Optimize You

Give yourself the Interviewing Edge

optimizeyou — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:27:21 +0000

Give yourself the edge in an interview by turning it into a business meeting. What do I mean by that? Let the conversation flow and instead of waiting until the end of the interview when the interviewer says, “Now, do you have any questions for me?” and outlining your three prepared questions – let the questions flow from the answers you’re giving to the interviewer’s questions. Once this flow gets going the conversation becomes more like a business meeting and less like an interview.

Here’s an interesting thing to consider: with the exception of recruiters most of the people that are interviewing you HATE to conduct interviews – and if they haven’t done much interviewing they will be as nervous as you are. If you control the conversation, ask questions and put your interviewer at ease, they will like you that much more!

Just Say No! …to Video Resumes

optimizeyou — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:42:06 +0000

Should you have a Video Resume? My short answer is NO! Don’t do it. No matter how cool and cutting edge you think it is – its just not a good idea.

On the surface it seems great – how better than to show how witty, charming and outgoing you are than by having your resume convey that! A paper resume does little to nothing to showcase your personality. So, if you are witty, charming and photogenic then a video resume may seem like the answer.

But, the truth is, recruiters hate them – hiring managers don’t have time to watch them – and HR regards them as a lawsuit waiting to happen. (The “I didn’t get the interview because of the way I look.” kind of lawsuit.) Many companies will not accept resumes with a photograph on it, let alone a video. So, in truth, you are doing yourself a disservice because many companies (and I assure you all companies with an employment law savvy HR professional) will delete it before they even open it, relegating you to the status of not even being considered.

So, my stance on Video Resumes is ‘Just Say No!’

Is there really a candidate shortage?

optimizeyou — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:54:51 +0000

So, I keep reading about how the job market is softening, that companies are freezing hiring, and that unemployment is on the rise. Yet, when I talk to HR professionals – and even reading articles on the subject of recruitment – HR professionals continue to place “difficulting finding qualified candidates” as their number one recruiting challenge!

We read over and over again, as Baby Boomers get older and start retiring in droves (okay, they’re already retiring in droves – but those droves are going to get bigger!) we are going to start seeing these recruiting challenges more and more. Plenty of applicants, but none that are qualified.

I have a theory – I think there are a lot more qualified candidates out there, but with today’s recruiting techniques they aren’t getting through! With the initial screening often being done by software, if you don’t have all the right key words on your resume its not going to get picked! I’ve also noticed that companies tend to discount the resumes of candidates who have changed careers – so someone who might be great for the position is discounted because the majority of his or her experience is in an unrelated feild.

Candidates need to find ways to stand out in a crowd.

As a recruiter, I can assure you that if you are simply submitting your resumes to jobs you find online you are NOT standing out. Unless you have an amazing resume – but few people do. You have to learn to stand out without being obnoxious. Recruiters hate being “stalked” (and we use that term) but we also LOVE to find the right candidate. If you show us that’s what you are… we’re going to be thrilled to talk to you!

Have breath and a smile! :)

optimizeyou — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:56:26 +0000

Do you spend a lot of time worried and frustrated? Worry and frustration will take you down faster than anything else. People who are worried and frustrated are no fun to be around – and certainly no fun to do business with. Rather, be filled with joy, be optimisitic – allow yourself to be a breath of fresh air to those around you… and you will be attractive to others, and quite fun to do business with.

HOW do you fill your life with joy and a positive attitude? Decide to do it. MMMMM, not so easy you say? Very true. Its like working out and eating right – its a discipline that you must practice. But here’s a good first step:

Take a deep, deep breath. Exhale slowly and smile – smile a big happy smile. Its impossible to be angry, worried or frustrated when you have a smile on your face. The very act of smiling – and I don’t mean a fake smile that doesn’t include the eyes, you gotta smile all the way up to your eyes – raises your spirits.

Try it. Do it often. If you’re really in a funk, try it 1-2 times per hour. Deep breath and a smile. Pay attention to the positive thoughts that jump into your head when you do it.

New Service

optimizeyou — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:32:22 +0000

I am so excited about a new service I am offering – I can not wait to share it with the world! There’s a lot of buzz out there right now about The Law of Attraction, but we’ve all known for a long time that visualizing your goals, and doing “mental rehearsing” to change behavior is incredibly effective. However, most of us lack the discipline to sit down and DO it each and every day. And, we lack the mental discipline to focus on the visualization for several minutes. SO, I’ve decided to help people past this by creating personalized guided visualization audios!!! Stay tuned…..

Leadership

optimizeyou — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:33:33 +0000

I just returned from the eWomen Network National Conference – wow! What a weekend. I had a recurring theme for myself – whether or not it was the theme of the conference – Leadership, and primiarily Women in Leadership, continued to come up for me. It was funny, because I have been thinking a lot about Women in Leadership in the last few months and starting to focus my coaching on working with women who are looking to develop their leadership abilities and talents. I will be blogging about the conference for a couple days – I have so much to say! I got to meet some amazing people including Michael Port and Carly Fiorina – that’s another fantastic blog in and of itself. More soon…

very exciting, new service

optimizeyou — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 05:55:22 +0000

For those who have trouble staying motivated on a day to day basis – to work on their goals, primiarily, business goals, I am going to creat a motivational meditations audio download. I am going to have a generic one for sale, and also offer customized versions with a 20 minute coaching session with me. How fun is that? I’m getting started right now…

EFT – my newest passion

optimizeyou — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 03:02:38 +0000

I’ve been reading about EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) for awhile now but hadn’t really looked into it too deeply. This past week we’ve been on vacation – a pretty low key vacation, visiting my in-laws – so I brought along the EFT Manual – and WOW! I read the whole thing in just a couple days. I can’t wait to start really studying this technique. Often I come to a point with my clients where they seem to just not be able to break through a barrier that has come up for them again and again. EFT seems like a wonderful tool in helping people with this kind of thing! I’m going to try it for the first time this week… I’m going to start with myself and my husband before I use it with clients.

Holy Trinity of Self

optimizeyou — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:12:04 +0000

I think I have had a realization about myself and my business today. I have felt so torn lately between wellness coaching and personal/professional development coaching. I have always had a passion for nutrition, health and wellness – but at the same time I have a passion for working with people on improving their sense of self and taking their business or career to the next level.

I have had an idea for a while about relating the “Holy Trinity” to self. The whole “body-mind-spirit connection” not being a connection at all but three aspects of the whole self. And bringing that into my work.

I think I need to rework how to say what it is that I do… but I do think that bringing in all three elements, which in turn will bring in wellness coaching, personal development and professional development coaching all into one THING – but what to call that THING, right? yowza. At least my business name, Optimize You, works well… maybe I’m an Optimal Coach.

Declare your intentions – don’t affirm them

optimizeyou — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:13:27 +0000

Staying motivated on a day in and day out basis… How the heck do you do it?

Some experts will tell you that you must do affirmations every day. EVERY day. I have tried on and off throughout the years to do affirmations. Sometimes they feel good – but often I feel like I’m lying! We’re told that for an affirmation to be effective, we must say it in the present tense – as if it is already true. I’m a BIG believer in the “act as if” principle, but affirmations have always been a struggle for me because a little voice in the back of my head says, “What? no… that is not true! are you lying?” But I thought I must need to keep this to myself – after all, I’m a motivational speaker – I’m a professional development coach – I must believe in affirmations…. right?

Recently I have been reading T. Hav Eker’s book “The Millionaire Mind” and he says exactly what I’ve always thought! (I guess I should trust my instincts a bit more, huh?) He suggests that making Declarations is much more powerful than affirmations. So, I’ve tried it. It feels more powerful. It feels like, “YEAH! I’m going to do this, just watch me!”

Here’s a beautiful way of looking at a Declaration:

When you Delcare something you are speaking it into existance.

SO – tell me: What are you going to Declare today?