Re-INVENT!

Many managers find themselves spending the most time with their least productive people and the least time with their most productive people. Investing in your strugglers may appear smart, yet the most effective managers do the opposite. THE 5-MINUTE ACTIVITY If you are a manager, you may want to try this exercise. On the left-hand side of a blank sheet of paper write down the names of the people who report to you in descending order of productivity, i.e.  the most productive at the top, the least productive at the bottom. On the right-hand side, write down the same names, but this time in descending order of “time you spend with them,” the most time at the top, the least time at the bottom. Now draw straight lines joining the names on the left with the appropriate names on the right.’ Do your lines cross? They often do. However, the most effective manager see things very differently.  When they join the names, their lines are horizontal. Th...

Most employees feel so intimidated by the salary negotiation process that they fail to ask for a raise even if they deserve it. A proper strategy backed by a little bit of research, is all it takes to ensure to get paid what you truly deserve. Here are some proven strategies that work in every situation.  REMEMBER THE BASICS Always focus more on the value you bring to the organisation and the extent to which you would be a good fit with the firm. Give yourself enough time to prove to the potential employers that you are the right person for the role before they have an opportunity to deselect you on the basis of pay. Never state your offer early on in the negotiation process, and by all means never bring up the question on how much you will be paid before the employer does. RESEARCH SALARY TRENDS Do your research within and out of the organisation in order to understand the current salary trends what you can realistically expect. Prof...

As humans we intrinsically want to be our better selves.  But as employees we often fail to connect our own achievements with the priorities of the organisation. This also increasingly happens vice versa.  Bosses fail to see the total value an employee brings as they focus on meeting increasingly short-term company goals. In my experience writing resumes for executives and CXOs I find most clients are generally pretty good at describing their work. However, they often have trouble showcasing their achievements in a way that attracts the attention of the recruiters/employers.  In other words, employees need to spend more time evaluating their own performance during their self-appraisals and clearly demonstrate how their actions have added value to the organisation. This would make it really difficult for your boss/HR to ignore your contribution to the company and they are likely to find it much harder to deny you a fair increase in compensation or a promotion that you ...

LinkedIn has rolled out an interesting new Open Candidates feature which allows members to automatically and discreetly announce their availability to recruiters. Recruiters who have opportunities that match your interests and background will now be quickly able to find out that you're interested and available for new opportunities. Since there will be no visible changes to your LinkedIn profile, your job search will be hidden from your current employer. Only recruiters who use LinkedIn's Recruiter product will have access to your Open Candidates preferences and career interest information. LinkedIn will protect your identity from recruiters who are working with your current employer even if they are using the LinkedIn Recruiter product making it safe for you to disclose your availability for new jobs while working at the current company. How to activate the feature? Here are the steps involved to activate this feature- Login to your LinkedIn profile and go to the fo...

A recruiter’s job is to narrow the applicant pool and submit the best to the hiring team. The least they can do is offer closure by revealing the truth behind why you’ve been ruled out. However, this very often doesn't happen. There are at least three good reasons behind why the recruiter won’t or can’t provide feedback. They have checked you out on social media and don't like what they are seeing. The company is in love with another candidate Your resume isn't impressive enough and doesn't make the cut!

Linkedin is increasingly becoming the preferred choice for recruiters and startups to find and hire talent. Building your Linkedin connections is the fastest way to enhance the power and reach of your personal brand and get as close to high profile firms and recruiters as possible.  So, wouldn't it be great it there was a real quick way to build new connections and make your profile as attractive as possible to new recruiters? Through this article, I want to share with you some simple yet powerful  tricks I use daily to enhance the Linkedin profile of my own clients. If done correctly, they shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes of your time.   1. Shorten your Linkedin url and publicise it via email  Did you know that you can customise your alpha-numeric Linkedin url to resemble your own name? I got mine changed to  linkedin.com/in/chetanpinto  to reflect my name. Cool isn't it? Now I'll show you how you  Using this link you too can do ...