Monday, July 14, 2008
I constantly recommend LinkedIn to people as a way to connect with people around work-related issues. I have a profile that makes it easy for people to see what I'm doing and what I've done in the past. I have a network of people to whom my contacts can connect, for information, interviews, references, services - you name it. I know people who've gotten jobs through reconnecting with former employers or colleagues. It's simply the most relevant networking site out there for professionals in any field.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Giving and Receiving
Many people find it easier to give to others than to receive. It's easier to pay someone a compliment than to say "thank you" when someone compliments you. Or it's easier to make time to help someone with their job search than to ask someone else to give you that time.
Here's what I had to do to get over that reluctance to receive.
I realized how good I feel when I help someone else, and they are really thankful for it. So how can I deny other people that same pleasure?
By receiving a gift from someone, I give them a gift in return - the gift of good feeling and satisfaction.
Here's what I had to do to get over that reluctance to receive.
I realized how good I feel when I help someone else, and they are really thankful for it. So how can I deny other people that same pleasure?
By receiving a gift from someone, I give them a gift in return - the gift of good feeling and satisfaction.
Website Readability
Dale King, a member of StartUp Nation (a website by and for entrepreneurs) wrote this great article about putting together a readable website. I pass these valuable tips along exactly as he wrote them.
During the course of a day, I often visit many websites, both for business purposes and pleasure. More often than not, I find websites that have poor readability. What do I mean by poor readability? Here are the five most common readability faux pas I come across:
1. White or light text on a black or dark background. This is a readability no, no. Why? This is called text in low-contrast, and research has shown that text in low contrast irritates the reader and causes eye fatigue. Instead, use contrasting colors like black or dark text on a white or light-colored background. This is easier on the eyes, and much more reader-friendly.
2. Huge blocks of text. Readers of web pages are notorius scanners, so break up your text into shorter, bite-sized paragraphs. There's nothing worse than trying to read a paragraph that seems to never end. Most people won't even bother to try. They'll just click away and leave your site. Also, use bullets and subheads whenever possible.
3. Tiny text. Stay away from using tiny font sizes that make people squint or requires bifocals to read. Stick with 12pt font whenever possible. Or at the very least 10pt font. Conversely, don't use overly large font sizes either. And use all-capitalization sparingly.
4. Fancy fonts. Whenever possible use regular or standard font types such as Times Roman, Arial or Verdana. Try to stay away from hard to read fancy fonts, such as Italic, Comic Sans or any type of cursive fonts.
5. Too much clutter. So many websites I visit look like someone's attic. Clutter, clutter and more clutter. Have you ever visited a website that was so cluttered, your eyes didn't know where to begin to look? Do you know what I do when I come across a website like that? Instead of hanging around trying to figure things out, I leave. Don't over-crowd your webpages with text and graphics. Less is more. I personally live by the motto, "White space is a good thing!"
There are of course many other things you can do to make your website more readable. I will cover those in another article.
During the course of a day, I often visit many websites, both for business purposes and pleasure. More often than not, I find websites that have poor readability. What do I mean by poor readability? Here are the five most common readability faux pas I come across:
1. White or light text on a black or dark background. This is a readability no, no. Why? This is called text in low-contrast, and research has shown that text in low contrast irritates the reader and causes eye fatigue. Instead, use contrasting colors like black or dark text on a white or light-colored background. This is easier on the eyes, and much more reader-friendly.
2. Huge blocks of text. Readers of web pages are notorius scanners, so break up your text into shorter, bite-sized paragraphs. There's nothing worse than trying to read a paragraph that seems to never end. Most people won't even bother to try. They'll just click away and leave your site. Also, use bullets and subheads whenever possible.
3. Tiny text. Stay away from using tiny font sizes that make people squint or requires bifocals to read. Stick with 12pt font whenever possible. Or at the very least 10pt font. Conversely, don't use overly large font sizes either. And use all-capitalization sparingly.
4. Fancy fonts. Whenever possible use regular or standard font types such as Times Roman, Arial or Verdana. Try to stay away from hard to read fancy fonts, such as Italic, Comic Sans or any type of cursive fonts.
5. Too much clutter. So many websites I visit look like someone's attic. Clutter, clutter and more clutter. Have you ever visited a website that was so cluttered, your eyes didn't know where to begin to look? Do you know what I do when I come across a website like that? Instead of hanging around trying to figure things out, I leave. Don't over-crowd your webpages with text and graphics. Less is more. I personally live by the motto, "White space is a good thing!"
There are of course many other things you can do to make your website more readable. I will cover those in another article.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Action Makes the ONLY Difference
Lest I ever forget that I always can give myself credit for doing something - no matter how well or poorly, I love this quote from Teddy Roosevelt (speaking at the Sorbonne in 1910):
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”
Long ago, I heard or coined the phrase: If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly.
Almost no one has understood that, until I explain that it's only by taking the action that I will gain experience. And through experience I can learn how to do something better - or learn that I don't want to do it again. So if I think it's worth doing, why not give it a go? So what if I do it badly? Next time, I'll do a little better.
We tell children that "practice makes perfect" yet do we actually live that way? So many adults (myself included) want to do things at an excellent level - the VERY FIRST TIME we attempt them! That's unrealistic, not to mention ridiculous.
However, this level of expectation is everywhere in our modern western world. Can you believe there is a job title of "critic?" People actually get paid to criticize other people's efforts. It's very sad. This is why so many people in the public eye learn to ignore reviews of their work or stories about them.
Most of us have our own "public" for whom we perform - our family, friends, inner voices. The lesson here is to ignore those voices that criticize us, that tell us we failed, that laugh at our attempts to follow our dreams, that discourage our taking action that might lead to a different path for us.
So the point of what Teddy and I are saying is to ignore those critics. Go ahead, take an action! It may feel risky, yet the real risk is in doing nothing and regretting it.
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”
Long ago, I heard or coined the phrase: If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly.
Almost no one has understood that, until I explain that it's only by taking the action that I will gain experience. And through experience I can learn how to do something better - or learn that I don't want to do it again. So if I think it's worth doing, why not give it a go? So what if I do it badly? Next time, I'll do a little better.
We tell children that "practice makes perfect" yet do we actually live that way? So many adults (myself included) want to do things at an excellent level - the VERY FIRST TIME we attempt them! That's unrealistic, not to mention ridiculous.
However, this level of expectation is everywhere in our modern western world. Can you believe there is a job title of "critic?" People actually get paid to criticize other people's efforts. It's very sad. This is why so many people in the public eye learn to ignore reviews of their work or stories about them.
Most of us have our own "public" for whom we perform - our family, friends, inner voices. The lesson here is to ignore those voices that criticize us, that tell us we failed, that laugh at our attempts to follow our dreams, that discourage our taking action that might lead to a different path for us.
So the point of what Teddy and I are saying is to ignore those critics. Go ahead, take an action! It may feel risky, yet the real risk is in doing nothing and regretting it.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Networking and Job Sites
AMightyRiver.com is an online professional networking site for African American professionals to network and search for career opportunities with companies that value diversity.
iHispano.com promotes Hispanic employment and networking opportunities for Hispanic and Bilingual Professionals through its partnerships with leading Hispanic organizations and corporate clients.
I also found these sites:
newjerseyjobnetwork.com is comprised of multiple employment Web sites focusing exclusively on local communities in the State of New Jersey. The site has articles and tips for job seekers, from some unexpected sources.
jobtarget.com: a career site services company that builds and manages job posting sites for more than 1000 organizations and associations (such as the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR), Gamejobs.com, Interior Design Magazine, National Association of Sales Professionals (NASP), and manufacturingjobs.com, and AHRMIO - The Association for Human Resources Management in International Organizations ), manages job opening postings for employers, and gives job seekers access to jobs from all their partners and partner sites.
efinancialcareers.com for jobs, careers, employment and recruitment in the financial sector, including banking, IT and investment banking. Part of Dice Holdings, it targets professionals working in banking and the financial markets and those firms seeking to employ them.
prohire.com is a plain vanilla site with very little descriptive material. As well as jobs, it has a good selection of "career resources," basically links to articles at About.com and other sites that are worth a click.
iHispano.com promotes Hispanic employment and networking opportunities for Hispanic and Bilingual Professionals through its partnerships with leading Hispanic organizations and corporate clients.
I also found these sites:
newjerseyjobnetwork.com is comprised of multiple employment Web sites focusing exclusively on local communities in the State of New Jersey. The site has articles and tips for job seekers, from some unexpected sources.
jobtarget.com: a career site services company that builds and manages job posting sites for more than 1000 organizations and associations (such as the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR), Gamejobs.com, Interior Design Magazine, National Association of Sales Professionals (NASP), and manufacturingjobs.com, and AHRMIO - The Association for Human Resources Management in International Organizations ), manages job opening postings for employers, and gives job seekers access to jobs from all their partners and partner sites.
efinancialcareers.com for jobs, careers, employment and recruitment in the financial sector, including banking, IT and investment banking. Part of Dice Holdings, it targets professionals working in banking and the financial markets and those firms seeking to employ them.
prohire.com is a plain vanilla site with very little descriptive material. As well as jobs, it has a good selection of "career resources," basically links to articles at About.com and other sites that are worth a click.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Social Entrepreneurship jobs
Look on www.socialedge.org for jobs in organizations that embody the principles of social entrepreneurship.
Social entrepreneurs are proven leaders whose approaches and solutions to social problems are helping to better the lives and circumstances of countless underserved or disadvantaged individuals.
FYI, the Skoll Foundation, which promotes systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs. Social Edge is the global online community where social entrepreneurs and other practitioners of the social benefit sector connect to network, learn, inspire and share resources.
Social entrepreneurs are proven leaders whose approaches and solutions to social problems are helping to better the lives and circumstances of countless underserved or disadvantaged individuals.
FYI, the Skoll Foundation, which promotes systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs. Social Edge is the global online community where social entrepreneurs and other practitioners of the social benefit sector connect to network, learn, inspire and share resources.
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