Career

• Networking for Guys Who Hate Networking

  IN A DOWN ECONOMY, being a good networker can spell the difference between being employed and, well, being screwed. But don’t approach networking like a hunter out to bag the big trophy. Bleg. Make like you’re a farmer who’s out to…cultivate crops of relationships. Speaking of which, here’s how to make the most of that upcoming office party:
      •Eye contact. Keep it steady, but not creepy. Look away occasionally--just don't make it appear that you'd rather be talking to someone else.
      •Body language. Arms folded across your chest says, “I'm bored.” Arms clasped behind your back says, “I'm listening.”
      •Positioning. If you’re talking in a group, don't hem anyone in or, worse, turn you back to them.
      •Facial expressions. Try to look friendly and interested, even if you're not. But avoid the pasted-on grin at all costs.
      Source: money.cnn.com

  
  

• 10 WORST Job Tips Ever

  Nearly every day, someone sends me a bit of astounding job-search advice from a blog or a newsletter. Some of this advice seems to come directly from the planet X-19, and some of it seems to have been made up on the spot. Here are 10 of my favorite pieces of atrocious job-search advice, for you to read and ignore at all costs:

  
  

• 4 Ways to Save Your Job in a Slow Economy

  Meet with your manager regularly to make sure you are on the same page regarding your performance. Don't complain--high-maintenance workers tend to alienate the powers that be. Stay busy, and forget about that three-week vacation. If you are fired, consider asking whether you can stay on at a lower salary. Source: SmartMoney magazine

  
  

• Simple Ways to Improve Your Powers of Persuasion

  When someone objects to something you've said, try not to become defensive. Listen carefully and try to initiate a real dialogue. Don't whine. Don't overpersuade, by listing 101 reasons why you're right. Most of all, listen carefully. Most people will tell you what they need to hear in order to be persuaded. Source: Fortune

  
  

• How to Build a Web Site for Peanuts

  For $10 and about eight hours, you can get your business's web site up and running. Low-cost and even free hosting companies are now available, and you can copy and paste much of the HTML you need to add calendars, shopping carts, etc. Plus--cheap ways to drive and monitor traffic to your site.

  
  

• Better Delegating: Four Key Strategies

  Entrepreneurs frequently block their own success by micromanaging and trying to tackle too many enormous tasks on their own. Galvanize your business ideas by taking calculated risks and investing in the knowledge of those close to you. Sound advice from Romanus Wolter, AKA “The Kick Start Guy.” Source: Entrepreneur

  
  

• How to Be Happily Self-Employed

  Many people would like to be self-employed but fear the risk—with good reason. Within five years, half of new businesses are out of business. The key to success is to do the opposite of what they teach in business school: don’t innovate. Replicate. An SMD Exclusive

  
  

• Smart Ways to BULLETPROOF YOUR JOB

  Downsizing is in the immediate future of many companies. Besides the obvious no-no's—completing projects late, griping noisily about the boss—here are seven strategies for deflecting a pink slip. How to toot your own horn and other smart ways to keep your name off the layoff list when the ax falls. Source: Money Magazine

  
  

• Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Good Leader?

  Are you a good leader? What do your management style and business philosophy say about your leadership strengths? Take this ten-question quiz to see how you score and find out if you’re on the path to success. Source: Fortune

  
  

• How to Win at OFFICE POLITICS

  Like it or not, every workplace is a political environment. But operating effectively doesn’t have to mean sucking up, lying, or slinging dirt. Office politics is simply about getting from here to there: securing a promotion, seeing an idea come to fruition, or gaining support to make an organizational change. Playing the game well is about defending your position, earning respect, exchanging favors, and keeping your sanity amid the chaos. Five steps to success. Source: BNET

  
  

• Picking the Best Email Program for Your Company

  E-mail marketing is a great way to interact with customers. These are the best services that let you manage subscriber lists, comply with spam regulations, monitor bouncebacks, and track who opened and clicked on what. Some programs will even check your message against spam filters, ensuring it won't share the same junk-folder fate as the Viagra offers or make your customers unsubscribe. Source: Inc

  
  

• 10 Ways to Get Your Message Across

  These ten tips will help you communicate with your employees consistently and effectively. The way a message should be delivered, whom it should be delivered to, what it says and the best time to deliver it all factor into whether the message will be understood or adhered to. The how, when, and why of giving positive and negative feedback. Source: Entrepreneur

  
  

• Confessions of a Layoff Coach

  What's it like to be the expert a company brings in to help fired employees find their next jobs? An outplacement counselor shares what it’s like to do his job and his advice for professionals who may be facing a layoff. How to make the most of outplacement counseling. Source: Fortune

  
  

• How to Cope with !@#$% Flight Delays

  Passengers are given little or no information about airline delays. They are herded in groups, fed institutional slop, and forced to sleep on floors or in hard chairs. Five strategies that are guaranteed to get you better treatment than the rest of the crowd, including how to get the airline to pay for the most comfortable hotel room. Source: Portfolio

  
  

• How to Catch the Eye of an Executive Recruiter

  If you want to get the attention of an executive search firm, mass mailing your resume isn’t the right approach. Instead, build relationships with recruiters while you're still employed. When the time comes that you need a job, you will have relationships with people who are willing to work with you. Source: The Wall Street Journal

  
  

• Insider's Guide to Early Retirement

  Retire younger and live better! How guys are redefining retirement and remaining in the workforce on their own terms. Men are shedding the aspects of work they don’t like and pursuing their passions. You can too, with this fifteen-year action plan. Source: Best Life

  
  

• How to Break Out of a Rut

  It's no fun to have to stay at a job that doesn't bring you a sense of excitement or satisfaction. How can you bring new vigor to your relationship with your job? Here are 13 never-fail suggestions.

  
  

• In a Sinking Industry? How to Jump Ship

  All is not lost. Many types of professional skills are transferable to other fields. Career transitions for professionals from the financial service, real estate, sales and automobile industries. Source: The Wall Street Journal

  
  

• How to Make Money Blogging

  Some firms actually pay bloggers (a bit.) Increasingly, Web content sites are finding ways to organize and syndicate writers' content. One even sends them a check up front. How you can get your share of the wealth, if enough readers are seeing your work. Source: Fortune

  
  

• How to Manage Your Former Peers

  It sounds like the ideal promotion: a management position in which you get to oversee your former colleagues, people with whom you already have a rapport and whose work habits you already know. But the transition can be anything but smooth. Six rules for your first ninety days as their new boss. Source: The Wall Street Journal.

  
  

• How to Deal with an Asshole at Work

  Seven tips for dealing with jerks at work. The best advice is to get away. “You are at great risk of suffering personal damage and of turning into as asshole yourself. Acting like a jerk isn’t just something that a few twisted people are born with; it is a contagious disease.” But escape isn’t always possible. Here’s how to cope. Source: Bob Sutton Work Matters

  
  

• Protecting Your Good Name Online

  Hiring managers use the web as a supplement to your paper résumé, creating a sort of unauthorized biography pieced together from all the references to you on the Internet. Problem is, you write your résumé, while your profile online is a collaborative property written by many. Steps you can take to protect your privacy, your web reputation and your career. Source: CNN Money

  
  

• Setting Up a Board of Directors--for Your Life

  A personal board of directors is a collection of people who know you, are interested in your well-being, and have useful points of view. You consult with them on a regular basis—say, once every six months. Establishing a personal board of directors creates a channel for accessing good advice, career guidance, and wisdom. Should you have one? Source: The New York Times

  
  

• 8 Ways to Be a Better Boss

  Companies increasingly want managers to act more like coaches. What do you need to know about coaching to succeed? Relationship building is one key. This and seven more steps in a course to help your team shine. Source: Fortune

  
  

• Dale Carnegie on Improving Your Social Skills

  His advice still rings true. Ten tips from “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Carnegie says he swiped the ideas for his book from Socrates, Jesus, and Chesterfield. These tips have been tested for the last few hundreds or thousands of years. So you know they are pretty solid. Source: The Positivity Blog

  
  

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