Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Biz Innovations Changing Female Lives

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Biz Innovations Changing Female Lives In the business world, women havent always had it easy. Until the end of the 20thcentury, it was uncommon for women to work at all. And even once we entered the hallowed halls of American companies, we struggled with unconscious bias and pay disparities. Fortunately, though, 21st-centurybusiness innovationis benefiting women in an unprecedented fashion. Lets explore a few recent innovations that have changed working womens lives for the better. Business Innovation #1: Flexibility Drivers Werkis an analytics dashboard that helps organizations offer targeted flexibility options to their workforces. The companys proprietary assessment methodology uncovers how well an organization is meeting its employees needs and the flexibility programs that will drive the greatest impact and return on investment. Werk aims to make flexibility access equitable across gender lines and invests in individual employee success by offering personalized flex reports with the exact information working women need to perform their best at work and at home. Also, womens flexwork thought leader Kathryn Sollmann recently launchedThe Flexwork for Women Alliance.Its a community of recruitment and career firms that partner with progressive employers to offer U.S. women better work/life integration opportunities ranging from job sharing and flexjob creation to returning to the workforce after a long absence and changing your career. The Alliance aims to help greater numbers of women stay in the workforce in a less life-consuming way as they care for both children and aging parentsâ€"and achieve professional fulfillment and long-term financial security in the process. Business Innovation #2: Women-First Networks Bumble made headlines a few years ago when it became the first dating app to mandate that women had to make the first move. Now, the company behind Bumble is spreading its wings to offerBumble Bizz, an online network in which women can take the initiative to make professional connections on their own terms. Just like the original Bumble sought to make dating less uncomfortable for women, its younger sibling Bumble Bizz wants to provide a safe forum for working women to collaborate, share and learn alongside one another. For the rest of the innovations, check out the full article on the AMEX Business site.

9 Startup Leaders With Brands to Emulate - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

9 Startup Leaders With Brands to Emulate - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career What young startup leader/exec do you believe has created an exceptional brand for themselves? The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the worlds most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons. 1. Dharmesh Shah One of our investors, Dharmesh Shah of Hubspot, is the first who comes to mind. Everyone knows and respects him in Boston. Jordan Fliegel, CoachUp, Inc. 2. Noah Kagan People who create brands usually have great brands themselves. Noah Kagan (of Mint and AppSumo) has an exceptional brand because he gives so much of himself away online. He has countless hours of video available discussing his marketing secrets. OkDork is his website and detailed blog about life hacks. Hell respond to you on Twitter @noahkagan. Brett Farmiloe, Digital Marketing Agency 3. Ilya Pozin Ilya Pozin has amassed an amazing following on social platforms and become one of Inc.s 30 Under 30 and a columnist for Forbes in just a few short years. Ziver Birg, ZIVELO 4. Aaron Levie I have seen Aaron Levie speak multiple times and have read numerous articles about him. His personality shines through, and the story is the same. Hes a hard worker who spends every day at the office. He collaborates with his team and walks the entire building. He wears a distinctive pair of running shoes, and hes a big thinker. If you want to work at Box, you must know the culture immediately! Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches 5. Ashley Ambirge As the founder of The Middle Finger Project, Ashleys brand aligns well with her personality and spirit. Its sassy, irreverent and fresh in a world of boring and safe marketing personalities. I love reading her adventures, revelations and insights into branding and marketing because she walks the talk. Kelly Azevedo, Shes Got Systems 6. Jason Goldberg Jason Goldberg has developed an exceptional brand out of something that at first failed. His initial attempt called Fabulis was later revamped and relaunched as Fab. Its a website that sells a variety of design items. It currently has more than 200 employees and generates $300,000 in revenue daily. Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance 7. Alexis Ohanian Alexis Ohanian, the founder of Reddit, has done an outstanding job in the last couple years of positioning himself as both a talented entrepreneur and as an advocate of a free and unencumbered Internet. His brand continues to grow with each new angel investment he makes and each new cause he takes on. Chuck Cohn, Varsity Tutors 8. Jeremy Bloom Jeremy Bloom of Integrate has done a great job of branding himself. I also happen to know that hes a good boss (my sister works for him, so I have insider information). They are doing great things, and in the process, hes made a great name for himself. Hes been very smart in the way hes served as a spokesman and brand evangelist for his company. Its something all entrepreneurs can learn from. Mitch Gordon, Go Overseas 9. Adam Brault Im more impressed with people who are bootstrapping sustainable businesses than the folks backed by big VC money. I like what Adam Brault has going on with his team over at yet. Hes been putting together a really talented technical team and slowly expanding his consulting business into training, conferences and products. Peter Baumgartner, Lincoln Loop

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur in Relationships

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur in Relationships What are the traits of successful entrepreneurs? What are the keys to successful long-term relationships? Surprisingly, they are more similar than you may have imagined. As you probably know, I love reading about and networking with successful entrepreneurs. Their magnetism and energy have always intrigued me since I was little. I have also always looked up to those who are in successful long-term relationships or marriages. Thinking about my grandparents (who have been married for over 50 years) and my parents (over 25 years), I am always tempted to ask, “How the heck did you do it?!” When researching for this post, I read several articles about both successful entrepreneurs and successful relationships and found some interesting stuff. Here is my conclusion on traits that make a successful entrepreneur: • The ability to adapt to change and experiment with new ideas. • The ability to collaborate with others and accept that you can’t be the master at every skill required to run your business successfully. • Successful entrepreneurs think BIG and think ahead by planning and goal setting. • Entrepreneurs have a high tolerance for uncertainty. • They also have a lot of confidence. • They possess a strong willingness to work at it no matter how bad things get, how tired they are, or how many hours they worked that day. Do you see the parallel? Apply these points to your relationship. For example, collaborating with others. Each person in the relationship has strengths and weaknesses. For example one person might be a fabulous cook but not so good at remembering to pick up around the house. Rather than fight it, the successful entrepreneur would accept their strengths/weaknesses and bring it to light with their partner so that the roles are put in place, therefore avoiding conflict and moving on to more important things. Adapting to change and being an innovator. A lot has changed since my grandparents got married in 1955. They were smart enough to adapt to the times, their situations and their struggles and find new ways to overcome obstacles. Any successful relationship is always evolving, even in simple ways such as going on fun new dates, traveling to new places together, or finding a new recipe for dinner you both enjoy. Your ability to innovate will help you overcome adversity and stick together. The most obvious connection here is the last bullet point: Successful relationships consist of two people who are willing to work at it every day no matter what. The relationship is of top importance and they see beyond the day to day and have a bigger picture for the future. “Relationship entrepreneurs” see a huge return on their investment of time, energy and love. They have confidence that they can overcome adversity together and share a common vision for their relationship/future. Sounds oddly similar to a business, doesn’t it? In an age of economic turmoil, at least we know can keep our relationships out of emotional bankruptcy by thinking more like an entrepreneur. We can also stop personalizing the little things by being confident, thinking constructively about how to innovate new solutions and work towards our long term goals together.

March 2013 University of Manchester Careers Blog

Events coming up for Chinese students/graduates in February / March 2013 University of Manchester Careers Blog ???? To celebrate the Chinese New Year we would like to share details of some forthcoming career events with you for both Chinese students in the UK and Chinese alumni returning home to China. 1) Networking Recruitment Evening for China / Chinese students, Tuesday, 26th February, 2013               5.00pm â€" 7.00pm                     Careers Service â€" Careers Resource Centre, Manchester The Careers Service will be holding a networking evening for up to 100 Chinese students at the Careers Service in February, 2013. This event will enable Chinese students  ( Chinese language speakers) to meet with representatives of local organisations and recruiters who are interested in your  experience of China and /or Chinese language fluency or have services available. Up to 20 organisations will be attending to share information about their opportunities, their services or to discuss their organisations. Not all firms will be hiring. Please register for a place at the event on Careerslink (event ID number:1409) www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink Organisations attending to date include:                         The China Britain Business Council,                           MIDAS,                                 Mandarin Consultant,                                                               Manchester City Council,                                 Aughton Ainsworth,                                                                                 AMR International,                             The Chinese Students Scholars Association,                 Manchester International College. On the night: This is a formal networking event so the dress code is smart (business dress) and attendees are asked to bring copies of their CV with them.   Please note, this is likely to be a popular event so unfortunately we cannot guarantee your place if you arrive late. (Last year over 30% of students who signed up, did not show up on the night) 2) Careeer Development Workshops / Job Fairs across China for Chinese alumni   Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu 9th 16th March, 2013         The   Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy/Consulate-General in China (aka The British Council), provides a range of support services to UK alumni (Chinese students/graduates who have studied or are studying in the UK) in China. As a kick-off event to a series of career development activities in 2013, they will run ‘Career Development Workshops and Job Fairs’ in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu in March. These workshops aim to help UK alumni to better understand the job market in China and support them in their job hunting. Recruitment fairs will also be held in conjunction and participating organisations are listed on the sites below. To find out more about the events: http://www.alumniuk.org.cn/cn/baomin/xyhd/xyzhaomu.aspx?aid=174 (Chinese) http://www.alumniuk.org.cn/en/xyhd/xyzhaomu.aspx?aid=175 (English) If you would like to participate you will need to register for the event in advance at www.alumniuk.org.cn. Unless registered, students will not be permitted to take part. Should you have any questions, please contact:     Email:     alumniuk@britishcouncil.org.cn         Weibo:   @?????AlumniUK 3) What else is coming up? Also take a look on Careerslink at: Getting a Professional Job in the UK /China for Chinese students   presented by Mandarin Consultant on Tues 26th February, 2013   1pm 3pm   (See Careerslink event ID number: 1408   to sign up for a place) Communicating with others and presenting yourself effectively for international students presented by Sam Illingworth, a drama specialist, on Wed. 27th February, 2013   2.15-4.15pm (See Careerslink event ID mumber: 1410 to sign up for a place) ???? All International China international students networking

How to Customize LinkedIn Invitations to Connect - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

How to Customize Invitations to Connect When you’re proactively job-hunting, you need to keep a keen eye towards expanding your network to include people who can help you meet your career goals. Considering that you may not know many of these people, you need to do your best to compel them to want to connect with you. Without a second thought, most people quickly hit the “Connect” button on when they invite people to connect, and send off the invitation. You know what happens next, because you probably receive many of these invitations yourself. The recipient gets the following current default message: “Id like to add you to my professional network on . Such an anemic message offers no real reason to connect with the person. Maybe you aren’t aware that you can personalize your invitations to connect. Imagine how much a thoughtful customized message will differentiate you, reinforce your personal brand and position you as someone of interest. The recipient will probably readily accept your invitation. Let them know why they should, or may want to, connect with you. Let them know a little about you and your brand. Let them know if you belong to one or more of the same LI Groups or alumni groups . . . or participate in any other activities they do. For ideas on how to write branded, personalized invitations, see How to Connect on with People You Don’t Know . . . and Get Action. It takes a little bit more effort to write a short personalized message for each new connection, but that time is well spent. How to Personalize Invitations to Connect According to Help, in an article updated in January 2016, heres how to personalize invitations to connect from your desktop. [Please note: can, and does, change functionality regularly and without notice, so this may not still work as described here.]: Move your cursor over the Down arrow, next to the Connect button in the top section of someones profile (just under their name). Select “Personalize invitation” from the dropdown menu. If the above option doesnt exist, you can personalize your message by clicking the “Connect” button in the top section of their profile. A prompt will appear that contains a text box to personalize your invitation message. Note: This prompt will only appear if you dont have “Personalize invitation” in the dropdown menu. More About for Executive Job Search Get the Most Out of Essential Checklist to Optimize For Executive Job Search If All Else Fails in Executive Job Search, Read the Directions If All Else Fails in Executive Job Search, Read the Directions How to Network Your Way Into a Great-Fit Executive Job 00 0