3 Skills Every Professional Should Have

by Rachel Maleady, LevoLeague.com

Job searching, for recent and older grads, is becoming increasingly competitive as time goes on. In addition to having a great resume, relevant experience and a good attitude, you also need to have your own unique skills. Whether you’re a Photoshop whiz or have years of customer service experience, these specialty skills can help set you apart from all the other applicants. Here are three important skills that I feel every professional should have.

 

Public speaking

Although it’s a top fears among the population, public speaking is crucial in most jobs. Whether it’s speaking to a large audience as a public relations representative or just speaking to fellow employees as a Human Resources generalist, being able to effectively communicate is key. At my college, all communications and business students were required to take a basic public speaking class during their freshman year. I thought this should have even been taken up a notch- I believed that all students, regardless of their major of study, should take this course. Arguably, in any career there will be a time when public speaking will come in handy. It not only helps you project information to a large audience, but helps your one-on-one conversations and interactions with fellow employees, bosses, clients and customers.

 

Technology

I firmly believe that having some sort of technological skill will help set you apart from the rest. For example, having experience in search engine optimization will greatly help you as a writer. Having web or graphic design skills is always a plus, since a client may need you to create something in a pinch, even if it’s out of your comfort zone. Having a personal blog, regardless of your field of study, shows that you not only know how to write and create webpages, but that you can market yourself and plan content accordingly. So if you have some free time, enroll in a HTML class or ask your boyfriend to explain Excel to you- it will help in the long run.

 

Analytics

Being good with numbers in general will always help you in your future jobs. Being able to analyze data and make conclusions from that data will benefit your clients and company- and maybe even impress your boss. Instead of writing boring statements on your resume like “Helped clients get more page views”, you can write things like “Increased campaign’s clicks by 40 percent through blogger outreach program.” The latter looks more professional and impressive, right?

Read the full article online. 

 

13 Entrepreneurs on the Best Business Advice They Ever Received

 by Patrick Stafford


A huge part of being a business owner is listening to others. Whether it’s good advice or bad, no one can do it on their own.

Great entrepreneurs have great mentors. They pick up tips along the way to make sure they don’t fall onto the wrong path. One of the first lessons a new business owner might receive is to find a mentor – and quick.

So we’ve taken some of the hard work out of that equation. SmartCompany contacted some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs in the country to find out the best pieces of business advice they’ve received.

Pay attention – you might just learn something.

1. Michael Fox – Keep focused on one core product

The co-founder of one of Australia’s most successful tech start-ups, Michael Fox has gone from strength to strength with Shoes of Prey. The company has even signed a deal with David Jones to have dedicated booths in stores.

His favourite piece of advice came from investors Mike Cannon-Brookes, (of Atlassian), and David Cunningham: “Keep focused on the one core product; don’t try to do more until you’ve nailed that.”

Plenty of entrepreneurs, such as Steve Jobs, have made their name on simplicity. Fox says success for him comes in the same vein.

“The few times we've been tempted to not follow that advice we've quickly realised our mistake.

“It's kept us on the path of staying focused on women's shoes only at Shoes of Prey and structuring Shoes of Prey and Sneaking Duck so they have two entirely separate teams.”

2. Dean Taylor – Always have a back-up plan

The online wine selling market is booming, and Dean Taylor is enjoying the ride. His business Cracka Wines is enjoying significant growth.

His favourite piece of advice is a crucial one for business owners, who always need to be prepared with a back-up plan.

“Never walk into a room that you can't walk out of,” he says.

“The person who said it to me was Brett Chenoweth, an old friend and the former CEO of APN. He swears by it,” he says.

“While you can easily apply the philosophy to much of life, it's primary relevance for me in business is in commercial negotiations. It's very easy to invest a lot of time and effort into an idea, deal or business opportunity, become emotionally attached and end up accepting unfavourable terms.

“Being prepared to walk away at any time might seem harsh, but it’s a heap better than finding yourself stuck in a role, partnership or deal that you later regret.”

3. Mick Liubinskas – Run the numbers

When Pollenizer founder Mick Liubinskas enjoyed a short stint at IBM, he met a friend – Kurt Bilderback – who told him to “always run the numbers”.
“Mick, you've got to run the numbers. Always. Not to get answers, but to know what the questions should be.”
It’s turned out to be a useful piece of advice – documenting your thought process can often lead to better ideas.
“Since then I've always done fast napkin testing with spreadsheets. I must have more than 5000. Some are worth millions. Most are worth nothing. But the process of thinking it through has been priceless.”

Read the full article from Smart Company. 

20 Secret Tips From Young Movers and Shakers

by Marquis Cabrera

My friends and colleagues are extremely successful young movers and shakers who are engineers, CEOs, lawyers, consultants, founders, film makers, designers, and, most importantly, awesome people. Recently, I crowd sourced some for their best pieces of advice for future movers and shakers, here it is:

1. Courage and creativity are a daring combination. "Truly impactful work in science comes from simple questions that have never been asked. In order to find them you need the creative thinking and the courage to be original." - Jose M. Orozco worked for NiH Director Francis Collins and is a MD/PhD Candidate at Harvard Medical School.

2. Fate favors the bold -- calculate the risks and take them. "Fresh out of Cambridge Business School, I maxed out my credit card on a one-way flight to Shanghai. I had never been to Shanghai, spoke just three words of Chinese, and only carried a single dollar bill in my wallet. My dream was to change how students applied to university by connecting them to mentors and reliable information over the web. I had considered the risks and decided to go for it. Fifteen months later ChaseFuture.com is the world's fastest growing admissions consulting platform and we've helped over 50,000 students apply to university." - Greg Nance, Founder and CEO of ChaseFuture, Truman Scholar

3. Listen. For real. Whether in business or in our personal lives, modern professionals tend to interact with others as a means to attaining our individual needs and wants or furthering our own agendas. All too often--while "listening" to our colleagues, friends, and family members--we are merely waiting to say our piece, either presupposing their positions or unwittingly ignoring their expressions altogether. Genuinely listening to others not only helps us to better understand them and increase the goodwill in our relationships, but it also opens us up to new approaches, ways of thinking, and consciousness of complexities we may have previously overlooked. *Note: the author is still working on this skill - Chris Hollins, Harvard MBA finishing up his JD at Yale Law School

4. Create super fans, not customers. 100 users whom love you is better than one million users whom sort of like you. We were able to grow 40% month over month without marketing or advertising. The traffic was purely word of mouth. That's the power of delivering happiness and care to the users. - David Chen - Co-founder and CEO of Strikingly

5. Take care of your whole self. This is due; that is pressing; these tasks are important. The list goes on. In the rush to accomplish, finish, impress, it is easy to forget that self-care--care of the whole self--is essential. Without it, we cannot be our best selves and, as a result, we cannot produce our best work. I find that spending time with my family, creating a piece of art (no matter how small!), and enjoying a novel on the Metro allow me to reconnect with parts of myself that are often shifted to the side when other things compete for my attention. Take a moment to do what makes you truly happy. Find a way to disconnect for just a few minutes each day, or for many minutes every few days, to breathe, rejuvenate, and care for yourself. - Marisa West, Harvard University and Yale Law School Grad


Read the full article online: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marquis-cabrera/10-tips-from-successful-s_b_4258040.html

Networking? The Art of Conversation-- from the Huffington Post

by Angee Linsey

If I came up with a better- less annoying word for networking, I would.

It would surely make me rich and famous.

Networking -- what a terrible word. I feel your pain.

And yet every move you make in your career is because of a network - a conversation- a connection.

A conversation serves as a catalyst.

A conversation is a spark.

A conversation takes place with another person with whom you have a mutual interest. It's easy when we aren't thinking about how someone can help us meet our goals. But creating that dialog with a specific goal can be a little intimidating.

So how do you discover a mutual interest? How do you begin?

Here are three tools to begin a conversation with a purpose.

1. Curious George: Be Curious: People love to talk about themselves, their interests, successes, their goals. Get to know the person. People generally like you more when you actually like them.

2. Santa Claus: Be Generous, Be Genuine: Share information that can improve the other person's life. Be genuine - no one wants to feel used.

3. Dancing with the Stars: Every person you meet has the potential to be someone who could introduce you to that next great opportunity. Play along. Listen to the music. Have fun. Treat each conversation as a chance to connect in a meaningful way -- whether it's for the moment or for years to come.

Find the full article online.