How to Use the Assumptive Close in Sales

How to Use the Assumptive Close in SalesHow to Use the Assumptive Close in SalesWeve all heard the saying that we should never assume. Assuming can set you up for disappointment, cause you to stop listening to your clients and to not be as thorough as you should be during a ausverkauf cycle. But all these rules go out the window when it comes to effectively using the assumptive close. As powerful and as effective as the assumptive close can be, youd better be prepared during each step of the sale cycle or this close wont end in a close at all. Assuming a sale that you havent earned is akin to conceit, which is one of the most damaging traits for any sales professional. The Assumptive Close If you begin a sales cycle assuming that the prospect is going to buy your product or service, and you subtly let your prospect know that you are assuming that they will become a customer, you are employing the assumptive closing technique. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it is but there are a few things to keep in mind when using the assumptive close. Your State of Mind Funny thing about having positive expectations whenever you enter a sales opportunity Things seem to work out more favorably. Maybe there are some cosmic or divine forces at work or maybe being positive just puts you in a more resourceful mind-space. The more positive you are, the fewer fears or reservations you have. If there is one thing sure to kill a sale, it is doubtful. You also approach each step in the sales process with more enthusiasm, more energy, and more confidence. These traits are contagious and often have positive effects on all you come in contact with. People, in general, prefer to spend time with positive people and avoid those who are negative. Using an assumptive process that develops positive traits not only has positive effects on those with whom you interact but has been shown to have significant benefits to you that permeate all areas of your life. Assuming that your prospe ct sees the benefits of your product or service gives you a distinct advantage. While your assumptions may be completely wrong, your confidence can be contagious and may be all that is needed to pull your prospect out of the prospect column and into the customer column. It is important to note, however, that assuming too much may backfire. You need to use frequent temperature checks of your customer to make sure that she is following along with your assumptions. Your Customers State of Mind In general, people love to buy things but do not like to be sold things. When dealing with a sales professional who feels they need to a prospect through each step of the sales cycle, people have a natural tendency to push back, become suspicious and often end up not buying anything at all. However, when someone feels they are being guided by a confident sales professional who seems to understand them, people often times follow the lead of the sales professional. Your main task is to lead the m towards a sale that benefits them and you. Low Pressure The wonderful thing about the assumptive closing technique is that it is very low pressure. Instead of trying to convince a prospect to do something, you assume that they want to and agree with moving forward. This only works if youve done your job thoroughly in each sales step and have the right to assume the sale. Do a poor job of prospecting, qualifying, delivering value or any of the steps in a sales cycle and your assumptive close turns into a pompous push. If you find yourself having to employ hard close techniques, should serve as an indication that you have not done a good job with one or more steps in the sales process. Using the assumptive closing technique to move from one sales step to the next works extremely well once your customer sees enough value to invest more time and energy. A Final Word The Assumptive Close has many benefits to both the sales professional and the customer. Not only can the sales p rocess be enjoyable, rewarding and easy, the process can also be much shorter. Getting to Yes is the goal of every sales professional. The quicker you can get to yes, the quicker you can get on to the next sale. In the first paragraph of this article, it was suggested that the assumptive close allows you to throw away the critical factors that you follow during a sales cycle. After reading, youre probably wondering, So, what are those things I can do away with if I use the assumptive close? The answer is, actually, none. In fact, you need to listen even more closely to what your client is saying.

2015 Honors Assembly Awards

2015 Honors Assembly Awards 2015 Honors Assembly Awards 2015 Honors Assembly AwardsASME selected nine prominent engineers, scientists and educators for 2015 Honors Assembly recognition. Watch a video profile of each honoree by clicking on his or her name, below.Honorary Member Romesh C. Batra Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityHonorary Member Webb J. Marner Univeristy of California, Los Angeles and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (retired)Honorary Member Terry E. Shoup Santa Clara UniversityASME Medal James R. Rice Harvard UniversityM. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal of ASME/SME David Dornfeld University of California, BerkeleyKate Gleason Award F. Suzanne Jenniches Northrop Grumman Corporation (Retired)Ralph Coats Roe Medal Freeman A. Hrabowski III University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyGeorge Westinghouse Gold Medal Karen A. Thole The Pennsylvania State UniversityMelvin R. Green Medal James A. Thomas ASTM International

Thinking your way to a better brain (John Dewey on how we think)

Thinking yur way to a better brain (John Dewey on how we think)Thinking yur way to a better brain (John Dewey on how we think)Learning how to think is hard.Thinking is the core of our being, but the world is hostile to serious thought.In an age of information overload, the depth of thinking is becoming less and less valued. Information - even good information - can become a distraction if youre elend thinking about it, evaluating it, or analyzing it.Most of us cant afford to think.And some people are okay with not knowing.Not because they dont have the capacity for thought, but because they have chosen to spend their time elsewhere.Thinking is unfamiliar.Thinking can force us out of comforting habits, and it can even complicate our relationships with like-minded friends.Thinking is slow, and thats a problem when our habits of consuming information (mostly online) leave us lost in the spin cycle of social media, partisan bickering, and confirmation bias.Most peoples thinking process es emerge their emotional life and stimmung character.And when we dont really know a subject well enough, in T. S. Eliots words, we tend always to substitute emotions for thoughts, and go with whatever idea makes us feel popular.Part of living well is thinking well because if one thinks the wrong thoughts it is hard to do the right things to get the best results.Think better. Do betterIn its loosest sense, thinking signifies everything that, as we say, is in our heads or that goes through our minds.A thinking process begins with a dilemma that suggests alternatives, and so thinking is evoked by confusion.If you consistently choose not to dig deeper, you will make plans around being wrong.Deep thinking just means absorbing important information and using that to form a decision or opinion of your own - rather than just spouting off what you hear others say.To think means, to bridge a gap in experience, to bind together facts or deeds otherwise isolated.In his 1910 masterpiece How W e Think, John Dewey examines what separates thinking, a basic human faculty we take for granted, from thinking well, what it takes to train ourselves into mastering the art of thinking.The spark of thinking, Dewey argues, is a kind of psychological restlessness rooted in ambiguityThinking begins in what may fairly enough be called a forked-road situation, a situation which is ambiguous, which presents a dilemma, which proposes alternatives. As long as our activity glides smoothly along from one thing to another, or as long as we permit our imagination to entertain fancies at pleasure, there is no call for reflection. Difficulty or obstruction in the way of reaching a belief brings us, however, to a pause. In the suspense of uncertainty, we metaphorically climb a tree we try to find some standpoint from which we may survey additional facts and, getting a mora commanding view of the situation, may decide how the facts stand related to one anotherDemand for the solution of a perplexity is the steadying and guiding factor in the entire process of reflection This need of straightening out a perplexity also controls the kind of inquiry undertaken. A traveler whose end is the most beautiful path will look for other considerations and will test suggestions occurring to him on another principle than if he wishes to discover the way to a given city. The problem fixes the end of thought and the end controls the process of thinking.Thinking is synonymous to believing says Dewey.To say I think that it is going to rain tomorrow is equivalent to saying I believe that it is going to rain tomorrow.When we say Men used to think that the earth was flat, we refer to a belief system that our ancestors held about the earth - they used to think, i.e. believe, that the earth was flat.Dewey argues its not enough to simply have beliefs, but that we must also do the work required to examine them, to understand why we hold them, and to assess the consequences of unternehmensverbund such beliefs.To truly think, Dewey argues, we ought to consider not only the origin of our beliefs but also how they affect our actions, which they inevitably doReflective thought is the most potent antidote to erroneous beliefs, says Dewey Active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends, constitutes reflective thought It is a conscious and voluntary effort to establish belief upon a firm basis of reasons.This basis of reasons, Dewey argues, is a relational framework for how different bits of knowledge connect to and validate one another.To think well is to construct fruitful linkagesThe function by which one thing signifies or indicates another, and thereby leads us to consider how far one may be regarded as warrant for belief in the other, is the central factor in all reflective or distinctively intellectual thinking Reflection thus implies that somethin g is believed in (or disbelieved in), not on its own direct account, but through something else which stands as witness, evidence, proof, voucher, warrant that is, as a ground of belief.There is no single uniform power of thought, but the multitude of observations, memories, imagination, and common sense, that together comprise thoughts.To a better capacity for thought, we need to develop curiosity and the habit of exploring and testing.These will increase questioning and the love of inquiry which will ultimately lead to critical and deep thinking habits.Pay attention to the right details to make better inferencesDewey encourages us to embrace systematic inference to improve our reasoning. An inference is a step of the mind, an intellectual act by which one concludes that something is true in light of something elses being true, or seeming to be true.People automatically make inferences to gain a basis for understanding and action.So quickly and automatically do we make inferences t hat we do not, without training, notice them as inferences.We see dark clouds and infer rain.We hear the door slam and infer that someone has arrived.We see a frowning face and infer that the person is upset.We read a book, and interpret what the various sentences and paragraphs - indeed what the whole book - is saying.We listen to what people say and make a series of inferences as to what they mean.An important part of critical thinking is the art of bringing what is subconscious in our thought to the level of conscious realization.This includes the recognition that our experiences are shaped by the inferences we make during those experiences.Critical thinkers notice the inferences they are making, the assumptions upon which they are basing those inferences, and the point of view about the world they are developing.Dewey writesSystematic inference, in short, means the recognition of definite relations of interdependence between considerations previously unorganized and disconnect ed, this recognition being brought about by the discovery and insertion of new facts and properties.Humans naturally and regularly use beliefs as assumptions and make inferences based on assumptions (something we take for granted or presuppose.Usually it is something we previously learned and do not question. It is part of our system of beliefs).We assume our beliefs to be true and use them to interpret the world about us.If our belief is a sound one, our assumption is sound.If our belief is not sound, our assumption is not sound.Beliefs, and hence assumptions, can be unjustified or justified, depending upon whether we do or do not have good reasons for them.We need to make logical inferences based on sound assumptions. We need to understand our own point of view and fully consider other relevant viewpoints.Dewey advises us to doubt our first solution, to keep searching, and to search for much longer than expected, as this is what is required for good thinking.Better thinking doesnt end.The more knowledge you cultivate, the better youll become at thinking about it. Its navel gazing in that youre constantly thinking about thinking, but the end result is a brain that automatically forms better arguments, focused ideas, and creative solutions to problems.This article first appeared on Medium.

Smart Coatings Mean Longer Offshore Life

Smart Coatings Mean Longer Offshore Life Smart Coatings Mean Longer Offshore Life Smart Coatings Mean Longer Offshore LifeIt is standard practice to use specialized coatings and paint to protect machinery and infrastructure from harsh conditions. But researchers are making steady progress in improving their effectiveness, using advanced manufacturing techniques and salting the coatings with smart particles for self-healing.A European Union-funded research and development project has passed to the commercial stage, relying on thermally sprayed aluminum spiked with environmentally friendly, active antifouling substances to protect offshore steel renewable energy structures. The chemicals are added in small amounts. As the protective TSA eventually degrades, an insoluble calcareous material is formed to fortify the breach and provide protection.Corrosion and fouling test facility near Santander, Spain. Image The Welding InstituteDubbed ACORN, for Advanced Coating for Offshore Renewable Energy, the effort also includes developing a new coating to prevent cavitation abtragung of marine turbine components. After testing three types of coatings, researchers found that a cermet HVOF high-velocity oxygen fuel coating offered corrosion and cavitation protection good for a 10-plus year design life.In the US, the NASA Kennedy Space Centers Corrosion Technology Laboratory has developed a smart, environmentally friendly coating for early detection and inhibition of corrosion that also has self-healing properties. It uses microcapsules formed through an interfacial polymerization process one type of microcapsule contains a corrosion inhibitor and another contains an indicator. When corrosion begins to occur, the microcapsules react to the change in pH levels and the inhibitor is released, forming a film that protects and repairs the affected area. The indicator identifies the affected area with a change of color. NASA officials say the new coating poses no threat to the envir onment, an improvement on existing compounds.NASA researchers developed the coating because the sun, heat and humidity of the Kennedy Space Complexs location in south Florida makes it the countrys most corrosive environment, according to the American Society of Metals. The space shuttle program amplified the problem in the 1980s because of acidic exhaust from solid rocket boosters.Work on the coatings began in 2004 at the Corrosion Technology Laboratory. Researchers went to work trying to find an alternative to existing coatings considered to be harmful to humans and the environment, such as hexavalent chromium. The substance is commonly used in aerospace and automotive industries to protect aluminum.The U.S. Navy also is conducting research to replace hexavalent chromium with smart coatings. The work focuses on conductive polymers that form metal oxide films around the affected area. They form a dense, low-porosity film that restricts invasion of oxidants. The Navy already has deve loped a polymer that is a derivative of polyparaphenylene vinylene that shows promise for replacing hexavalent chromium treatment on aluminum alloys.In Europe, EU researchers worked with thermally sprayed aluminum, already recognized as an effective coating for a variety of applications. As offshore wind power grows in European waters12,631MW were already installed at the beginning of 2017 and another 3,000MW are expected by 2020, according to Brussels-based Wind Europeplanners recognized the need for better protecting the foundations as well as the turbines.Steel structures in marine environments are subject to many forms of degradation, two of the most problematic being corrosion and biofouling, said ACORN engineer Henry Begg. Although coatings to protect against such conditions exist within the shipping industry, where ships can be periodically dry-docked for maintenance, offshore structures are required to be moored in the water for extended periods of time and without ongoing p reventive maintenance.ACORN researchers tested five types or combinations of coatings on sample plates, in submerged, tidal, and splash zones. The end product, a nonpaint product, provides a virtually maintenance-free lifespan for steel structures exceeding twenty years, say developers, and eliminates the need for costly, supplementary cathodic protection. A range of environmentally friendly antifouling agents are added to the coating in very small concentrations. They will then be gradually exposed at the surface of the coating as it degrades, expected to be at a rate of less than 10 micrometers per year and prevent barnacles from settling on the surface. Barnacles are one of the most harmful fouling organisms in seawater, and can destroy protective paints and coatings.ACORN has been working with industrial partners to develop and market the new coatings and NASA also wants to commercialize its coating. In the meantime, big offshore projects are being built using the best of conven tional TSA coatings. A joint venture of Germanys E.ON and Norways Statoil is building a 385-MW wind project in Baltic Sea, comprised of 60, 6-MW turbines installed on mono pile foundations in depths of 23 to 27 meters.Working with its engineers and partners, E.ON developed an automated coating line at a fabrication yard in Rostock to build the giant monopiles. E.ON officials claim it is the first fully automated coating line, handling piles with a maximum length of 81 meters and a diameter of up to 8 meters. After expanding existing coating halls, thermally sprayed aluminum was applied using a robot with two arc burners that sprayed a 350-micrometer-thick coating on the piles. The second step applied a sealing coat of resin. E.ON also claims it is the first time the process has been applied on an industrial scale. Previous TSA applications were used on smaller steel components that were submerged or on larger components above the water line.As the smart-TSA coatings are commercializ ed, researchers believe it will boost environmental protection while lowering overall costs, increasingthe competiveness of the offshore renewable energy and furthering the rollout of additional offshore technologies because of a longer lifespan. For Further DiscussionSteel structures in marine environments are subject to many forms of degradation, two of the most problematic being corrosion and biofouling. Harry Begg, ACORN

Chasing the Career Cheese Make It Swiss.

Chasing the Career Cheese Make It Swiss. Chasing the Career Cheese Make It Swiss. The rat race runs on bait. Everybody knows that. But what is less obvious is that the mice and rats are themselves dangling bait bait with holes in it.The rat race- fierce competition to get and keep jobs, customers, sales or market share- dangles profits, perks, salaries and wages as what is instinctively thought of as the payoff cheese. But there is that second kind of rat-race career cheese the bait dangled to lure and motivate prospective and customers, clients, colleagues and current bosses. One of the most prominent forms of this bait is expertise, and one of its most worried-about problems is holes in it.Rat-Race HolesHow often do you hear someone say, as I did in a spontaneous conversation with a friendly music major at a bus stop recently, that there are too many gaps- holes, if you will- in their professional competence?Failing when comparing oneself with others in ones field, or worse, wit h those who are not, and, as a result, feeling threatened, incompetent or just plain lazy by comparison is not an uncommon experience. Even worse is the dawning realization that the gap cant be bridged- the feeling of being swept up in a rat-race for cheese that simply cant be won with the cheese one is offering in exchange.Usually it leads to resolutions to work harder, study more, to try to catch up with the pack and to try to learn it all- meanwhile hoping that ones deficiencies wont be exposed and that feeling like a fraud will only be temporary. Just as commonly, it leads to futile desperation, chronic frustration and a hovering sense of inadequacy, if not outright feeling like a failure for not measuring up to the challenge and expectations.The Illusion of Wholes without HolesThose were the concerns voiced during our chat at the Gibsons seaside bus stop, by Riva (pseudonym), a bright, open undergraduate preparing for a career in music, but nagged by the feeling that she doesnt know or work hard enough. While waiting for our bus, Riva revealed that feeling and her hope that by studying, practicing and mastering more, she will have a shot at filling in the holes and the gaps in her skill set before others see through them or punch more holes in the flimsiest parts.The problem is that it simply is not possible to eliminate or prevent such holes. Thats what I told her. However, the good news is that neither is it necessary to try, which I also told her. The reason that filling in the holes is neither possible nor necessary is, I said, that knowledge is more like Swiss cheese than like the mafiatorte you may put it on.Competence as More Pizza, or More Swiss Cheese?Thinking that the corpus of professional knowledge and expertise is like a pizza leads to the notion that given a big enough appetite, reach, access and determination, it should be possible to (competitively) gobble up all of it, or at least as much as anyone else. Discovering that others have more or bigger slices of that knowledge and skill pie creates unease, usually in the form of a sense of competitive anxiety, envy, jealousy and feelings of inferiority. But this is a flawed model of learning and career advancement. Swiss cheese provides a better one, and for a number of reasonsIn the real world, holes perpetually come and go Accept the holes. A key thing that makes learning, knowledge and expertise engaging is knowing that they are not static, that, instead, they are always evolving- especially in an innovative, competitive capitalist economy and in an era like the modern one in which research and technology are expanding and advancing at the speed of a blinding, hole-burning laser beam.Old holes get filled in, new ones get created. The foregoing sentence sums up one of the cardinal, yet commonly unrecognized truths of business, education and industry.In fact, some careers are built extensively, if not exclusively, on shooting holes in the careers and beliefs of others, without being limited to the occupations of movie critic, historian, pharmaceutical sales rep, major league pitcher or campaigning politician.Expecting ones knowledge kusine to neither have preexisting holes nor to have holes shot into it is like expecting the universe to have no black holes. In fact, in the galaxy of careers, as in the universe itself and in Swiss cheese, the holes will always be among us and a source of their fascination and development.Career holes, like the holes in Swiss cheese, can be defining A municipal road crew puts up a sign that says, Men at Work. Caution, next to an open manhole in the street under repair. Thats a paradigm case of a job literally and concretely defined, in part, by a hole. A circus is another one, if you think of the rings as holes to be filled with ponies, clowns and dancing bears. Doughnut manufacture is a third. More abstractly viewed, there are careers that require holes in expertise to be viable, credible, justifiable or sustainabl e.The most obvious instance is military or civilian intelligence, e.g., the CIA and Army recon units, whose entire rationale for existing depends on the assumption that there will always be information holes to be identified, filled and sought. No holes? No need, no job. So, before concluding that holes in your knowledge base are a liability, be sure they arent a prerequisite for keeping the job or otherwise an asset, e.g., like the successfully created hole in a donut or the ever-present gaps and holes in military intelligence.More cheese, more holes A defining principle of careers, on a par with no pain, no gain, is, as the CIA example illustrates, no holes, no cheese. An important variation on this theme is more cheese, more holes. This is a picturesque variant of the cautionary schoolchilds ditty, which I learned as a child, that proposed, The more you study, the more you know the more you know, the more you can forget the more you can forget, the more you do forget the more you do forget, the less you know. So why study? (Apparently it was not among the things that I learned and did forget.)The germane and valid point of this cute sophistry is that every skill-set gain carries the risk of the potential pain of a hole, whether in (other, displaced) memory, knowledge or skill. Choose any career skill the moment you commit to it, you commit to filling the holes. In committing to filling those holes, you are led to awareness of more holes. This is fractal holes between cheese within which there are patches with smaller holes between cheese within which there are patches with even smaller holes.ad infinitum.For example, you decide to be a recruiter. So, that fills your career choice hole. But, on the job, you discover holes regarding resume software. You fill that in with familiarization with your companys resume software. But that creates other holes missing knowledge of competing software, or the use of specific features of the software youre using, question s about how much you should practically or morally rely on impersonal software screening that can kill a candidates hopes by crushing his chances.Magnify the cheesy part of the cheese, and youll almost always find more holes, even if only smaller ones.Size and proximity of holes count On reflection, it should be clear that one of the most important things that matters is that the slice of cheese youve bitten into or are offering should be bigger than the closest holes What this means in professional terms is that peaceful coexistence with career holes is possible and unproblematic, if what you have mastered is more obvious than what you havent- either because it dwarfs your ignorance or because the holes in your expertise are distant from your routine performance requirements.A career with more evident areas of incompetence than capability will appear to be like a slice of Swiss cheese with holes that are bigger or more numerous than are its patches of solid cheese- a tenuous, flims y lattice of competence precariously packaged and unappealingly lacking substance. So, if your temp service covers a wide range of corporate placements, but IT firms are your bread and butter, put and display your solid expertise patch of cheese on those client slices and hold the retail, accounting and (coles)law holes when pitching a job to an applicant.The key is to showcase what you can do, without calling attention to what you cant. Seems obvious? Not to Rika and many others like her who are burdened with anxiety and nave guilt for and while not plugging all the holes. To put it metaphorically, slice and place your career Swiss cheese so as to minimize the number and size of holes you expose. In practical terms, this means choosing jobs that showcase your cheese, but hide the holes. If that sounds cunning, well, welcome to the real world, since thats what happens every day and what many careerists instinctively do.However, the one thing that Rika and the others should never do is to conceal incompetence that will jeopardize the execution of the job description. It is one thing to conceal the fact that you dont know C++ when the job doesnt require it its quite another when it does.In short, never package holes as cheese.Transform liability-holes into asset-holes Suppose Riva graduates and cant find a job in music, or the job shes found with a symphony wont open up for six months. Thats a looming hole, worse in the former case, since unemployment with no end in sight becomes a liability as skills and experience stagnate and as some companies continue to weirdly discriminate against the unemployed. Given that the hole is going to exist in any case and that not only can it be filled, but also that it really needs to be, filling it in with training is a smart idea. Thereby, hole-as-liability is transformed into hole-as-asset, even though, from the employment-history standpoint it remains a hole, despite having been filled.What is unique about this phenomenon o f semi-filling holes is that the result is a hole that is not a hole, and a liability that is also in part, if not also entirely, an asset.Observe, and LearnIf you have not yet grasped the importance of this semi-filling of holes, of recognizing that sometimes holes are an essential part of the job, of the need to focus on the size and proximity of holes, of understanding that filling one hole today is surely to be followed by the need to fill one tomorrow, or of the wisdom of hiding holes, there is one thing you can do to instantly grasp all of these.Observe police on their doughnut runs or, afterwards, in their parked squad cars.Image CHASING AND SHOWING THE CHEESE by Michael Moffa

Choosing Resume Portfolio Folder Is Simple

Choosing Resume Portfolio Folder Is Simple The Argument About Resume Portfolio Folder Bear in mind, your on-line portfolio is intended to secure you more work. You should select your on-line portfolio design carefully as each portfolio template will appeal to another audience. In case you have some HTML or other web design skills, you might want to think about developing an internet portfolio that employs a more interactive, presentational strategy. Our templates make it simple to create your very own expert portfolio without needing to produce the design by yourself. When presenting a portfolio, its simple to weigh it down with an excessive amount of work. plek a design which most represents you and the industry youre targetting. Furthermore, a professional portfolio gives you exposure even if you arent searching for employment. Being aware of what to put in your portfolio can be especially tough. Although, its not that it cant be used in different fields. Leave comforta ble margins on the webpage and be sure that everything is neatly aligned. This produces the content much easier to read and digest. By all means, utilize a theme, even just a popular one. It is possible to also incorporate a URL to your portfolio from your email signature too. Utilize page numbers and a table of contents to create the information simple to discover, together with tabs or dividers between sections. You may be tempted to place them on a single page, but I advise that you separate them. If you are interested in an elaborate web page with complete customization, the popular site builder WordPress is quite an excellent alternative. Taking a few notes during your interview can be useful for a couple reasons. Usually described in words it is possible to take advantage of numbers which could help to quantify your work. Its simple to overlook mistakes as soon as it comes to numbers. If you dont wish to create a dedicated website, here are a few great alternatives. Consider how you are going to document your contributions on the job. In such situations, its rather convenient to use samples of your work which can certainly supply the viewer with accurate details about your work experiences and abilities that were used in creating your masterpieces. Even in the event that youve been working for many decades, you should attempt to continue to keep your resume to 2 pages if at all possible. Portfolio in many ways is comparable to a resume. What the In-Crowd Wont Tell You About Resume Portfolio Folder Professional folders and style portfolios in bold colors with an array of pocket styles that are created from sturdy materials are readily available to suit an assortment of project requirements. It also needs to prove that youre able to write complete sentences, proof-read, and utilize punctuation properly. Further, visuals of all sorts are expected in Web websites. To make a good demo reel, gather footage of your very best work to earn a v ideo. For the time being, lets talk just a little bit about each section. Ensure youre not sharing any confidential info. Then, based on what you learn during your organization research, you can choose if creating a customized sample solution page is needed. A portfolio is an expert scrapbook of sorts where you are able to neatly store all artifacts of your previous work and volunteer experience. It can also help demonstrate your talent and ability to produce high-quality work in your field. While an on-line portfolio might not be suitable for the work interview itself, you can incorporate a hyperlink to it in your CV when applying for jobs. Learning the best method to supply the portfolio is essential to your successful job search. In the current tough job market, you should create a competitive difference or brand to create interviews. Your on-line brand is an essential facet of your job search. It is a great way to demonstrate the scope and caliber of your experience an d training. You may also see that there are online options which cater to people in your area. A scarcity of dates will read as an effort to hide something. At the close of each interview, youll be asked in case you have any questions. By then, youll have used Big Interview to prepare and practice so you can speak about your reasons in a constructive and professional way. At the start of your first interview, state that youve got a resume portfolio to leave with the employer for more review.

Easy Ways to Boost Your HR Skills - Spark Hire

Easy Ways to Boost Your HR Skills - Spark HireRegardless of how long youve been in the field, its always possible to sharpen your HR skills. Company dynamics are changing faster than ever, and the HR field is changing right along with them. In order to do your job most effectively, use these tips to continue honing your abilities as a professionalKnow about company resourcesPart of the job of an HR professional is ensuring that employees are making the most of the opportunities available to them at work. However, its hard to educate co-workers about these opportunities if youre not aware of them yourself. Every so often, make it a point to get a refresher about the various perks that your team members should be taking advantage of. Such benefits might include continuing education classes, a free gym membership, or on-site child care. When you know about all of the ways in which your company rewards its employees, you can pass this information along and create a happier, healthier wor kplace.Join professional groupsIts hard to truly excel in HR if you have no idea whats going on in your field. Particularly for HR professionals, remaining connected is key. You want to know how other companies handle the HR function, and you want to find out about industry news. One effective way to do this is by joining a professional society. Youll receive educational opportunities and plenty of chances to network with others who work in the field. This helps to broaden your knowledge base and make you more effective in your role.Talk to peopleAn HR professional who sits behind a closed office door every day is not going to be of much use to their colleagues. Regardless of how busy you are, make sure to put an open door policy into effect and actually act on this idea. Making time each day to address employee concerns is an essential part of the HR function.How do you hone your skills as an HR professional? Let us know in the comments

Sample Resume for Category Manager Job Position

Sample Resume for Category Manager Job PositionSample Resume for Category Manager Job PositionFor a business to be successful, it needs to maximize the potential of its employees, and a category manager helps it to do this successfully. Create a strong resume to ensure your place at the top of the hiring list.Increasing productivity in various areas is a priority in business, so your resume is a great place to show your versatility. Things to include are philanthropisch resource experiences, financial analysis skills, and relevant education. Previous work experience is also a good way to note the skills and responsibilities youve tackled.Take a look at the category manager resume sample below to get a feel for how to showcase your best traits. Create this Resume Priscilla Johnson3393 Terry LaneOrlando, FL 32801(123)-135-5757p.johnsonsmail.comObjectiveA professional seeking career development as a Category Manager in a company handling management resources and employmentSummary of Qu alificationsProficiency in MS Office applicationsKnowledge in Human Resource DevelopmentSkills in financial analysisKnowledge in PsychologyAbove-average communication skillsAbility to develop new programs and strategies for individual and departmental growthProfessional ExperienceCategory Manager, January 2007 Present Estate Group Inc., Los Angeles, California ResponsibilitiesDeployed highly qualified agents to increase productivity in prospecting clients and increase quarterly sales.Evaluated performance of agents to ensure all are performing at their peak.Coordinated with marketing gruppe to develop new marketing plans for the team.Maintained portfolios of various properties.Integrated new analysis reports and discussed with the top management.Category Manager, March 2004 December 2006 Stores Specialties Inc., Kansas City, Missouri ResponsibilitiesConducted analysis on sales performance of all product brands sold in the stores.Provided strategies to further improve performance of the sales of merchandises.Evaluated the visual displays of products to increase exposure and improve sales.Increased promotions of merchandise to increase competitiveness and increase productivity.Developed marketing plans to ensure effective store layouts to increase visual displays and increase sales.EducationMasters Degree in Human Resource, 2004University of ArizonaBachelor of Science in Human Resource, 2001University of Arizona Customize ResumeMore Sample ResumesCategory Manager Resume Catering Server Resume Cell Phone Technician Resume

6 Career Lessons I Learned From My 6 Months in Sales

6 Career Lessons I Learned From My 6 Months in Sales6 Career Lessons I Learned From My 6 Months in SalesHeres the thing I hate sales.Im not saying that without having conducted my due diligence My first job out of college welches in the sales and renewals department of a reputable magazine. Id hoped that being near editorial- if not in the actual department- was a close second to my English majors dream-job fantasies.While I loved my colleagues and my new post-grad independence, I soon learned that a sales position just wasnt the right fit for me.I felt uncreative, stifled by numbers, and disheartened that I wasnt doing what Id dreamed of when I was in college.So when I left after seven months, no one was particularly surprised.My manager even gifted me a copy of Death of a Salesman (seriously), and I moved to my next job believing Id left sales firmly in the past.But in the two jobs Ive had since, Ive realized just how valuable the skills I learned as a salesperson have been.Here ar e the six biggest lessons I learned from my brief stint in sales- lessons that are important whetherbei or not youre selling anything at all.1. Get Over Your Fear of the PhoneWhen I first started working, I had a serious fear of the phone. And for the most part, that was OK- I could easily bypass a phone call with a well-placed text or schmelzglas.When I began renewing magazine subscriptions, however, I had no such luck Phone calls were the most efficient and effective way of contacting elusive subscribers. Moreover, department leadership tracked our call volume throughout the day. I was sunk.After some anfangsbuchstabe hiccups (I once stammered through a phonetic spelling of a name, saying, It starts with F, as in... Fail), I not only got over my fear, but I realized the value of these verbal conversations. Now, rather than play a frustrating and time-costly game of email tag, I wont hesitate to pick up the phone when I need something clarified.2. Follow Up in WritingAny good sales associate knows that nothing really counts unless its in writing. I learned very quickly that I needed to follow up friendly phone calls with shrewd emails recapping the meat of a conversation- or nothing would move forward.Thats served me well in subsequent positions, even when Im not intently tracking goal numbers. After a lengthy team meeting or a one-on-one conversation with a manager, its helpful to send a quick follow-up email clarifying that youre on the same page and assigning next steps. Its a simple task, but it can preclude major pitfalls that result from miscommunication.3. Embrace MetricsWhen I worked in sales, my success was wholly dependent on monthly numbers. I was obsessive about tracking my progress I knew to the decimal point what percentage of subscribers I needed to renew in order to reach my goals. The last week of the month became stressful if I hadnt yet hit my goal.At the time, I decidedly disliked this dependence. But now, without having a goal percentage to hit or a commission to make, Ive found Im still obsessive about metrics- I even assign myself goal numbers independent of my managers requests. I learned that metrics, however frustrating, are in place for a reason. They help track what worked and what didnt, and this analysis can lead to improvements. For example, while Im no longer counting each subscriber and his or her dollar value, I am tracking every reader of my companys blog- where she comes from, what piece she reads, how long she spends on the site- and using that data to make decisions moving forward.4. Toughen UpWhen you work in sales, youll learn something quickly People are not nice all the time. No matter how respectful or polite you are, you might encounter people who are rude, curmudgeonly, or just plain mean.But youll learn to get over it. Once I had been hung up on, yelled at, and insulted over the phone enough times, I learned to let things roll off of my back.In any job (or situation, for that matter), Ive re alized that an outpouring of negative emotion, even if directed at me, doesnt necessarily have anything to do with me.Toughening up was a hard- albeit important- lesson to learn.5. Teamwork (Makes the Dream Work)By the end of college, I was my own best teammate when it came to schoolwork. From research papers to exam cramming, I had my own work style down pat- and I liked it.In the workplace, though, my self-motivation could only go so far. Without my talented and supportive teammates, I wouldnt have been able to tackle the volume of readers whose subscriptions I needed to renew. On a more qualitative level, they made my days way better- whether they were high-fiving me when we hit goal numbers or commiserating with me when we didnt.In sales, as in anything, you cant do it alone. And if youve got a good team of colleagues, dont forget to count your lucky stars.6. Take Off the Rosy GlassesWhen I graduated from college, I knew that I would be lucky to find a job- any job- in a particu larly depressing job market. Still, I nursed a hope that I would somehow stumble into a position that was perfect for me one that allowed me to be creative, to write constantly, and, of course, to avoid the dreaded phone.This didnt happen right away, and Im glad. Most people dont just fall into a perfect-fit profession- getting there takes a lot of work and a little trial and error. And not loving my first job helped me analyze the pros and cons of the position and assess what I really wanted in my future opportunities.In the two years and change since I left my sales job, Ive been surprised to see how often I recall those transferable skills in my daily work. Im pleased to see the sales(wo)man in me, long thought dead, resurrect herself from time to time and remind me of the lessons that, looking back, I would never trade.Photo of salesperson courtesy of Shutterstock.

Why Accounting Pros Are Important Small Business Hires

Why Accounting Pros Are Important Small Business HiresWhy Accounting Pros Are Important Small Business HiresFinancial integrity is everything when you have a small geschftliches miteinander, whether youre just starting out or youve been operating for years. Yet the temptation is great for an owner or office manager to think theres no need to hire accounting professionals. You can handle all the accounting functions yourself. After all, isnt that what QuickBooks is for?The truth is, there may be more effective ways to handle this crucial aspect of your business. In other words It might be time to hire an accountant.Many small businesses may balk at the expense of hiring an accounting professional, but the investment can actually save money for your business and, in the end, pay for itself.How can accounting professionals help your small business?When you hire skilled accounting professionals, you create some insurance against ineffective or even faulty financial management. For each s tage of development your small business is in, the right accountant can be a lifesaver.When a business is in the startup phase, an accountant canAdvise on what type of company to fasson (such as an LLC, C corporation or S corporation)Guide the financial section of your business planHelp you make decisions about how to maximize profit if your personal finances are tied to the companys successWhen a business is operational, an accountantManages day-to-day financial transaction recording and ensures it is compliant with the lawFinds cost savings with vendors, employees and office operationsManages tax preparation, including all forms for employees and contractors, payroll tax withholdings and financial reportsOversees payrollPlans for changes in business expenses to ensure that additional costs do not cause financial hardshipCan design a financial safety net in case of a catastrophic event such as the death or disability of one of the business ownersDuring a growth period, an accountan tAdvises on how to handle financial growth by providing financial reports and insights on opportunitySafeguards your small business against audit or helps work through the process if the company is audited by the IRSHelps with planning expansion, opening new locations or even selling the businessIf your business is in financial difficulty, your accountant canIdentify problem areasWrite new plans to bring finances under controlWork with creditors to set up payment plans, remove liens and reduce interest chargesDoes you need someone full time?In some cases, relying on temporary professionals for particular accounting projects, such as tax preparation, may make more sense for businesses with a small number of employees. A staffing agency focused on placing temporary finance and accounting professionals can help you during especially busy periods.Many small companies find that dedicated accountants - either as temporary, temp-to-hire or full time solutions - can find cost savings thro ughout the business and advise on budget planning, taxes and relevant laws and regulations.Ultimately, most small business owners realize compensation for one employee is well worth the expense. An accredited expert can manage a companys finances far more profitably than even the most passionate amateur. The right accountant could be the best new hire your small business makes.