Kristen Harris
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What Employers Look For: Performance Skills Are Critical To Career Success
Whether searching for a new position, or looking to advance your current career, it’s necessary to understand the skills and traits employers are looking for. In an environment where education and training is fairly accessible, it is possible for technical skills to become a commodity. If so, then what will set you apart from all the other candidates when applying for a position? In a recent survey, Portfolio Creative found performance skills (how you do the work) to be at least as important as technical skills (the work you do).
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Closing the Skills Gap: Is It Really a Technology Issue?
The so-called “skills gap” has become a hot topic lately—lots of people are talking about the problem, but few have solid ideas about how to solve it. In a nutshell, unemployment in the U.S. is still high, but employers are saying they can’t find the workers they need to grow their businesses. So what exactly is this gap, and how do we fill it?
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Workforce Readiness and Training: Don’t Rely on Employers to Bridge the Gap
A perfect storm is brewing, setting us up for a workforce that will be ill-prepared for the jobs of today and the future. Young people are graduating from high school, and even college, lacking basic skills required for success on the job. Companies have ever-increasing needs for basic, applied and specialized skills to compete effectively. And employers are becoming less and less willing to provide on-the-job training. These three factors are leading to a substantial gap between company needs and the preparedness of workers, with employers not necessarily willing to bridge the gap.
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The Future of Work: Flexibility and Options are on the Rise
Economic upheaval of recent years has dramatically changed the American workforce. Companies of all sizes have had to reduce staff, figure out how to do more with less and become more creative than ever in how they use their people to get work done. For the job-seeker, these shifts mean opportunity.
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Social Media: Using LinkedIn for Design Professionals
LinkedIn is the most widely-accepted social media platform for business. Anyone who is an employee, employer, student, freelancer, business owner, job-seeker or otherwise involved in a professional endeavor should have a complete and current LinkedIn profile. It’s the site where recruiters find candidates, employers check out potential employees, freelancers connect with future clients, former coworkers reconnect, and business contacts find opportunities every day.
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Nobody Hires in December and Other Holiday Myths
As we head into the festive season, and before you get distracted with turkey, pumpkin pie and after-meal naps, let’s talk about job hunting during the holidays. I’d like to dispel a couple of common myths that hold people back in their job search, especially during the holidays.
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Development: If You’re Not Growing Your Career, Who Is?
Wondering who’s responsible for your career development? Take a look in the mirror. It’s you. Yeah, you. Why? Because no one else is. There may have been a time when employers provided extensive on-the-job training for new, potential or current employees. But in an era of fast-paced, ever-changing, competitive business on a tight budget, that level of training and development is no longer the norm.r
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Kick-start Your Career: Tips for the New Year
Whether it’s a New Year’s resolution, rebounding from the holidays or simply having more free time, the new year makes people think about their career. Typically folks fall into one of three camps: happy, okay for now or definitely not happy. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, there are things you can do to move your career in the right direction.
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Independent by Choice: GenX Workers Lead the Way
Freelancers, independent contractors, sole proprietors, consultants, temps, self-employed, or contingent—no matter what term you use, independent workers are a growing segment of the workforce.
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Sharpen Your Job Hunting Focus: It’s Competitive Out There
Unemployment numbers. Job loss reports. The latest jobs-related statistics are enough to make you want to just crawl under a rock and hide until “this whole thing” blows over. Guess what? It’s not blowing over and nothing will be exactly like it was before. The jobs marketplace is highly competitive; you must focus all of your energy and efforts to succeed.
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Engagement: Mentors Help Creative Professionals Grow
Remember the teacher who encouraged you, or even pushed you, to try something new? Or that supervisor who took you under their wing to show you “how things really get done around here?” Maybe you had a business associate who met you for coffee to talk through a troublesome problem. We may not call these people “mentors,” and they may not have even realized it, but these trusted counselors, supporters, advisors and guides help us to navigate the tricky waters of career and life.
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Entering the Danger Zone: Handling Tough Job Interview Questions
There are literally hundreds of questions you may be asked in an interview, from straightforward ("do you know xyz software?") to eclectic ("how many things could you make with three paper clips and a rubber band?"). A quick online search will give you many lists of different types of questions, along with advice on how to answer them. However, there are a few key questions to always prepare for before getting in the hot seat.
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