Tag: communication skills | Page 10

How Does Technology Impact Your Life?

Wednesday, June 11th, 2014|

I’m currently reading and implementing some of Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage Principles. One best practice is to write down your daily gratitudes.

My gratitude for today is Technology. That one thing we are all so reliant on–it does everything from opening up car doors to turning on the lights.

When Artisan started over 25 years ago, it was the world of Xacto knives, spray mount and paste-up, and the time of the Macintosh and then Powerbook. A lot has changed. We at Artisan have continued to evolve with technology and with the talent we work with and clients whose digital needs we service daily.

The technology-related gratitude I am writing about today comes from a personal experience. Last week I traveled to Greece to attend the Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s Global Leadership Conference. We were 1100+ strong and I was excited to reconnect with friends and business owners from across the globe. We stay in touch regularly through social media, but opportunities to meet in person are less regular. With WhatsApp, Facebook, and my laptop handy, I set off for Athens excited to make plans in between meetings and lectures.

However, the technology gods at my hotel had a different plan… Unable to connect to a very spotty wifi meant no way of easily finding the people I was looking for, so I set out in person the old fashioned way—hanging around the lobby to see who I would bump into.

How did I ever function without cell phones, IMs, and chats? Just fine actually. I just got lost a bit more often and missed a few people in the big crowds. In some ways, it was liberating not having technology to rely on—though I realized it’s not something I would like to be without too often. I like to be connected.

I like how technology enables me to Facetime with my little niece and two nephews who live in Europe. I like how technology allows me to celebrate their birthdays and be a part of their lives, and for a few moments have them transported back into my living room. I like how technology enables our virtual team at Artisan to be cohesive–and connected.

I like how technology allows me to be connected to clients and talent even when I am thousands of miles away. It gives me access to the answers to the silliest of questions. “Who created the sandwich?” was a recent question my friends had pondered… Without technology, we wouldn’t know the answer!

And for these reasons, my gratitude for today is technology.

Have you ever found yourself without the technology you take for granted?

Katty Douraghy, President, Artisan Creative

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Tips for Successful Video Meetings

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014|

When was the last time you had to conduct a Skype interview or had a FaceTime meeting? How was your experience?

In today’s global environment with multiple offices across numerous time zones, the virtual office space makes conducting video meetings and interviews a necessary daily activity.

In 2009, we at Artisan Creative decided that the benefits of a successful virtual environment outweighed the stress of the daily commute. We love it and firmly believe in the life/work integration that a virtual setting provides our team. From the business standpoint, we stay connected, have daily meetings, and conduct initial candidate interviews using a multitude of online collaboration tools such as zoom.us, join.me and Skype.

Over the years, we have developed best practices and would like to share some tips on how to conduct the best video meeting/interview.

Test your equipment beforehand: Nothing can take away from the quality of your meeting or impact the first impression negatively more than being unable to actually connect and have a clear conversation!

Technical issues are commonplace, so check your connection, video and audio quality the day before. Conduct a dry run with a friend or colleague to make sure no issues persist.

Have a back-up plan if on the day of the interview or meeting an unexpected issue arises.

Check the screen placement and height—What do they see? Watch the camera—Are you making eye contact? Are you talking to the person in front of you,or looking to the side? I have had interviews where I could only see the top half of someone’s head, or was looking up their nose…so practice ahead of time!

Clean up your surroundings: Whether you are conducting the meeting from your home office, or a conference room, check your surroundings to see what will be seen on-screen. Desk clutter, inappropriate wall hangings and artwork, a messy room… keep in mind that a video meeting should be treated the same as an in-person one.

Dress for Success: You have a precious few seconds to make a good first impression. A video interview is often the first step in the overall process. Dress appropriately as you would an in-person interview or meeting.

I once conducted a Saturday morning interview and my candidate showed up for the video interview in a bathrobe drinking a cup of morning coffee! Needless to say, that wasn’t quite in line with the qualification criteria I was aiming for with my client.

Smile and Focus!

Smile—You are on camera! Enough said.

Focus—Incoming calls/emails/IMs are all distractions–for both you and your interviewer. Turn everything off and focus on the task at hand. Be present and practice active listening skills.

If you need reference points about the company or a copy of your resume handy, place it at eye level so you do not have to take your eyes off the screen, which can come across as being distracted. If that is not possible, set the stage by letting the other person know you are referencing other material.

Practice as much as you can ahead of time. Call a friend and conduct a brief mock interview/meeting.

Follow-up: Finally, treat your online interview the same as an in-person one. Follow-up with a thank you note or email. Send any requested back-up documents as soon as possible. The goal here is to move to the next phase of the interview process, and get closer to the job you are looking for!

Katty Douraghy, President, Artisan Creative

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Distractions Can Be a Good Thing

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014|

Are you easily distracted? Distractions can work for us–or against us, depending on what we are trying to accomplish and what kind of distractions they are. Here are some pros and cons of distractions and some ways to use them to your advantage:

Your Smartphone:

Notifications interrupt you all day long–Facebook messages, emails from co-workers, texts from your spouse, requests from your manager.

Pros: The communications you receive during your work day from team members, colleagues and managers may be interruptions that clarify the project you are working on or improve collaboration. They could also offer valuable suggestions. These interruptions could improve productivity, rather than damage it.

Cons: Off-topic notifications can disrupt your work flow for no good reason.

Solution: Consider turning off notifications from social media during working hours and let your friends and family know that you will get back to them when you take a break (you are taking breaks, right?). Set up an emergency code with your spouse and children for things that need to be taken care of immediately and let the rest of the personal communications wait a little while.

Email:

An email might be urgent to the sender but not to you.

Pros: Email is a great timesaver–no need to walk over to your colleague’s office to chat about your project every few minutes, email also keeps a good written record for later evaluation of your process.

Cons: All of our Inboxes are filled with emails we will never read or can read after the workday is over. But if we see them, we will click on them.

Solution: Spend some serious time creating filters for your Inbox so that you will see the emails that you need to see right away, but only see the less important missives when you have time to choose.

Wandering Thoughts:

Can’t help them, but you can stop beating yourself up about them.

Pros: Letting your mind wander can lead to creative ideas that might never have occurred to you if you were plugging along, trying to stay on task.

Cons: Letting your mind wander for too long can make you miss your deadline.

Solution: Schedule break times during your workday. Read 10 pages of a novel. Think about what you want to make for dinner. Give yourself time to let your project marinate in the back of your mind instead of the front. You might come up with something truly innovative on that wandering path.

Welcoming distractions is counter-intuitive. Focus is easier to see as a positive. But if you embrace the distractions that work for you, it might improve your work product–and your productivity!

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Coming in Second

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014|

Does coming in second feel like failure? It shouldn’t–but sometimes it does. Psychology Today recently wrote about how people react to getting a Silver Medal in the Olympics and I spent last weekend in Nashville, Tennessee with over a hundred teenage performers who ended the weekend as First Runners Up with remarkable nonchalance. There are many people, however, who torment themselves with the “what ifs” and have a hard time with just missing that brass ring.

It happens in job searches and at work, where we can be a hiring manager’s second choice or be second in line for that promotion. Coming in second can feel like failure–so close and yet so far.

What many of us do when we come close to winning is imagine what would have happened if we had done something differently. Psychology Today calls it “counterfactual thinking.” The “what if” scenarios imagined by Third Place winners are generally positive, but those of the Second Place finishers are more negative, even though they were clearly almost at the very top of their field.

Counterfactual thinking can be helpful after a near-miss since it helps us come up with alternative behaviors or better choices we might make next time out. Perhaps it was one of your interview questions or answers that made the difference, or something about your presentation which was was less than stellar.

The trick is to make sure you also think about what definitely worked in your favor. Don’t forget to praise yourself for that story you told exactly the way you wanted to, the research you did about the company that surprised the hiring manager, and the relationships you started building with the people you met. It is all too easy to focus on the mistakes you think you may have made, rather than the things you did well.

The high school students I was with last weekend know that they did as amazing a performance as they could possibly have done and their First Runner Up was not because they didn’t do their very best work, so they can be proud regardless of their placement. They have no regrets. There is no shame in coming in second. Making the choice to see it as a top-tier finish will set you up well for your next opportunity to shine.

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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3 Tips for Odd Interview Questions

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014|

We’ve all heard stories of strange interview questions and we’ve come up with some of our own on the Artisan Blog. Glassdoor recently published their list of 2014’s Oddest Interview Questions and some of them were definitely off the wall. Here’s our take on a few favorites:

Are you more a hunter or a gatherer?

This question from a hiring manager at Dell is interesting and we wonder which answer they were looking for. Which works better on a team? Hunters have to strategize and use each other’s strengths to succeed. Gatherers must work together and have a common goal in mind. We recommend you think for a moment and answer honestly whichever you think is true of you, and be sure to find a positive quality about your choice.

How lucky are you and why?

This is indeed an odd question, but we like it. What a great opportunity to talk positively about what you bring to the table, what you are passionate about. Are you feeling lucky? You’ve got a job interview–of course you are!

If you were a new kind of crayon, what color would you be and why?

This question is harder. You don’t want to pick the hiring manager’s least favorite color (even though it wouldn’t be fair to judge you on that) or even your own favorite color since that’s not a terribly creative answer. Our suggestion is to talk about a quality you like in a color–contrast, saturation, value, etc.–and how those qualities reflect your work or your personality, rather than a particular hue.

You can never know what a hiring manager will ask. They might have a particular strange question they ask everyone or be looking for a genuinely creative response and think they have the perfect question to get one. The secret is to listen actively, take your time thinking and answer honestly. And it’s okay to laugh sometimes. A sense of humor might be just what they’re looking for.

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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The Active Voice

Wednesday, February 5th, 2014|

To those of us who pay a great deal of attention to grammar, the passive voice is at least correct. It doesn’t make our antennae go up. In fact, it probably makes our antennae go down, but not necessarily in the right way. It makes us stop paying attention.

The same can be said for hiring managers. Or rather–hiring managers might say the same.

The first sentence above is in the passive voice and the second in the active voice. Do they sound different to you?

In a job interview situation, you want to sound like a great prospect–maybe even the perfect candidate. Many people have trouble speaking of themselves and their accomplishments in the active voice. After all, you don’t want to start every sentence with “I” or sound like you are bragging. But you will never land that great new job if you cannot talk about your accomplishments as yours (or your team’s). Here are some examples of passive voice and a more active voice alternative:

Over 1000 PR packages were produced and delivered in a three day period.

Okay, but what did you do? What was your contribution? Glad to hear it. So what?

My team of 5 produced and delivered over 1000 PR packages in less than 72 hours.
Sounds like you managed a team to a challenging goal! Congratulations!

A new website was designed and launched ahead of schedule and under budget.
That’s nice. What were you responsible for on that project?

Designed and launched new company website 2 weeks ahead of schedule and 10% below budgeted cost.
I like that one–active voice and numbers. Great resume bullet point!

Facebook engagement went up 35%.
Okay.

My goal was to increase engagement 20%. I posted original content daily, which increased engagement on Facebook by 35% in 3 months.

Exceeded expectations. Great work!

Most of us are more comfortable using passive voice in our interactions. We eschew talking about our own accomplishments and skills in an active way. However, a job interview is not the place for self-effacing language. If you are the right candidate–and a great fit for the role–make sure the hiring manager knows it and knows you know it, too. Tell them what you did and why.

Wendy Stackhouse, Consultant for Artisan Creative

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Job Jenny and Why You Should Be Rethinking Your Resume

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014|

In the first of a two-part blog, we speak with career expert Job Jenny and why we need to rethink our approach to resume writing and personal branding.

I was recently introduced to Job Jenny and her “ridiculously awesome resume service” by a candidate-turned-friend of mine who had used her services. It got me thinking about our approach to resume writing and personal branding. Resumes are essentially a marketing tool, right? So why is it that so many job seekers pay little attention to keywords, layouts, and job search strategies? As recruiters we see all types; from carefully constructed portfolios to formulaic textbook resumes. I took some time to speak with Job Jenny to discuss resume writing and how job seekers should be marketing themselves to recruiters and potential employers.

At this point, you may find yourself asking “Who is Job Jenny?” and wondering why she knows so much about resume writing and job seeking. Job Jenny worked for several years in marketing and communications at the corporate level before moving into recruitment and starting her own agency. Job Jenny came into being in 2010 offering job seekers a support service which includes: resume writing, personal branding, LinkedIn makeovers, and one-on-one consulting, job seeking and transitional strategies along with interview skills and e-books. She does it all!

If you’re faced with the daunting task of searching for a new job or if you’re applying online to multiple companies and getting nowhere, perhaps you need to rethink your resume. Are you having difficulty transitioning into a new career path? Are you wondering why you’re receiving little to no response when applying online? Take a look at these tips to get you started on the right foot:

Try to avoid approaching your resume as a list or a biography detailing every single responsibility and duty, but instead look at it as a marketing document that is a reflection of your personal brand.
Familiarize yourself with Applicant Tracking Systems if you are submitting your resume online. Does your resume contain industry-relevant keywords specific to the job you are applying for? Additionally, if your resume is over-styled it could get in the way of the ATS and may not be received at all.
Pay attention to the job you are applying for. If you’re applying for an Account Manager position when you have a Project Management background, pay attention to the common deliverables of the job and detail your skill-set for the recruiter to see and make a connection. Do not expect them to deduce your experience from your resume without you making a connection.
Be consistent and focused with clear goals in mind – how do you want your resume to be conveyed? Be consistent with formatting and don’t forget: spellcheck!
If you’re looking at divergent roles, have a resume specifically tailored for each industry to showcase your work that’s most relevant to the decision-maker. The easier you make it for HR to make a quick connection between what they need and what you do, the better the response

Your resume is your first (and often only) opportunity to sell yourself to recruiters and potential employers so investing time and effort into your personal brand is crucial. Your resume is a marketing document and a reflection on you (and often your recruiter.) Make it work!

In the second part of our blog, we’ll discuss LinkedIn strategies, social media branding, and interview tips so stay tuned and if you have your own tips to share or would like to know more about resume writing, get in touch.

Laura Pell, Talent Acquisition for Artisan Creative

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Time Off from a New Job

Thursday, November 21st, 2013|

With the short Thanksgiving work week coming up, we have some advice about what to do when you want to take some time off from your a new job. If you have been on the job less than 3 months, you are still getting settled and might not want to ask for any time off, but you might need a little breather–onboarding is stressful. A holiday is a great excuse. Here are our tips for success:

Ask, don’t tell–Your manager is still getting used to you, too, and you can make a good or bad impression here. Request your time off, don’t demand it or sound like you expect it.
Research–If your team has a big event or critical project deadline coming up, wait until after it is over to ask for time off. Take a longer view of the work calendar when making your plans.
Culture–Your new office might be very flexible or keep tightly to a a routine. Keep that in mind when asking for time off. Find out from a colleague what the typical policy is around holidays. Maybe everyone goes home at lunch on Wednesday and you just haven’t heard yet or maybe they have a tradition of working on a particular day.
Keep it short–Unless it was already booked when you took the job (and you told the hiring manager then), don’t plan an actual vacation until you have been in your new job at least 3 months. Even if your company doesn’t have an official “probationary” period, it’s a good idea to institute one of your own. And if you want to take a vacation in the first 6 months, make an appointment to discuss it with your manager before you make your reservations.

Artisan Creative will be closed on Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. We are thankful that you are here and hope you have a very happy one!

Wendy Stackhouse, Consultant for Artisan Creative

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Sincerely Yours: Cover Letter Closers

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013|

You’ve introduced yourself and told the hiring manager why you are a great fit for her job opening. You have used keywords from the job description so that computer screeners will flag you for further review. You have been personable and professional–and brief. Now to tie it all up with a bow.

Some people will say that cover letters are dead and unnecessary, since “no one reads them anyway.” Certainly there are hiring managers who are not reading cover letters, but there are also some tossing out any resume that does not have one. We recommend always including a cover letter with a resume or job application when it is permitted. A hiring manager then has the choice of learning more about you than your resume can show.

We have written about salutations but the last thing in your cover letter might be what the hiring manager remembers. Here is our advice on finishing it off:

Mission–If you have done your research, you should have come across the company’s mission statement or vision. We hope that mission is something that piques your interest. Tell him why that mission is something you are excited about.
Readiness–She will know your qualifications from your resume. Finish your cover letter with a clear statement of how prepared you are to get started right away being a productive member of her team.
Contribution–You want to work at this company because you can help it grow and thrive, not just to further your own career. The rest of your letter was about you, let the closing be about them.
Follow-up–Be clear about how and when you will get in touch with the hiring manager to check on the process. Put it on your calendar and make sure you follow through.
Appreciation–If the hiring manager has indeed read your letter, she has already invested time in you. Be appreciative of that for its own sake. Say thank you.

Your cover letter may not be read and it may not get you an interview, but don’t miss this opportunity to have your voice heard by the person who decides which candidate is worth bringing in. Make sure you are presenting yourself as well as possible. And proofread!

Wendy Stackhouse for Artisan Creative

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Scary Social Media Advice

Thursday, October 31st, 2013|

Ever find yourself frightened by something you see on the internet? We all do on occasion, especially at this time of year. Regrettable Facebook status updates, terrible typos, inadvertently offensive language or other content can affect people both personally and professionally. But scariest of all is really bad “expert advice.”

There are people out there who aren’t really social media experts, they just dress up as one, and not only on Halloween. Today, we hope you eschew the advice of the pretend social media gurus:

Party Hopping–Having a presence on every platform would not only mean monitoring them every waking moment, it would make you look like you aren’t doing anything productive. Choose platforms based on the audience you want to reach and pay attention to them, providing quality and entertaining content. And then go be creative!
Ghostposting–Although we are fans of some automation, you can’t leave all of your social media to a computer. Social media is really a conversation with the world. But for that to be true, you have to be responsive or you are just shouting into the darkness.
Zombie Updating–Professionalism is great and staying on message is important, but social media shows the human side of a company, too. Don’t forget to put some personality into your social media marketing.
Clowning Around–There are extremes on both ends, of course. Don’t forget that you are the voice of your company even for a minute! Always think carefully before you hit “Send.”

Social media can help you be the house that everybody knows has the best candy or the one with the porch light out and no decorations. Which would you rather be?

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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