Why you have an SLA, Even if you Don#8217;t

Why you have an SLA, Even if you Don8217t Why you have an SLA, Even if you Don8217t Whats that you say? You dont have a service level agreement? I beg to differ. I submit that if you are a service provider (and you are, even if you are an internal corporate service provider) you have an implicit agreement to provide amazing service- even if you never signed anything stating as such.There are a plethora of reasons for this, but two things are at the very heart of this changing business principle.1) The consumerization of tech People want tech that costs less, is easier to use and doesnt bracket them into a corner when it comes to signing on (i.e. mora than month-to-month type stuff). In simpler terms, they want the technology they use in their professional lives to be as easy as the tech they use in their personal lives. Dont blame me blame the iPod.2) The dissemination of information Maybe youve noticed its a whole lot easier to become an expert these days. You can be a marketing e xpert without a degree in marketing and a recruiting guru without graduating from high school (yes you can). This isnt a bad thing, but it is a true thing and a dramatic shift in the way people think about information, knowledge and the application of both.Because of the two aforementioned trends in the world of business, people have easy ways to landsee if you are living up to whatever you are paying for. I used to pay $10,000 for an email list and be thrilled when people said they liked the newsletter (they would call me up.on the phone). Today, I pay less than a third for a comparable list and I can see immediately using site analytics what my return on investment is. Guess what? If its bad, I expect (actually insist) on knowing the reasons why. I, and my clients want to know why they spent thousands of dollars on something nobody read.If my service provider offers no explanation and no plan for making it right, they have broken the unwritten service level agreement. I wont be us ing their service again and definitely not recommending them to my clients.The same rules apply to you, wherever you are. If you are a third-party recruiter and find yurself collecting hefty fees for candidates that dont stick around, my bet is you wont be doing so for long. If youre a corporate sourcer and you greenlight every applicant, your job isnt going to stay secure once your overworked HR department starts realizing how very unqualified your people actually are.This is where the service level agreement comes in. In todays business climate, true professionals have to realize that one exists and define it for themselves and then consistently live up to it, as if it were written in stone. Why?It raises you up. You may not be the very best at what you do, but if you commit to busting your hump to make it right, people will perceive you that way.It builds goodwill within your industry. For years, I sold media at an organization that had pretty great results. If ever someone seeme d displeased or pointed out that we were not beating our competitors in a certain area, I offered free design advice, adjusted the sending times or built new ads and tested them to figure out what we were doing wrong. As a cog in the machine, it would have been simpler to shrug and tell them sorry, but I didnt and the company I worked for had a reputation for quality AND service because of that hard work.Its profitable. Straight up. You might lose a little money making things right in the beginning, but in the end, it will pay off in spades. I recently purchased a lead generation campaign for a client that did dismally across multiple channels. One vendor did everything in its power to fix the low numbers, while another just sent the results through weeklyafter the invoice. Guess which company were still working with? Over the years, only companies that provide stellar service get business time after time.For my part, I am committed to creating reasonable KPIs for myself and my team and then researching what went wrong if we dont hit them. Then, I make it right. Its a pretty simple SLA, but it works out well in the end.

How to Visualize Success - The Muse

How to Visualize Success - The MuseHow to Visualize Success You want to be successful, right?In fact, youve probably used that very word recently.But have you truly thought about it? What I mean is, have you deeply defined what the word means to you personally? Im asking because we bandy it about all the time, saying things like Oh yeah, I want to be successful or I hope Im successful, but rarely do we define it in a meaningful way for ourselves.And thats where things go wrong.Look- there are about a zillion articles out there on the interwebs telling you to just visualize it, as if its as simple as eating breakfast or checking your email. Plus, if youre like me, sometimes the idea of visualizing something feels just a little bit, well, squishy. And squishy doesnt often lead to results.So, lets be the opposite of that and get practical instead Get StartedWell begin with the idea of your success. To help you get there, weve got to know what the word means to you. What I think of as su ccess and what you think of it are probably pretty different. And this article is about your amazing future accomplishments, so, lets get defining on your behalf (and not on mine). Ready- what does it mean to you? Insert your answer here __. (Well, in your head, this is a screen and you shouldnt write on it.)Maybe you wrote making a lot of money or doing work I love or becoming CEO of a Fortune 500 company or working from the beach at all times, wearing shoes entirely made from sand.Awesome- great work Step one is complete.Now, theres mora to do so we can understand and start to see your definition come to life. I want you to bring your senses into play and get descriptive. If you chose making a lot of money as success, for example, what does that look like? What does that taste like? What does that smell like? What do you wake up to in the morning? How do you commute? Smell the gilded leather and get down and dirty with the fancy gourmet coffee.Or, if you chose something like doing work I love, then get in there and put your senses to work. When you do work you love, what do you wear? What does your desk look like? What do you smell in the air around you? What do you see in the mirror each morning? You get the idea.How does seeing, tasting, touching all of this feel? Yes, this is a little out there, but trust me on this that youve got to make yourself walk through this process. Keep trying until you can accurately describe everything as if its a real memory. But We Arent Done YetReal results come from knowing why youre doing what youre doing in the first place. When you understand this on a deep level, its motivating and empowering. When you feel motivated and empowered, you tend to make things happen for yourself. So, go back to your original statement on what success means to you and ask yourself why you want that. Dig a little deeper, because theres something driving you and its time to shine a light on it.I know I view success as doing work I love because it gives me a chance to realize my potential and have an impact on the world. That matters to me. When I start a new coaching project or create a new program, I think about the people who Im touching. I see their sense of relief as they find answers to their big career questions. I visualize their sense of freedom as they leave behind a toxic job environment. I imagine them standing a little taller as they reach out to a new career opportunity or networking contact, knowing that Ive helped to make them more confident.When I visualize that, my work gets better (and also as a happy side benefit so does my confidence in myself). Whats your why? Dig a little deeper than you have before, and connect with what is driving you. If its money, what is the money giving to your life? What is it allowing you to have or achieve? See it, taste it, feel it. Revel in itNow, Heres the Final Part of the PlanInvite a friend or three to a round of happy hour drinks or a cup of coffee. Run through the e xercises in this article out loud with them, each person sharing your own version of success. Warn them it might feel silly at first, but youve all got to take this seriously for it to work. Get elaborate with each other, and help to draw out the visualizations as you chat by asking questions. For example, you might say, I want to make a lot of money, which in my mind means I always fly first class when I travel for work. And your friends will ask What does first class feel like? Describe walking onto the plane and sitting down What drink do you ask for from the flight attendant?Or you could say I want to become the leader of my company. And your friends might respond Tell us about your first meeting as leader, how do you walk into the room? Whats the first thing you say?Theres something so powerful about talking through your vision with people you trust, not only does talking about it imply a commitment to making it happen (bravo), but it also helps you flesh out your vision and ma ke it more and more detailed, and therefore much more real.If you can see it and say it aloud, youre more likely to make it happen. So, get out there and bestattungs your success. Its waiting for youAnd if you want help to be successful in finding work you love, heres a fancy-pants free workbook to get you started seeing your career future

Using the neuroscience of motivation to get things done

Using the neuroscience of motivation to get things doneUsing the neuroscience of motivation to get things doneCharles Duhiggis a Pultizer Prize-winning jurnalist and the bestselling author ofThe Power of Habit Why We Do What We Do in Life and BusinessandSmarter Faster Better The Transformative Power of Real Productivity. He recently sat down withSrinivas Raoon theUnmistakable Creativepodcast to discuss why habits are so different from true productivity, and how we canall tap into ur brains capacity for greater motivation.This conversation has been edited and condensed.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraSriniWhat sparked your interest in habits and productivity?CharlesThe Power of Habithad just come out, and I welches surprised by how many people were buying it. I was also working on this series for theNew York Timesthat went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. So professionally, I was ha ving this great year.But I would come home each night and say to my wife, If this is what success feels like, sign me back up for failure, because this is terrible. All I would want to do was have dinner with my kids and read them a story, but I would have 100 emails to deal with, and all this important stuff to do that I hadnt gotten to during the day. So Id stay up til midnight or 100 in the morning dealing with all of these tasks, and then Id fall asleep and wake up the next morning with even mora stuff to deal with.And it didnt make any sense to me, because I felt like there were other people who seemed much more successful than me, and seemed much less stressed out. Why were they able to get more important things done?So I started reaching out to researchers, and they said, The reason why some people are more productive is leid because they found some life hack, like delegate everything or never write more than one sentence in an email- its because theyve trained themselves to think in fundamentally different ways. Theyve learned a method for self-motivation, or how to be creative on demand. They know how to run a meeting with teammates, or build a team that gels much better and more quickly. The key is to think the right way, and the actions follow. Once I learned that, I decided to spend a lot of time trying to figure out exactly how I should be thinking in order to be more productive.Productivity is not about doing things unthinkingly- productivity is about pushing yourself to think more about the things that matter.In many ways,The Power of HabitandSmarter Faster Betterare actually opposite books. Because when you make a behavior into a habit, youre trying to make it automatic, something you dont have to think about. Instead of having to haul yourself out of bed and convince yourself to go exercising, you just do it unthinkingly- and thats great.But productivity is very different. Productivity is not about doing things unthinkingly- productivity is ab out pushing yourself to think more about the things that matter. So for instance, we know that the people who are most productive tend to spend more time thinking about what their priorities ought to be. Instead of getting into their office and going on autopilot- which is what habits help us do- the most productive people sit down and say, I know what I did yesterday, but is that the best use of my time today? Whats the biggest priority for today? Because in todays economy and workplaces, you can be busy all day long, and not get anything important done. Back when I was having this crisis, I was always busy, but I wasnt doing the important tasks. I wasnt prioritizing what was meaningful and most important.So in many ways,Smarter Faster Betteris about how you train yourself to think more deeply about your choices and take control of your life. You have to build what is known ascontemplative routines, these practices that look like habits but force you to think. Like, getting into a habit of arguing with your friends about whether youre making the right choice, or making a habit of writing your biggest goal at the top of a page and asking yourself, Is that really the most important thing that I should be doing today? Rather than letting you stop thinking, the point of those habits is to push you to think more, because thats where real productivity comes from.SriniYou divided the book into several different areas, so I was wondering if we could do a high-level overview of each one. Can we start with motivation, focus, and goals?CharlesSure. We can generate activity in the part of our brain where motivation resides by doing two things First of all, looking for choices that make us feel like were in control- that increases motivation.I would rather eat a meal of my own design than have the most delicious thing forced on me.One of my favorite examples of this is a study that tried to figure out why, when some people move into nursing homes, their health declines al most immediately, and they end up dying. Because in a nursing home, there are all these resources around you, so everyones health should improve.What they found is that the people who thrived in nursing homes sought out ways to prove to themselves that they were in control of their own lives. Researchers referred to these people as subversives, because theyll do things like break the rules on purpose, just to prove that they are in control of whether they break the rules or not.There was this one nursing home where every resident would get a meal tray with a pre-set meal on it- they had no choice about what to eat. And there was this group that would sit down, and as soon as they got their meal tray, they would trade items with each other. There was this one guy who loved chocolate cake, but every night, he would trade his chocolate cake with someone else. And the researchers asked him, Why are you trading your chocolate cake? You love it And he told them, I would rather eat a meal of my own design than have the most delicious thing forced on me.And those people, as a rule, were much more motivated. They were more motivated to exercise, to follow their doctors orders, to interact with other residents, to eat more healthily- and it was because they looked for ways to prove to themselves that they were in control of their own lives.SriniThats really interesting, because now Im thinking about my waking up every morning to write 1,000 words. I cant help but wonder if the reason Im motivated to do it is because I control it.For motivation to be sustainable, it has to connect to our deepest aspirations or values- and we have to remind ourselves of how it connects.CharlesAbsolutely. If I told you that you couldnt leave the house until you had written 1,000 words, you would feel much less motivated to write those 1,000 words, right? Weve all been in a situation where theres some dumb task at work that we just have to do- we have to file our expenses, we have to grade students papers- and its torture. And yet, there are equally boring tasks that we do without a problem, that were really motivated to get done, because we feel like were choosing to do them.This also ties into the other thing that we know about motivation, which is that for motivation to be sustainable, it has toconnect to our deepest aspirations or values- and we have to remind ourselves of how it connects. I was interviewing this oncologist whos also a professor and a researcher, and he said that he hates grading students papers- its the most boring thing on the face of the planet. So when he sits down to grade students papers, he has this mantra that he repeats to himself Okay, why am I grading these students papers? Im grading these students papers because that allows the university to collect tuition dollars. And when the university collects tuition dollars, it allows them to pay for my research. And if they pay for my research, I can try to find the cure for cancer. And if I f ind the cure for cancer, Im going to save millions of lives. So by grading these students papers, I am helping to save millions of lives.Now, thats crazy- but whats equally crazy is that an MDPhD has to go through this mantra just to sit down and grade students papers. But thats the point- oftentimes we forget why were doing things, particularly dumb little things that easily frustrate us. But if we remind ourselves, Im doing this for an important reason, it helps us generate the motivation to actually get started.This article originally appeared on Heleo.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Pros and Cons of Taking Out a Thrift Savings Plan Loan

Pros and Cons of Taking Out a Thrift Savings Plan LoanPros and Cons of Taking Out a Thrift Savings Plan LoanTaking out a Thrift Savings Plan loan has advantages and disadvantages, but the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages for most people. Even the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) advises federal employees to exhaust all other loan options before borrowing from their Thrift Savings Plan accounts. The Thrift Savings Plan is one of the three primary methods employees under the Federal Employees Retirement System use to save for retirement. The others are pensions and Social Security. Pros Many people find substantial advantages to Thrift Savings Plan loans and opt in despite the OPMs suggestion to exhaust other options first. Low-interest rateThe interest rate on Thrift Savings Plan loans is the same as the rate of return on the G kenntniserlangung. This fund is one of the funds available to invest in through the Thrift Savings Plan and is made up of government securi ties. The G Fund and other Thrift Savings Plan funds are used to create the investment mixes for target date funds available to plan participants. The G Fund typically has a rate of return of less than 2 percent. The rate used for a loan is the G Fund rate the day the loan is taken out. A wide range of allowable loan amountsProvided you have the money in your account, you can borrow between $1,000 and $50,000. The Thrift Savings Plan website has a loan calculator you can use to estimate your loan payments.Repayment through payroll deductionsFrom a processing standpoint, Thrift Savings Plan loans are easy to repay. Payments are made by payroll deduction.Ability to make additional payments at any timeIf you want to make an additional payment on your loan, you can do that with a loan repayment coupon available on the plan website. The coupon helps ensure that your payment is applied to your loan. If you pay off the extra principal in the early years of your loan, you can pay the loan o ff early or re-amortize it to make smaller payments. Cons The negative implications of a TSP loan are considerable, and require as much- if not more- attention than the positives. Application processing feeA $50 processing fee is applied to each loan. It is deducted from the money you receive when you take out the loan.Missing out on earningsThis is the most significant disadvantage of taking out a Thrift Savings Plan loan. You are essentially borrowing from your own future when you take out the loan. When you remove the money from your Thrift Savings Plan account, you forgo the investment growth you would have earned. On top of that, you have to pay back your own money with interest. 90-day repayment if you leave federal serviceIf you leave federal service while you have a Thrift Savings Plan loan outstanding, you must repay it within 90 days. Otherwise, the outstanding amount will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service as income.Short loan termsThe loan periods are relat ively short. General purpose loans must be repaid within five years. Residential loans must be paid off within 15 years. To reiterate, OPM recommends exhausting all other loan options before taking out a loan from a Thrift Savings Plan account.

What You Do Not Know About Resume for Sales Associate

What You Do Not Know About Resume for Sales Associate The Number One Question You Must Ask for Resume for Sales Associate Each and every work position demands some simple educational qualifications. The associate also has to be in a position to multitask. The job of an associate is among the accountable job positions and demands a well qualified and knowledgeable candidate. If this is the case, you may be an ideal candidate for a sales associate job. Dont forget to tailor your objective statement to the particular sales associate job that youre applying for without neglecting the role explained in the work description. A good deal of folks lose as they dont keep a watchful own album. You may not think of them as skills, but they might be learned, and should you highlight them in the hiring procedure, youll be more inclined to find the job. You ought to have the requisite skills to be successful in sales. Top Choices of Resume for Sales Associate As a high schooler, it can b e hard to find work. To stand out, you will want to create your experience and skills shine. In addition, there are lots of summer do the job readily available in retailstores. While it might involve more cash or a greater name, you have got to show up and perform this job every day. What You Should Do to Find Out About Resume for Sales Associate Before Youre Left Behind Your sales associate resume needs to appear professional if you would like to have your credentials stick out in a crowded field. Volunteer and life experiences might be more valuable and more straightforward than you believe. The retail business is only projected to grow, so now is the ideal time to apply Perhaps, but theres no reason you cannot locate the hausintern sales person in you and become one. If you would like to learn more about the items listed in the resume of a particular place in the area of sales, you might browse through our Sales Associate Resumes. If this Sales Representative resume e xample was not sufficient for you, youre absolutely free to review a few other samples and templates from our website. The Sales Associate is the very first point of contact in selling a service or product and offers key details on the value that youd be providing to a prospective customer. Retail Sales Associate isnt a job for the faint of heart or those that are thin-skinned. There are typical competencies that all sales associates should possess to be able to successfully execute the job. Regardless, you may use the best sales resume templates to compose an outstanding resume that will awe an expected employer. To be successful in almost any kind of sales occupation, you require the skills to convince a person to purchase your organizations product. To begin with, show off your prior sales experience and offer details about your accomplishments. Problem-solving skills Your key duty is to guarantee customer satisfaction. After writing your own personal info, you must inclu de in the qualifications section of your resume if youre a degree holder and if you could experience employed as a sales associate particularly on the tasks that are going to be assigned to you. An associate is an individual accountable for supporting and developing different strategies for efficient performance of the specific department. A job for somebody access representative can be exceedingly fascinating for people who will need to be a part of the medical care business, yet wishing to avert the complexities of carrying a patients lifetime within their very own handson. Additional you should expend a little bit of effort into familiarizing all the critical details indicated on your resume. As previously mentioned, you must begin by writing your contact details. Therefore, the only solution is to search for the best papers for sale, and its our on-line site, where you can receive the necessary help. It should demonstrate the way your work translated into something tangi ble so that a prospective employer can realize your value. Remember that the employer is particularly interested to understand how much you will enhance the bottom line for the firm. In addition, the results segment presents a terrific chance to put in a number to your resume. The experience segment another major section in your resume which plays an important function in impressing the employer. What You Dont Know About Resume for Sales Associate Based on the kind of retail sales job, you may be on your feet for many hours. Fortunately, in the area of design, your work isnt represented by just a resume. Working in high-end and fashionable store environments, Nordstrom sales associates must continue being up-to-date on popular fashions and the way to produce the best wardrobe decisions. An in-depth understanding of your store is crucial, too. The Secret to Resume for Sales Associate Employers wish to observe how your efforts impact an organizations business. Companies wou ld like to know how you contributed to the success of your prior employers. Many employees find yourself believing that their present employers discover that its impossible to provide the things they need to learn more about and proceed to scan the market. The occupation of somebody access adviser is vital in the healthcare sector. You may have done the accounts for a neighborhood charity. Beyond needing to be sure your employee isnt planning to steal cash from your business, it is essential to seek the services of some one of ethics. Whether you work as a retail salesperson or manage a big account with a global corporation, you want to comprehend your customers needs.

The One Thing to Do for Tech Resume Examples

The One Thing to Do for Tech Resume Examples By carefully targeting resumes for particular jobs, you may greatly enhance your odds of getting noticed in the work marketplace. You should target each resume to the particular job listing and business. You should grab the interest of a hiring manager and make the proper impression. Hence, no 2 resumes is going to be the exact same. The Tried and True Method for Tech Resume Examples in Step by Step Detail The secret is to list skills that can help you land the job. It is crucial to be aware that you need to only add skills that are pertinent to the position youre applying for. Soft skills are interpersonal skills like leadership and the capacity to effectively communicate. Instead, youre highlight relevant abilities and achievements from previous work in the neatly-aligned bullet points. Our resume builder will provide you with tips and examples about how to compose your resume summary. Uploading to our resume database requi res you to make an account. You should also share your customer tafelgeschirr abilities. Developing a compelling resume isnt simple, even if youre at the C-level. The Definitive Strategy to Tech Resume Examples To learn more on what it requires to be a It Technician, have a look at our complete IT Technician Job Description. Work experience is an essential part of your resume, but nevertheless, it should not feature an extensive collection of all of the jobs that youve held (particularly if youve worked in the business for years or had many jobs). To read more on the subject of tech resumes (in addition to cover letters and the way to locate a job in the tech industry), have a look at the Vault Career Guide to the world wide web and Social Media. To find out more on what it requires to be a Monitor Tech, have a look at our complete Monitor Tech Job Description. The education section isnt an exception. Locate the ideal Gemologist resumesamples to help you better your own re sume. Notice how the example resumes are extremely specific when it has to do with technical skills. Heres What I Know About Tech Resume Examples Most employers arent interested in references until theyve narrowed their candidate selection to just a couple. References are normally not written on the resume itself, but employers would like to know you have references out there. A good deal of times there are particular abilities or knowledge that pharmacists want in a candidate that are tough to include in different components of your resume. If want to get the job, you will need to carefully look at every word. Tech Resume Examples Explained The extra skills section is the ideal place to incorporate such a basic, but essential skills. Moreover, dont forget that the space on your resume is limited so even when you have far more, do your best not to list more than three important responsibilities. The Basic Facts of Tech Resume Examples You are going to want to begin with a summary statement that will catch the interest of the prospective employer. As the interview ends, in case you have not had the chance to talk about your references in a constructive fashion, ask whether the interviewer want a list. For example, if you created a program for a regional non-profit to deal with donor info, thats something whichs pertinent to include on your resume. Make your resume universally understood by utilizing industry-recognized terminology and explaining whatever recruiters might come across confusing.