EmploymentMetrix.com

Who will win the war for Resume 2.0? Ten Visual Resume Tools Reviewed.

Before it was easy to build your own blog, before Facebook was hot, before the ability to tweet a message to the world…getting your skills and qualifications in the hands of the right people was much different than it is today.

Not so long ago, job search meant sweating over an IBM typewriter—or in later years—a word processing program, driving to the local stationary store, picking up the parchment paper, and getting just the right stamp for the outside of the envelope.  And, most of the time your envelope would be opened by a real person, who would experience your application from both a visual and tactile sense as they unfolded your resume and cover letter and perused the contents.  Back in the day, these were just a few of the resume rituals that were quite commonplace.

Fast forward to now. At the push of the button, you can apply to almost any job, anywhere. A job seeker has access to more jobs, more companies, and more opportunities. And, of course, employers have their pick of more candidates, with more experience, from more places. Job seekers have more jobs at their fingertips, but are competing against far more people. Employers have more talent at their disposal, but struggle to identify the best talent amidst the sea of applications.

In the process the resume has been downgraded to mere words in binary format, competing for the attention of computer systems that are the gatekeepers to recruiters. The traditional resume still persists but, as renowned HR expert Peter Weddle recently said, it is about as “inspiring as a brick.”  In fact, in a recent Beyond.com poll, over 57% of the HR professionals we polled said that an infographic or visual-style resume would help them more quickly evaluate candidates over a traditional resume.  And, 79% of jobseekers said that they wish they had a better way to present themselves online.  Resumes are primed for an upgrade.

In the age of social media, your personal brand is king.  You are the marketing department for the product of “You”.  You are the sales person for yourself.  And the cacophony of available self-publishing, self-branding, self-broadcasting tools is exhaustive and overwhelming.   Every day, a new social network pops up or some new-fangled job search site promises to give you all the jobs, handle the apply for you, and make your job search quick, easy, and painless. And yet, most job seekers still must rely on a few pages of largely unformatted copy and bullets to get hired.

At present, that is the reality. A more evocative resume doesn’t play well with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs), and 93% of hiring managers are still going to ask for the traditional resume at some point during the hiring process.  But, recruiters and HR folks are already stepping outside of their systems to get a fuller picture by searching Google and looking people up on social media to find out who they really are.  A growing number of companies are developing alternatives to the traditional resume. Over the next few years, these formats will continue to gain traction, become better integrated with ATS systems and other technology, and grow more widely used and accepted by job seekers and recruiters.

Here’s a look at 10 companies that are leading the charge in enabling professionals to craft a more visual resume and make a better online elevator pitch.  I graded each tool based on eight important criteria to demonstrate their value (see addendum).

#1. About.me (http://about.me/joestubblebine)

About.me is an AOL product that is probably more of a visual calling card then a true online profile.  Some of you may be old enough to remember emurse.com, which ran the race with VisualCV (reviewed below) back in the day.  Emurse was acquired by AOL in 2009, and AOL killed the service in July 2012 to focus on about.me and Huntsy.com, a jobseeker job organization tool.  About.me provides you with the ability to pop in a paragraph or so about yourself and link up to your other social profiles.  Although you can change background pics, drag and drop stuff around, and change some fonts and styles, there’s no resume upload feature, or any other especially useful tools that would be especially helpful for job search.  This site may be more useful for public speakers, artists, or singer/songwriters who simply want a visual calling card that is quick and easy to set up and has a slight artistic flair.  Out of all of the profile sites reviewed, this was the only site that had any real traffic outside of LinkedIn, Beyond.com, and Facebook.

Ease of Setup:	A
Editability:	B
Look & Feel:	B
Career Focus:	D
Social Connectivity:	C
Community Value:	D
Sharability & Contactability:	A
comScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	392K

 

#2.  Beyond.com (http://Beyond.com/JoeStubblebine)

OK…full disclosure: I work for Beyond.com, and I’m a big fan of the Beyond.com Career Portfolio.  I had no part in the design of this product, it was in the works before Beyond.com acquired my company.  If you still think I’m being biased, try it for yourself and you’ll see.  Beyond.com’s new  Career Portfolio was just announced about two weeks ago, and literally takes about 2 seconds for a new user to set up a portfolio.  Simply email your resume to portfolio@beyond.com, and your profile and member account will be created instantly using information parsed from your resume.  If you’re one of the 30 million members that already have joined Beyond.com, then the next time you log in you’ll see the start of your personal portfolio based on the information that the site had already received from you.

Beyond.com’s Career Portfolio is a really visual way to clearly display your skills and abilities, and incorporate a few cool marketing snippets that can catch a recruiter’s eye and call out the things that make you unique.  Editing and organizing the information is a piece of cake.  You can also add videos, references, and an intro/cover letter.  Basic customization (i.e. color schemes, header tags, section sorting, etc.) is also provided.  The portfolio allows for all types of information to be presented, including certifications, education, interests, skill tags (up to 20), and creates a very nice visual timeline that incorporates both your education and work experience.  I especially like the accomplishment chicklets that gives you the ability to quickly create some cool stats to brag about yourself.  It’s shareable, and one click to the Text version allows recruiters to cut and paste your resume into their applicant tracking system.  This tool is pretty much a one-stop shop for a career-focused portfolio product. 

The only drawback is that I can’t pull in my profile from LinkedIn to start the process, but I guess I could dump out my LinkedIn profile as text and just send the text version to the parser at portfolio@beyond.com and it would work.  I’d also like to have the ability to plug my other social communication outlets in to my Beyond.com Career Portfolio so that I could display my last few tweets and Facebook comments and make my profile feel alive, current, and connected.

Overall, given Beyond.com’s 5.7 million monthly visitors, and the fact that Beyond.com serves the recruitment needs of tens of thousands of employers through its 2,500 niche geographic and industry-specific sites, I’d say that it’s worth the time to set up a profile here.

Ease of Setup	A
Editability	A
Look & Feel	A
Career Focus	A
Social Connectivity	D
Community Value	B
Sharability & Contactability	B
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	5.7M

 

#3.  CareerCloud (http://social.careercloud.com/sr/jstubble)

A fairly new player on the scene, CareerCloud was built by a friend of mine, Chris Russell.  I refer to Chris as the “Mad Scientist of Recruiting”.  He’s a very smart entrepreneur who’s always creating new products and new ventures, and he also happens to be a respected player in the online recruitment and product services arena. 

Overall, not bad for a first pass.  However, providing for only a LinkedIn import as the main source of data, it didn’t give me the option to edit my LinkedIn profile after importing it, or upload a resume.  As I was setting up the visual resume, it only allowed me to add up to 8 skills, it didn’t tell me that my glamour URL would be my username, and there was no way to change it after you set it up (thus my ugly glamour URL).  Site speeds were fairly slow at times, and the end product--while functional--didn’t wow me visually.  On the plus side, setup was a breeze, allowing me to quickly connect with and pull in my social platforms quickly.

CareerCloud is still in beta, and in recent conversations with Chris, he says he’s adding new features and will be improving site speed in the next few months.  If you want to help out a friend of mine, build a profile and provide him some feedback via his CareerCloud profile.

Ease of Setup	C
Editability	D
Look & Feel	D
Career Focus	B
Social Connectivity	A
Community Value	D
Sharability & Contactability	A
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	N/A

 

#4. Facebook (http://Facebook.com/JoeStubblebine)

While Facebook is not a pure-play recruiting platform, it is still worth mentioning here.  As Facebook Graph Search continues to be rolled out, more and more employers will turn to Facebook to recruit candidates.  I covered this in detail in my Don’t Get Caught with your Pants Down blog post last month.  Facebook allows you to publish your “Work and Education” section publicly, and you can choose to allow search engines like Google to index your Facebook account.  As this catches on, Facebook has the potential to radically shift where recruiters go to find talent.  Although the Work and Education section doesn’t allow an import from LinkedIn, doesn’t allow you to share locally, and is pretty much a boring list of your past jobs, Facebook is the largest social network in the world.  And now that employers can search for you based on skills, likes, and employers through Facebook Graph Search, it makes it worth your time to ensure the professional side of your Facebook account is up-to-date and set to be visible to the public.

Ease of Setup	B
Editability	B
Look & Feel	D
Career Focus	D
Social Connectivity	B
Community Value	A
Sharability & Contactability	C
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	143.1M

 

#5. Kinzaa.com (http://Kinzaa.com/JoeStubblebine)

The site still says “beta” at the top, but with the stiff competitors out there, I’m not sure if this one should even make it past beta. 

The Kinzaa experience starts by pulling in data from LinkedIn, and provides nifty little visual tool to quickly identify top skill keywords (up to 3) to associate with each job and allocate percentage of time spent on those skills.  I hit a couple of site errors that created a bit of a hassle, but setup wasn’t too painful.  The result is a pretty standard infographic that left me feeling a bit blah.  I wasn’t given the ability to incorporate my social channels, point to my videos on YouTube, or even add more than 4 skills.  Social sharability was non-existent.

Ease of Setup	C
Editability	D
Look & Feel	C
Career Focus	C
Social Connectivity	D
Community Value	D
Sharability & Contactability	D
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	N/A

 

#6. LinkedIn (http://linkedin.com/in/joestubblebine)

LinkedIn.  The big daddy of online profiles.  In just three short years since going public, LinkedIn’s revenues attributed to recruitment grew by 100.7% in 2012 to $523M, while Careerbuilder’s North American revenues only increased 5.4% to $661M.  LinkedIn is catching up fast, and employers are shifting dollars quickly to the professional networking giant.   

Overall, Linkedin’s profile is fairly unimpressive and generic, but they have HUGE eyeball power, and a LinkedIn presence is a must-have for any jobseeker.  Of course, if you didn’t know this, you’ve got bigger problems than I can help you with.  Setting up the profile is one thing, but the value that LinkedIn brings to the table (outside of the networking, connections, groups, and the entire social platform), is that the endorsements, recommendations, and connections can be a big boost to create an impressive online image with validation from others in your network.

Establishing and maintaining an up-to-date profile on LinkedIn is a must for everyone, even if you’re not actively looking for a job.

Ease of Setup:	B
Editability:	A
Look & Feel:	B
Career Focus:	A
Social Connectivity:	D
Community Value:	A
Sharability & Contactability:	A
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	42.2 million

 

#7. ResumUP (http://resumup.com/me/5563296#) 

Not just a visual portfolio product, ResumeUp attempts to solve the lofty challenge that has been tried by many throughout the years.  Not only does the site allow you to create a marginally attractive infographic, it also provide you with career planning tools that attempt to help you get from where you are now to where you’d like to be.  Another heavy user of pulling in LinkedIn data, ResumUp provides a decent interface for allowing you to edit your portfolio once you’ve pulled in your info.  I couldn’t find any way to change my Glamour URL, and there was no way to upload a resume.

The biggest differentiator was the fact that ResumeUP provided a career planning tool.  However, in my experiments, it didn’t seem all that effective.  As a commenter on an earlier product review that Melanie Pinola of LifeHacker pointed out…the recommended path from CEO to US senator:  CEO -> Natural Sciences Manager -> Operations Research Analyst -> Human Factors Engineer and Ergonomist -> Soil and Plant Scientist -> US Senator.  Not good.  I wouldn’t recommend spending too much time on this one--just get yourself a good career coach.

Ease of Setup	C
Editability	C
Look & Feel	B
Career Focus	A
Social Connectivity	D
Community Value	D
Sharability & Contactability	B
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	N/A

 

#8. Re.vu (http://Re.vu/joestubblebine)

Re.vu is a pretty cool way to create a visual profile.  The experience starts with your LinkedIn account, and then provides for the addition of several types of self-promotional data, including skills, education, proficiencies, quotes, and personal stats.  Overall, it’s pretty easy to edit and customize, but the graphics don’t wow you visually.  It also allows you to provide a “traditional” resume that visitors can download. When logged in, Re.vu displays the number of visitors, time on page, resume downloads, and how many times you’ve been contacted.  Overall, not bad, but with traffic figures that are too low to register, building a profile here is like putting a billboard on a deserted island.

Ease of Setup:	B
Editability:	B
Look & Feel:	B
Career Focus:	A
Social Connectivity:	D
Community Value:	D
Sharability & Contactability:	B
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	N/A

 

#9. Vizify (http://Vizify.com/joestubblebine)

Vizify starts the process by putting its hooks into your social profiles, including LinkedIn, Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram…and BAM!  Really cool looking profile.  Visually, this site’s offering is pretty darn cool.  More than just a one-page profile, it presents your information in 15 or 16 pages, creating a sort of visual slideshow that could be tedious to recruiters.  For marketing, advertising, creative, or media types who are heavy into social media, this could be neat; but for the average guy who doesn’t tweet, doesn’t really use Instagram, and is reticent to share access to Facebook, this tool may not be for you.

Ease of Setup:	A
Editability:	C
Look & Feel:	A
Career Focus:	C
Social Connectivity:	A
Community Value:	D
Sharability & Contactability:	A
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	N/A

 

#10. VIsualCV  (http://VisualCV.com/joestubblebine)

VisualCV was one of the early visual resume players to market.  When they were on the verge of shutting down in 2011, Talent Technology swooped in to save them at the last minute—yet the site feels a lot like a ghost town today.  The site has all of the basic features to build a profile, but the overall functionality and usability is pretty 1.0.  The resulting profile isn’t very sexy.  They claim to also get you exposure to hiring companies, but clicks to pretty much all of the 6-7 companies that were listed that use the site led to broken links.  I’m a big fan of Talent Technology and they’ve got some really awesome products, but I think that VisualCV needs some updates to remain competitive.

Ease of Setup	C
Editability	C
Look & Feel	B
Career Focus	B
Social Connectivity	D
Community Value	D
Sharability & Contactability	B
ComScore Unique Visitors (Feb 2013):	N/A

 

Conclusion

In summary, LinkedIn has the breadth of professionals using their tool.  Facebook has active social connections, and a very powerful Social Graph search.  Beyond.com may have the edge with a graphical career-oriented tool that also helps get you in front of the eyeballs of employers.  Overall, as evidenced by the healthy landscape of online visual resume products, entrepreneurs and innovators are hearing the cry of jobseekers to create better tools.  But, we’re still in the early phases.  As more and more jobseekers seek and adopt solutions that break the norm, then perhaps the impetus will arrive for the traditional resume—and the thought processes behind it—to evolve.

Addendum:

My Methodology

Category	Description
Ease of Setup	How long does it take to set up a profile?  How fast and simple was it?
Editability	Can I quickly edit and customize my profile?
Look & Feel	How am I represented online?  Was the profile visually compelling, and did it tell a good story?
Career Focus	Did the site represent me professionally?  Was the site recruiting/hiring focused?  Are recruiters likely to be there?
Social Connectivity	Can I pull in my Twitter feeds, LinkedIn Data, or Facebook posts into my profile?
Community Value	Does my setting up a profile on the site give me good exposure?  Will I be able to connect and network with others easily?  Does the site have a large user audience?
Sharability & Contactability	Can I socialize my profile quickly and easily?

 

About the Author:

Joe Stubblebine is Vice President of Corporate Outreach at Beyond.com.  Beyond.com, The Career Network, focuses on helping people grow and succeed professionally through 75 unique career channels and 3,000 industry and regional communities.

Joe has over 14 years of entrepreneurial recruitment products & services experience.  Prior to joining Beyond.com, Joe was the Co-Founder and CEO of JobCircle.com, a robust regional career site.  JobCircle.com was acquired by Beyond.com in 2012.  Joe was the founder of hired! Magazine, an employment publication in the Greater Philadelphia region.  He also founded SocialMediaPlus, a series of B2B social media conferences.  Joe has served as an IT consultant & project manager for many notable brands.  He has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer “Who’s Who Under 30”, “Top Tech” by Computer User magazine.  His company, JobCircle.com, held the 11th spot on the Philadelphia INC 100 List in 2002. He has made appearances on The Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, WWDB Executive Leaders Radio, and The Eye Opener, PHL17 in Philadelphia. Joe attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in Accounting.

 

 

 

How Winning an Oscar is Like Being Told You Just Got a Raise and a Promotion

This past year at Beyond.com we’ve been talking a lot the Beyond.com Moment—that moment where you land your dream job or get that raise and you celebrate that win.

It’s a great feeling to know you’re doing something right and your efforts are being recognized, but most times at work when you’re told by your boss that you’re going to be promoted you can’t shout it from the rooftops. So instead you shake his hand, calmly exit his office and walk to the elevator. The doors open, you step inside and when the doors close an enormous smile crosses your face and you pump your fist in the air, but when those doors open again you act as if you’ve been standing patiently the entire ride.

Now that’s for us regular Joes, but what if you’re the Meryl Steeps or Denzel Washingtons of the world? 

You have your Beyond.com moment on television in front of 40 million+ people and you get to show everyone how your REALLY feel about the advancement in your career—because when you’re name is called it’s pretty much equivalent to it being announced that you just received a promotion and pay raise! You’re no longer just Natalie Portman, you’re now forever known as Academy Award Winner, Natalie Portman—pretty cool, huh? Now you can demand more money, get the good trailer, and make silly demands like you’ll only drink water that runs from a mountain stream in Zurich—I don’t know—but you get the picture.  You’ve won an Oscar!!! It confirms you’re one of the best.

So how have some stars celebrated these moments?  Here are some of our favorite acceptance speeches over the years.

Sally Field

 

Roberto Benigni

 

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Ben Affleck & Matt Damon

 

 

Another One Bites the Dust: Flu Season is Here

If you haven’t noticed, the flu is being passed around faster than…I don’t know something that gets passed quickly?—A hot potato!  In fact, it’s now at levels that are so high that it is considered an epidemic. So if you get sick follow these guidelines. 

• Stay Home. If you have symptoms of fever, nausea, vomiting, coughing, congestion, stay home! Not only because you’ll be keeping your germs out of the workplace, but you’ll also be less productive than you’d be if you were feeling 100%.

• Know How Long You’ll Be Contagious For. If you feel like you’re ready to come back to work because you’re feeling better, you may still be contagious so keep these guidelines in mind for coming back to work:

• Stay home for 24 hours after your last episode of vomiting.
• Stay home for 24 hours after the last elevated temperature.
• Stay home for 24 hours after the last dose of anti-fever medication AND normal temperature for that 24-hour period.
• Stay home for 24 hours after antibiotics are begun for strep infections.

• Get a flu shot! There are a lot of people that are against getting it because “you can still get the flu” but the likelihood of you getting the flu after getting the shot is less than what it’d be if you didn’t get one.  Plus, if you’ve ever had the flu, you know how terrible it is and there are more pros than cons to getting the shot.  If you have excuses as to why you don’t want to get it, read this post on flu shot myths.

• Don’t Feel Guilty. If you need to use a sick day, don’t worry about it, they’re there for a reason. Your boss and your colleagues want you to stay home. If you’re in the office with a fever, nausea, coughing, etc…you’re interfering with the objectives of the organization and you risk infecting others. 

• Wash Your Hands. In general this is something you should ALWAYS be doing but when there are a lot of germs going around take it to the next level—I’m talking Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets compulsion. For a how to on hand washing, go to 0:31 seconds of this video. 

Top 5 Worst Corporate Holiday Gifts

It’s that time a year again. It’s time for corporate gift giving and the gifts have started to roll in. We’ve received the usual gift baskets full of yummy treats like candy, cookies, and fruit. Some clients send alcohol or personalized items like tote bags, fleece blankets, coffee mugs, and t-shirts and then there are the booby prizes which typically consist of items that were left over from tradeshow giveaways that the company couldn’t unload at the show—so they use them as gifts.

We received the latter and it got us thinking about bad holiday offerings, so we thought we’d put together a list of the five worst corporate holiday gifts. In reverse order, they are:

5.     A Charitable Donation (this is only really on the list because we couldn't think of a 5th and lists sound better with 5 things): I’m all about giving back, especially around the holidays and I think it is noble that organizations make donations on behalf of those they work with throughout the year, however what if the charity is one that you don’t support?  It could be because you have declared that you only support charities that help children or you only give to charities that fight cancer, or help puppies—I don’t know. What I do know is that people are sensitive when it comes to charities, so if you do make a donation ask the person that you’re honoring what cause they’d like to contribute to.

4.     Amateur Gift Baskets: It’s nice to send something homemade; however those on the receiving end need to have peace of mind that the gift they’re receiving is safe to consume.  If you go the homemade route remember presentation is IMPORTANT—I can’t stress that enough!

3.     Fruitcake: Forever renowned as a bad gift, it’s probably not worth the cost to ship it.

2.     Tradeshow Swag: While it’s a memorable gift, it’s memorable for the wrong reason.

1.     An Invite to a Company Party: Most people don’t want to go to their own company’s party according to a recent Glassdoor survey, let alone feel obligated to go to a partner company’s party. By extending an invite to clients you’re guilting them into coming and nothing says, “Happy Holidays” like the gift that keeps on giving—guilt.

So that’s our list of the worst corporate gifts, do you agree?  Let us know if you have any horror stories of awful gifts that other companies have sent you.

Q&A With Beyond.com CEO: Retailers Opening on Thanksgiving for "Black Thursday"

With Black Friday approaching, the talk of big box retailers opening on Thanksgiving Day has been a hot topic.  The team at Employment Metrix chatted with Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, The Career Network to understand his thoughts on the topic, besides his concern that the concept of Thanksgiving dinner could disappaer with shoppers feeling the need to lineup even earlier.  Here’s what he had to say:

EM: Is it fair to make employees work on Thanksgiving? Why or why not?

RM: No, it’s not fair to demand that employees work on Thanksgiving. If working on Thanksgiving is tied to an employee’s year-end compensation or tenure then that is morally wrong. However, these large retailers understand that the success of their business is based on the relationships they have with their employees and with that being said they should make decisions with their employees in mind.

Overtime pay shouldn’t be in question when it comes to employees working on Thanksgiving.  Companies that do not pay overtime should be in question.

EM:  What does this say about the changing mindset of big box retailers? 

RM: This says less about the retailer and more about society as a whole. Target, Sears, Kmart, and others are all doing what they need to do maximize sales and profits. Our democratic society yields opportunity for large corporations to take unique actions that will help grow businesses, however there are times when those actions will challenge societal morals…it’s a fine line.

EM: What's the psychological impact on employees?

RM: There will be pressure, whether it’s inflicted by the corporation or self-inflicted by the employees to work when they wouldn’t normally.  It is important to remember that downtime away from work is necessary for everyone.  The holiday season is stressful enough and retailers need to understand that they can cause undue stress to their employees and if that does happen, that can backfire.

EM: Does this spell the end of holiday days off as we know it for retail employees?

RM: I seem to recall Labor Day specials and Memorial Day sales. Overtime this change has been more and more accepted and expected. Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day have always been considered sacred, but that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.

EM: Which retail positions are in the highest demand and where?

RM: The top job titles that were posted to Beyond.com, The Career Network in third quarter of 2012 in the retail industry were for Assistant Store Managers, Shift Supervisors, and Sales Associates.

The most retail jobs are located in large metros like New York, DC, LA, Dallas, Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Detroit.

Thanks Rich for the insightful chat!

Recess: A Great Way to End the Week

I recently read an article on SHRM.org that September 14^th was Worldwide Recess Day and companies around the globe were taking the time to honor that coveted outside time from our childhood.   Well, I missed it, so we decided to make our own recess fun day, and it was AWESOME!

After a long week of work being held captive at our desks, we needed a change of scenery, so we decided to schedule 10 minutes (which really ended up being 20 minutes) to play outside together as a team.

We had a sad collection of playground toys (as you can see in the photo above) that we amassed throughout the afternoon and ended up with two playground balls, two Frisbees, and a jump rope.  From those random toys we decided to play a quick game of kickball using the Frisbees and some strategically placed polls in the parking lot as bases. 

It was a great way to unwind at the end of the week as a group—we sometimes get so wrapped up in work (which is good, because that’s what we’re here to do) that we forget to take a break.  I sometimes sit at my desk from 8:30 – 5:30 and only get up once or twice throughout the day and my body hates me for it (it is SO unhealthy).  Even with just those 20 minutes of fresh air and running around, I feel so much happier (maybe it’s because I was on the winning kickball team), or maybe because I was in need of some serious vitamin D, but regardless I want to make this part of my routine.

Everyone should make the time to do something fun and good for yourself during the week at work.  It doesn’t have to be everyday, start small with once a week and start by not feeling guilty to be away from your desk— it’s not healthy to be tied down like that.

What’s up for next week? Well, we found an old Razor Scooter in a closet.  We can all ride it for one minute (that should take us to our ten minute mark (with transition times)).  After that, it’s back to work!

Six Ways to Handle Your Anger At Work

I get that the workplace is stressful.  We’re all thrown together for 8+ hours a day and have to coexist and with conflicting personalities this isn’t always easy.  We all react to things in different ways, so the likelihood of everyone being peachy at the same time is slim.  When you’re sporting a smile someone is likely to be sporting a frown or even worse a furrowed brow. 

The topic of anger is interesting when it comes to work—the majority of the time you have to suppress it, but sometimes we can’t help it and it just comes out and hits anyone that gets in our path.  When this happens it is unfortunate because the people you seem to take it out on are people you feel comfortable with—most likely not a boss or a superior, but a peer or lower level employee and they’re probably not the people you’re even angry with.

So when you get mad at work, how should you handle it?  Here are some tips:

1. Watch for early signs of anger—Paying attention to how you’re feeling is helpful when you start to feel yourself getting angry.  If you’re aware of it, you’ll be better able to control it.
   
   
2. Take a breather—Being able to separate yourself or take a timeout from the workplace will give you some time to compose yourself, so when you return to work you’ll have a clear head and have a better idea of how you want to proceed.
   
   
3. Put yourself in your coworkers’ shoes—If they were angry would you want to work with them?  I’m guessing no.
   
   
4. Laugh it off—This isn’t easy, but if you’re able to take things in stride you’ll be a much healthier person.  It’s been proven that those who live less angry lives will live longer—don’t believe look it up!  I have a coworker that doesn’t take things too seriously and is so confidant with who he is that he doesn’t let things get to him and he doesn’t get angry—I really admire that.
   
   
5. Imagine what you look like when you’re mad—Is this the image you want to portray to your colleagues?  Probably not.
   
   
6. Decide if your anger is justified—If your anger is justified, determine how you’re going to deal with it.  Will you just let it go? Or will you confront who/what made you angry?  If you do confront someone, remember to do it in a professional manner.

Now I know it’s easier said than done to manage your anger, especially while you’re angry—there’s so much adrenalin pumping through your body that you don’t usually stop to think of the consequences, but being aware of your feelings is a start, so if you have an issue with getting angry in the workplace, that’s where I’d start.  At least that’s where I’m going to start.

What Employees Want From Their Boss

If You’re a Manager Don’t Miss This Post

The relationship between a boss and his/her staff has been one that we frequently write about—over the years we’ve written posts on why you should or shouldn’t be friends with your boss on Facebook, we’ve opened your eyes to the fact that your boss could be worse, and appropriate ways for your boss to show his/her gratitude.   I think that the reason why we keep revisiting the topic of one’s boss is because it is an interesting and ever-changing dynamic. 

For instance, if you told someone they were being “bossy” they’d most likely be insulted, however in the workplace that’s your manager’s job.  It’s almost as if certain societal rules just don’t apply at work.

When it comes to bosses though there are certain things that separate the good ones from the rest of them and we at Beyond.com—The Career Network asked more than 1,600 professionals what they think is the best quality in a leader and here’s what they said (if you’re a manager, you should absolutely read this):

• They provide consistent feedback and treat everyone equally, 29.67%—It’s safe to say that most of us want to be treated equally and receive consistent feedback—I once had a manager that when you finished a project and they’d review it each month you’d receive conflicting feedback and an environment like that can (and will drive you crazy). So a boss that can provide consistency is crucial!
  
  
• They set clear expectations to avoid misunderstandings down the line,  28.33%— Secondly, the boss that isn’t sure what they want you to do will pretty much drive you just as crazy as the boss that is inconsistent.  When clear expectations aren’t set up front, you’re just asking for trouble.  Additionally, not having expectations and goals set basically tells your employees that they won’t be held accountable.  When that happens either nothing gets done or when it comes to prioritizing, your staff doesn’t know what is most important—mainly because they don’t have the skills to prioritize because there aren’t any goals.
  
  
• They encourage creative problem solving to help me grow as a professional, 20.15%— Another big thing that good bosses do is let their employees figure things out for themselves, with some guidance of course.  If a problem arises, a good manager will let their staff figure out how to solve it.  Empowering your staff with the skills to succeed on their own is one of the best things a boss can do.  Instilling confidence is a great privilege that a boss has.
  
  
• They go to bat for me and have my best interest in mind, 13.43%—It’s also always nice to have someone in your corner.  I once had a manager that hung his employees out to dry in front of clients.  Needless to say, it was a revolving door when it came to the staff.  The only thing the boss cared about was keeping himself on top.
  
  
• They give credit where credit is due, 8.42%—Hearing that you did a good job is always nice and having a manager that recognizes your successes and touts it out is even better.  The sense of confidence and loyalty your staff will have from just a simple “Thank you” is amazing.
  
  

So if you’re a manager, here are five things that you should be doing to keep your staff happy and challenged.  And if you’re a recruiter, these are some nice things you can mention about the organization you recruit for (only if they’re true—of course—if they’re not—share this blog with the managers you work with to let them know what they could be doing better).

Four Tips For Planning a Fun Team Building Event

With spring well underway, this time of year always makes me want to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather rather than being inside at work.  However, sometimes we’re lucky enough to have the best of both worlds through a team building event.  

In my experience most office workers tend to belly ache when it comes to team building events, but perhaps that’s because the participants’ strengths are not being considered when the group activity is selected.

For example, last summer the Beyond.com team participated in a boot camp at the Valley Forge Military Academy.  While we have some athletes on the team that loved it, not everyone was as successful as our marathon runners.  The event was great in my opinion—it was like being a kid at camp—but when planning a team building activity here are few tips to keep in mind.

1. Pick something that the majority of the team will like.  Accept that you won’t be able to please everyone, but if you can make most of the team happy—consider it a success.
   
   
2. Get out of the office. Putting the team in a different environment together could be just the thing that cultivates the bonding among the staff.
   
   
3. Make the Activity Fun. Don’t disguise actual work as a team building event—that’s SO NOT COOL!  The purpose of doing an event like this is to get the team to get to know each other on a different level. 
    
4. Offer activities that let the team be silly. Activities that remind your staff of their childhood are always a hit. Take the team roller skating, go-karting, mini-golfing, etc...  Activities where grownups get to act like big kids take the cake!

Speaking of fun team building events, one of our clients, Ascension Health just put on an awesome event.  In anticipation of the Indy 500 (the other week) they put on a tricycle race.  They had employees trip out a trike and then race them.  A few pictures from this awesome event are below.

Thanks to Dana Reed, National Recruitment Consultant at Beyond.com for attending this event and providing us with pictures—looks like a great time!

The Death of the Cubicle Has Made My Coworkers Ruder

Yesterday, I read two separate articles about the death of the cubicle and how forward thinking executives (particularly those hip execs in Silicon Valley) are cultivating collaborative workspaces by knocking down those dated cubicle walls. 

While I love looking at pictures of innovative workplaces, I don’t think I could work in one.  No doubt it would be fun at first, but I get distracted easily and working in an open environment at a table, on a couch, or in a hanging chair—I think my productivity would take a hit. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of those cubicle walls tumbling down. I just don’t know if I’m ready to give them up completely.  Right now I sit in an open collaborative environment with pony walls (those half cubicle walls), but even they bring their own set of problems—everyone hears each other’s conversations, talking on the phone is annoying to colleagues, and headphones are a MUST.  In fact I read in the NY Times that headphones are the new cubicle wall and I couldn’t agree more. 

If you look around our office floor you’ll see that about 75% of us wear headphones at some point during the day.  When you sit with 30 people in an open space they're sometimes the only way you can get anything done—even if they’re not dispensing any music. 

However, my one big complaint about not having a traditional cubicle is that my coworkers’ manners seem to have fallen by the wayside.  Because I don’t have a door or high walls, teammates are constantly approaching my workspace and diving right into their questions—there’s no “How ya doin’?”, “Do you have a minute?” or “Can I ask you a quick question?” Because they’ve seen me sitting at my desk while they made their 20-foot approach, they assume I saw them coming my way and am ready to converse.  But in reality, I most likely had no idea you were walking towards my desk because I have my noise canceling headphones on. So even though I’m out on the floor like a sitting duck, make sure you preface your question with “Do you have a minute?” It’s just the polite thing to do.

As for the death of the cubicle, I think we still have a ways to go before I’m sitting in a hanging chair examining the latest employment trends—figure out the noise distraction issue first and then we’ll talk.