Sometimes, A Manicure Is All You Need

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Sometimes, confidence is something you are born with. Sometimes, confidence is the result of the kick %!@ pep talk you gave yourself in the mirror right before the interview. And, sometimes, confidence is found in something so minor—like the fierce, fuchsia, four inch pumps you chose to rock today or your perfectly manicured nails painted with O.P.I. “flip flops and crop tops” nail polish. Whatever it takes for you to be confident, do it. Even if it’s something as small as getting a manicure or eyebrow wax before a big presentation. The little things that give you confidence are actually the easiest ways to give yourself the boost you need.

Three Things You Should Know About Running A Meeting

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At some point in your career, you will have to take charge and lead a meeting. But, commanding a room and asserting your presence isn’t as easy as it seems. Here are three things that will help you take charge:

  1. Sit at the head of the table. Before the meeting starts, go in the conference room and set up your stuff at the head of the table. But, don’t stay in there, looking like a lost puppy, waiting for people to arrive. Instead, put your stuff down, go grab coffee or water, and come back at the start time for the meeting. Now, you can simply walk in and sit down at the head of the table. Boom, you’re in charge.
  2. Announce the meeting format upfront. If you plan to give a presentation, followed by questions, let everyone know that upfront by saying something like “good morning everyone, I’d like to start by presenting this quarter’s results, at the end, I will open the floor for questions.” This way, everyone knows that their questions will be addressed at the end and they shouldn’t interrupt.
  3. Don’t let your pushy coworker highjack your meeting. Despite telling everyone their questions will be addressed at the end, you will almost certainly have a coworker attempt to highjack your meeting. Rather than being steam rolled, if you are interrupted simply say “Jack, thanks for your input, we can address your concerns at the end when I open the floor up for questions.” This hopefully lets Jack know to simmer down and wait until the end.

What You Need To Consider Before Getting Your Next Tattoo

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Sometimes, we decide to get a tattoo for sentimental reasons; sometimes, we decide to get a tattoo in the wee hours of the morning because a friend dared us to get one so that she could Snapchat it. Either way, the higher we climb in our careers, the more careful we need to be when permanently marking our bodies.

In a professional work environment, upper management and conservative clients typically don’t have or understand piercings and tattoos. Therefore, when they see your piercing or the rattle snake tattoo wrapped around your wrist, it makes you harder to relate to. I’m not saying forgo your tattoos, just think about the location of the tattoo or piercing if you work in a professional setting.

Make sure that when you have on your work clothes your tattoos are covered. And, avoid getting tattoos in places that you cannot cover up, such as the top of your foot or your neck. When considering piercings, choose places that are conservative and think twice before you get that eyebrow piercing. 

If you work in an industry where piercings, tattoos, and blue hair are the norm, then by all means, show off your new 3D arm sleeve. But, if you work in a conservative office or workspace, you should remove your piercings and cover up your tattoos.

How To Move Your Resume To The Top Of The Stack

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When applying for a job—whether it be at Starbucks or Google—you have to consider that in order for you to land the gig, your resume must survive round one of recruiting. Often times, employers sift through resumes and pull out impressive candidates, while tossing all the others.

While impeccable credentials play a huge role in landing your dream job, the organization of your resume is equally important. Credentials mean nothing if the employer doesn’t read your resume because it’s too cluttered. Your resume should be impressive at first glance. That means organized, not too crowded, and well written. Here are a few easy ways to move your resume to the top of the stack:

  1. Uniform formatting: when preparing your resume, make sure that all sections are aligned evenly. So, if you have a series of bullet points, make sure they are all in a straight line and evenly spaced.
  2. White space: your resume should never be too crowded or contain large paragraphs. An attractive resume has breathing room and white space so that it is easy to read and follow.
  3. Eliminate Wordiness: your resume should say a lot with very few words. Try to keep job descriptions brief, while still explaining your strengths and experience.
  4. One Page Maximum: Unless you have substantial publications, your resume should not exceed one page.
  5. Never lie: although it may seem tempting to exaggerate your experience, it is never a good idea to lie on your resume. Employers often pick resumes as top candidates because they identify with something on someone’s resume such as the sorority a candidate is in, or the fact that a candidate speaks fluent Italian. Imagine, you are in the middle of the interview, and the employer starts speaking to you in Italian. But, you don’t speak Italian, you lied because it sounded impressive. See the problem? Don’t lie.

 

If You Want To Be Taken Seriously, Eliminate These Two Things From Your Work Emails

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In the workplace, email correspondence is just as important as verbal communication. But, because emails do not convey your facial expression or tone of voice, emails are always taken at face value. So, to be taken seriously by the recipient of your emails, stop doing the following two things:

1. Using too many exclamation points. Exclamation points are a great way to emphasize your excitement in an email. But, when you use four exclamation points instead of one, you sound more like an excited eight year old, rather than a twenty-something, mature, working professional.

2. Using smiley faces and emojis. In a work email, you shouldn’t use smiley faces or other emojis. Again, it makes you look young and inexperienced. Sure, there are times when an emoji may be appropriate, such as casually emailing a coworker you are close with. But, when responding to a client or emailing your boss, use your words, not smiley faces.

So instead of typing:

Hey!!!

Do you have a print out of Dan’s proposal? It was so good!!! I can’t wait to start on this project!!! 🙂 Thanks!!!

xoxo Beth 🙂

Try typing this:

Hey,

Do you have a print out of Dan’s proposal? I thought it was really good. I am looking forward to working on this project with the team. Thanks!

Beth

The second email conveys your excitement in a mature way and will make those you work with take you more seriously.