Learn How to Make the Most of a Business Meeting

Learn How to Make the Most of a Business MeetingLearn How to Make the Most of a Business MeetingHas your babo asked you to attend a large business meeting? Sitting through meetings with your coworkers may be a regular part of your job, but from time to time you may have to attend a very large company-wide or industry-wide gathering. Attendance at these events may range from hundreds to even thousands of people. It can be somewhat nerve-wracking especially if you are an introvert who prefers not to be in those types of situations. Here is what you can do before, during and after to help you make the most of a business meeting and relieve some of the anxiety you may feel. Before You Go Meet Other Attendees in AdvanceDo you know who is attending the meeting? If not, try to get this information. Connect with people who are attending the meeting on the organizations Facebook page or LinkedIn. Get in touch with your network to find out which of your contacts are attending or if any of them know someone who is. Then make plans to meet a few local people before the meeting. Seeing a familiar face or two will help alleviate some of your discomforts.Do Your Homework Familiarize yourself with the content of the meeting. Find out what topics will be discussed and read up on them. While you will learn a lot during the meeting, it will be helpful if you know something about the subject matter going into it. Dress AppropriatelyFigure out what you are going to wear a few weeks before the meeting. Try to find out whether the style of dress is business formal or casual. Remember that casual dress doesnt mean old worn out jeans and a t-shirt. You may have to dress up for the meeting even if you can normally wear casual attire. If you have to wear a suit and you havent done that in a while, make sure the one you have is in good shape and fits well. Take care of any alterations well in advance of the meeting. Check to see if your shoes are in good condition and if not a jar of polish or a trip to the shoemaker may be in order. Bring Clothes that Travel Well If you have to travel to the meeting, make sure you pack clothing that travels well. It wont matter that you chose appropriate attire if what you put on is wrinkled. You dont want to look like you rolled out of a clothes hamper. Bring an iron or steamer to get rid of creases.Look Your BestIf you look good, you are more likely to carry yourself in a confident manner. Get your hair trimmed a week or so before the meeting. Men should shave or groom their beards and mustaches. Fingernails should be neat and clean. Get your hair trimmed but this is not the best time to try out a new hairdo Pack Comfortable ShoesYou want to bring shoes that match your outfit, for example, dress shoes if you have to wear a suit, but you dont want to spend your day distracted by how much your feet hurt. Find something youll be comfortable in all day long. During the Meeting Introduce Yourself to Other AttendeesThere are fe w things more uncomfortable than standing around while you wait for people to come up to you. Relieve some of that awkwardness by making the first move. Introduce yourself to others. Remember, they may be feeling the same way and may be relieved that you made the first more.Dont Forget toSmile Smiling will make you look friendly and approachable. People will feel comfortable introducing themselves which will take some of the pressure to make the first move off of you. Give Your Ego a BoostThink about all the qualities others like about you. Do they consider you knowledgeable, reliable, nice to be around or caring? If you have a positive attitude about yourself, you will convey that confidence to others.Get People to Talk About ThemselvesMost people love to talk about themselves so make sure to ask those you meet about their jobs, their lives (without getting too personal) and their hobbies.Beware of Alcohol While alcohol will probably not be served during the meeting, it may be serv ed at accompanying social events.Drinking alcohol may relax you, but it can also lessen your inhibitions. You may say things that you shouldnt. While you may want to have one drink, you should only do so if you know it wont affect you, but you shouldnt have more than that. After Its Over Take Home Something ValuableTakeaways are the most important byproduct of business meetings. They can include new ideas to implement in your job or new people to add to your network.Keep in winzigkeitMaking new connections at a business meeting is pointless if you arent going tomaintainthose contacts when you go back to work. Keeping in touch with the people you met will make attending your next business meeting easier.

Interviewing Strategy Clues to Uncover Corporate Culture

Interviewing Strategy Clues to Uncover Corporate CultureInterviewing Strategy - Clues to Uncover Corporate CultureSee the corporate culture from the inside. I often remind my clients that when they are interviewing for an open position, they are interviewing the employer as much as the employer is interviewing them. By paying attention to the subtle clues in the office environment, job seekers can gain a better perspective on the culture of the company or division and make mora informed decisions about how theyll fit. Here are a few tips to help you size up the work environment of the company you are interviewing with.1. If possible, schedule your interview early in the morning, late in the day or during lunchtime.When you arrive, look around and see who else is there at that time. If you have an early morning or early evening appointment and the office is packed, chances are that the culture is one that expects long hours. If you interview during lunch and everyone seems to be eat ing at their desks, that could be a clue about the culture of the organization. If you are interviewing with a company that has a company parking lot, observe how full the lot is during these hours to determine if late nights or early mornings are part of the culture of the entire organization.2. Ask to do a walk-through of the office.If you have made it to the second round of interviews, consider asking to see the office space. This allows you to canvass the physical space, but again gives you important clues about the office culture. Is the setup cubicle-style, big open spaces, windowed offices or a lot of closed doors? Does the space appear clean and well maintained, and feel like a place where you would feel comfortable and safe?3. Make small talk with the receptionist.This is important for several reasons. Many hiring authorities ask the receptionist his impressions of candidates who come in to apply for jobs. Make sure his first impression of you is positive. Through your conv ersation, you may gain valuable tidbits of information or see firsthand what types of people come through the reception area and how they interact with each other.4. Note any interruptions during the interview.Again, this could be a sign of what its like to work in that particular environment. Did your interview start on time or were you kept waiting? Is the interview conducted in a quiet environment behind closed doors? Does the person interviewing you interrupt the flow of the meeting to take phone calls? Does the interview end abruptly due to some sort of office crisis? While there are some hiring authorities who stage interruptions to see how you absprache with them, I truly believe that for the most part these are bedrngnis planned. Instead, this can be indicative of the departments culture or the hiring managers style.5. Observe preferred communication styles.How were the interview and follow-up meetings arranged? Were they set up by e-mail, phone or snail mail? Does the compa ny prefer one-on-one or group interview formats? Did the hiring manager give you any technical tests or assessments as part of the interview process? By observing the different ways companies interview and gather information, job seekers can begin to uncover how information is managed and validated by members of the organization.Of course, no interview scenario is perfect, and Im not suggesting that you penalize a company or hiring authority if a glitch occurs during the interview. But it is important to observe the rhythm of the office and factor that information into your decision. What have you observed during your interviews, and how has that information influenced your feelings about a company or a job?

The Biggest Resume Writing Mistakes to Avoid

The Biggest Resume Writing Mistakes to AvoidThe Biggest Resume Writing Mistakes to AvoidWhen preparing a resume and deckblatt letter to score the job of your dreams, what you have to say is important, but so ishowyou say it. No matter how perfect your pedigree or impressive your experience, making mistakes on your resume can undermine your job search efforts. Its essential to avoid the biggest resume writing mistakes. Review the top three resume writing mistakes to avoid, courtesy ofGrammarly, an automated proofreading company. Vague, Repetitive Writing Which of these two example texts appeals to you more? I have an MBA from Duke University. My sales kollektiv has performed really well. I have worked for two Fortune 500 companies since graduation.After graduating from Duke University, I put my MBA to work at Ingles Markets, a Fortune 500 company. I lead my sales team at Lowes, Inc. to increase revenue by nine percent last year in the third quarter. The differences between Example A and Example B areincreased specificityandvaried sentence structure. They offer the same general information about our hypothetical candidates qualifications, but the second example goes into detail about work experience and achievements. Being able toput an exact numberon the increased revenue is much more impressive than a vague statement. Although you might not have been able to put your finger on it, the other reason the first example seems lackluster is that every sentence uses the same basic structure. Use a variety of sentence structures and lengths to give your resume more appeal. Why? Because a simple sentence, which consists of a subject and then a predicate, can be very effective and direct, but using only one type of sentence can make your reader lose interest. Aim to incorporate a variety of sentences- simple, compound, complex, and complex-compound- into your writing to keep it feeling fresh and lively. Passive Voice No one wants to be thought of as passive, and yet passive voice often shows up in business writing. Passive voice performs a switcheroo on the subject and predicate of a sentence, as in, The customer tafelgeschirr campaign was overseen by the regional vice president of sales. In that example, the person doing the action (the VP of sales) comes at the end of the sentence. It would be much clearer to rewrite the sentence as The regional vice present of sales oversaw the customer service campaign. Use this active voice whenever possible. As theWriting Center at UNC-Chapel Hillexplains Use of the passive voice is not a grammatical error. Its a stylistic issue that pertains to clarity- that is, there are times when using the passive voice can prevent a reader from understanding what you mean. Write with as much clarity as possible. The last thing you want to do in a resume or cover letter is to make your potential employer work harder than necessary to understand what you mean. Passive voice also communicates a certain, well,passivi tythat wont help you get your foot in the door. Take charge, own your actions and experience, and always write in the active voice. Boring Verbs Grammarly has covered the importance of action verbs in resumes before, but it bears repeating here. Boring verbs send the wrong message to recruiters and using them wont help you make a great first impression. Job seekers want to be seen as active, motivated employees, so why are so many resumes filled with the same old lifeless verbs? Some of the usual suspects include WorkedDidWasSpentManaged As Career Expert Jessica Holbrook Hernandez says, Instead of using phrases like served as, duties included, promoted to, worked withchoosestrong action verbs. Action verbs do just what they say they convey action and, ultimately, results. For each of your job duties, brainstorm a list of specific, exciting words to describe what you accomplished. If you get stuck, check out thisthesaurus for new ideas. Remember, the way you present your resume a nd cover letter demonstrates not only your ability to communicate clearly and effectively but also shows the level of care and attention to detail that you take with any task. Employers are always looking for careful, detail-oriented people so make a sharp first impression by avoiding the common writing mistakes. Tips Avoiding the mistakes presented here will go a long way to getting your cover letter and resume noticed, but there are a few additional mistakes youll want to avoid. For example, you dont want to have spelling errors. But misspelled words can be easily missed so use a service such as Grammarly or ask a friend or colleague to proofread your cover letter and resume.Keep in mind there are some things that shouldnt be included in your resume. Dont list your personal information, such as religious or political affiliation. Theres no need to list your hobbies either. Stick to information thats relevant to your career journey and job hunting.Be sure to include information on your skill set. Its important to describe the skills you have and how theyre the perfect match for the job you want. Think about your thought processes, administrative skills, communication and people skills, and more. Feel stuck? Take a look at these skills lists for resumes for inspiration.