Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Introducing Finlands Universal Basic Income Experiment

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Introducing Finland's Universal Basic Income Experiment It’s not a new concept. In the late 1790s, American statesman Thomas Paine called for a universal payment of £15 per year to all his countrymen in exchange for the right to hold private property. First suggested over 200 years ago, the idea of universal basic income never quite went away, and in many circles, it’s actually picking up steam. Progressive Finland is officially the first sovereign nation to put it to the test. Two-thousand Finnish citizens, who were selected randomly from those currently receiving unemployment benefits or an income subsidy, will now receive €560 ($587) a month. Everyone gets the same amount of money whether they work or not. The pilot will run for the next two years, and may eventually expand to include all Finns. Why the renewed interest in universal basic income now? Stagnant wages since the early aughts is one major reason, as is the declining share of total income earned by workers compared with companies. In the private sector, though, the attraction is based on the fear that in the near future, many human jobs will be automated or otherwise taken over by machine intelligence. This notion has been gaining traction since 2013, when a paper by Oxford economists Frey and Osborne predicted that nearly 50 percent of modern jobs were at risk of computerization. For more where this came from, check out my new column on Mashable.

Three Tips for Handling a Social Media Brand Crisis - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Three Tips for Handling a Social Media Brand Crisis - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career One of the most amazing benefits of leveraging social media is the ability to gain momentum behind a concept or brand. The corresponding negative is damaging publicity and untrue information can also spread quickly and gain traction. Most professionals are wholly unaware of how to handle a social media crisis for their personal brand or even small business, yet in the age of social mediaâ€"when even things from the past can even come back to hauntâ€"all professionals should have a basic understanding of how to handle a social media brand crisis. Three tips for protecting your brand during a crisis Act quickly. Do not allow even a day to go by without directly addressing the situation. Use reputation management tools like Mention and Google Alerts to monitor discussions of your name or brand online. Note: When setting a Google Alert, select “all results” versus the default “Only the best results” or you could miss something important. Additionally, if the crisis is unfolding via social media, respond via social media, the same day. While there are many examples of how delayed (in the social media world, that means 24 hours) response has caused damage, I can think of no better recent example than that of Paula Deen. Paula’s decision to wait over 24 hours to release her YouTube video following the National Enquirer’s release of her deposition allowed the tongue-in-cheek hashtag #paulasbestdishes to gain momentum, causing brand partners (who later decided to sever ties with the southern cooking phenom) to take the heat. Be genuine and upfront. Oftentimes, dealing with the problem directly and sincerely will diffuse a situation. Sincerely is the key. The days of canned responses and obviously heavily prepared PR statements are gone, at least via social media. Know the main talking points, but be sure to deliver your message in a clear, concise, and heartfelt manner. Point out any misinformation and ensure that your tone is never defensive. Offer solutions and, in the case with unhappy clients, provide them with contact information in order to resolve their issue with a phone call or email. Note: It doesn’t really matter if the person is receptive to your offer (though it is ideal), the important thing is that your social media contacts see that you are offering a solution. Turn the crisis into an opportunity. After being put through the ringer, the last thing many professionals would consider is how to turn the negative experience into an opportunity. However, a wonderful example of a brand leveraging this tactic would be Kickstarter’s apology after allowing a project, deemed extremely offensive to women, to be funded using their site. After their sincere apology, they announced that the company would donate $25,000 to an anti-sexual violence organization. Kickstarter turned their own critics into brand advocates with that move and gained hundreds of shares via social media highlighting the “classy” way the company handled the situation. Remember: Responding to a social media brand crisis requires speed, sincerity, and forward thinking. Creating a plan now just may make the difference between brand destruction and growth later. Author: Crystal Washington is a social media marketing strategist, speaker, co-founder of Socialtunitiesâ€"a social media instruction brand that trains Gen Ys-Boomers on the strategic use of social media, and the author of The Social Media WHY: A Busy Professional’s Practical Guide to Using Social Media Including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ and Blogs for Business. She is hired by corporations and associations around the globe to provide keynotes, workshops, and webinars.

Three Simple Well being Habits to Develop in 2015

Three Simple Well being Habits to Develop in 2015 Do you want to lose weight/ get fit this 2015? Maybe you want to be more productive at work? Whatever your resolution is, these three simple wellbeing habits will get you there! I think the reason why most New Years Resolutions fail is because people tend to go big. Not that this is a bad thing, but it does seem to put on a lot of pressure on a person, and just eventually end up getting pushed at the back of your head. Im not a fan of resolutions for this very reason  I dont like letting myself down. So if you truly are on a road to a better you this year, stick to small and doable things that work up into a more general outcome. Fitness and wellness, for example, is a big and common resolution  every year. Here are three very important and simple well being habits to develop in 2015. 1. Drink More Water There must be a reason why you keep hearing this advice! Hydration is key to overall wellness and health. The funny thing is, the 6-8 glasses of water figure has been debunked, and it really is all about listening to your body.  Drink as much as you can especially if you are a fit and active person. The best way to do this is to have a bottle of water on your desk throughout the day. It also helps to ask your office for possible installation of the latest kitchen gadget, the instant boiling water tap, which gives fresh hot and cold water at the touch of a button. 2. Walk If you sit all day in the office, you have to make sure that you are able to walk before, after, and in between work hours. Sedentary lifestyles cause many illnesses, and if you are not able to really push yourself to go to the gym, at least push yourself to walk around. It also helps to stand at your desk instead of sitting down. This improves your circulation and posture. 3. Breathe Conscious breathing and meditation is one way to clear your mind and reset your goals for the day. Breathing is an innate habit to us, yet we never really think of how much proper breathing affects our over all health. So when the day comes to a hectic turn, stand back and take deep breaths. We suggest you do it as instructed in this well-being advice.

Networking tips for introverts

Networking tips for introverts In college I was such an introvert that when I went to parties (I had to be dragged) I brought a book. It was a lonely existence, but the pain of having to talk to people in an unstructured environment was too much. So I was shocked a few years ago when someone told me, Job hunting is easier for you than most people because you could sell yourself to anyone. That comment was testament to the fact that I had recognized you cant get what you want in life without networking. Even though my natural instinct is to sit home and read, I worked very hard to learn how to talk to people. Luckily for me, books are a great resource in this regard. I read everything I could find. I read that most introverts are scared theyll say something stupid or have nothing to say at all (both applied to me). So I read up on ways to feel self-confident in a room full of strangers and come up with things to say when I felt intimidated. (Heres a recommendation: You are the Message by Roger Ailes.) I learned that people who are good at networking are interested in other people. And they are good storytellers. After that, I was able to go almost anywhere and talk with people. Good talkers recognize that theres something interesting about every person, and its their job to get them talking about it. But you cant only bombard people with questions. You also need to reveal things about yourself. The best way is by telling fun and interesting stories that make you look good. Not everyone can do this, though. After I had been dating my husband for about six months, I watched him print out a spreadsheet of names and phone numbers. Whats this? I asked. Its my networking list, he replied. But you never call anyone, ever. I know, but networking is important, and I read that the first step is to have a good list. It was an extremely detailed list. For every name, there was a phone number and description of the person. For example, Bennie Conover. High school music teacher dead. Or my favorite, Penelope Trunk. Girlfriend. But my husband is an introvert, someone who loves details but hates talking to people. If youre similarly introverted, you can still network even though youll never get excited about going to parties and learning interesting things about each person in the room. These tips can help. Use email. Nowadays, you dont have to speak face to face with contacts. You can write and rewrite your message until its right. And you dont have to worry about saying something stupid because the person caught you off guard. Of course, you lose the intimacy of a personal meeting, but sometimes you can compensate for this by sending an extra e-mail or two. Read everything. When something is published about someone you know, send a congratulatory e-mail. Incessant reading means getting gossip without having to gossip. Just be sure to act on it. Go to parties rather than dinners. If youre like most introverts, the problem isnt the quantity of people, its having to show up at all. You can kill more birds with one stone by making one of your rare social appearances in front of lots of people. And think ahead: Have a few things prepared and ready to say to other partygoers. Write for trade publications. While you arent actually talking to people, youre reaching them, making a point and hopefully being memorable. A reader may even write back to you: Miracle! You have just met someone without leaving your home. Help others. For instance, send leads to jobseekers you know. You dont have to talk to them, but theyll remember the favor and view you as a friend. My husband maintains a list of specialized job sites that he sends to friends who have recently lost jobs. Theyre grateful for his help and the time it saves them, while my husband is grateful that he only has to research job sites instead of having to talk to people. Send New Years cards. Sending cards at year-end is tantamount to saying Youre someone I care about. So send cards generously. If you can, include a short note to each person. Sure, its a struggle to find things to say, but since its early November, you have two months to think. Write a few cards each day, and when youre stuck for words, remember the key to good networking: Be interested in other people and talk about yourself in interesting ways. Networking is one of those long-range, money-in-the-bank types of things; you never know when something you say will have a great return. So introverts, start writing!

Search Executive Jobs With Twitter Lists - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Search Executive Jobs With Twitter Lists Are you still on the fence about the value of Twitter and hesitate diving in? Maybe this will change your mind.  Thousands of top companies post job openings in real time and recruit executive candidates through Twitter. You can find these employers by joining Twitter and searching for them,  and through Twitter lists. If youre not familiar with Twitter lists, they offer users the ability to organize other users into groups, forming curated Twitter streams of the lastest tweets from specified users. Any Twitter user can then follow the lists of their choice to easily access those Twitter users streams. Job-Hunt.org (@JobHuntOrg on Twitter)   has done some of the leg work by compiling their list of hundreds of top employers who are using Twitter to directly recruit employees. A quick recent visit to the  growing list included job postings at every professional level for companies such as: FedEx Motorola Bing GE Allstate ING Sears AOL Raytheon LOreal Dolby Vanguard You can also search for individual Twitter users lists of employers (and other lists) through directories such as Listorious. For more information on finding lists to follow and how it all works, see Josh Catones (@catone  on Twitter) Mashable post, HOW TO: Use Twitter Lists. Related posts: Twitter Turbocharges Executive Job Search and Personal Brand Visibility 14 Reasons I Won’t Follow You On Twitter [Revisited] Stalled Executive Job Search? Get Busy on and Twitter 2010 Top 10 Executive Personal Branding and Job Search Trends 00 0

Creating Custom Resumes For Each Potential Job

Creating Custom Resumes For Each Potential Job Austin job searching can be more successful with this proven tip Dear Coach Wolfgang, Can I use the same resume for all my job applications? Tanya R., Austin, TX Thank you for the question! Ideally you want to tailor your resume to match each position in Austin. Here are my tips to help you customize your resume. Review the Job Description Read the job requirements carefully.   Now review your resume and address the questions below. What are the skills and requirements for the job? Do you have bullet points that address the requirements? Do these bullet points focus on the results of what you accomplished? Where are those bullet points located in your list? Relate your Skills to the Qualifications Ideally, your bullet points should demonstrate your skills and accomplishments related to the most important qualifications. Make sure those applicable bullet points are near the top of your list. You want to ensure the employer will see them first. Again, customize your resume to demonstrate you can do the job you are applying for. Put your best foot forward and make the connection between the list of what they are looking for and your experience. Don’t make the employer work to pull together how you meet the requirements. Do you have a question for Coach Wolfgang?   Ask in the comments section below.

Make Resume Writing Easy With Resume Writer Software

Make Resume Writing Easy With Resume Writer SoftwareWhen it comes to making a resume, it is very important to get your resume written by a professional resume writer. It is the resume writer who can really understand what you are going through and what your goal in getting the job is.A resume written by an amateur may not look professional at all. It may seem like a resume that has been typed up by you with no love or any skill in job writing whatsoever. It will certainly give the employers the wrong impression about you.You want your resume to look professional means the resume should be well-crafted. A resume writer software can help you in giving an attractive resume. It can do this easily by running tests on the writing style of your resume and all this can be done without any cost.When you do so, your resume can be given out free to anyone who wants to read it and get a good idea about you and your skill set. Your application will be sent to the employer and they will definitely get to know that you are a quality person and the future manager that you aim to be.Resume software is the best solution when you want to give a resume to an employer that can be instantly printed off. The resume writer software can also print out a professionally designed resume that will make an excellent first impression on your future employer.When you write a resume, you should think that it will be distributed to your future employers and if you write your resume for free, there is no problem. Just post it online and send it to your future employer. The more number of resume you have for you future employer, the better chance you have to get an interview with the same company.So do not let yourself miss out on getting a job and take advantage of the benefit of getting free resume writer software. Start building your CV today and you will see how easy it is to impress the employers.