Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
We live in an increasingly transparent world, with access to people like we’ve never had before. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and login to Twitter and send a tweet to Sir Richard Branson, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lady Gaga herself. Social media removes many of the access barriers we’ve traditionally dealt with in previous years. As an employee, if your CEO is active on social media (which they all should be), you can reach him or her in an instant. That great idea you wanted to share or important business connection you’ve wanted to make may have taken months of work to initiate in the past, can now be accomplished quickly through a tweet, status post, video or GIF. Like it or not, social media is here to stay. It also happens to be the best place to build your personal brand. I know that’s easy for me to say — I live and breathe social as part of my job daily — but I truly believe it. Truth is, the sooner you realize you can, and should, have a personal brand, the better.
Through the inbound marketing approach, companies attract new customers by delivering relevant and helpful content and by adding value at every stage in the buyer’s journey. Consumers are also doing a lot more research before they buy, relying on review sites like Yelp and Google to make informed purchase decisions. The shift in the way consumers make purchasing decisions can also be seen in the way job seekers conduct their own research and choose which companies they want to work for.
Often times we get stuck in a routine and need a vacation to refresh our minds and bodies. Vacations allow us the space to clear our brains and unplug from the digital world. However, research shows that the average U.S. employee has only used about half (54 percent) of their allotted vacations days in the last 12 months. The reality is, taking a vacation isn’t always plausible. Sometimes our professional and personal lives prohibit us from taking time off. If you feel in desperate need of a vacation but are unable to take one in the near future, try some of these quick tips for getting the benefits of a vacation without leaving your zip code.
An internship is a prime opportunity to learn more about your career path and gain experience in a certain field, all while adding to your professional resume and portfolio. Internships often open the door to full-time opportunities after graduating from college and help build your network of connections. In fact, a study in Bloomberg shows that graduates with internship experience are 75 percent more likely to get a job than those without one. Whether you're looking to find the perfect internship opportunity or have already accepted an intern position, this post is for you. There are many ways to be successful during your internship to get the most value from your time with a company. Even unpaid internships should be seriously considered. Hopefully, you'll be doing more than going on coffee runs and executing basic administrative tasks. So how do you become an invaluable intern, setting yourself up for long term success? Here are our six tips.
Smart devices are almost getting a little too smart for our liking. With the abundance of apps available (2.2 million in the Apple Store and 3 million on Android’s Google Play), it can be hard to know which apps are worth the investment of both your time, and sometimes, your money. Luckily, we’ve compiled some of our favorite mobile apps below and a few we recommend ditching. If you see one missing from our list, please share — we’re always looking for the best and brightest in technology.
“Thought Leadership” is a common buzzword you may have heard around the office or on social media, but what does it really mean and how do you use it? Lucky for you, we're breaking down the idea of thought leadership and how it can be utilized in a specific industry to build a personal brand or business. Typically, thought leadership is used by executives and companies to provide insights and recommendations, thus “leading” the audience’s “thoughts” about a certain topic or issue. Putting the jargon and business terms aside, the use
We know what you’re thinking – why do I have to spend more time with the people I see every day in the office? You can come up with a million excuses about why you can’t attend the company retreat, but have you thought about the benefits and importance a company getaway offers? There are a multitude of benefits in team building and corporate retreats. As company culture and workplace environment become increasingly important to employees, a getaway with your coworkers could be exactly what your business needs. Here are three things you can get out of a corporate retreat.
We live in a world of instant gratification. From same-day shipping to on demand television, we've become accustomed to receiving what we want, when we want it. Patience is dwindling, with surveys revealing more than half of Americans will hang up the phone after being on hold one minute or less and 96 percent will knowingly consume hot food or drink certain to burn their mouth. This culture has caused many on-demand services to pop up (like Uber). However, the service industry has largely stayed the same – leaving customers on hold for an automated response or awaiting a technician visit to their business or home. Companies offer on demand support, but is it worth it? It all depends on the unique needs of your business.
The dictionary definition of a leader is simple: a person who leads. However, those who have been a leader or worked under a leader know that there is much more that involved in a leadership role. In today’s workplace, a leader isn't just someone with a fancy title and a big paycheck. Leaders are all around us and can be found in many different forms – from CEO to intern. Just about anyone can become a leader, but what matters is the effectiveness of a person’s leadership. Successful leaders have many similar qualities and traits that make their leadership styles successful. If you're looking to take on more leadership responsibility or are stepping into a new role, here are some of the top qualities effective leaders possess.
Business cards are a waste of money. There, I said it. I know they can be really cool – metal, gold-leaf, embossed, magnetic, doubles as a bottle opener, etc. However, if you’re anything like me, your post-network event timeline goes something like this: 1. Get back to the office. 2. Enter the information in your contact list. 3. Throw away the card. 4. Delete the contact information in a year or two when you’re cleaning out your address book. Sound about right? Don’t get me wrong, contact information is incredibly important – office number, cell phone number and email address – but we’ve moved beyond the traditional business card, especially now that nearly all of us carry around a mini-computer in our pockets. Your cell phone provides an even better opportunity to connect with people beyond a 3.5” x 2” piece of paper.
