This question came from a busy professional.
How Can We Get an Interview When We’re Under-Qualified?
Some people may be interested in a job, but they don’t apply for the job because they don’t meet all the qualifications or have the specified experience. Why should they apply anyway?
If a candidate is under-qualified–as per the job requirements–what are three things he or she can do to still stand out on his or her application and snag an interview
anyway?
This question came from a busy professional.
I’m searching for career experts who can tell me the biggest mistakes people make
when making a presentation at work.
Most everyone has heard of the more common mistakes of not making eye contact with the audience and relying too heavily on note cards. But here are some of the bigger mistakes that you may not be aware you are making.
We will go through each in detail, explain why it’s such a big
mistake and then give advice on how a presenter can avoid making the mistake.
This question came from a busy professional.
What are career path options in the digital marketing industry?
There are several career options in digital marketing because there are several outlets within digital marketing.
This question came from a busy professional.
How do you stay connected as a remote worker?
As a remote worker, how do you fight feelings of isolation? Especially looking for advice that newcomers to remote work can use. Thank you!
In these technological times, it’s even simpler to stay connected. With the advent of video conferencing, online chatting and texting, there is little reason to feel isolated.
The real issue is that you have to take the initiative.
The very best way to “fight the feelings of isolation” is to simply “get involved”. Some things that a newcomer to remote work can do to “feel more included”:
I have an online course 10 Tips for the Telecommuter that may be of interest.
I know your situation is different. If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complimentary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ
With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.
This question came from a busy professional.
How do you quit a job without burning bridges?
I work for a consulting company and just got assigned to a 3-4-month project at the client site due to begin in early May or early June. I found out about this project last week and unfortunately, I wasn’t given a choice. The concern that I have is that I was already planning to give my resignation notice in early May and leave the company by the end of May at the latest.
I would like to tell my supervisor now that I won’t be around to take on the critical project, so they can find a replacement right away and run it by the client – but I need to iron out the details with my potential new employer first. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. My supervisor has been good to me and I don’t want to put her in a difficult situation, as she would need to find a replacement immediately after I begin the project and the client will not be thrilled about potential delays in project delivery.
Given the timing and importance of the project with a key client, I run the risk of burning bridges. Not sure what I should do. Any advice helps.
Without knowing much about your current situation – the problem doesn’t seem to be your current job. The problem is how long it is taking the new employer to iron out things with your new position. Therefore, I recommend focusing on fixing that area first.
If you cannot iron out things with the new employer relatively quickly, this is a red flag that any future issues will also be difficult to complete. If your new employer is unable or not willing to complete these things in a reasonable time frame, this is not a good sign. The new employer is putting his/her best foot forward at the time of hire. This is as good as it gets.
So, you need to start on the right foot with the new employer.
Transparency is always a good thing when starting a new position.
The new employer will appreciate that you don’t want to put your current employer in a bind. This illustrates that you will be as conscientious with the new employer as you are with your current employer.
At this point, you have 2 directions to go:
If the new company makes the agreed-upon deadline, at that time – talk to your current manager about your plans to leave at the end of May.
If the new company cannot make the agreed-upon deadline, consider this a RED FLAG.
You always have options and say when it comes to your career and future employment.
A busy professional asks a question regarding working relationships.
I’m looking for meaningful, effective ways that employees in nearly any scenario can make themselves stand out in a good way.
It goes without saying that above all, you must continue to produce high-quality work, make the most of your time at the office. We don’t want any of the below to affect the quality of your regular duties or responsibilities.
In other words, if you are not already doing the below – you are already standing out (but in a bad way).
Once you have accomplished the below, you can focus on the next 5 ways to make yourself stand out.
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management books TimePeace: Making peace with time – the The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.
Today’s question comes from a busy entrepreneur and small business owner:
I’ve been unemployed for a few months now. Could I still start a business without money?
I’m curious because I’ve read about it but never made a decision. So I do believe that the answer would help me.
Without knowing your talents, work experience and skills, this answer will be very general.
Starting a business without money is possible, but difficult.
The first step would be to create your business plan, which outlined your business goals, start-up fiscal needs, revenue expectations, resource needs, and general business strategy.
Today’s question comes from a busy professional:
What are some things to avoid saying during a salary negotiation? Please respond with any top tips
for mid-career people looking to negotiate a higher salary.
It’s time to ask for a raise, what are some things to avoid saying during a salary negotiation?
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management books TimePeace: Making peace with time – the The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.
Today’s question comes from a busy professional:
When does marketing meet customer service?
If your marketing and customer service strategies do not meet somewhere, your customers will fall through the gap. Having an understanding of how these two departments come together for the customer experience is critical to delighting your customer throughout their relationship with your company. After all, the customer will look at these functions as coming from the company as a whole, and as independent departments.
With marketing’s job being the first contact with a customer and customer service happening much further down the customer life cycle, these two departments seemingly have no overlapping strategy. But, we know this is simply not true based on research which indicates that the customer expectations set by marketing in the beginning have a significant impact on customer service’s ability to please a customer later on.
Thank you so much for your well-thought out question. Although the answer may be slightly different depending upon the specific market or industry, a good market plan normally starts with two pieces:
The market plan begins with the target customer in mind.
So – in essence, the entire market campaign is centered on attracting that perfect client.
You also need to keep your product or service in mind while marketing. You very well cannot market an automobile when you are selling a cat. At the same time, some marketing campaigns over sell the product to get that signature on that dotted line.
This is the situation that sets the improper customer expectations. This is the situations that will impact your over customer satisfaction ratings and increase your customer service calls.
Customer and Company satisfaction occurs when customer and marketing expectations match.
If marketing consistently over-promises to make a “sell”, they run the risk of eventually:
Even if the sales and marketing teams do succeed in this client contract, it’s unlikely that the client will return.
To ensure balance, the marketing sales account manager work together with their production or creating services teams, from the start.
Once the contract or SOW is signed by the client, the product team can get started on the product or service.
It is also important to note that the account manager owns that customer relationship. Therefore, once the product or service is completed, the account manager meets with the client to deliver the product, review the changes, explain its usage, review the original contract to illustrate all commitments have been met and get a feel for the client’s satisfaction.
Keeping both the company and client expectations in mind – upfront – can lead you to a successful conclusion. A sell isn’t the main event. The company is in the business of making money. Therefore, you must always consider the cost of making that sell.
I know your situation is different. If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ
With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.
What do you look for when you’re building an all-star team of employees?
Do you seek out those who fit into your company culture, focus on skill sets, or look for enthusiasm? (Or maybe all of the above!) We’re a small business and entrepreneurs looking for tips when hiring team players.
Executives discussing documents at meeting
What makes this a difficult situation is that you are a small business. You don’t have the time to invest in training someone green. At the same time, you may not have the money to match the salary requirements of the more experienced candidates.
I’ve met with several entrepreneurs that focused on enthusiasm and personalities, with the hope that the new hire would grow into the position. The problem is that as busy entrepreneurs and small business owners – you don’t have the time to train the new hire. What eventually happens is that the new hire never meets expectations, because they are never given the training that they were expecting.
There are a few ways to break this cycle.
The advantage of hiring contract or freelance talent is that you only hire when you need that particular talent or task completed. It depends on the task that is required, of course.
For simple administration and executive assistant duties, you can call upon Virtual Assistants services. This is great if your needs are a few hours or days a week.
There are also several freelance services for graphics, audio, video, copy-writing, social media and marketing.
The assumption with these contract services is that there is little training required, and if you are not satisfied with their work, you can change resources at the end of the short-term contract.
If you need full-time, in-house staff consider hiring a training consultant to create your orientation materials, your employee handbooks, document your desired procedures and then train your new hires.
This allows you to hire younger, less experienced staff (at lower rates), give them the training and orientation attention they deserve, without adding to your already overflowing plate.
The last possibility is to look at experienced but older candidates. Often times, older candidates have less expenses. Their children are grown; they own their own home with no mortgage; and they have little debt. They may even understand the difficult situation of the small business owner.
Therefore; they may be open to sliding salary scale (a lower starting salary with regular review for increases based on the success of the company).
I know your situation is different. If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ
With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.