Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom How to Set up An Advisory Board

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom How to Set up An Advisory Board Advisory boards are terrific on many levels. Theyre useful in providing an objective, third-party viewpoint and reality check on leadership matters, and in filling in knowledge gaps in your organization. Well-placed advisors also bring their credibility and substantial network to new businesses and play an important role in helping them gain momentum. A functional advisory board should operate as a seamless part of your culture rather than a group of outsiders you happen to assemble periodically. Here are 6 things to keep in mind as you create and solidify your board. Compensate Appropriately Ideally, your culture will be one in which you pay people fairly for their work. Advisors are no exception. The most common way to compensate advisors is to share a percentage of equity, which can range from 1 to 2 percent depending on the level of involvement. Put all agreements in writing, and while you’re at it, have your advisors sign a nondisclosure and an indemnification clause so they aren’t liable in any business-related lawsuits. Be Upfront You will get the most value from your advisors if youre honest with them upfront. That means opening your vest about your business’s challengesâ€"cultural and otherwise. Lay out your business plan or short- and long-term goals. Share how you think each particular advisor might be able to help and solicit their feedback. Hopefully, you and your advisors overlap on the most critical values and philosophies. For more where this came from, head over to the full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

Blueprint for a Womans Life

Blueprint for a Womans Life When I drive, I have arguments with people in my head. I think of someone who does not realize how smart I am about what I am smart about, and I go on tirades to show them how misguided they are. And I realized one day, while I had a particularly long car ride, that I am actually feeling like I know what women should be doing with their adult life. Most people would be too humble to say this. But Im the woman who, after ten years in the workforce, built a career on telling people how to manage their career. So, it makes sense that after getting to age 45 I am ready to tell all women how to live their adult life. To be clear, I have made lots of mistakes. But I like to think I would not have made those mistakes if I had had a blueprint for adult life like the one Im giving you, right here. The blueprint starts at age 18 and goes to 45. 1. Do less homework. Women do better in school than men, but school is not a harbinger of doing well in life. Other stuff is. Other stuff that men do all the time. For example, involvement in sports is a foreshadow of a great career. And video games are, too, because they are both collaborative and competitivetwo essential skills. So do stuff guys do, and get grades that are as bad as theirsafter all, you should not be the hardest worker, ever. 2. Get plastic surgery. This is the must-have career tool for the workforce of the new millennium. You will earn more money and you will have more opportunities for mentoring. Also, you will have a wider choice of men, which, of course, is another way to earn more money. 3. Go to business school right out of the gate. Everyone has always wanted to go to business school right after college, but good MBA programs didnt allow it. Now there is an unwritten rule that women can get in earlier because its so clear that women who want to have kids dont really benefit from going to an MBA program later. If you get your MBA early, you accomplish a few key things. Not only do you set yourself up for skipping entry-level jobs, but you also make re-entry after kids an easier process because you have higher level experience before you leave. On top of that, you are more likely to marry well. Men like women who are smart but not making more than they are. (I do not have a link for this. I have instinct.) Business school is a way to show you are smart, but you dont make any money in business school. Side benefit: You will be surrounded by men equally as smart as you are but a little older, which is a good hunting ground. (Note: I still think business school is stupid if you are using it to actually become qualified to do something.) 4. Start early looking for a husband seriously. If you want to have kids, you should aim to be done by the time you are 35, when your eggs start going bad fast. This means you need to get started when you are 30, which means you need to get the guy you want to have kids with by the time youre 28. People who marry too early are very likely to get divorced. But by age 25, you are safe from those statistical trends. So why not marry early? In any case, start looking very seriously for a husband by the time you are 24. Here is a blog post that summarizes this argument and links to the research to back it up. 5. Milk maternity leave for all its worth. Maternity leave is a complicated political issue, but whatever: For now, its your right, so just take whats yours. Use all your maternity leave, and then make it very difficult to fire you when you return. Start a year before you want to get pregnant, by getting a job at a company that legally must give you maternity leave. Im not saying you HAVE to take maternity leave, but if you dont have any, you cant decide to take it. Position yourself at that company in a job you can do with your eyes closed, in case you want to go back after maternity leave and work. Because if you are taking care of a newborn baby and working full-time, youll be doing everything with your eyes closed. There is an incredible amount of research to show that there should be a single, primary caregiver for the first year. I know thats not good for feminism. But none of this post is. So look, unless your husband is taking a year off, youre better off spending most of your time on your kid and not your job. The way to do that is to take all the maternity leave you can and then keep pushing for people to let you keep your job even if youre not really doing it. Make them fire you. Itll take their legal department a long time to give permission for that, and you can be collecting a paycheck the whole time. The extra cash can fund the rest of your transition. 6. Guard your marriage obsessively. Educated women divorce at less than a quarter of the rate of everyone else. Divorce is not socially acceptable for most women reading this blog. We have decades of great data (read Judith Wallerstein) to show that divorce permanently ruins the kids. Yes, its true, divorce makes life better for the parents. But kids dont care. They dont notice. Kids notice if two parents are paying attention to them, and that is one of the first things to go in a divorce. If you love your kids, you stay married to their parent. This means that the wife needs to just bite the bullet and maintain the marriage. Stay-at-home spouses keep marriages together more effectively . I know: this is not popular, and not fair, but you do not need to make a crusade out of your family by showing that you can get a divorce and not fuck up your kids. So just bite the bullet and make sure you are keeping your husband happy so your kids can grow up with two parents. 7. Practice austerity. Austerity is not fun. But you can call it something trendy, like minimalism or slow food.Your ability to manage your life will be nil if you are ruled by financial problems. So that means no big house, no expensive car, no huge vacations. You need control over your life more than you need that stuff. You have more career flexibility, more time flexibility, and more personal flexibility if you can keep your expenses way below what you earn. In this scenario, you do not have to fight with your husband about money. (You can fight about sex and in-laws, which are the other two of the three most popular fight topics.) Also, you can stay home with kids if you want to. And if you dont want to, you can just be you and admit it. Dont say you are not with your kids all day because you need the money. That would be a lie. 8. Do a startup with a guy. Having your own company will give you tons of control over your life. Its nice to have a funded company because then the investors are taking the financial risk and you are drawing a nice salary even when you are not really earning any revenue. The problem is that VC funded startups require 100+ hour weeks, every week. You should only do one of these types of companies with a guy. Smart women in their 20s are looking for husbands and cannot be 100% focused on some pie-in-the-sky startup. Women in their 30s are having kids and trying to figure out how to work less. Men are more easily focused solely on work. Thats why there is a salary gap between men and women: Because women focus on work and family, and men focus only on work. Dont judge. Just get a male business partner. The problem is that men dont like doing startups with womenits bad for them. But still, you can try. 9. If you cant get men to do a startup with you, do a lifestyle business. A lifestyle business is one where the revenue is yours to keep. This is good since you will need to earn money, but its a little more risky for you personally than a startup because youre not in it with deep-pocketed investors. Still, a lifestyle business is attractive enough to a woman with kids and a hankering for something interesting in the business world. Also, given the choice between no work, full-time work, or part-time work, Pew Research reports that 80% of women with children would choose part-time work. And we all know that the part-time work opportunities in corporate America suck. So a lifestyle business is the best path to that goal. 10. Homeschool. Your kids will be screwed if you dont. The world will not look kindly on people who put their kids into public school. We all know that learning is best when its customized to the child and we all know that public schools are not able to do that effectively. And the truly game-changing private schools cost $40,000 a year. Its clear is that homeschooled kids will rule the world when Generation Z enters the workplace. So figure out a way to alleviate mommy guilt by homeschooling your kids to get them on that path. You dont have to do the teaching yourself. You can pay someone. But you need to get your kids out of a system that everyone knows does not work. (Note: I just realized this. This month. And last week, I decided: Im taking my kids out of school.) 11. Spend money on household help and Botox to keep more doors open longer. Look, its really hard to be a parent and still have an interesting life. Not for men. We have seen enough of feminism to be certain that men are not derailed personally by kids. (In fact, Catalyst reports that having kids increases a mans earning power. Probably because he is then more likely to have a wife at home inadvertently performing the role of pseudo personal secretary. ) So the more money to spend to get people to help you with your kids, the more time and energy youll have to help yourself. Also, as women age they become more invisible. I know, this is not nice to say. And we are told its only true in Hollywood. But since when has something that catches on in Hollywood not been relevant to the rest of us? Even pre-nups went mainstream. So the longer you can look younger than 45 the longer runway time you will have to figure out how to raise kids, hold a marriage together and still keep things vibrant and interesting intellectually. Its no small feat, but Botox and Restylane will be your best teammates in this part of the adventure. 12. Break the mold in your 40s. Women get more unhappy as they age. So you can say you dont like the advice Im giving. But look, in order to change the trajectory of womens happiness, we are going to have to drastically change the advice we give to women about how to run their lives. Most of the news about women in their 40s is pretty bad, to be honest. But the good news is that you can change that, by living differently in your 20s and 30s than women did before you. And, if you are in your 40s and reading this, take solace in the fact that by the time women are in their 40s they are great in bed, so if you do nothing else, figure out how to have a lot of sex to leverage your hard-earned talent

The 8 Elements of a Successful Interview

The 8 Elements of a Successful Interview Acing an interview is not an easy task. You’re trying to present yourself as the most desirable candidate and beat out all the rest. In addition to competing against a group of strangers, you also have to plead your case to a stranger. It seems the only known reliable factor of success is YOU. Luckily with upfront preparations, real-time performance and a killer follow-through you can come out on top. 1) Preparation: All it takes is a quick trip to Google to prepare for the inevitable portions of an interview. Role play with a friend the most frequently asked interview questions to practice your verbiage and composition. Just hearing yourself speak out loud can calm your nerves for the real thing. 2) Plan Backwards: Make a list and use backwards planning to ensure that you arrive on time. The fundamentals of backwards planning lie in starting at your end goal (arriving at the interview), estimating the length of the tasks in between and then, time lining each step out. So, for example, if your interview is at 11:45am you’ll want to arrive fifteen minutes early (11:30). You should also allow for 10 minutes to park (11:20) and it should take you forty-five minutes in heavy traffic to get there (10:35), so plan on heading to your car at 10:30am. Be sure to call the building’s front desk prior to your interview and ask for any parking recommendations. And anytime you can perform a drive-by dry run, do it! When it comes to arriving late to an interview, there really are no excuses. 3) Posture: Your posture has an impact on people’s impression of you as its correlated to both confidence and being self-aware. Give yourself a posture check by rolling your shoulders back. Also, elongate your spine by picturing an imaginary string being tugged from the top of your head. In addition to great posture, equip your appearance with a clean smile, firm handshake and eye contact. Remember to nod during the speaker’s portion too, as a way to convey your active listening. 4) Positivity: Interviewing requires a certain level of finesse. While your past job may have been miserable and former bosses might have been nightmares- spare your interviewer from any negative feelings. Instead, stay positive by highlighting lessons learned and perspectives gained. 5) Performance: Do more than come equipped with your current resume. Come with a plan of attack for the position that you want. This will require some pre-interview research on your end, but the work will be worth it. Interviewers are sure to be impressed by a candidate who takes the initiative to construct a plan  of action for the desired position. Provide a bulleted one-page list detailing how you would  tackle this job and highlight what unique attributes you would bring to the table, should the  opportunity be extended. 6) Probe: Don’t get up from your chair until you ask a question that comments on the company’s culture. Again, pre-interview preparations are required. Do your research and know what the company values. Use your interview as a chance to showcase your knowledge and dive deeper. In addition to learning about the company’s culture, it’s also a good idea to brush on the company’s history, the CEO’s background as well as the background of the hiring manager that will be interviewing you. The more initiative you can show and knowledge you can display, the better chance you’ll have of coming off as a qualified and prepared candidate 7) Postpone: As frustrating as it may be, postpone talks of salary negotiations and benefits. In the eyes of a hiring manager, these types of discussions should be held off until an offer has been extended or at least until the close of the second interview. 8) Postal: Send a clean, handwritten thank you note expressing your gratitude for your interviewer’s time and consideration. Keep it short, sweet and above all, timely. Consider already having the card and stamp ready, so that after the interview all you’ll have to do is properly address your letter and drop it in the mail. How do you prepare for a perfect interview? Share your tips in the comments below! Author: Kelly Gregorio writes about employment trends and workplace tips while working at Advantage Capital Funds, a small business loan provider. You can read her daily business blog here.

Who Told You That You Cant Do That

Who Told You That You Cant Do That It seems that no matter what your career or personal path may look like, theres always someone who wants to tell you you cant do that.  You dont have the necessary experience.  You dont have a degree, or you have the wrong one.  Youre too tall, too short, or too fat or too thin.  Or youre not strong or fast or smart enough. How many of those have you bought into at some time in your life?  How many have you adopted as a belief about yourself? Yes, You CAN! Im telling you here and now its time to let all those limiting judgments and beliefs go.  While you may never be the best at any given task or skill, you can still do it.  You dont have to be Simone Biles  to do gymnastics.  If gymnastics is something you really want to pursue, dont fall for the trap of comparing yourself to Simone.  Make it about owning and loving the experience, and making it uniquely your experience. As you watch the leaves turn to their autumn hues, learn one of natures greatest lessons.  Even as the trees become bare, theyre preparing to be something slightly different next spring.  A little greener, a little taller, a little more deeply rooted.  But they dont care that theyre not going to be the biggest tree in the forest.  They just continue, year after year, striving to be a better version of themselves, but always okay with exactly who and what they are in the present moment. So is there a career youd love to pursue?  Or a friendship youve been wanting to initiate?  Or maybe theres an entirely different path you have been hearing call your name.  Close your ears to those who would say you cant do that. If theres no big things on your horizon, maybe its just little things.  Something broken on the car or around the house?  Yearning to get into yoga but you get smirks from friends who pour buckets of doubt all over you?  Whatever it is, dont let the limiting, discouraging words of others keep you from showing them, and yourself, that you DO have what it takes. Sometimes, it seems like your dreams are so far up the mountain youll never reach them.  But as singer Kelly Rowland says, its time to stop circling the mountain and go for it.  Because . . . you CAN! Need inspiration?  Check out these additional resources: 6 Ways To Boost Your Confidence 5 Signs You Have Courage Knocked Down?  This Way Up! 8 Tips to Tackle Naysayers Never Give Up Image credits Main    Yes  

Experience Resume Writing Tips

Experience Resume Writing TipsExperienced resume writing tips are just a few easy steps that you can do to be able to get the best job for you. You can try to stand out with an amazing resume, but most people don't have any talent in creating professional resumes. While others work hard to be prepared, you have to know how to make a great resume on your own.You have to have passion for the position that you are applying for so that you will be able to write a great resume. It should not only have the relevant information, but also it should present a professional appearance of the professional who has applied for the job. To avoid mistakes, experienced resume writing tips say that you should prepare all of your information by researching the same. If you want to stand out, you should know what is required from you and also what type of candidate you are.The first and the most important tip is to know how to make a professional resume. You should remember that you need to be prepared with your information because it can affect your resume greatly. You need to understand the different ways of writing a resume and this will help you make it look professional. Remember that when a candidate shows his or her resume, this can mean that the employer wants a professional resume.Experience is the key here and you have to know how to manage your time, your responsibilities and also your personal skills. The person who knows how to develop a resume will find that the employers will prefer them to other candidates. You will have to learn how to present your resume effectively and this can be done through experience.There are certain resume tips that you should take into consideration if you want to make a great resume. Most experienced resume writing tips say that it is not enough to give a brief biography, but it has to have a professional appearance of the person. You can find out these things from previous jobs.Always remember that this is the first step in getting the right job for you need to learn how to present yourself to the employers in a professional manner. One thing that you need to do is to provide relevant information about yourself and this can be done by researching on the topic that you are applying for. You should also know how to manage your time so that you will not get bored.You should have an idea of the general content of your resume because this will show your previous job and it can also affect the way you are presenting yourself. Experience resume writing tips are the most important things that you should know when looking for a new job. This can be obtained from your previous work and this can be learned through training. If you want to stand out, you have to know how to market yourself and this can be done by networking.You should never take a job that you feel is not suitable because this can lead to problems later on in your career. Experience resume writing tips tell you that you should know how to use the English lang uage properly to make your resume look professional. You should also remember that there are certain terms that you need to be familiar with so that you will not be confused during the interview.

6 Alternatives to Job Search Boards - CareerAlley

6 Alternatives to Job Search Boards - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Without a doubt, job search boards are the number one tool that people use for their job search. Which is exactly why you should be looking at some of the other job search alternatives that are available to you. Lets face it, crowds of job searchers means more competition (which is not what you want when conducting a job search). Besides the competition, most job boards do not update their listings on a real time basis which means you may be applying for a job that has already been filled. Another reason to use alternatives is that some jobs posted on job search boards are not real jobs. They are jobs that are posted so that recruiters can build their list of candidates with a specific skill set (sad, but very true). That being said, where else can you look for a job (and why)? The 6 alternatives listed in this post are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many job search alternatives you can leverage. And, as discussed in The Four Legs of Job Search, the time you spend on your search should be spread across many alternatives. Recruiters Recruiters (or Headhunters) have direct relationships with hiring companies and hiring managers. Your probability of getting an interview is much higher if you were introduced by a recruiter. Some things you should consider: You are not the client Recruiters work for the hiring company and, while they would love to find a job for you (they get paid on commissions), their primary responsibility is to the hiring company. Be Proactive While you might be discovered by a recruiter, be proactive in creating a relationship and letting them know you exist. Look for recruiters who work in your industry/profession and reach out to them (more on where to find them below). Listen to Their Advice Recruiters are professional job search consultants and know what it takes to land an interview and get hired. Take their advice on interview techniques, your resume and other advice they may offer. Where to Find Them The Recruiter Network Find A Recruiter Oyas Recruiter Directory RileyGuide.com LinkedIn While LinkedIn has a built-in job search engine, the platform is much more diverse in that it is mainly a business social network. If you leverage all of the tools on LinkedIn (your profile, networking, groups and job search) it will be a broader and more rewarding experience with direct access to the hidden job market via your network and extended network. Take a look at the following: 8 LinkedIn Features You Need to Know About 5 Mistakes to Avoid on Your LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn Profiles vs. Resumes, is There a Difference? 5 Steps to a Great Resume JobsMiner.com While job search boards list job opportunities that are posted by companies and recruiters, Jobsminer aggregates job opportunities from social networks (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to name a few). So what makes this so special? These opportunities are harder to find, which means there should be less competition when applying. You will need to sign in using your Facebook account. Job Fairs The job fair market is quite robust, with regular events in or near most cities. Job fairs typically focus on an industry, but there are many job fairs where employers show up across many industries. Why go to a job fair? They allow one-on-one direct contact with potential employers and provides an opportunity to make a great first impression (which could lead to an interview). Where to find them: National Career Fairs This site will give a calendar of upcoming career fairs by city. Eventbrite.com This site helps you find career fairs (as well as other events). Type in Job Fair or Career Fair, you location and dates and you are set to go. Carouselexpo.com Pick your state from their homepage, and you will get a list of upcoming job fairs. Company Career Sites Go Right to the Source If you have a list of companies where you would like to work (and if you dont, make one), you can go directly to that companys career site and search for jobs. Most sites have a sign-up pagewhich allows you to get updates on jobs that match your criteria and experience. 51 Company Career Sites for Direct Links to Jobs The Quintessential Directory of Company Career Centers More Company Career Sites Social Media: Your regular social networks (Facebook, Google +, Twitter, etc.) can be leveraged for job search. Jobs are posted on all of these sites and leveraging people you know to search for a job certainly has its advantages, such as: You can let everyone you know (or groups of people know) that you are looking for a job. This is extremely useful when you are out of work (not so much if you still have a job and are searching in secret). You can develop and sell your personal brand. Helps build your social networking contacts. 4 Ways To Use Facebook To Find A Job The Beginners Guide To Finding A Job With Twitter HOW TO: Use Google+ For Your Job Search We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+

The Best Things About Working in Dental Care - CareerAlley

The Best Things About Working in Dental Care - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Finding your dream job isnt always easy, especially if youre skilled in and passionate about a number of things. You may be tempted to chase the money and go into whatever field pays best but while this might allow you to own a nice house, nice clothes, and a nice car, nice things are never adequate compensation for hating your job and waking up every morning dreading going to work. And if youre a naturally caring and empathetic person, thats exactly what can happen when you make career decisions based solely on where the money is. Instead, choose the path that will be the most rewarding to you. Image by Daniel Frank While you may have seen the medical field as a rewarding path if you love helping people, you may not have considered the niche of dental care. However, this can be an extremely rewarding, fascinating and lucrative field. Here are some reasons why it might be worth considering for you You may be tempted to chase the money and go into whatever field pays best but while this might allow you to own a nice house, nice clothes, and a nice car, nice things are never adequate compensation for hating your job and waking up every morning dreading going to work. Tweet This Theres a clear and well-established career path Dental care is a surprisingly diverse field with a wide range of positions to suit all kinds of skill levels. Whether you want to become a dentist, an orthodontist, a hygienist or even an administrator there are all kinds of opportunities and a well-established career path to help you to learn and grow in your practice. Websites like Careers Wiki are great resources for helping you to chart a career path so that you know what courses to take and which skills to build to achieve your goals. You can be autonomous and flexible When you work in dental care, theres tremendous scope to hone your craft for a while then branch out into running your own practice. This allows you to be as selective as you like about how many patients you take on, what kind of procedures you specialize in, and which days of the year you stay open. Flexibility doesnt just ensure that youre able to take time off when you need it without needing to plead with a line manager, it also helps you to maintain a healthy work/life balance so your patients always get you at your best and brightest. The reasons why you should be a dental hygienist will certainly outweigh the reasons why you should not be. Focusing on preventive oral care, dental hygienists are preventive care professionals who have completed a recognized dental hygiene course. These professionals are licensed for dental hygiene and their main responsibility includes promoting good oral health through clinical, administrative, educational, therapeutic, and research services. With a special focus on preventive oral health care, dental hygienists work with on specific skills under general dentists. A Career as a Dental Hygienist You get to learn about the whole body Dental care professionals dont just learn about teeth and gums. They need to know a great deal about the whole body. Many diseases, infections, and medical conditions show symptoms in the mouth before they manifest elsewhere, which is why dental professionals need to learn about the mouths relationship with the rest of the body. It really is fascinating stuff! You get to give people the gift of confidence and help them smile again While dental professionals specialize in providing all manner of oral care, the ability to mend cosmetic issues and help people feel confident in their smiles again should not be overlooked. When you work in dental care, you can help people rebuild their confidence and rediscover their self-esteem while helping them to develop better dental care habits. And thats pretty darned rewarding! What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to find the opportunities that help you grow your best career. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search