Developer 3. Systems Administrator 4. Web Developer 5. Database Developer EAST SOUTH CENTRAL 1. Software Engineer 2. Network Engineer 3. .NET Developer 4. Web Developer 5. Help Desk NEW ENGLAND 1. Network Engineer 2. Help Desk 3. Software Engineer 4. .NET Developer 5. Web Developer MIDDLE ATLANTIC 1. .NET Developer 2. Network Engineer 3. Web Developer 4. Database Developer 5. Systems Analyst SOUTH ATLANTIC 1. .NET Developer 2. Help Desk 3. Network Engineer 4. Software Developer 5. Systems Administrator rht.com © 2016 Robert Half Technology. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/Disability/Veterans.

Reasons to Choose a Financial Career

Reasons to Choose a Financial Career Reasons to Choose a Financial Career The financial services industry, as well as financial disciplines common to all industries (such as accounting), have long histories of attracting energetic and ambitious people who are looking for the best career opportunities. Focusing on the financial services industry, here are a few of its most significant selling points for prospective employees. Compensation The financial services industry is noted for compensation structures that are, overall, much more generous than in other sectors of the economy. In particular, successful  financial services sales professionals  tend to be especially well paid, both relative to other employees in this industry and especially in comparison to salespeople in other industries. Advancement Compared to other industries, the financial services firms tend to place less weight on seniority in judging the readiness of employees for advancement. High performers can move ahead regardless of age, making this industry particularly attractive for ambitious young people in a hurry. Getting Started Breaking into the financial services industry  presents increasing challenges today due to the  consolidation of financial firms  and the scaling back of traditional entry points such as financial advisor training programs and the renowned Goldman Sachs Junior Analyst Program. Nonetheless, financial internships  are growing in importance as avenues to the best jobs in the industry. Bureaucracy Many of the leading firms tend to be relatively thinly-staffed. There are comparatively few layers of management. Decision-making tends to be rather quick. Your opportunities for getting face time in front of senior management also tend to be excellent. That is, these firms do not normally operate in a highly formalized, chain of command fashion which is more typical of slower-footed traditional industrial companies. You also are more likely to juggle multiple responsibilities within a given job category, often ranging far beyond the official job description, compared to the norms in other companies. Bureaucracy should be an important consideration in choosing employers. Pace A premium is placed on quick thinking, quick acting, and constant production of results. This can be trying for some people, exhilarating for others. The thin staffing and comparative lack of bureaucracy require exceptionally hard work, focus and commitment to stay afloat, let alone to succeed. For those who do, however, the rewards are commensurately great. Caveats As a general rule, the banking and insurance sectors of financial services tend to be rather more bureaucratic, more deeply staffed and less remunerative at all levels than firms whose principal lines of business are in (for example) securities brokerage (or financial advisory services), investment banking, securities trading, investment management (or money management), and/or securities research. These latter types of firms include what is commonly called Wall Street.