5 Less Than Obvious Ways To Network with People

There is a lot to be said for hard work. With hard work, you can make an impression on your boss, finish projects ahead of schedule, sell more, buy more, produce more, and gain the respect of your peers, among a host of other things.
Unfortunately, success in the world — or at least financial success — is not determined by hard work alone. If it were, all the single mothers out there working two jobs while caring for their children and going to school would be the most successful people on the planet.
The gritty truth is that to go the distance in the working world, you need to master one other skill if nothing else: networking.
Many of you reading this probably cringed when you read that nasty word. I almost cringed writing it. Whether because you see through the phoniness of it (all you Holden Caulfield’s), or because you are simply terrified of talking to people, networking can have some pretty negative associations.
But I think that in large part the negative associations are attached to images of stuffy get-togethers where middle-aged people in suits and evening dresses drawling on about their trust funds. This scenario is mostly fiction (I do have to confess that it does happen, but not nearly as frequently as Hollywood would lead us to believe).
In reality, there are numerous ways to network that are much more authentic, casual, and enjoyable than these formal conferences held in lonely hotel ballrooms.
And whether you like it or not, networking is an important part of your professional life. So if industry happy hours don’t appeal to you, consider one of the following, perhaps less pretentious, options:

3 Smart Ways to Brand Yourself in the Job Hunt Process

 In a sea of resumes, it couldn’t be harder to stand out than it is right now. While your experience screams, “Hire me!” so does everyone else’s. In today’s job world, it’s a competition about who you know, and even then, the process of getting plucked out of 300 resumes can be an impossible task.
There are a number of ways you can brand yourself to stick out in a crowded stack of resumes. How do you get ahead? Get interactive.
“…The job search techniques of yesterday – send out résumés, search the want ads, and wait for a job to fall in your lap – won’t even get your foot in the door. What you need in order to get a job today, says Jim Kukral, is the courage to put yourself out there and get the attention of employers by trying something no one else is doing.” – RP News Wires

How Blogging will Boost your Career

What better way to beam out your personal brand than to start a blog? More and more people are setting up blogs and the trend is not going to wane. Some career experts argue a blog is a prerequisite for a successful career, I am not fully convinced of that but I would certainly recommend you look into it. Blogging is simple, quick and most often completely free. This post will give you the reasons why and ways how to get going.

Top 10 Things To Do Before You Change Jobs or Career – Checklist

In today’s world, individuals will change careers on average 7 times more in their lifetime, compared to only a couple of decades ago – and this rate is rising. There is more choice available to us – especially for those with talent, drive and ambition. Currently the support that we tend to find is really limited. It’s also pretty generic – maybe some careers advice from your school, uni or MBA school. Otherwise not much support until you are really senior in an organisation – and even then whether it is effective or not is debatable!
What results is a combination of lack of control and a cycle of movement from one unfulfilling job to another, or getting stuck at a ‘dead end’. However – do not fear – you do not need to stay in this ‘rut’. New horizons could be just around the corner..
So – you want to look for a new and the right role. This can be challenging, difficult, lonely, and sometimes stressful. You might want to consider getting someone to ‘walk the path’ with you and help you get clear about what your options are, what you want to do and how to get there can be hugely valuable. It is even more helpful when you know that the person accompanying you has been involved in this process before on many occasions and is a real expert. So if you work with someone to help with your career change look at their work and life experience to make sure they know what they are on about!
Right – so you are ready to change careers and want to find that right role. In order to succeed bare in mind the following tips:

Why Not Use Unconventional Wisdom to Halt Competition?

Sometimes I have believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
I like this quote because it is full of promise and unconventional wisdom. You might ask why bother with what might be impossible. Wouldn’t it be easier to go after what is possible, known and familiar? Easier, maybe. Fruitful, rarely. So here are three ways that you can create an in-the-person moment to greet the exceptional opportunity waiting to happen!