How We Plan and Create Content at Classy Career Girl Part 2 - Classy Career Girl

How We Plan and Create Content at Classy Career Girl Part 2 Todays post is Part 2 in a series about how we plan and create content here at Classy Career Girl. We have been creating and publishing content consistently for the past almost 9 years, so I really wanted to share what is working for us! Read Part 1 here if you havent! Secret Weapon: Batching Content This has been a total game changer for me. Batching is when you sit down and do similar work all at once. The book Deep Work really changed how I spend my time. Batching work helps me stay focused and get more done in less time. It really will change your life! Here is the thing: content creation isnt always going to make you money, at least not in the short term. You have a lot of work to do and creating content is important, as it helps you build trust and relationships with your audience. But it isnt going to make you sales, at least not right away. Protect Your Time By Working More Effectively So you, need to protect your revenue-generating time, whether that is your day job or other work for your business. Batching work helps you do this more effectively. Choose just one of the steps below and see how much easier it is to publish better quality content more consistently. Give yourself one hour to schedule out all your social media posts for the week. Just one hour! The point here is to limit your time so you work more efficiently. Spend just two hours writing blog posts, then schedule them. Dont worry about if they are perfect, just make sure they are valuable and get them scheduled. Spend an hour writing down all the topics you want to cover in the next six weeks. Get them plugged into your editorial calendar and write an outline if you have time. Answer emails at one specific time a day. Dont keep going back to your inbox, it will just distract you! Block off 4 hours to record videos for a whole month. They can be short, that is okay. Just get them done and you will feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders. Start Slow ­ ­ If you are getting overwhelmed by all the details, take a deep breath. You have to start somewhere. Even one Instagram post a week will get you started towards building your dream business. If you have half an hour, you can sit down and schedule one Instagram post a week for the next month. Just half an hour and youve taken one baby step towards your dream. Related Post: How to Create an Instagram Schedule Plan   Dont feel like you need to do what everyone else is doing. I spent way too long feeling like I had to do certain things to succeed. In reality? Things grew when I stopped listening to other people and started doing what works for me. So, commit to taking that first baby step. Maybe that is writing one blog post a month, or scheduling one Instagram post a week. That is okay. A baby step will get you closer to your goal, not doing anything at all leaves you stuck. Avoid Perfectionism I used to drive myself crazy trying to make sure everything was perfect before Id turn in work to a client or launch a new project. I didnt realize that being perfect can actually be a negative. It can hold you back, feed self-doubt, and keep you stuck. You only get better if you practice. And not everything is going to be perfect, and that is okay. If you wait to publish a post until it is perfect, you might never publish it! You can help people, but you cant do that if you never hit publish. If being perfect is holding you back, give yourself permission to be terrible. You will never get good at something if you dont give yourself permission to e terrible. It is a process. Honestly, when I look back at my content from five or six years ago, I can see how imperfect it was. But I got it out there, and over time I got better. How to Break Out of the Need-To-Be-Perfect Trap Set a hard deadline for your task. Maybe that is two hours for a blog post or 30 minutes for social media posts. Setting a deadline will motivate you and keep you focused. Set realistic expectations and goals for yourself. No, you arent going to be able to write a 5,000-word ebook in 30 minutes. But, you can write one blog post in an hour or two. And, if you need to adjust, that is okay! Hit publish. If you wait until your post is perfect you will never publish it. There is always going to be a sentence you could tweak or a story you can add. Let your content out in the world where it can do good. Dont keep it trapped because you think it isnt perfect. Stop Make Excuses; Start Doing It is easy to get stuck in your mind, to start over thinking it, to feel like there is just too much to do. The secret to creating content consistently is really simple. You have to get started and just keep doing it. I know that probably sounds a bit silly. It is so easy to make up excuses in our heads, to tell ourselves we arent good enough or that no one will read our content. Will that happen? Maybe. But what if it works? What if you are able to help just one person? What if you can build the most amazing business, the most amazing life? It could be even more amazing than you can imagine. Stop making excuses. Stop trying to be perfect. Stop telling yourself you dont have time. Get started. Today. Even if it is just spending 15 minutes outlining a blog post or creating your editorial calendar for the week. Then, share your progress on Instagram with @classycareergirl! I will be there to cheer you on! Tools for Creating Consistent Content Temi Transcribing Content Find Stock Photos WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin CCG Google Doc Editorial Calendar Tomato Timer Asana Trello Grammarly

How to Train Your Staff on Phone Etiquette CareerMetis.com

How to Train Your Staff on Phone Etiquette Phone etiquette has fallen to the wayside, despite there being more phones on earth than people at this point in our history.This problem is especially evident in the workplace where employees, particularly younger, inexperienced employees, don’t know how to interact with people on the phone. With so much of our communication coming in the form of text these days, it’s no wonder people are struggling to “talk” to one another on the phone. It’s become almost acceptable at this point to just send emails and text messages for everything from job applications to emergency messages.evalIf you run an organization and you want to stand out against the competition, consider improving the way your staff answers the phone and how they treat callers on the other end.To help you do this, here are some employee training tipson how to train your staff without insulting them or upsetting them. It’s a good reminder that we are meant to talk to one another, not type to one another.1) Rall y the TroopsevalRather than confront people on an individual basis or single anyone out, it’s better to take a bottom-up approach to any training in your company. Not only does this help staff feel like they are contributing to the overall improvement of the company, but it avoids having people feel like they are being attacked, which can just add fuel to the fire.As the CEO or owner of the company, it’s your job to express concern for the way communication and technology seem to be clashing. Just because messages are being sent doesn’t mean they are being understood. With a little care and consideration, everyone could make a great impact on the way customers and callers perceive the company. That means everyone wins.You can see how this approach makes the initiative a company-wide value, rather than a disciplinary action or punishment. Taking a positive approach to improving, rather than “changing” the way people use the phone, will go a long way in getting participation and execution of such ideas.Ask everyone for their ideas on how to improve the phone systems, interactions between departments, and of course, how staff can improve interacting with the public, customers, and callers. It might be worth considering what can be done to improve email communications as well, but that can be a conversation for another time. It’s important to roll out new initiatives one at a time so people understand what is expected of them and can focus on making that part of the company better with their full attention.2) Create a PlanOnce you have collected all of the suggestions from team members and staff, make a point to write down all of the information and format it into some kind of report that you can distribute to everyone for review. Ask staff to provide feedback on the report and offer another chance for them to provide more input at this time.evalOnce you’re satisfied that everyone has read and understood what is expected to improve over the course of a set time frame, you can set about creating a plan for rolling out the new communication efforts.To do this, start with one department of your organization and ask them to take notes of how the different interactions occur and what might change over time as they work to improve their efforts.Some of the expectations you might have set may include a value such as answering the phonewithin a certain number of rings, not putting customers on hold for longer than 2 minutes, never transferring a call without knowing who is calling first, don’t tell people to call back â€" serve them now. Improving telephone etiquette is not so much about what people say, but how they say it and how fast customers can get a response.If someone is on hold for 10 minutes after getting an answer on the first ring, their hopes are dashed by the quick and efficient customer servers that the answer on the first ring provided. That leaves people feeling tired and overlooked.evalImproving your staff’s phone etiquette can also be achieved by paying attention to “what” people are saying, of course. In your report, you might provide some examples of how you’ve observed people answering the phone and engaging with customers.Rather than scold people for their behavior, which is never effective anyway, provide examples of better ways to answer the phone.For example, rather than tell a customer they are being put on hold, making it a company rule that you always ask for permission to place someone on hold. It’s a simple action, but it’s one that will be felt in a remarkably different way for customers who have no way of knowing what’s going on at your place of business. Making them feel like they are part of the conversation, and not a nuisance goes a long way.3) Follow up with StaffAfter some time of rolling out the new phone etiquette values, hold another meeting to talk about how the staff feels about the changes.Again, the best way to train your staff on everything from phone calls to applying for internal positions is to approach it from a team perspective and a learning perspective.As the boss, it’s your job to help employees learnto be better at their jobs. Providing people with a platform to talk about how they want to be better gets them more invested and involved in the initiatives that grow your company.As you continue to follow up, always ask for new suggestions and test those suggestions in smaller groups before rolling it out to the larger groups.This also makes individuals feel important and like they are part of the decision-making process. It also takes the weight off your shoulders and gets more hands on deck to make choices that impact the workers and their work.4) Pivot as You GoOne of the benefits of working with your staff on how they want to be trained and what areas need to be improved upon is that they will take more ownership of the approach and result. This also means that you will get access to more insight and ideas as your st aff works through training and implementation.evalWhen training staff for the first time, even on something as commonplace as how to use the phone, it’s important to be flexible and open-minded. Meaning, the way you think it might all go down is not necessarily the way it will happen in the end â€" which maybe for the better.Given that there are standard practices for how many businesses answer the phone, that seems like a good place to start, but you may find that those standards or commonplace way of doing things might not suit your needs, personality, or staff. Forcing people to act a certain way when it’s not the culture of the company can mean that people won’t invest as much time or energy into learning something new or implementing it.eval5) What to Train Staff On?When it comes to training your staff on proper phone etiquette, there are some areas that you’ll want to consider and consult with your staff on; for example, you’ll want to find an agreed-upon salutation when you or anyone else picks up the phone at the office. The salutation should be positive, upbeat and inform the caller of the company name and the name of the person answering the phone. It is also courteous to ask the caller how you can help.It might sound something like this, “Thank you for calling ABC Company, this is Julie. How can I help you today?” If everyone answers the phone the same way, consistently, then callers know what to expect when they call and will come to associate your brand with friendly, helpful service.Another area to consider is when a customer claims to have been wronged. Your company might have the policy to apologize first and get to the bottom of the issue second. Rather than try to correct the customer â€" which many organizations do â€" your company might adopt the policy that it takes responsibility for its wrong-doing, even if it’s just the customer’s opinion.evalHow you handle these issues internally can be different from how you handle t hem externally. Ensuring that your customer has a positive experience in complaining about an issue will become more important than the issue. Customers can be disarmed when they receive an apology and then the real work of fixing the issue can begin.6) Moving ForwardFrom time to time, you might come to find that you need to alter your approach or retrain your staff to meet the changing needs of your company, but for now, start with agreeing on a place to start and a positive approach to your staff’s needs.Training your staff on phone etiquette is something that many organizations overlook, and it is a conversation that happens in passing when a receptionist or front desk person is brought on. “Just say the company name and ask for which department the caller is looking for” is often all that is given as advice or “training.” But when you take the time to collaborate and you treat phone etiquette as something as important as the rest of your operation, it shows.As for what a staff member should say when they answer the phone, a friendly greeting, followed by an invitation to help is enough to make your company stand out. These days, many organizations overlook the importance of how people answer the phone because cell phones make everything feel much less formal than a phone call did years ago.Take the extra step of providing a proper salutation and keep your staff involved in going changes and improvements to see a drastic change in how people view your company, your values, and your workers.

68 Get a Job - Personal Branding - Jane Jackson Career

68 Get a Job - Personal Branding - Jane Jackson Career HOW TO GET YOUR DREAM JOB BrandingWhy is personal branding so important in your job search? Many listeners ask me about specifics regarding the job search or career transition process so, from Episode 65 through to Episode 71 I’ll discuss each of the essential steps to take control of your career or your job hunt. This episode is all about personal branding.Each episode will cover one step of the process and you can listen to two steps a week for the next three and a half weeks.I was recently honoured to be interviewed by podcaster and branding specialist, Ryan Rhoten on his Brand New You Podcast and we talked about my book, Navigating Career Crossroads in great detail. The 7 episodes of this JOB SEARCH SERIES feature our in depth discussions about each step.Listen to this episode and find out what to do about your personal brand and professional image.For comprehensive training on how to build your Personal Brand for Career Success check out this program

Tips to Write Your Resume in French

Tips to Write Your Resume in FrenchYour resume French should be as attractive as possible, to show your potential employer that you are well versed in French. When writing a resume, you need to make sure that it is a short yet effective one. There are many tips and tricks that can help you compose a resume that will make an immediate impression on the employers you interview.Before you start writing your resume, make sure that you check all the grammatical errors and mistakes that might be present. It is very important to proofread your resume to make sure that it is as professional looking as possible. You also need to ensure that the information you include is accurate and clear.Make sure that the title of your resume is written in simple English. Use of any long words in your resume can ruin the overall effect of your resume. The language of your resume needs to be conversational and not formal. If the employer sees that you have used proper grammar and structure, they will feel m ore comfortable hiring you.Even before you sit down to write your resume, make sure that you know a few words in French. Knowing the vocabulary will help you with your resume writing. You may want to practice the words by reading books or using online vocab tests. The more you know, the easier it will be for you to write your resume.Try to avoid using technical words on your resume. Using technical words will make you seem much more fluent. On the other hand, if you use too much of technical language, it will look artificial and you will not get a good impression from the employer.Writing your resume French is a great way to communicate. It also helps to make a good first impression. It will also help in getting you the job you want. It is no longer necessary to travel abroad to look for a job because you can do it right at home. Therefore, you need to make sure that your resume French is impressive and you stand out from the rest.As you are writing your resume, make sure that you c an answer questions. Before you take the interview, make sure that you are prepared to answer any question that the interviewer might ask. This will help you show your willingness to work and be flexible at the same time. You need to prepare ahead of time to give yourself the best chance to land the job you want.Make sure that your resume French is impeccable and professional looking. Keep these tips in mind to help you write your resume French in no time.

Professional Summary For Resume Writing

Professional Summary For Resume WritingA professional summary for resume writing is a useful device to make a resume more interesting and appealing. When you prepare a resume, it needs to be concise and well organized in order to make it easy for the potential employer to read and comprehend. The professional summary is the perfect way to follow up with potential employers on your achievements, skills, and capabilities, while showcasing your skills.A professional summary for resume writing is much like a short report or a summary for the employer, in that it takes a bit of time to produce. In order to write a good summary, though, you must understand how you can utilize all the space available to you, to maximize your information. A professional summary can be short and succinct, and can provide employers with an idea of what qualities you possess that make you ideal for the job.A professional summary for resume writing helps the reader understand you, while building your credibility and trust with them. Since most employers read resumes before hiring, a professional summary allows you to market yourself. The summary could also include a very brief summary of the accomplishments that are relevant to the position you are applying for.You do not need to hire a professional writer to write your resume, but if you have not written one yourself, then a good summary writer can help. As a resume writer, you should know the basics of resume writing, and you may want to hire a professional resume writer to assist you in creating a professional, interesting summary for resume writing.A brief summary for resume writing is your opportunity to present the most important aspects of your capabilities and experiences. This summary should be easy to read, and should offer a concise summary of your accomplishments. The summary can be based on a very short paragraph, or can be more than one paragraph.Keep in mind that you should not get bogged down in a lengthy, exhaustive summar y. The summary can be an outline, but it should also make the resume more interesting and convincing to the reader.If you are unsure whether a professional summary for resume writing will be useful to you, take a few minutes to consider your abilities, skills, and accomplishments. Be sure to consider where you excel and need to improve. Using a professional summary for resume writing can be a useful tool to help you reach your goals.

What to Expect From Writing a Great Resume with No Experience?

What to Expect From Writing a Great Resume with No Experience? The New Fuss About Writing a Great Resume with No Experience Stick to the tips above, and you'll have a resume that compensates for the absence of expertise and gets you the interview. You wish to sell your skills in a way that will garner an interview. From the example above, you will observe there are plenty of skills listed. All transferrable skills have to be mentioned. A free resume review may give you the confidence required to attack the work search with total force. It's fast and simple to use. The New Fuss About Writing a Great Resume with No Experience Learning how to do a resume when do not have any work experience is much simpler if you are able to demonstrate some seasonal or short-term work experience. You might not have work experience, but you are still able to show off your charming personality. You don't have to incorporate every job you have held, especially in case you have many years of e xpertise or have worked in unrelated fields. Whether you are searching for your very first job or seeking to earn a career change, the practice starts with your resume. A simple resume template is going to be your very best bet. For example, as a waitress you're guaranteed to produce skills in customer support, sales, and multi-tasking, all which may be very valuable to a prospective employer. Choosing which to use depends upon the sort of job which you are applying for and your degree of experience. While the functional resume format may be an attractive choice for job seekers with very little experience, most employers would rather have a chronological or hybrid resume format.

Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 8) - Work It Daily

Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 8) - Work It Daily In Part 1 of this series, I postulated a formula for some of the “known” elements. We cannot forget the importance of these words from Merrill Lynch: “At no previous time has human capital been so important -- finding, developing, and retaining knowledgeable workers will be mission-critical functions in the New Economy.” The formula suggests that each of this factors can contribute to the success â€" or failure â€" of a retention strategy. Successful Retention = f (Objective Expectations, Compensation, Training, Recognition, Feedback, Organizational Culture, and…) In summary, there are three important points: Retention is not easy â€" it’s a complicated, critical strategy for organizations. Sounds repetitive â€" but it’s not “three easy steps.” There are other factors, some of which are uncontrollable. Some of your best people leave for reasons completely unrelated to the best management and retention strategies. The ideas identified in the first parts of this series are easy to describe â€" tough to implement. Each of the topics could be explored in its own series of articles. But to conclude the series with a practical application that addresses many of the factors, here are some guidelines for a “Retention Interview.” Retention Interview I will make a somewhat dangerous assumption here â€" that a new employee, clearly a potential peak performer, has been hired based on performance-based principles not on his or her ability to just “get the job.” The person has started the new job with clear expectations of what it will take to succeed and with the talent and “energy” to be successful. It’s a bold assumption given the clear need for better hiring procedures in many organizations. However, given this assumption, managers should sit down with a new employee â€" within the first two to four weeks, and conduct a “Retention Interview.” Based on the different areas covered, the interview could be conducted over multiple sessions provided some in-depth relationship building between the manager and the employee. The employee’s direct supervisor, usually a Manager, should always be the one conducting the process. This is not a Human Resources function â€" although HR could benefit from collection of the responses from the interviews. Recognition Questions During the hiring process, we discussed significant accomplishments in your previous positions. How were you recognized for these accomplishments? Which forms of recognition did you like the most? Was there any recognition that you did not want? What kind of recognition would you like to receive for results and efforts that meet the performance objectives we have set for you? What about for results that exceed these expectations? Feedback Questions Describe for me a specific situation where you received positive feedback about your performance. How was it delivered? How did you feel about the way it was delivered? What about a specific situation where you received “constructive feedback (criticism) on your performance? How was it delivered? How did you feel about the way it was delivered? On a day-to-day basis, how do want to receive feedback about your performance? It should be obvious but it’s important to record this information â€" to create a “Retention Profile” for the employee. Training/Learning Questions What are your development goals in terms of learning/training for your position? Outside of your work? What are your daily (or weekly) learning goals? How are you expecting the company to support these goals? What do you see as your role in promoting learning/training for your colleagues/subordinates? Organizational Culture Questions What’s one thing about this job, this company, which is likely the strongest factor that would influence your decision to continue to work here? What’s one thing about this job, this company, which is most likely to influence you to leave? What are the things you’ve learned in your first few days, weeks, here that are impacting how you need to act “to fit in?” Expectation Questions Note: While there is an element of “expectations” that can be addressed during this early “Retention Interview,” there is the caution note above that it’s based on clear expectations presented as part of a performance-based hiring process. It’s also a component that might come after 6-12 months â€" when expectations should be reviewed regularly. How have the expectations for your performance compared to what was presented to you as part of the hiring process? As part of your orientation (or on-boarding)? How have the expectations for your performance changed during the first six months? First year? If you could change a key element of your job in terms of expectations, what would it be? If organizations are going to improve their rates of retention, particularly for top performing employees, if they’re going to more effectively address the “quit and stay” problem with employees that are no longer motivated to meet expectations in today’s work environment, the work of retention is going to have to be taken more seriously. They’re going to have to develop a more structured approach that respects the complexity â€" and even the unknowns â€" of retention. Related: Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 1) Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 2) Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 3) Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 4) Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 5) Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 6) Solving The Retention Puzzle (Part 7) About the author Jim Schreier is a management consultant with a focus on management, leadership, including performance-based hiring and interviewing skills. Visit his website at www.farcliffs.com.     Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here. Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!