CTL Brainstorming Day 2013

CTL Brainstorming Day 2013 On November 1, 2013, more than 150 career professionals from 6 countries met for the annual Career Thought Leaders’ Global Career Brainstorming Day to discuss best practices, innovations, trends, and other factors currently impacting global job search and career management. I am pleased to write about their findings, just as I have for the last 3 years! Resumes are not dead! Even if you get your foot in the door with LinkedIn or an Executive Bio, your resume will still be a key part of your job search process. You absolutely must show a recruiter, in no uncertain terms, how you will solve their client companies’ problems. And you’ll need to make your great impression in not 15 or 20 seconds, but six (6)!! Here are the top 10 takeaways I’d like to share for resumes in 2014: Focus on your most current position. Many people reading resumes do not even look past that first position, so capture their attention right away! Remember that many recruiters are reading resumes on their phones, so make them mobile-friendly (there are applications available to create mobile-friendly resumes). Go for succinctness and clarity of direction, especially in your personal branding. Less is more. That means no 5-6-line summary paragraphs! Include quotes/testimonials on your resume – these tidbits are even easier to collect now that LinkedIn recommendations are so commonly given. Create multiple versions of your resume – for email, mobile, social media profiles, and yes, one on paper for networking and interviews. In most cases, keep your resume to 1-2 pages. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. In Europe, you may still include a photo, birth date and information about your familial relationships on your resume (Do NOT do this in the U.S., the U.K. or Australia). Generally, the U.S.-style â€Å"multinational† resume is becoming the norm. Be sure to have an ATS-friendly resume available for on-line applications. You might want one resume that works for both humans and ATS systems, or you might choose a format that works for both. Consider creating an infographic resume, which is a rising trend. Twitter resumes, video clips and other multi-media presentations will also make you stand out from the competition. Snail mailing a resume can make a good impression! Do it in addition to emailing and submitting on line! Don’t be afraid to include hyperlinks on your resume. This is a great way to keep things concise while offering a portal into the depth of your experience. More and more, resumes are becoming an aggregation of social media, with less content in the resume itself. Wondering about LinkedIn? LinkedIn profiles are a complement to your resume, not a carbon copy. LinkedIn provides an opportunity to be more personal and engaging. As recommended in my e-book, How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, create a robust LinkedIn profile complete with multimedia presentations, projects and videos. And use your LinkedIn Summary to project your â€Å"motivation, passion and individuality.† For more detail about trends in a range of job search categories, please go to the full article, Findings of 2013 Global Career Brainstorming Day:   Trends for the Now, the New the Next in Careers. For last year’s report, see my article, Are You Up on the Top Resume Cover Letter Trends of 2012-2013? Were you surprised by any of the findings?   What did you learn?   Please share in the comments below.

8 Places to Practice Italian in Italy

8 Places to Practice Italian in Italy You’ve taken all the community classes your town has to offer, chat with a language partner whenever you can, and listen to Italian music while you drive. Now you’re ready to go to Italy and put all of your hard work into practice. What’s more, you’ve been to the bigger, touristy cities, like Florence, Assisi, and Pisa, which were all lovely, but you want to experience a side of Italy that’s less populated by tour groups and their flags. You want to spend time in a town where very few people speak English or where they’re more willing to play along with you as you figure out this Italian-language thing that you’ve come to love. If that’s you, I’ve put together a short list for you of eight places to visit in Italy if you want to practice your Italian. Of course, there are thousands of towns, large and small, that I could have listed, and no matter where you go, you may still encounter the niece of the proprietor who spent her summer in London and wants to practice her English. I can’t promise you a 100% English-free experience, but I can give you a fighting chance to avoid being â€Å"English-ed.† 8 Places to Visit in Italy If You Want to Practice Italian Northern Italy 1. Bergamo Bergamo is a city (just over 115k in population) in northern Italy that’s around 45 minutes away from Milan by car. While it has a decent-sized expat community, you’ll find less American influence and more Germanic influence. Past visitors recommend taking a walk at Citt Alta (accessible both by way of the funicolare and walking), visiting Castello di Vigilio, and of course, il Duomo. If you’re looking to try a traditional dish, the recommended one is casonsei alla bergamesca, also called casoncelli alla bergamesca.   2.  Reggio Emilia With just over 163k people, Reggio Emilia is well-populated, but don’t let that fool you. I’ve been assured that there are plenty of opportunities to practice your Italian while also learning how to be buone forchette (good forks- those who eat plenty and well). If you have a full day at your disposal, start new conversations while you gawk at Santiago Calatrava bridges from the station, after having walked quietly through il Tempio della Beata Vergine della Ghiara, and as you lounge in Piazza Prampolini (also called Piazza Grande). Oh, and make sure to try l’erbazzone, a type of pot pie made with simple ingredients that’s famous in the region. For more tips on what to do in Reggio Emilia (and to learn some new Italian vocabulary), check out this article from Tasting the World. 3. Ferrara At just over 359k, Ferrara is no small town, but just like Reggio Emilia, there are numerous chances to stretch your Italian to its limits. If you want to hang out with the farreresi, take a passeggiata along le mura  (the walls), eat il pasticcio di maccheroni (and about 47 other nap-inducing dishes), and then ask for directions to Via delle Volte, a characteristic alleyway of the city. For more tips on where to meet people and speak Italian, check out this article from Viaggiare, uno stile di vita. Central Italy 1. Volterra At just over 10.5k residents, Volterra is the third smallest of the places to visit in Italy to practice your Italian. This borgo in Tuscany has Etruscan origins and yep, it was used as the setting for the second Twilight movie (which, to be accurate, was actually filmed in Montepulciano- a town that made the honorable mentions list down below). If you happen to find yourself in Volterra (whether you came hoping to live the magic of New Moon or not- seriously, no judgment), here are a few suggestions for making sure you open your mouth to speak- and eat, of course. First, to start the day off on a ultra positive note, chat about the devices used while browsing il Museo della Tortura, have some cinghiale alla volterrana for lunch, and then hang out in a local bar with the intention to start as many conversations as possible about calcio.    2. Montefalco You’ll find the tiny town (just over 5.6k in population) in Umbria- one of, I might add, my favorite regions in Italy full of green rolling hills and truffles†¦ but I digress. After visiting the main piazza, buy some pan mostato from a nearby panificio, do a tasting of the Sagrantino di Montefalco, and then check out one of the many pathways that hold the same name. Nearby you can also visit  Spello and Bevagna. 3. Viterbo While Viterbo- the city, not the province- does have some beautiful attractions, like Palazzo Papale and Le Terme, which are hot springs, the real beauty of this city in the Lazio region is in its ordinariness. While there is a university with plenty of international students and an exchange program for Americans, the majority of the people who live there don’t speak English. If you’re hanging out there for the day, go straight from the train station to Pizza DJ and grab a slice of the freshest pizza that you can get. Then, take a walk down the corso, stop in a bar and start a conversation with whoever looks friendly. Before settling down for dinner at either the pizzeria Il Labirinto or pasta at La Spaghetteria- famous for having over 300 types of saucespop in and out of the bookshops or grab a gelato from L’antica Latteria. For more suggestions on what to do in Viterbo, check out this article from Trekity. Southern Italy 1. Scilla This small town, or paese, in Reggio Calabria boasts a population of 5k. Besides having a mythologically-based namethe monster that was transformed by Circeit’s characterized primarily by small alleyways that, when followed, lead directly to the sea and houses next to the water that look perpetually sleepy. Besides eating ridiculously fresh seafood on the terrace of a restaurant, the best way to spend your time here is by visiting il borgo di Chianalea, learning some Calabrian dialect from the locals at the bar, or take a dive and learn all kinds of marine-related vocabulary. 2. Lecce Our final place to visit is Lecce, in Puglia, with a population of just over 94k. You can start your day on the more touristy side by having un caffà ¨ at Caffà ¨ Alvino, right in front of the Anfiteatro, or you can seek out a more local place to start your giornata leccese. Then, take a walk at one of the many beaches, get your fill of museums, and then try some sagne torte, or Sagne ‘ncannulate in dialecta pasta dish. For more suggestions, take a gander at this article from Vacanze Lecce. In the event you’re wanting to visit towns with a bit more activity and practice your Italian, here are five that are touristy, but may still play along with your attempts. 3 Other Italian Places to Practice Italian 1. Orvieto - Umbria: You can more about how you can learn Italian in this city in this article. 2. Montepulciano - Tuscany: If you’re interested in learning Italian here, check out Il Sasso school. 3. Monteverde Vecchio in Rome - Lazio: While Rome can generally be categorized a very English-driven tourist city, there are zones, or neighborhoods, that will humor you when you make your best efforts to speak Italian, and Monteverde Vecchio falls squarely in that department.

What reccruiters look for in cover letters and resumes. How are Research Paper

What reccruiters look for in cover letters and resumes. How are Web-based and e-mail versions of these documents different from hard-copy versions - Research Paper Example In a cover letter, recruiters aim at getting the basic information about the candidate and know whether they are able to market themselves to the organization. Resumes and cover letters should be precise but detailed to give the recruiter an idea of what the candidate is capable of doing. They should portray ones altitude, communication skills, enthusiasm, personality and motivation (Vickie, 2008). The recruiters also want to know the contact information of the applicant, why they left their former places of work, the position they are applying for as well as the salary history and the future expectations of the candidate in the organization (Robert, 2004). Other recruiters are interested in knowing more about the candidate like what type of company one is interested in, why they are interested in that company, when they re ready for interviews and alternative organization the candidate could be interested in. While some of the recruiters are looking for basic information, some of them look at the simplicity, organization and preciseness of a cover letter or resume. Resumes and cover letters give a prior introduction of a person before they go for face to face interview and hence it should describe the candidate fully. Recruiters look for a detailed background of a candidate in that they are able to show the different elements of the candidates’ background for example, education level, experience and leadership positions held and responsibilities held (Diane, 2006). There are various differences between hard copy and e-mail resumes and cover letters. To start with, the formatting of the signature lock which includes the addressees, name and other contacts are written below the name in email but on hard copy it is written on top of the page. Secondly-mail resumes and cover letters have subject lines which are logical to the receiver while hard copy ones have a subject line too but it is