Ask James How do I get my colleagues to respect me as a manager

Ask James How do I get my colleagues to respect me as a manager by James Reed Struggling to command respect in your new role? In his monthly column, career coach and Chairman of reed.co.uk, James Reed, shares his expert advice to help you tackle your biggest career concerns.This month, James gives his top tips on how to gain the respect of your colleagues after a promotionThe questionHi James,I was recently given a promotion from staff member in a team of twenty to manager of the same team. This all sounds great, but there’s one problem. Since my promotion my colleagues have continued to treat me as one of the team and don’t respect my authority. I still want people to like me, but I also want to be respected as their boss. How do I build a culture of respect within my team without alienating people?PheobeThe answerHi Pheobe,First of all, congratulations on your promotion. You were promoted to team manager because your boss recognised that you have the skills, experience and importantly mindset to succeed in the role.However, as you h ave indicated, the transition from team member to team manager is not always a smooth one. Seemingly overnight your status within the organisation has changed, causing relationships with your colleagues to inevitably change too. You’ve gone from being one of the team to being the boss, but your relationships with your colleagues don’t have to suffer as a result. There are ways that you can manage your new team effectively without alienating them.As a starting point, set clear expectations with people early on. It may feel awkward but it is important to gather your new team together and have a frank conversation with them, to establish your position as manager and plan how you will work together to achieve collective goals. You don’t have to be aggressive to assert your authority, but be clear that your working dynamics will have to change.Accept that your behaviour will have to change too. It’s likely that if your colleagues vented to you in the past about other colleagues, work processes or management, they’ll continue to do so.As a manager you’re expected to be a sounding board at times and to listen to their concerns, but avoid getting caught up in lengthy complaining sessions, or even worse office gossip. If you see the conversation steering in this direction, politely excuse yourself. Your team won’t recognise your senior role if you’re willing to moan with them, and it’s likely to negatively affect morale.It isn’t nice to think about promotion envy interfering with your relationships at work but of course it is a possibility and may cause some people in your team to challenge your authority. Don’t let this knock your confidence.Remember the hard work that you put in to get where you are today.You are now the boss and will be expected to enforce policies, conduct performance evaluations and solve issues in the team, so a level of separation from the team is required in order to oversee their progress.Well done on your promotion and enjoy it, every new role requires a little getting used to.Wishing you all the best,JamesHow to: Get promotedAsk James: What can I do to stand out and get a promotion?If you’d like James to answer your career query, tweet your question to @James_A_ReedLooking for more interview advice?   Download Why You? nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Ask James

What the Interviewer Wants to Know about You - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

What the Interviewer Wants to Know about You - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Interviewers have a specific function to perform. They need to go through a selection process that identifies which one of the candidates called in for interviewing is the best one. But what does best mean in this context? What are the criteria involved in making this complex evaluation? After all, people are complex too, and decoding and interpreting all the input and evaluating it through interviewers’ own prejudices and biases make this task even more compound. So, here are several general needs the interviewer is trying to satisfy via the job interview process. Basics:  By means of basic types of questions an interviewer wants to ensure that you have the minimum standard for using sound judgment and that you have key skills being looked for. A typical question might be, What can you tell me about yourself? Broad-brush issues: Here you’re being tested for self-awareness, character, integrity, honesty, and values. In other words, you’re being tested for your fit into what the interviewer deems normal, such as via your appearance, attire, demeanor, rapport building, attitude, and behavior? A sample question might be, What are your strengths or weaknesses? The next area the interviewer will want to explore is whether you have talent. That means innate ability, aptitude, flair, and capacity for achievement. A question for testing this particular trait might be, Do you see yourself as a winner? Do others? The interviewer may want to test your competence by evaluating how you think and perform, the quality of your answers versus those of other applicants, and whether you exhibit growth potential. A typical question might be, What was the best decision you’ve made? The interviewer might ask about your accomplishments. This isn’t a question about what you did but what you achieved. And it’s asked in order to determine whether you have a desire to plan, execute, and win; whether you have potential for significant results; and whether you have the ability to overcome challenges. Such a question might be, What would you do in the first 90 days after hire? It is known that for the hiring manager, one of the most important factors is the determination of whether you’d fit into that manager’s department and the organization. That means would you adapt to the company culture, would you integrate and assimilate into a certain management style, would you be a good team member, and what your personal work style is. The hiring manager might ask a question such as, What is your management style? Or what do you know about our company? And last, the interviewer wants to evaluate whether you’re an enthusiastic person? That means can you show authentic excitement about the opportunity? Do you have a fire in your belly? Do you have the passion of a winner and the ability to energize the team? A typical question might be, Why are you interested in this job? As you can see, a job interview is identical to any competition. In this case, the person who’s best prepared to answer such questions is going to end up being the best candidate and the one who crosses the finish line first. Congratulations!

Female Tips For How to Overcome the Urge to Spend Your Paycheck at the Place You Work

Female Tips For How to Overcome the Urge to Spend Your Paycheck at the Place You Work Women in particular have this problem where they like to work in places that spark their interest. This might mean a retail store, this might mean an antique store, this might mean a bookshop. The stories are all the same. It’s pretty miserable working in a place that doesn’t interest you whatsoever, so women often wind up working in their favorite clothing store or in the places where they know a lot about what is being sold. This means that there is more opportunity to buy the retail that is on the shelves because you already love everything about it and there was something about it that drew your soul in and convinced you to apply for a job in the first place. If you’re in this boat and have the temptation to purchase half of your paycheck worth of merchandise every two weeks, here are things you can do to curb that urge: Set A Limit First thing’s first. If you don’t have a budget in place or a limit set for how much you can buy every two weeks, you’re going to get yourself into trouble. Impulse buying, rewarding as it is, is a problem when you go home and realize that you can’t pay your bills. The first step to resisting the urge to spend is to set a limit for yourself. Don’t cut yourself off completely. This won’t work. Instead, give yourself say, $50 a paycheck, or whatever is reasonable and doable to you and only allow yourself to spend that much. Hold Things For A Set Amount of Time Before Purchase In addition to holding yourself accountable and setting financial limits for yourself, its good to set a precedent to make yourself put things on hold that you’re interested in for a certain amount of time before purchasing them. You might want something for a moment, and you might want something for a week, but if you can make yourself stop the impulse buying and place something on hold for a week or two before you purchase, you’ll be more likely to love and wear or use whatever it is you end up buying. Pay Attention to How Customers Are Reacting to the Product It’s easy to waste money on a product that ends up shrinking or breaking after a couple uses or wears. Be mindful of what’s getting returned to the store and what women say about how product feels or looks. When you are in touch with the product, you’ll have a feel for things as they come in and if they’re worth the money to you. Worse comes to worse, you buy the bracelet, and since you’re an employee you’re able to return it if you decide you don’t want it, but your life will be easier if you just learn to say no in the first place. Image Source; Image Source; Image Source

September is International Update Your Resume Month!

September is International Update Your Resume Month!  If a recruiter or an employer called you tomorrow and presented a wonderful career opportunity, would your resume be ready?! Very  often job seekers  avoid the task of updating their resume on a regular basis and then find  themselves overwhelmed when asked to produce a quality document in a short time frame. September marks the annual  International Update Your Resume Month  (founded by  Career Directors International);  an excellent opportunity to reflect on your career achievements over the past year and add them to your career portfolio.  If you take  the time each September to  re-evaluate  your value and update your resume you will be ready when opportunity comes knocking! September is the perfect time to start a new approach to career care-taking, says Laura DeCarlo, CDI President.   While children are embarking on starting the new school year, adults should also be taking stock of their professional attributes and career value by updating their resumes. Updating your resume can be a daunting task so here are some tips to help: Get started, right now.    Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself before taking action.  Fall is a peak recruitment time and application times may be short.   Rushing to get your materials together will only increase your stress and increase the risk of getting sloppy and being overlooked. Review your last year of work and take inventory of new skill sets or accomplishments.   If you feel you don’t have anything stellar to share â€" think again. Everyone is a producer, even on a small scale.  You need to prove to employers that you are continuously growing and achieving.  If you are struggling on how to gather good material my guest post on Careerealism: “4 Tips to Gathering Great Resume Content” can help! Ensure your resume meets modern standards.   Times change and resumes are ever evolving.  A resume format that worked for you last year could need an update to look current and fresh.   Avoid looking behind the times by evaluating current resume trends and applying the best strategy for you and your career target. Update all of your career documents, not just your resume.    A complete personal marketing kit includes a customized cover letter, a tailored resume, an updated references list, an active and complete LinkedIn profile, a thank you letter, and more.   Never neglect any of these critical communication tools. Invest fully in your career.   Hire a professional if you are struggling.    Professional resume writers can lower anxiety, unearth your unique value, and properly position your skills in a current format.   A professionally written resume can shorten your job search  (average job search time is currently 6+ months!)  and potentially help you secure a role with higher compensation.     Yet keep in mind that these professionals will be very busy during this peak season, so book ahead and remember to search for reputable members of the industry. September is International Update Your Resume Month!  If a recruiter or an employer called you tomorrow and presented a wonderful career opportunity, would your resume be ready?! Very  often job seekers  avoid the task of updating their resume on a regular basis and then find  themselves overwhelmed when asked to produce a quality document in a short time frame. September marks the annual  International Update Your Resume Month  (founded by  Career Directors International);  an excellent opportunity to reflect on your career achievements over the past year and add them to your career portfolio.  If you take  the time each September to  re-evaluate  your value and update your resume you will be ready when opportunity comes knocking! September is the perfect time to start a new approach to career care-taking, says Laura DeCarlo, CDI President.   While children are embarking on starting the new school year, adults should also be taking stock of their professional attributes and career value by updating their resumes. Updating your resume can be a daunting task so here are some tips to help: Get started, right now.    Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself before taking action.  Fall is a peak recruitment time and application times may be short.   Rushing to get your materials together will only increase your stress and increase the risk of getting sloppy and being overlooked. Review your last year of work and take inventory of new skill sets or accomplishments.   If you feel you don’t have anything stellar to share â€" think again. Everyone is a producer, even on a small scale.  You need to prove to employers that you are continuously growing and achieving.  If you are struggling on how to gather good material my guest post on Careerealism: “4 Tips to Gathering Great Resume Content” can help! Ensure your resume meets modern standards.   Times change and resumes are ever evolving.  A resume format that worked for you last year could need an update to look current and fresh.   Avoid looking behind the times by evaluating current resume trends and applying the best strategy for you and your career target. Update all of your career documents, not just your resume.    A complete personal marketing kit includes a customized cover letter, a tailored resume, an updated references list, an active and complete LinkedIn profile, a thank you letter, and more.   Never neglect any of these critical communication tools. Invest fully in your career.   Hire a professional if you are struggling.    Professional resume writers can lower anxiety, unearth your unique value, and properly position your skills in a current format.   A professionally written resume can shorten your job search  (average job search time is currently 6+ months!)  and potentially help you secure a role with higher compensation.     Yet keep in mind that these professionals will be very busy during this peak season, so book ahead and remember to search for reputable members of the industry.

Writing a Resume With a Little Work Experience

Writing a Resume With a Little Work ExperienceWriting a resume is easy if you have some idea on what you are going to put on it, but how can you write a resume with little work experience? How do you cut out the fluff and build your resume up to the level that you want it to be in?There are many ways to get your resume looking nice without writing a lot of the resume yourself. How can you make sure that you are putting your best foot forward in your job search? Here are a few ways to make your resume look good with little work experience.You should always do everything you can to get a good job. You should always take the time to get as much information on the job you are applying for as possible. You should write a cover letter and you should also put in as much effort into getting the resumes that you are writing looked at as possible.If you start looking for a job you will be less likely to be contacted by employers. You need to put a good impression out there in the market place as possible so that the employer will be interested in you. It is very hard to get a job without being taken seriously, even if you have a great resume.Do not feel bad about writing a resume with little work experience. When you put your effort into a good resume you will find that the employer that you get is more than willing to give you an interview. They are more than willing to look past the fact that you don't have a lot of work experience to see the potential that you can have for them. They want to know what you can do for them and what they can expect from you.A resume can be put together quickly and it can look great if you put a lot of time and effort into it. The key is to make sure that you can communicate to the employer that you are worth hiring. If you can make them feel that you are worth hiring you will get the interview that you deserve.As long as you know how to build a good resume you will be able to make it look good. You will want to make sure that the informa tion on the resume is very organized and that you have enough information on there to be able to convince the employer that you are a great candidate. The best way to go about making your resume look good is to make sure that you have organized the information on there well.You will need to put a good amount of work into making sure that you get interviews for the jobs that you are applying for. You will also need to make sure that you take the time to make your resume look nice and to make sure that you make the employers feel like they can get something out of you. You will be able to get interviews that you would have never been able to get otherwise if you put some time and effort into building a good resume with little work experience.

Formal Writing Tips Improve Your Academic Writing Today

Formal Writing Tips Improve Your Academic Writing Today If you are writing an essay or even writing a letter, then it’s imperative that you have a good grasp on the rules surrounding formal writing. This can make the difference between passing and failing an assessment. Using our top formal writing strategies, you can ace your exam. So, read on for essential advice!Formal Writing Tips: 7 Top StrategiesTip Number 1: Keep it FormalThe first of our formal writing tips is this: when writing under formal conditions, keep your language formal! One of the biggest challenges that many people face when it comes to writing under formal conditions, is that they lapse into informal writing. Even if you work in an office environment, you won’t be using formal language all day, so it’s very natural and normal for some of your normal language to slip into your writing.Here are some common mistakes that people make when writing in a formal manner:Using slang. Slang is a very loose term for words that are ‘colloquial’ or associated/restricted to a certain group of people. For example, if you live in certain parts of England, a common greeting is to refer to others as ‘duck’. This is basically a term of endearment. However, if you used this term in other parts of the country, then people would think you are actually referring to them as the animal! Hence, you can see why ‘slang’ isn’t universal, and therefore isn’t appropriate for formal writing.Avoid using contractions. You might understand the word ‘contract’ to mean ‘make smaller’ or ‘squeeze’. In this case, the same applies for words. Contractions are basically words or phrases which have been squeezed together, to make them sound informal. For example, if we were to contract the phrase ‘I would not’ then it becomes ‘I wouldn’t’. While it might be useful to ‘save space’ in informal writing or normal speech, when writing formally or academically your aim should be to state things as clearly and accurately as possible â€" therefore it ’s not appropriate to take grammatical shortcuts.Plain and simple. A common misconception amongst newer writers is that you need to use as many words as possible to sound as intelligent as possible. Whilst sometimes in informal writing (although rarely) it helps to use more words, the crux of formal/academic writing is that you need to say things as clearly and definitively as possible â€" with as little room for misconception or error as possible. This means that your sentences need to be direct, short (ideally), and to the point.Look at the following sentence:‘Amongst all the items that were discussed at the meeting by far the most superior was object A.’ Think about how you can shorten this sentence. How can you deliver the message of this sentence, in fewer words:‘As agreed at the meeting, Object A was the best item.’ Tip Number 2: Read Your Words Out LoudMany people don’t think about doing this, but a great way to assess whether there are problems with either your s entence structure or your punctuation is to actually read the words out loud to yourself. This is one of the best formal writing tips. Try it yourself, read the following sentence out loud off the page:‘The man went to the shops and whilst there he bought two apples a banana and a ham sandwich then he went to see his mother at the cinema’ Okay, you can breathe now! Obviously this is a very basic example but it really demonstrates how reading sentences out loud can change the way you apply punctuation. When you read the above sentence, you should have instinctively paused before:‘and whilst’‘a banana’‘then he went’So, by looking at these pauses, we can see the sentence becomes:‘The man went to the shops. Whilst there he bought two apples, a banana, and a ham sandwich. Then he went to see his mother at the cinema.’Tip Number 3: Analytical PhrasingAnalytical language is a great way of demonstrating prowess in language. Take a look at the below example:The iPod Nano effectively merges two approaches to music storage and this makes it significantly different from its competitors. It’s tiny hard drive, which offers huge capacity, is combined with a memory chip which allows for a more compact design. The iPod Nano’s memory chips are incredibly small yet their four gigabyte capacity matches that of some hard drive players â€" the equivalent of 1000 songs. The absence of moving parts means that the iPod Nano is less delicate than full sized iPods and unlikely to skip.As you will see, there are a number of parts in the above paragraph in bold text. The reason these parts are bolded is because they a) contain words and phrases that help the text transition from one part to the text to the next, b) use analytical language to make a point. Phrases like ‘is combined’ and ‘means that’ effectively link the main subject of the sentence together with the rest of the line, which in turn means that the sentence reads clearly, giving the reader a go od understanding of what the speaker is talking about. Furthermore, you can see that the writer in this instance has used analytical terms in a clear and cohesive manner, clearly providing the reader with details, without overcomplicating the main point.Other such examples of analytical words/phrases are:AlthoughComprisesFurthermoreIs made up ofHoweverIs similar toOn the other handTip Number 4: Comparative LanguageThis is more relevant if you are writing an academic essay, but correct use of academic language will go a long way to improving your scores. Correct use of academic language means examining two different things, and then exploring the ways they are different. There are lots of different terms that you can use to do this, and they include:There are several ways in which A and B are similar, including ……….The main difference between A and B is ……….The most striking similarity between A and B is ……….Obvious differences exist between A and B, particularly th e fact that ………The main thing you need to remember when using comparative language is to clearly explain to the reader that a) there is a difference between the two (or more) objects/items that you are comparing, and b) that you are actually comparing them. Using sentence starters such as the ones above gives the reader a clear indication of what it is that you are doing. To understand this a bit better, think about what actually goes through the reader’s head when they read your statement. Put yourself in their position. If you were reading one of the above statements, then you would instinctively be saying in the back of your mind ‘Okay, so now we are going to compare this object and object.’ That’s important, because it means that the writer’s intention for the reader, and what the reader is actually doing, coincide. When these two things don’t coincide, it usually means that the writing has been constructed in a way that didn’t lend to easy interpretation, or that the idea the writer is presenting hasn’t been laid out clearly enough for the reader to understand.Tip Number 5: Avoid The Comma SpliceA comma splice occurs when a writer employs a comma to link two independent clauses â€" clauses that could make sense on their own as sentences. As shown above, a comma can be used to separate such clauses within one sentence, but with the use of other connective words like ‘and’ or ‘but’. So, when a comma is used to separate two independent clauses (clauses that could make sense on their own as sentences), an error occurs.For example (these are INCORRECT sample sentences):A lioness’s top speed is around 50mph, they can run fast in short bursts.I enjoy playing the piano, I use it to relax.The Battle of Maidstone took place in June 1648, it ended in victory for the parliamentarians.The problem with these sentences is that a comma is not sufficient to link them. The two clauses either need to be in their own sentences, or connectives/ a different punctuation mark needs to be used. See below for correct versions of the three wrong examples given above.The highlighted areas show what has been changed to make the sentences correct.A lioness’s top speed is around 50mph; they can run fast in short bursts.I enjoy playing the piano. I use it to relax.The Battle of Maidstone took place in June 1648, and it ended in victory for the parliamentarians.Similarly, commas are also used to separate introductory parts of a sentence from its main clause.For example:After arriving home from the festival, Nathan fired up his computer.Despite initial disagreement, the deal was struck relatively quickly.Fortunately, there was not too much damage.A further use of the comma is to separate ‘extra’ details of a sentence from its main clause. In these cases, two commas would be used to contain the ‘extra’ information from the main content of the sentence. A good way to check if you are using this type of comma correctly is to tak e out the ‘extra’ information and see if the main clause makes sense by itself. If it does, you’re looking good.Tip Number 6: Learn How To Use The Semi ColonThe semicolon is probably the most complained-about punctuation mark. Be it confused novices struggling to get to grips with it, or smug veterans maligning its misuse, you’ll have heard people arguing about the semicolon. In truth, it’s not that interesting, or even that difficult to use. Its main use is to separate two independent clauses that are closely related. This means that the two halves of the sentence must be able to make sense by themselves. In other words, your sentence containing the semicolon could feasibly be split into two perfect sentences.However, the choice not to split them in this way, and instead employ a semicolon, would be a choice to emphasise a link of some sort between the two clauses.For example:Graham was easily frightened; the slightest noise could startle him.Audrey had a very specific ta ste in film; she would watch old comedies but nothing else.I’m karate mad; I train every day for at least 3 hours.Think back to the section about the comma splice â€" the semicolon could stand in for an erroneous comma in these situations. Also, make sure that you are not using a semicolon where a colon would be more appropriate. In many situations, if what follows your semicolon could not make sense as its own sentence, a colon would be more appropriate.However, in cases like this, it may be preferable to rewrite your sentence into two sentences, or use a comma and a connective!Another use of the semicolon is to separate items in a list which are long or convoluted in some way. This is done to provide clarity and understanding where simply using commas would not have been sufficient.For example:Belligerents of the War of the Roses included: Henry VI, House of Lancaster; Henry VII, House of Tudor; Margaret of Anjou, House of Valois-Anjou; and Edward IV, House of York.As you can se e, using semicolons to separate the listed items here allows the use of the comma within the listed items themselves, and makes it clear the Houses belong with the respective rulers.Tip Number 7: Paragraph CorrectlyIn academic writing or essay writing, it is extremely important to write good paragraphs. A good paragraph is one that is contained, and one that does not contain lots of complex points.As a rule, you should try and keep paragraphs limited to one main point. This way, you can stop paragraphs from growing out of control, allowing the reader to understand your argument more easily. A great way to make your paragraphs easier to follow is to treat each of them as a miniature essay. By this, we mean that each paragraph should have a short sentence which introduces the main point, followed by the point itself. Finally, you should end the paragraph with a short sentence which briefly summarises your point, and demonstrates how it relates to the question that you’re answering. This way, you’ll have your argument for each paragraph clearly laid out for the reader to see.If it helps, you can try coming up with a subtitle for each paragraph in your essay. Don’t include this in the finished copy, but writing each paragraph with the main point of it explicitly in mind will help you focus your efforts, and create a more consistent piece of work.Once you have a paragraph structure laid out, the flow of your essay will become a lot more pronounced. This means that you’ll be able to spot parts that feel disjointed and correct their course. By ‘disjointed’, we mean parts of the essay which either stick out from the flow of your essay and don’t lead to any new points, or sections which actively move against the flow of your essay.Imagine your essay is a river. Each part of the essay should flow into the next, as your argument cumulatively builds up towards the conclusion. The points made in earlier paragraphs should always contribute to later ones, and t hose which don’t could be considered as irrelevant. For example, if paragraphs A, B, C, and D all support a larger argument made in paragraph F, but the argument in paragraph E has no bearing on this argument, then you need to consider whether it’s paying off for you.If the paragraph isn’t benefitting your argument, then you should probably get rid of it and use the space to write something relevant. There’s no set length that a paragraph needs to be, but they can be too long. If you have a single paragraph that’s significantly larger than the rest in your essay, it might be worth revisiting to see how it can be divided into smaller parts. This will prevent your essay from becoming ‘bogged down’. Likewise, lots of tiny paragraphs can look too fragmented or poorly developed. This entry was posted in Education. Bookmark the permalink. Jordan Cooke Roman Facts for Kids: Key Stage 2 Study and GuidanceEssay Writing Tips â€" Arguing and Persuading

Job Search and the Art of Defying Gravity

Job Search and the Art of Defying Gravity My daughter is addicted to the musical comedy Glee and Ive started to become a fan myself. Last week, two students on the show competed in the schools first Diva-off and the competition required that they sing the song Defying Gravity from the Broadway show Wicked. Since watching the show, I cant seem to get the song out of my head and Ive been thinking about the importance of defying gravity in a job search ever since.I think that everyone who is in a job search has to defy gravity in order to gain traction, particularly in a competitive job market such as the one we are facing right now. You need to take a leap of faith, step outside your comfort zone, and do things differently. Because techniques that worked during your last job search might not work today. So here are my five gravity defying recommendations to help you take that leap and still land safely.Dont pull out your most recent resume, slap on your last position, and call that an update. Stop treating your resume like ano ther piece of paper that needs to be in your briefcase when you start interviewing and start acknowledging it for what it isa marketing tool and advertisement for brand you. Forget about what you think are the rules around resume writingI have news for youthere really arent any. The goal is to make a powerful and memorable impressionquicklyand with whatever it takes. This can be achieved by communicating your impact on the organizations you have supported and it can be proven with stories, visuals, case studies, testimonials, or links to podcasts, whitepapers, and even YouTube videos. Resumes that read like job descriptions wont cut itthey will never defy gravity, but instead will fall flat with the hiring manager.Get off the job boards. Job boards cater to the most complacent of job seekers. The ones who expect the jobs to come to them. The ones who think that if they throw enough resumes against the job board wall, one of them is bound to stick. But it doesnt really work that way. Because the person on the other side of that job board is getting resumes hurled at them much faster than they can catch them. So they are forced to use applicant tracking software to parse the data in your resume and reduce its substance down to a few keywords. And keywords dont really communicate success. In addition, while that hiring manager is trying to field all the applicants from the job boards, they are also building relationships via other channels. And lets face it; if someone they know introduces them to a candidate, there is a much greater likelihood that they will check out that candidate first and actually look at their resume while the applicant tracking system does all the grunt work parsing data on the other 500 applicants. Which set of eyes would you rather be in front ofthe human eye or the computer one?Dont expect a recruiter to find you your next job. Even a recruiter will tell you that you are more likely to find your next position through a connection than t hrough them. Just because you found your last job via a recruiter, it doesnt mean you will land your next job the same way. Recruiters are inundated with prospects but dont necessarily have the inventory of job openings to match the demand. Build your network by becoming an active member of professional and personal communities to extend your visibility and circle of influence. Break away from a reliance on recruiters and start making things happen on your own.Dont turn your back on social media. Ive heard all the excusesIf you dont think that social media is relevant to you in a job search, watch how quickly you become irrelevant to the many decision makers using it to find top talent. Dip your toe in the social media water, start some conversations, support others, and learn how to protect your privacy to alleviate any concerns you have about using these tools.Dont purchase a book on interviewing and expect to interview well. Interview books can help you lay the foundation for you r interview strategy, but they cant tell you how you should answer the interview questions. A strong interview strategy is one that communicates your unique value proposition through stories of success. Review interview questions to determine the underlying competency the hiring manager is searching for. Then showcase an example of something you did in the past that proves you have that competency. This strategy builds your credibility and helps the hiring manager gain trust in your abilities. You will never wow a hiring manager by regurgitating the pat answer listed on page 23 of some interview book.Defying gravity in your job search takes a lot of work and it requires some risk. But if the old methods of job search arent working for you, then you need to try something new. And while you are planning your gravity defying job search strategy, heres the song to get you motivated.