Category Archives: Adapt, Innovate, Win

Branding When the Lowest Price is Not Enough wwwjaywrencom

Branding: When the Lowest Price Is Not Enough

Adapt, Innovate, Win, Interviewing, Job Skills

Branding: When the Lowest Price Is Not Enough

I worked as a recruiter in the consumer-packaged goods industry. Every day I talked with job seekers and hiring managers who sold consumer products through retail stores.

When I reviewed qualifications, I was assessing a job seeker’s ability to make brands successful. Themes recurred in the profiles I recruited. The hiring companies were seeking people who could design and conduct successful brand campaigns.

Interviewing

When you are interviewing, you might find these ideas helpful to show companies how you can make their brands successful.

Targeted

Walmart, Costco, and Walgreens all sell pharmaceuticals. Walmart targets customers who want to buy sustainable quantities at the best price. Costco, on the other hand, targets customers who can afford to buy larger quantities to get the better price. Walgreens (and CVS) have stores in every neighborhood. They charge higher retail prices for the convenience of shopping locally.

Simple Calls to Action

Calls to action are statements that bring the customer to act. They may be explicit like the statement “Save now.”

Or the call to action may be implicit: “Offer is good while supplies last.”  The statement implies that you must buy now to reap the benefits.

Consistent

Once you know your audience, you hit them with the same message over and over. Advertising is like the Colorado river. Even when navigating through the rapids, you are not likely to see the river eroding the walls and floor of the Grand Canyon. Over time, however, the canyon becomes deeper, wider, and changes course.

Logos and Icons

The use of logos has taken on even more significance as social media has created icons and identity for their brands. Just the following letters alone are enough for people to identify major social media sites:  in, f, G+, P, and t. In order, those iconic letters represent LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Tumblr. Twitter, of course, is the iconic birdie.

Slogans

Slogans are memorable. Here are examples.

“Expect More. Pay Less” (Target Stores) ™

“Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man.” (Ace Hardware™)

“The Most Interesting Man in the World” (XX Dos Equis™)

“Save Money. Live Better.” (Walmart™)

“Glasses in less than an hour.” (LensCrafters™)

My favorite slogan is the iPod launch slogan:  “A thousand tunes in your pocket.” (Apple™)

 

4 Questions of a Successful Career Plan

Adapt, Innovate, Win, Job Search

4 Questions of a Successful Career

Here are four questions to ask yourself in planning your career and in adjusting your career plan over time.

What do you want to do?

Write down what you want to do on the job. Write down where you want to live.  Write down whether you want to work from home or go to a place outside of your home to work. Write down whether you want to work for yourself or for someone else.

You should use this process or a similar process every time you evaluate the progress of your career.

These are your career goals. If you don’t know your goals, how can you possibly achieve your them?

What are you capable of doing?

Write down your experience in managing projects, managing people, creating innovation and change, processing data, writing software or publications, and using applications and tools.  Make a list under each category.  These are your abilities.

What jobs match your goals and your abilities?

You can research this information from job descriptions that you find on Internet job listing sites.  There are also career aptitude tests. ” Take the Career Aptitude Test | Rasmussen College” and “Career Aptitude Test | What Career is Right for Me” are two popular tests.

For a video of the Fastest Growing Occupations 2014-24, click here.

Who is hiring for the jobs that match what your goals and your abilities?

Now you are getting to an actual job search.  If you have narrowed down the industries you want to pursue, you can start to approach companies in these industries directly. Many companies list their jobs on their company website.  If you know someone working at a company where you want to work, contact that person directly.  Identify recruiters in the industry you want to pursue and contact those recruiters.  Check newspapers for job listings in your preferred field. Check trade journals specific to your industry for jobs.

The best way to find jobs and jobs descriptions is in a search engine and not a job board or job search engine.

5 Simple Techniques to Get Rid Of Job Interview Anxiety

Adapt, Innovate, Win, Interviewing

5 Simple Techniques to Get Rid Of Job Interview Anxiety

LISA EVANS, Fast Company contributor and freelance writer, uses her technique of helping readers make small changes for huge results in this article.  She writes,

Don’t let your nerves stand in the way of landing your dream job. Here’s how to put your best foot forward.

Source: How To Get Rid Of Job Interview Anxiety | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

Words that Motivate

Adapt, Innovate, Win

Words that motivate employees are words that create inclusiveness and extend recognition for the contribution of other people make.  They are also words that create a recognition of boundaries that each person feels about receiving help.

I read an article on HBR.org about the power in the word “we” and a second article on HBR.org about the power in the word “together.”  I have also read on several occasions that the word most people want to hear is their own name.

The attraction of all three of these words is that they create inclusiveness.  Picture a discussion about a team’s effort in front of the team members and other people in the company.  The discussion goes like this: “Bill and Sue are on our team.  Together we successfully create projects that exceed company expectations.  Without the great job that Bill and Sue have done, we would never have succeeded on any of these projects.  Together, we are a team of winners.”

“Thank you” is a phrase with two words that people appreciate in response to the things they say or do for someone.

“How might we?” are the three words that the company IDEO states as the basis for the beginning every one of their innovation projects.

“You did a good job” come up frequently as the five best words a person can say to another person.

Again, the phrases “Thank you,” “How might we,” “I regret my mistake,” and “You did a good job” all create inclusiveness by giving recognition for the work of other people and by presenting a willingness of to admit your mistakes.

“May I help you?” is another four-word phrase that helps to motivate people through inclusiveness and by recognizing the boundaries other people may be feeling at the time.

In closing, using words to motivate employees will create inclusiveness, extend recognition for the contribution that other people make, a allow people to relax and focus on the job without co-workers or supervisors intruding on their boundaries.

How to Write a Resume

Adapt, Innovate, Win, Resume Summary, Resumes

How to write a resume: having a resume is an essential part of getting a job for most people.  I based the information in this article on two sources.  The first source is the hundreds of resumes I have read as a corporate recruiter.  The second source is the feedback I have received from hiring managers, staffing managers, other recruiters, and from interviewing hundreds of applicants.  These are suggestions only, but the layout is a working format.  If you replace the information below with your information, you will have written a resume.

A resume is similar to a job application.  When you complete a job application, you will need to list the jobs you have had, where you performed those jobs, and when you had those jobs.  Therefore, you will find it useful to have your resume with you as you complete job applications.

Related Articles
Resumes for Managers
Resumes for Recent College Graduates

CONTACT INFORMATION
Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Home phone
Cell phone
Email address

OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY
Stating an objective or a giving a summary at the beginning of the resume is common practice.  Stating an objective or providing a summary is optional.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY 
There is no sentence structure in a resume.  The wording in a resume is simply a series of statements of actions and accomplishments.

For example, this is a sentence: I doubled the company’s sales in 6 months.
This is resume wording: Doubled company’s sales in 6 months.

The history in a resume is just a list that includes employment periods, performance, skills, responsibilities, accomplishments, and education.

(Most recent job first)
Company Name; company Location,   From –to
Most recent title, Location, From – to

Use bullet format.
•        List things you have accomplished.  Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.  List things that showed that you made a difference in the positions you held.
•        Use facts—for example, exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%, reduced costs, promoted people, saved time, increased productivity, etc.
•        Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words, so list successes with specific industry words or functions.  Include the real name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

More Career Article
Building Professional Relationships Everywhere
Are you a card collector?

EDUCATION
Normally, education goes at the bottom of the resume.  People who have recently received an educational degree or credential that alters their employability might consider putting education at the top of the resume.

Other items that might go at the bottom of the resume are awards, extra skills, volunteer work, or perhaps some relevant college employment.

HOW TO SHORTEN YOUR RESUME FOR READABILITY
Hiring managers only spend seconds looking at each resume.  They are going through stacks of resumes, often in documents that they have to open one at a time.

Avoiding the following items might make the difference as to whether a hiring manager reads your resume.

Objective
Summary
Hobbies
References
References available on request
Compensation
Long paragraph formats
Long-winded discussions of core responsibilities
Too many details on jobs with well-known functions
Details on jobs that date back in time
Paragraph formatting
Third person reference

Resume Objective Examples

Adapt, Innovate, Win, Job Search, Resume Summary

Resume objective examples:  Using a resume objective can help a hiring manager or a recruiter decide to whether to continue reading your resume.  Likewise, using a resume objective can help a hiring manager or recruiter decide not to read your resume.  Write your resume objective with the resume reader in mind.

Your resume objective must be brief, to the point, easy to read, and easy to understand.

There are several excellent ways to word the objective.

  1. Word the objective to fit the company and type of job you are seeking.

Example #1

Objective statement:  The purpose of this resume is to apply for a position at Beta Data Providers Company as a sales analyst.

Example #2

Objective statement:  The purpose of this resume is to apply for a position at E-Commerce Clothing Company as a shipping clerk

  1. Word the objective to fit a general category of jobs.

Objective statement:  Seeking a position in which I can use my advanced skills in industrial engineering.

  1. Word the objective to fit a level of responsibility.

Example #1

Objective statement:  Seeking an entry-level position sales

Example #2

Objective statement: Seeking a management position involving hiring, scheduling, training, and evaluating hourly retail employees

  1. Word the objective to fit a certification or credential.

Example #1

Objective statement:  Seeking a position as a Certified Public Account with a firm that focuses on accounting audits

Example #2

Objective statement:   Seeking a position as a credentialed teacher with experience in elementary education

  1. Word the objective to fit a position where a person will have great independence.

Example #1

Objective statement:   Seeking a website development position that I can do from my home

Example #2

Objective statement:  Seeking a home-based telemarketing position

  1. Word the objective to fit a position that requires effective soft skills.

Objective statement:  Seeking a position that will allow me to motivate, inspire, and direct a team of workers

  1.  Word the objective to fit a position for business development.

Objective statement:  Seeking a position in which I can build business through strategic and innovative marketing development and new product launches

Job Change: What is Your Greatest Strength?

Adapt, Innovate, Win, Interviewing

What’s Your Greatest Strength is a popular interview question.

Answering this question gives you an opportunity to shine as the perfect applicant for the job.  When you are preparing for your interview, think specifically about how your strengths fit the job.

There are different types of job strengths.

Each of these strengths has value depending on the requirements of a particular job.  Take the examples from these lists, write them into your resume, and use them in your interview.

Soft skills strengths

Soft skills are tricky.  Some hiring managers and recruiters overlook soft skills in a resume.  In other cases, hiring managers and recruiters think of lists of soft skills as puffery in a resume.  Forgive me for repeating this point, but discussing soft skills is effective when those skills specifically relate to the job for which you are interviewing.

  • Interpersonal Communication skills
  • Enthusiasm & Attitude skills
  • Teamwork skills
  • Relationship skills
  • Problem Solving & Critical Thinking skills
  • Professionalism skills

Knowledge-based or hard-skill strengths

These skills come from your education and your work you have done.  They are the strengths that you can take from one job to the next.  The strengths are core qualifications for any job.

  1. Accounting
  2. Analysis
  3. Brand Development
  4. Computer Programming
  5. Data Management
  6. Education
  7. Financial Management
  8. Internet Programming
  9. People Management
  10. Planning
  11. Mathematics
  12. Research and Development
  13. Software Applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, image editing, database
  14. Software Development
  15. Selling
  16. Typing
  17. Writing

Talent or natural ability strengths

One of my favorite subjects is talent.  Talent is a gift.  However, as people learn new things, their intelligence relative to the intelligence of other people their age can increase.  In other words, our intelligence quotient can become greater.

The obvious example for an understanding of how the growth of talent has limitations is the one for gifted runners.  Training and conditioning can make a person a faster runner.  However, the person who is gifted runner will also become faster through training and conditioning.

Talents are strengths that enable you to develop skills.  There are two types of talent: convergent talent and divergent talent.  Some people would say that there are three types of talent.  The third is emotional intelligence.

Listing talent in a job description is not a normal process.  However, if you are applying for a job that requires on-going skills development, you should highlight the fact that you have a talent for developing those types of skills.

5 Elements of A Career Change

Adapt, Innovate, Win, Job Search

5 Elements of a Career Change: Below are common tools and suggestions others have found helpful in making an effective career move.

Suggestions on writing a resume

Here is what you put into a resume and the order in which you put this information.  If you replace this
information with your information, you will have written a resume.

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Rule 1: Never refer to yourself in the third person in the body of the resume.
Rule 2: Use factual accomplishments and not subjective opinions of yourself.

  • Example of a fact:  exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%
  • Examples of opinion; goal-oriented, creative, tenacious, strategic, honest, loyal:  For a person to
    use adjectives about themselves puts human resource people to sleep

Objective:  This is optional and often redundant.  Your resume has the objective of
getting you interviews with an employer who sees a match in your location, your compensation, and your
experience and that employer’s needs.  It is conventional to state an objective here but you can probably
find a better use for the space.

Employment History (Most recent job first)

Company Name, Location, and Period of Employment (From to)
Most recent title:

  • Use bullet format.
  • List things you have accomplished.
  • Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
  • List things that showed you made a difference.
  • Include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity,
    etc.
  • Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
  • List successes with specific industry words or functions.
  • Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.
    g, Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market
    Insights, Innovation), etc.

Next List Previous Titles at this company and again bullets on successes:

  • List your have accomplishments.
  • Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
  • List things that showed you made a difference.
  • Things you have accomplished include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity, etc.
  • Companies and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
  • Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market
    Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

Education goes next after you have listed the first job you held after college or in your career:  Part-time or vacation jobs held while in school are sometimes not listed except as a bullet to the education experience.

Do not put references or salary information on your resume.

When you have completed your resume, please send Jay Wren a copy.

Suggestions on writing a cover letter

Your Name
Street Address
City, State Zip
Phone Number
Email Address

Date

Name of person receiving your letter
Company Name
Street Address
City, State Zip

Dear First Name:

(If you come recommended by someone, list that person’s name here).  Name of person referred me to you.  I am writing to apply for as position as a (fill in name of position) with your company.  My resume is attached.

In my resume, you will find a record of success in (list competencies)

When may I interview with you?

Best regards,
Your Name

Suggestions on interview preparation

Here is what you can do to have a better interview.

1) Prepare an agenda for the interview, things you want to cover.
2) Research the company.  Find articles on the company and use information from these articles in your interview presentation.
3) Research the job and be prepared to talk about how your skills fit the job.
4) Review your skills and the information in your resume.
5) Be upbeat and positive about the world, the way you might be on a Friday afternoon.
6) Take with you extra copies of your resume, a typed list of questions, and paper and pen for notes.
7) Bring examples of your work that show your skills and successes.
8) Be factual about the work you did and the work others did to make you a success.
9) In the interview, listen to the questions you are asked and be sure that you understand the question before answering.  If the question is too broad to enable you to give a good answer, ask the interviewing to help you understand better what he or she is trying to learn.
10) Be positive when you talk about your current company, your boss, and your job.  Emphasize that you are looking to make a change to get more of what the company interviewing you has to offer.
11) Write stories of your successes as preparation to discuss how you can contribute to a company’s business.

12) Interview Preparation Outline:

Candidates have found that the following outline is effective in getting the job.

In using this type of outline to prepare for an interview, a person will have anticipated and practiced how
to handle many of the questions and contingencies that may arise in a job interview.

  1.        WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY
  2.        WHAT I BRING TO A COMPANY IN YOUR INDUSTRY

III.        MY PLANS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR BUSINESS

  1.        WAYS THAT I CAN ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS
  2. WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY
  •        The reputation of the company as customer-based marketers
  •        The long history of success of the company
  •        The glamour of sports entertainment
  •        The opportunity to work in an environment that enables me to use the promotional and marketing
    tools I have developed for my career
  •        The commitment to respecting and honoring their employees with programs
  •        The opportunity to work in the field of my choice:
  1. WHAT I BRING TO A THIS INDUSTRY
  •        Creatively and enthusiastically use the knowledge I gained in college to make the organization
    more successful
  •        Have a range of appropriate skills
  •        Have developed marketing strategies to include customer service, pricing, and product selection

III. MY THOUGHTS ON SALES OR MARKETING PLANS

  •        Does it present value to the customer?
  •        Does it create the correct brand image?
  •        Does it reach your target customer base?
  •        Does it make a buyer out of your customer?
  •        Does it create repeat customers?
  1. WAYS THAT I CAN ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS
  •        Identify target customer
  •        Identify the image that my company wants to project
  •        Create that image
  •        Create promotion to reach target customers
  •        Tell them why they want to spend their money
  •        Create an impression to make them want to come again

Suggestions for a thank you letter:

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Date

Mr. /Ms. Interviewer
Name of company
Street address, City, State Zip

Dear Mr. /Ms. Interviewer:

Thank the person for meeting with you.

Express your impression of the company.

Express your interest in the job.

Best regards,

Your name

Tools and Tips Summary

  1. Reference material
  2.  Work your network by making a list of every possible contact you have ever made in business and
    contact these people for ideas and opportunities.
    3.  Ask for referrals of every person you contact.
    4.  Lay out your goals as specifically as you can, but be aware that the more flexible you are in terms of
    money, location, and opportunity the more opportunities you will have available to you.
    5. Contingency recruiter or retained recruiter?  In practice, how a recruiter is compensated is not nearly
    as important as what contacts he may have.  Typically, retained recruiters are conducting searches where the salary is above $750,000 and involve “C” level managers.
    6.  Be organized.  Make a list daily of your contacts, what you discussed what action you have taken and what action needs to be taken.
    7.  Read the want ads in the local newspaper, national publications, and especially trade journals. Become an expert on what is in the job market.
    8.  Before approaching a company directly, research it thoroughly.  How is it structured?  Bottler, distributor, direct, or broker sales?  Public or private?  Do you have a referral to get your foot in the door, etc.?  Who are the key managers for the job you are seeking? To whom do these people report?
    9.  Prepare for an interview the same way you would prepare for a major sales call, business review, or planning session where you are the key presenter.
    10.  Follow up on contacts you have made.
  • LinkedIn
  • Manta.com
  • Trade Journals
  • Cost of living and compensation information

Are Standing Meetings More Productive?

Adapt, Innovate, Win

Are Standing Meetings More Productive?

In a study at Washington University, St. Louis, MO., researchers found increases in the performance of people working in groups.

Beginning with the knowledge that standing and working is healthy, the researchers, Andrew P. Knight and Markus Baer, created their study to learn how standing affects the performance of groups.  They published their study in Social Psychological and Personality Science: “Get Up, Stand Up, The Effects of a Non-Sedentary Workspace on Information Elaboration and Group Performance.”

Broader Implications of Standing Meetings

Further study on group interaction while standing will no doubt come later, perhaps from Andrew P. Knight and Markus Baer.  They have developed methods of measurement and an environment for this type of research. What is especially meaningful about this study is how standing affects the performance of all worker performance, not just workers in groups.  Could standing to work make all workers more productive?

Standing at work is exercise.  According to Jennifer Cohen, wellness coach to executives, Forbes.com, exercise makes you smarter and more effective.

Standing at Work has Grown in Popularity

Standing while working burns calories at a rate that adds up to running marathons.  Because of the increase in the number of workers at desks with computers, some people consider sitting at a desk a health hazard.  Endurance athletes who sit at work damage their health as though they were smoking.

Is Your Desk Killing You?

5 Keys to Business and Career Success

Adapt, Innovate, Win

Create a flexible plan and continue to develop new skills for success.

The first key to business and career success is a flexible plan built around continued innovation and skills development.

The needs and interest of consumers will always change. Successful businesses and people change with the needs and interest of consumers.  At one time, nearly every strip mall in my neighborhood had a movie rental store. Changing technology made these businesses obsolete. Redbox, Netflix, Amazon, on-demand television movies channels, and other companies offer better ways to get the same movie products.  Creating these businesses required the flexibility to develop skills that the people in video rental stores did not have.

Build on your strengths.

The second key to business and career success is to build on your strengths.  Know you natural talent.  Recognize that there are things that you can do more easily than other people can. Those are your strengths. They are also probably the things that you enjoy doing.

For example, learning languages is something I enjoy.  For me, building language skills is fun and easy.  Computer languages are similar to the languages people speak.  You can write spoken languages, and you can write computer languages.  The part of the brain that processes spoken and written languages also processes computer languages.

If you have excellent language skills, you might find that learning computer languages comes naturally for you.  Much of computer language has to do with punctuation, vocabulary, syntax, and proofreading.  The functions are part of all languages, including science languages.

On the other hand, I am curious about math and science.  There are elements of computer programming for managing data.  These skills are harder for me to develop.  If you have strong math skills as well as strong electrical engineering, you might want to develop these skills for computer application development or other emerging businesses.

For example, environmental companies have needs for people with science, cartography, and engineering skills. To move into the environmental industry, you may simply need to develop or expand your skills for environmentally specific tasks.

Think of ways to help others.

Another key to business and career success is to think of others.  Whenever I get to thinking too much of myself, I feel stress.  Self-absorption takes my mind off solving problems to seeing nothing but problems.  Taking time to check my ego and help other people relieves me of self-absorption.  Doing volunteer work helps me become more effective at work.
Giving a bit of myself away helps me regain focus in my job.  I see it as a key to business and career success.  I use this key to overcome feeling discouraged.  It is hard for me to feel discouraged when I am thinking of ways to help other people.

It is a key to business and career success that reminds me that success is not all about me.  It is about helping other people get what they want.

Practice persistence for business and career success.

Persistence is a key to business and career success.  If every sales representative quit after the first person said “No” to a proposal, no one would ever sell anything.

Turn frustration into solutions and inventions.

Everyone has frustrations.  We can learn from them.  We can use them to create solutions and inventions.  These are keys to business and career success.

“I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career.  I’ve lost almost 300 games.  Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over in my life.  And that is why I succeed.”  Michael Jordan

I heard Ed Land say that as an inventor, he “imagined things before they happened.”

Instead of sitting around angry and frustrated, look at the situation and ask yourself, “How can I solve this problem?”  Starting with this question is how successful people build business and career success.