What to Say Instead of Im Busy - The Muse

What to Say Instead of Im Busy - The MuseWhat to Say Instead of Im Busy Our default answer to How are you? in the workplace is usually something along the lines of, Im stressed/busy/tired/overworked. Were being honest More than half of all working adults are so burnt out theyre worried its impacting their health. There are three problems with saying so, however. First, it loses its potency. Yeah, youre stressed, so what- you said that yesterday, and the week before, and the month before that. Second, saying youre stressed or busy actually makes you feel mora stressed or busy. Third, weve created a cult of busy Theres a cultural expectation that, if youre not stressed or busy, youre slacking.So, lets stop it. The next time someone asks how youre doing (which will probably happen, oh, in the next two hours), dont complain about being swamped- especially if the question is coming from your boss or a colleague who you ultimately want to impress. Instead, choose from these five replies.1. Im having a productive day.If youre worried your co-workers or boss will assume you need more to do if you dont talk about your heavy workload, go for this response. Youre still implying you have a lot going on, but youre demonstrating that youre handling it. You also sound happy to be working and checking boxes on your to-do list, which everyone in the office will appreciate. Maybe youll even inspire them to give similarly upbeat responses to the same question.2. Im working on X project andSometimes youre not being productive. You might be stumped by a project, or you actually feel overwhelmed by how much you have to get done. In this case, putting a positive spin on the situation could hurt you. If the person who asks you how youre doing has the power to help, say, Im so glad youre checking in Im working on X problem and Id love your insight on/support with If he or she cant help, stick to, Im working on these X things. How are you?3. Im a little overloaded right now, but I expec t things to calm down in a week when X is done.This is especially good when you think someone might have ulterior motives in asking how you are (i.e., they want to know if you can help with more work). You definitely dont want to misrepresent your situation, but you dont want to sound like youre dodging work, either. Explain youre at full capacity right now but hint that the person could approach you again once things have calmed down. It makes you sound more on top of things than just a vague, panicked, Im so busy4. Ive got a lot to do, but Im excited for the results.This reply makes it difficult for whoever just asked you how you were doing not to get caught up in your energetic attitude. Youre acknowledging that youre occupied and simultaneously pointing out good things will come of it. Im busy or Im stressed is a complaint- this is a victory lap in advance. Bonus Projecting your future success will make you look more competent.5. Im stressed.Wait, isnt this what weve been harpin g on about not saying? Yup. In very rare occasions, you can use Im stressed/Im busy/Im tired/Im overworked- when theres no substitute for these expressions. Youre the founder of a startup and youve just pulled your fourth all-nighter in a week. Okay, youre busy and tired. Youre in charge of a new marketing campaign thats failing miserably. Okay, youre stressed. Youve been spending every weekend laboring on a project running behind schedule. Okay, youre overworked.By saving these statements for the fruchtwein extreme situations, people will actually take them seriously. You dont have to be Pollyanna all the time. Just, well, most of the time.Its hard to find a professional who doesnt feel stressed, busy, tired, or overworked. Dropping these responses from your vocabulary, except when theyre truly needed, will make you feel calmer and appear more capable. Win-win.Photo of busy bees courtesy of Shutterstock.

13 Ways to Jump Start Your Job Search

13 Ways to Jump Start Your Job Search 13 Ways to Jump Start Your Job Search Are you feeling stuck in a job search rut? One of the most frequent questions Im asked is how can I get people to respond to my resume? I understand the feeling its incredibly discouraging to apply for job after job and never hear a peep back. You start to think it must be you there must be something wrong with you or why would nobody call back?But thats leid the case. Theres nothing wrong with you although it seems there is something wrong with your job search strategy. After all, youve been doing the same things for a while now and they havent workedSo here are just a few suggestions to shake things up.13 Ways to Jump Start Your Job Search1. Narrow it down Get really specific about what you want to do and which companies you want to work in, and then develop a strategy to make connections inside those companies using your real life network and your zugreifbar network (through social media sites like Faceb ook, Twitter and LinkedIn). Dont worry if theyre not advertising jobs just now there are tons of jobs filled every day that are not advertised.2. Broaden it out Maybe you have been very specific and it hasnt worked. Well then, try broadening your search. Consider other industries and fields that might need someone like you and research the types of available positions.3. Revamp your resume Choose 3 vacant job postings that appeal to you. Go through them and highlight key words and themes. Get inside the head of the hiring manager what is he looking for? Now look at your resume does it instantly convey that you have what it takes? If not, rework it to focus on those words and themes.4. Show some personality Call or email friends and people who have worked with you. Ask them what words describe you best. Now look at your resume to see if it includes those words. If not, rework it to reflect some personality.5. Be an expert Giving advice instantly makes you look smarter than other p eople, so write an article about your area of expertise. Call it The 5 Secrets of a Successful Administrative Assistant or 10 Ways to Succeed at Sales or How to be a Successful Game Designer. Publish your article to the web using Google Knols. Now when you send a resume by email, you can say I have attached my resume but to learn mora about how I work, feel free to check out my article on 10 Ways to Succeed at Sales.6. Be more of an expert Create a whole resources page about your profession at Squidoo.com. Include your Knol article, but also provide links to other good resources, recommended books and some quick tips. Again, you can include this link in your cover letter. (Now you can say I have written several resources for other Administrative Assistants, including a web page which you can find at .)7. Be even more of an expert If you like writing, start a blog. Keep it professional and use it as a way to show employers just how much you know about your profession.8. Read recruite r blogs and newsletters To succeed, you need to understand how recruiters work and what they like and dislike. Reading recruiter blogs is a great way to find out. Just go to Technorati and do a search for recruiting to find some blogs to follow. Also, I recommend signing up for Nick Corcodilass Ask the Recruiter newsletter, which is packed full of good advice and insights.9. Use social media to make connections Read my article on Using Twitter for Job Search. Then get on Twitter and start following people who work at your target companies. Start conversations with them about them not about you and make a connection. Once you know them and they know you, you can ask hey, are you guys hiring?10. Beef up your online presence Recruiters are increasingly using sites like LinkedIn and ZoomInfo to find candidates. Create profiles on both and make sure you do it correctly Check my article on 7 LinkedIn Mistakes for some tips on what to do.11. Check your web presence Google yourself and se e what comes up. Check Yahoo and MSN also as each search engine produces different results. Check Pipl, which pulls from information all over the web. If you find things you dont like, take steps to correct that by either (a) removing content from sites, profiles, blogs or forums or (b) replacing search results you dont like with better stuff. You can do this by making smart and thoughtful comments on blogs using your real name, creating profiles and writing articles as mentioned above. This will bump down any negative stuff over time.12. Know who you are This goes back to my 1 point, but sometimes in a long job search, you can lose track of who you are and your unique value. In trying to get a job any job you can start trying to be all things to all people. Dont. It never works. Clarify who you are and your unique value proposition and then make sure that is the focus of everything else that you do (including articles and web profiles). Check out my free resume writing course to learn how to develop your value proposition.13. Stop following the rules When you apply for a position online, they ask you to follow certain steps. Dont. Instead, research the company and then network your way to a real person. Send your resume to that person with a note telling them how excited you are about the vacancy you saw and why you would be the perfect fit. If you can find more than one person, send more than one email. Making the human connection is the key.There are many many ways to get creative about your search. Taking action on one or more of these suggestions will make a difference to your search results and also maybe help you to feel unstuck. In summary, I think all this can be encapsulated as stop doing what you have been doing and do something new.What about you? Do you have any suggestions for people feeling stuck in a job search rut? Have you ever used a creative strategy successfully? Do you know someone who has? If so, please share in the comments.

Religion in the Workplace

Religion in the WorkplaceReligion in the WorkplaceHow do you handle the gray areas of accommodating religious diversity at work?Accommodating, incorporating, and embracing diversity in the workplace has been a common thread among many of our articles recently. Each piece asks and answers different questions about diversity, including How do you uphold the rights and preferences of individual employees? and How do you tap into the benefits of diversity while avoiding the possible challenges?In a timely example of accommodating a religion-based need in a communal situation, I had to address this struggle in a club I help lead, outside of the workplace, but within a similar situation to what many experience on the job. Since many of the factors in this situation parallel things one might see at work, we used many of the basic employment laws to help shape our thinking around this issue. Heres our story.The BackgroundOur club is one that requires physical contact between members. Similar to activities such as partner yoga, wrestling, flying trapeze, or ballroom dancing, you simply cant participate in the club if you are unwilling to be in contact with the other participants. Our club is coed, but unlike ballroom dancing, there is no historic, traditional, or expected gender distinction for who someone might be paired up with during the course of the activity.Our club, although open to the public, is also offered as a course for leistungspunkt at a local university. So at any given time, some of the students in this club may be receiving school credit for attending, while others arent.The SituationRecently one of our new students requested that he not be partnered with female students due to religious restrictions. And he asked that the leader working with his group at the time share this request with the other club leaders. This poses a challenge for the rest of the club members for a few reasons.Attendance varies from meeting to meeting and it is impossible to gua rantee that there will always be a male in attendance to work with this participant.As members progress in skill level, the numbers of available participants decrease, thus by continuing to participate in the club, accommodating this request will become harder.As members progress in skill level, they are expected to teach newer students. Teaching generally includes a certain level of physical contact for demonstration purposes. It would be difficult to meet the needs of our students when an instructor cannot adequately teach a portion of them.The Factors ConsideredAlthough our organization is run as a club and not a business, this situation could arise in many workplaces, especially those requiring a physical element to participate. As a leadership team, we discussed this situation holistically as well as the specific request. The factors considered can be broken down into three general categories rules, laws and precedent impact to the club and impact to the student.Rules, laws, an d precedentTo help us think through this situation, we looked at several employment rules and principles that often guide decisions in the workplace. Would accommodating this student pose an unreasonable hardship to the club?Would this student be able to execute tasks needed to complete the course for full credit with reasonable accommodation?Does the affiliated university have any specific rules or precedent that would apply in this situation?Impact to the clubWhile it may be a little bit inconvenient to accommodate this student, it is really not any more inconvenient than accommodating a student with an injury, which we already do frequently. If the student owns the responsibility to remind others of the situation as needed and sit out during activities where his needs cant be accommodated (auditing portions of the class instead of participating when a male partner isnt available for example), then class disruption should be minimal.On the other hand, inviting this student to stay with the club beyond the first quarter would pose a hardship since he wouldnt be able to contribute fully as a more senior club member.Impact to the studentThe student in question is enrolled in our club for school credit, and it is too late for him to drop the class this quarter. Thus by leaving now he would receive a failing or incomplete grade for this particular class.The DecisionAfter analyzing several options, our team decided to allow the student to finish the quarter as a club participant. We communicated that he would own the responsibility to communicate his situation and sit out of activities as needed. We agreed that observing the class instead of participating during these times would not impact his attendance or his grade. And we let him know that in order to progress in the club beyond the first quarter, he would need to interact with female students.As you seek talent to fill your jobs, you may come across similar situations where, due to religion, a candidate cant fully participate in all aspects of the job the way it has been previously done. Although employment laws offer some flexibility to companies to hire candidates who are able and willing to complete the work, by thinking through all of the possible options, you can often find a solution that is fair and respectful to the employee, the workplace, and the company.

Work-From-Home Call Center Jobs in New Mexico

Work-From-Home Call Center Jobs in New MexicoWork-From-Home Call Center Jobs in New MexicoThough its a virtual profession, awork-at-home call center job cant be done from just anywhere. Most companies hire only in specific states. Many companies that run virtual call centers employ workers in New Mexico. Here are some of the most important ones, listed alphabetically. Accolade Support This outsourcingcompany hires contractors (not employees) to perform tech support and customer tafelgeschirr for its clients. Jobs are paid on a per-minute basis at a maximum of $10 an hour with no minimum wage protection. American Express This in aller herren lnder financial tafelgeschirrs company hires remote call center agents who are experienced in reservation systems and travel agents nationwide. American Express looks for agents who are bilingual. Apple At-Home Advisors The work-at-home call center program from Apple hires both college students and non-students, with students often rec ruited from the University of New Mexico. These remote call center jobs are in the companys AppleCare department and are often seasonal. ARO You will find freelancing (or independent contractor) positions in customer service, sales, and business telemarketing at ARO. The company also sometimes has openings for home-based jobs in insurance auditing and for LPNs and RNs in medical call centers. Asurion This warranty company uses remote call center agents to provide customer service for device replacement claims. It offers both full- and part-time positions. Asurion looks for employees who are bilingual and offers benefits such as medical, dental, and vision insurance and a 401(k) plan. Convergys Remote call center agents for Convergys take incoming phone calls and provide customer service, sales, or technical support. The company offers paid training and several benefits to agents, all of whom are employees. LiveOps Independent contractors pay significant costs in time and money to work as remote call center agents in customer service for LiveOps. Agents are not paid hourly but at a rate that is based on minutes oftalk time, plus sales incentives in some cases. There is no minimum wage guaranteed. Agents must spend the time to become certified to work for individual clients, and this certification is not paid. Agents must also pay for their own background checks. 1-800-FLOWERS This giant floral retailer regularly hires through an intermediary for remote call center jobs, but they are usually on a temporary basis for seasonal employment. Sitel The work-at-home program in this global business process outsourcing (BPO) company offers its call center employees professional training from home as well as a set schedule of hours that may be full or part-time.Sitel hires agents as employees, not independent contractors, and offers benefits that include medical and dental benefits for full-time employees, 401(k), vacation and holiday pay, and empl oyee discounts with Sitel clients. Training is full-time (40 hours/week), at home, and paid. It lasts one to six weeks, depending on the position. Support.com In addition to hiring home-based tech support chat and telephone agents, Support.com also hires remote supervisors who support and supervise these work-at-home services technicians. Remote technicians are paid $10.25$11 an hour agents who are bilingual in English and Spanish receive more. All Support.com positions are for employees, not independent contractors, and offer benefits that include medical, dental, vision, 401(k), and paid time off. SYKES Home Telecommuting SYKES Home employees take inbound customer service and sales calls. Pay is approximately $9 hourly, and training is paid. However, applicants must pay $45 for a background check before they can begin work. All SYKES Home employees are offered medical, dental, and vision plans, and for those who have completed one year of service and worked 1,000 hours, a matching 401(k) retirement plan is an additional benefit. teleNetwork This outsourcing call center hires work-at-home technicians to assist with Internet services, desktop support, and security issues as well as customer service reps. Benefits at TeleNetwork include paid time off, health, dental, vision, and life insurance as well as 401(k) participation with a company match. TeleNetwork has a wellness program that includes daily cardio and yoga classes via Google Hangouts, mental health support, and more. TeleTechHome This global BPO company hires associates in some U.S. states and the U.K. to work from home as call agents and in other fields. Pay is $9$10/hour. TeleTechHome looks for agents who are bilingual. Benefits include paid training and 401(k) participation. U-Haul U-Haul work-at-home call center agents provide customer service, make reservations, and provide roadside assistance. Agent jobs at U-Haul may be seasonal, but they are employment positions. Benefits f or part-timers include a dental plan, limited medical plan, 401(k) plan, stock purchase plan, company discounts, and membership in the company credit union. Full-time employees receive additional benefits such as paid time off and a full medical plan.

Resume and Cover Letter Examples - Is it a Scam?

Resume and Cover Letter Examples - Is it a Scam? Ruthless Resume and Cover Letter Examples Strategies Exploited Career profiles supply an overview of your region of specialization and useful skills giving employers a general idea about what you can actually do. Taking the opportunity to tailor your resume to coincide with the particular demands of a job is quite wise. Theres no doubt that a resume which is both cohesive and professional will have a much better likelihood of standing from the crowd even supposing its made utilizing a template. Then it may be time to bring some style to your resume Your sense of professionalism will also indicate if youre eager to manage the uncertain adjustments when you get the job. Possessing a superb knowledge on coding and good resume will assist the job seekers to find the work easily. After you have your resume finished, have a look at our great array of jobs at top employers. It is fantastic for highlighting to prospective employers all o f the skills you have developed over the duration of your career, without needing to incorporate each and every workplace chronologically. Most job seekers do not understand that prospective employers are in fact on the lookout for reasons inside your titelbild letter to throw your resume out. Experience and familiarity with the tasks is likewise an important component that employers look into before choosing to seek the services of someone. Applicants whove been in the business for quite a while and have a lot of experience should use a resume summary. All you need to do is point and click. You must be very detailed about your experience in order to trigger more questions for you and boost your odds of getting hired. You wish to choose a resume template which will help you make a fantastic first impression, even before people start reading. Be sure all contact information isnt difficult to locate on the cover letter, and specify whats the ideal method of contact. It is vital your cover letter be tailored to every position youre applying to. A cover letter is a crucial element for your work. Thus, its wise to write the cover letter correctly. Concentrate on their demands, and allow it to be clear the exceptional approaches its possible to address them. Sometimes all you will need is a traditional style template thats clean, clear and right to the point. More frequently than not, folks write motivation letters and make the the majority of the identical varieties repeatedly. All that you require to understand is writing a cover letter for a resume in the proper way. Its much better to demonstrate how youre qualified rather than tell the reader that youre qualified. 1 tip I would like to provide you is that if youre using hard copies of your resume, make certain that the paper is of the best quality and the paper suits your resume design. One of the main elements to writing a great cover letter is the very first sentence. When you should create a resume or compose an employment letter, it can be handy to begin with a template. Speak to the business and find out who the cover letter ought to be addressed to. Your cover letter ought to be formatted like an expert small business letter. Even when asked, its much better to include things like the cove letter together with your resume. Jobseekers with enough financial resources may decide to employ a professional resume writer to guarantee that they are in possession of a very first class resume. Resumes dont have to be boring. They provide the all important first impressions to an employer that an applicant cannot give during the earliest phase of the application process. Zetys resume templates are made with the assistance of recruiters and stick to the best practices in HR. Google Docs exports documents in a number of formats, making it simple to submit the right file type to a hiring manager. So in a superb cover letter, a hiring manager must be positive of that. As lo ng as the hiring manager can read your resume readily, youve completed a great job.

Work Life Balance Juggling on a Tightrope

Work Life Balance Juggling on a Tightrope As Recruiters, we hear quite a bit about work/life balance. I can count on one hand, really one finger, the number of candidates who have expressed a desire to work to the exclusion of everything else in their lives. Most often, people are looking for a job or a career that they can enjoy one that can give them a satisfying workday and leave some room for friends, family and leisure at the end of the week. But what of recruiters? Is there any real hope of balancing our work life and our personal life? The vast majority of what a Recruiter does day in and day out is self-directed. At the end of the day, if youre not driven to succeed in this business, you probably wont. Successful recruiting requires diligence, volume, drive, perseverance as well as intangible skills of perception, quality and communication. Alongside every one of those requirements is a se nse of speed and urgency. Nothing in this business stands still. So when youre juggling clients, candidates and competition, can a Recruiter really afford to power down at the end of the day? Here are some tips on carving out some personal time without falling off the tightrope.Power Down Now lets not suggest that you power down every day at 500PM for the rest of the nightthats crazy talk. But there can and should be a time where the laptop and the Blackberry, IPhone or Droid are off. Creating a hard and fast (well, mostly hard and fast) rule for yourself is a great way to give you and your family some breathing room without risking business. If youre offline for a specific period of time each evening, youll find that it will get easier and easier to put work on the back burner for those short hours. Keeping a set time to power back up and check in will allow you a little more freedom during your downtime.Hobby Time Its always a good idea to invest in you. If theres a hobby you enjo y or maybe even one you think you might enjoy, go for it. Working for the sake of working is never a good or healthy idea. Pick up an old hobby or interest that may have dropped off with the crazy pace of business. Start looking around at local classesart, language, martial arts, whatever catches your eye. Taking some time to indulge your own interests is a great way to stay in touch with yourself and ensure your career serves your life, not the other way around. If you happen to also slip in a little networking, so be it.Work It Out Taking care of yourself physically is a sure fire way to ensure that your energy level during the day doesnt bottom out. Since were often working at a fast pace with a high-level of focus, a recruiters energy level can bottom out making them less and less productive. Keeping your body healthy and working out can help keep energy levels up during the day and help manage the stress of the day to day. Take it a step further and pamper yourself a little. Wo rking out and feeling good about yourself helps to keep a person positive and engaged in their own life professionally and personally. So take a deep breath and start taking care of yourself.Get some Space Clients and candidates dont respect your time outside of your professional life. But we do it to ourselves we email clients at 11pm, talk to candidates driving home from work, andinterruptour own dinners tocounsel a candidate about an interview. You have to care about your clients and hiring managers and you have to give great service to your candidates. However, you have to draw the line somewhere. Try to judge your timeline according to your the structure of your day. If you work independently and have time off during the day, working at night is fine. But if you have a regular 8-6 gig (remember 9-5?), it can be too much to return to work at 8pm. You will probably perform better by making improvements to productivity instead of spending more time.Taking care of yourself is a lo ng term investment, both professionally and personally. If youre committed to a successful career in recruiting, you need to maintain a fast pace, a sustained focus and a constant level of urgency. The career is more than worth it, but it still just a career not a life.