Wednesday, November 27, 2019

17 Job Search Keywords You Should be Using

17 Job Search Keywords You Should be Using17 Job Search Keywords You Should be Using3Keywords are becoming more important as more hiring systems are put in place to manage job applications, cover letters, and resumes. Additionally, the use of keywords by HR professionals and hiring managers is making it necessary for job seekers to focus more heavily on keyword inclusion. The below 17 job search keywords can help create a more successful search experience.In a recent article published by Susan P. Joyce, the importance of keywords is discussed. She points out that by using certain keywords, job seekers can avoid being invisible to those searching for candidates. These keywords are typical terms used to search social networking sites, search engines, and applicant tracking systems.Here are 17 job search keywords you should be usingfor better resultsYour Name Your professional name, that is. The name you use in your job search will need to be uniform across all of your documents, social media profiles, and emaille signatures. While you might think that your name isnt important, you will be Googled by potential employers.Your Location Keeping your location uniform as well as including both the city and the state, will help when hiring managers are performing searches. Your location will serve as a keyword that will trigger your profile in search results.Languages Are you bilingual or multilingual? Adding ansicht skills to your cover letter, resume, applications, and social media profiles will help to pull your name up in search results when employers are looking specifically for these types of skills.Degree Include your college degree and school in your profiles as well as your resume. You might include your major if it is relevant to your current or desired career field.Job Titles This includes past job titles as well as desired job titles. Using both of these keyword forms in your job search will help to find you during a search. Whether your are found by prior j ob titles, of the title you wish to land, employers will have their eyes on your name.Industry Include your industry in your cover letter, resume, and profiles similar to past and desired job titles. Provide industries you have previously worked in as well as industries you are currently targeting.Employer Names This should include previous employers and current employers unless you are conducting a confidential search. Well-known and respected companies look good on a resume.Volunteering Volunteer work isnt only a great way to gain skills and experience. Including these activities and organizations adds more keyword depth to your application.Experience and Skills A lot of these keywords will be specific, and likely found within the job posting. If you have specific skills and experiences that match, make sure to list them.Licenses Include the licenses that will qualify you for the job you are seeking. Provide dates for the license as well as the organization that did the licensing. Job/Industry-Specific Tools These might not mean much in a search outside a specific job or industry, but these tools are great keywords when targeting a specific niche.Awards Include any honors, recognition, or awards including who recognized you and the date it was awarded.Professional Organizations Organization names are often searched and can be a great asset when used as a keyword. Dont forget to include any titles you have held within the organization.Certifications If a job or company requires a certification, they are likely going to use those keywords. Include your certifications so you show up in search results.Clients Have you landed a major client or managed their account for several years? Include these names. Not only will it trigger you to pop up in a search, but it also looks good on your resume.Publications Include industry or job-related publications where your work can be found. This is a great way to show your expertise.Patents If your creations have been patente d, include the patent, patent numbers, and keywords related specifically to the patent.Heres whereyou can use these job search keywordsCover Letter Dont overload your cover letter with job search keywords, but sprinkle them throughout. Add names of big clients or projects you have participated as well as previous experience and relate it to how you will help the new hiring company.Resume Including these keywords in your resume is a great way to trigger your name in search results in a database. Make sure not to overuse the keywords, but add them where they are applicable.Social Media Using the above job search keywords in social media is important to gain the attention of recruiters. Include these keywords in various locations throughout your profile on all of your social media channels.Website If you have a professional website, dont forget to include these keywords. Since hiring managers and recruiters frequently search for specific terms, these keywords can help to get their eyes on your work.Readers, how many of these job search keywords have you used? Let us know in the comments below

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Martha Stewarts #1 Piece of Career Advice

Martha Stewarts 1 Piece of Career AdviceMartha Stewarts 1 Piece of Career AdviceYou may be wondering what career knowledge can be learned from the worlds most famous homemaker, but as the founder of a company encompassing publishing, internet, broadcasting, and merchandise and with a net worth totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, Martha Stewart has a career to be reckoned with. In a recent talk for AOLs innovating BUILD Speaker Series, Stewart welches asked what piece of career advice she finds herself giving over and over again. While the first nugget was good advice that weve always stood behind at The Muse- dont get stuck working at a job you dread getting up for- her second tip really stuck with me When youre through changing, youre through.Her message Even if youre working a really great job that you love, it can be too easy to fall into the trap of settling when theres still so much you could do. You may not know this, but Stewart actually had two very successful careers t hat had nothing to do with her current line of work Her lucrative modeling career for the likes of Chanel and Clairol helped pay for college, and she did a stint as a stockbroker until a recession hit Wall Street in 1987. That was when the Stewart we all know now really started to come to light She and her then-husband bought and renovated a farmhouse (which would become the set for her early television programs), and she started a catering business out of her basement that became a $1 million enterprise in less than 10 years. All this before she even signed her first book deal to seed the media enterprise that now bears her name.Whoa.Proof positive that, even if youre feeling good about your current career, there could be something even better waiting for you around the corner- as long as you stay open to exploring other options. So, make sure to spend some time every quarter doing some reflection and thinking about whether theres anything you wish you were doing with your career. Explore new avenues with side projects or volunteer positions. Network and meet with people, even if it doesnt initially make sense how they can help you out. Just like Stewart, try to avoid standing still for too long, whether youre happy or not- you never know where a wild hair might lead you, and it could just be your biggest career move yet.For more career advice from Stewart and other successful women, check out the documentary MAKERS Women in Business, which airs on PBS October 28 at 9 PM.Photo and video courtesy of AOL.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Smartphone detoxing An antidote to the age of brain drain

Smartphone detoxing An antidote to the age of brain drainSmartphone detoxing An antidote to the age of brain drainIn the age of constant connectivity, distraction is at its peak in life and at work.Our minds need urgent purification to improve focus, replenish attention, and encurage creativity.The average adult checks their phone 50 to 300 times each day.And we tap, swipe and click on our devices 2,617 times per day, according to a recent study.We spend more time online than we do asleep.Every time you pull out your phone to scan your feeds, your brain is building a habit loop that reinforces itself to encourage the habit.Notifications prompt task-irrelevant thoughts and disrupt attention performance even if you dont interact with the device.The buzzes, beeps, emails, alerts, and notifications never end until you do something about it.An increasing number of psychologists and doctors are concerned about our relationship with smartphones.Its a spectrum disorder, says Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist at Stanford University, who studies addiction. There are mild, moderate and extreme forms. And for many people, theres no problem at all.According to David Greenfield, a clinical psychiatrist and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, smartphones can easily take over your life, because theyre always screaming for attention.Being constantly plugged in affects our sleep patterns, posture and more in our bodies and minds.Our lives are becoming more wired all the time, hence the need to take over and control your relationship with mobile devices before they become the only thing you deeply care about at the expense of your relationships.If you feel your phone is taking over your life, schedule digital detox on your calendar. Start balancing your digital life with real life.People are always amazed by how different they feel after not being on their phones and that motivates them to want to keep going, says Tanya Goodin, author of OFF. Your Digital D etox for a Better Life.Technology is a function of our choices.How and what we consume digitally is largely up to us. Plan your relationship with technology, and make the fruchtwein of it at the right time.Pause on purposeConsider a digital detox every now and then.Digital detox is a nice break from the daily grind of updates, and messages.Youre making your time sacred again - reclaiming it, says Shlain says Tiffany Shlain, a San Francisco Bay Area filmmaker says. You stop all the noise, she adds.Downtime replenishes the brains stores of attention and motivation.You need a break from technology to achieve your highest levels of performance at work.Switching off gives you more clarity for creative work.With clarity, comes more time to think and generate new and better ideas.You can start your digital detox by shutting off notifications. Choose to check updates, feeds at a specific time of your choice.Set a designated time to check in and catch up.If you establish a maximum daily tim e allowance for your devices then you will be more likely to stick to your detox, suggests Dr. Richard Graham, a Technology Addiction Specialist at Nightingale Hospital.This works for me, especially when I am working. I cut off all distractions to focus and work better.Out of sight, out of mind.A digital detox is like breaking bad food habits, except instead of shunning bad food, you shun screens.A detox allows you to impose a restriction on your technology use.Unplugging periodically, improve your mental clarity, solidified your attention, and encourages creativity.While its constantly available, you purposefully isolate your interaction by setting a new schedule to control how you use your devices.Unplugging offers a gunst der stunde to create real connections instead, often figured sentimentally as face-to-face conversations, moments with children or experiences in nature, writes Megan Ward of The Wall Street Journal.Make time to contemplate on important issues in your life.Remem ber your prioritiesTechnology is meant to improve how we work and make life easier.But smartphones, in particular, are making us less focused.Instead of working on our priorities, we urgently respond to other peoples priorities - our inboxes are full of them.Email addiction is a time-wasting epidemic in the digital age.You probably receive dozens or hundreds of emails every day. But you dont have to respond to each one of them as and when they hit your inbox.Jocelyn K. Glei, the author of Unsubscribe, says that while checking emails throughout the day may make you feel productive, the opposite is true.Schedule time to check and respond to your emails.Use the 2-minutes rule when you make time for emails if it takes less than two minutes, respond instead of marking it as unread.Its easy to forget your own priorities when you spend your day responding to others needs.Dont allow other peoples agenda rule your work week.In 18 Minutes Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Righ t Things Done, Peter Bregman writes, To get the right things done, choosing what to ignore is as important as choosing where to focus.Be proactive, not reactiveReactive means, you dont have the initiative.You let the events set the agenda. You are practically checking things off others lists.Proactive on the other hand is associated with control.You are in charge.You plan and take the initiative in your direction. Its a way of dealing with things, that you can develop and strengthen.When you are proactive, you react ahead of time, hence saving you time.Final thoughtsIt is time for a digital detox.Starting today, make a deliberate choice to unplug.Remember, detoxing is a habit. It takes time to build new habits. Dont aim for a radical change.Plan to unplug, and increase the times you disconnect every week.Digital detoxing is like exercising an unfamiliar muscle.You need to start small and build up to bigger and bolder moves as your strength and confidence grows.These are quick steps to getting your digital detox started immediately.Turn off your notifications when you start deep workResist the urge to check your email when you are in proactive mode.Check email on purpose at your time.Use your breaks think, meditate, go for a walk or read a physical book.Keep your phone out of sight for meetings, get-togethers, conversations, and meals involving other people.Instead of grasping your gadget at every opportunity, replace your screen time with other habits, like starting a conversation, or reading a newspaper.Tidy up your smartphone (once a month go through your phone and delete any unused app). Its an essential step to using it more efficiently.Have you done a digital detox? Share your experiences with readers.Thisarticlefirst appeared on Medium.