Career Savvy - Our thoughts on finding, landing and succeeding in a career you'll love.

Of all the purported job skills that we emphasize, persuasion has to be one of the most underrated.  So much attention is given to your qualifications and experience, and not nearly enough on your ability to influence to make them matter.  How else will you assure someone that you can truly sell a product or that your project ideas are viable or profitable?

Consider what a job interview, a presentation, or a speech would look like without the ability to convince your respective audience? It’s not enough to be simply knowledgeable on a topic – we’ve all had teachers, professors, or even managers that know their subject inside and out, yet still left us unconvinced.

How do you become persuasive, or is it even possible to learn? Despite those who argue it remains an innate ability, it’s commonly held that there are three modes of rhetoric you can use to help structure and support your argument.

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Week In Review:

Toronto - Product Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Corporate Trader (Finance) Details / Apply
Toronto - Rewards Specialist (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - Manager, Content Communications (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Software Developer (Internet) Details / Apply
Montreal - Digital Manager (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Montreal - HR Assistant (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Junior Writer (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Business Development Associate (Market Research) Details / Apply
Ottawa - Team Lead, Software Product Sales Specialist (Computer Software) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: 8 Great Career Tips from Rework
Career Savvy: What Makes Writing So Important?
TED Talk: Frans Johansson: The Secret Truth About Executing Great Ideas

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We were discussing the book “Rework” by the founders of 37 Signals – Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson – and agreed that while it’s a great book for businesses, it has some great tips on how to success in your career.

We’ve picked our top 8, but feel free to add any others in the comment section.

Making the call is making progress

Ever tempted to say “let’s decide later”? Don’t. The problems come when you decide to postpone decisions, rather than make them. You don’t always need the perfect solution, you just need to decide and move forward.

Reasons to Quit
We don’t mean quit your job, rather ask yourself whether you should be working on what you’re working on. It’s a lot easier to work on what you think need to be done as opposed to stepping back and questioning whether it’s adding value.

Interruption is the enemy of productivity
Find you’re always working late or coming in on the weekends? Well, it’s not because there’s too much work to be done. You just need to be more productive while you’re in the office. The reason why you’re not getting enough work done at the office? Interruptions.

Meetings are toxic
Remember what we were just saying about interruptions? Well, meetings happen to be the worst culprit. They’re scheduled like T.V. shows – you set aside either 30 mins or an hour because that’s how scheduling software works. What if you’re meeting only needs to be 8 minutes? You’re not going to schedule an 8 minute meeting in Outlook, but then why draw out the meeting longer than necessary.

Make more of your day and avoid meetings. If you have to have a meeting, make sure you have agenda of what you’re looking to accomplish.

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Frans Johansson: The Secret Truth About Executing Great Ideas from 99% on Vimeo.

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Writing is becoming a lost art, particularly in the business world. The chances are you’ve received either a poorly written email, sat through an inarticulate presentation, listened to an unconvincing speech, or experienced all three. The ability to write clearly and effectively remains one of the central building blocks of our society, yet increasingly the emphasis on writing as a skill seems to be waning.

The irony, of course, is that it’s never been easier (or cheaper) in the history of civilization to disseminate content to the masses. Between blogs, e-publishers, and social media you have a triumvirate of tools to professionally present and share your message – without the need of any third parties.

There’s any number of reasons to explain its decline. Some argue it’s the influence of social media, which facilitates speed rather than thought, while others suggest schools no longer place the same emphasis on effective writing that they once did.

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Week In Review:

Toronto - Inside Sales Representative (2 Positions) (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Toronto - Talent Acquisition Consultant (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Community Developer (Contract) (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Toronto - Intermediate/Senior PHP/MySQL Developer (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Senior Strategist (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Montreal - Marketing Product Specialist (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Montreal - Customer Insight Advisor (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Vancouver - HR Generalist (Internet) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Enterprise Customer Advocate (Internet) Details / Apply
Ottawa - Marketing Coordinator (Computer Software) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: It’s What You Know
Career Savvy: Inventing the 25th Hour
TED Talk: Clay Shirky: How cognitive surplus will change the world

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How to Find More Time in Your Day

Each of us gets a total of 168 hours in a week. Within that you must work (60); eat, shower, dress (25); sleep (50); and do what you do for the remainder (33). You can’t go full out every day, but it’s important to reflect on the 33 hours that are somewhat negotiable.

It is within these hours that we can share some tips on how you can go from couch potato to productivity guru. Don’t try to reschedule your entire life. Instead, focus on small, manageable actions to boost your ability to manage your commitments and time.

Shortcut#1

GET UP EARLIER
“But wait! I love to sleep-in. I’m just not a morning person.” Well, you probably didn’t like broccoli as a kid, but now appreciate its superhero stature in the vegetable arena (it’s seriously great for you!). If you can commit to getting up 30 or 60 minutes earlier for the next month, you’ll build a habit that will change your life. In The Greatness Guide, Robin Sharma espouses getting up early as the greatest gift you can give yourself. With this ‘found’ time you can exercise, eat a proper breakfast, journal or think about your life goals, ultimately freeing up even more time to spend on the things you love.

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In his eponymous blog, Seth Godin frequently questions the usefulness of the traditional resume. He argues they provide an easy way for employers to reject you because it makes it so easy to point out what’s missing as opposed to directing attention on what you’ve accomplished.

He’s on to something.

When we should be putting together a marketing portfolio worthy of a Super Bowl spot on prime time television, we instead send out stock, run-of-the-mill word documents that look and sound like everyone else. It doesn’t market and it doesn’t sell.

In reality, we should have a living, breathing portfolio that includes tangible items, like stellar projects you’ve delivered or flattering recommendations.

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Week In Review:

Toronto - Financial Analyst/Accountant (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Marketing Coordinator- Events and Promotions (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Product Manager (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Toronto - Project Analyst (Market Research) Details / Apply
Toronto - Support Rockstar (Internet) Details / Apply
Montreal - Bilingual Communications Coordinator (Research) Details / Apply
Montreal - Retail Marketing Coordinator (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Events Administrator (Research) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Lead Digital Marketing Strategist (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply
Victoria - Account Executive, Mobile (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: 3 Productivity Tips To Make Ideas Happen
Career Savvy: Don’t Overvalue Risk and Undervalue Opportunity
TED Talk: Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work

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Let’s face it – we’re obsessed with risk. It permeates everyday life in any number of ways; we employ “Risk Managers”, we look to minimize risks in our investments, apply risk management techniques to the projects we run, and even try and avoid making seemingly risky career moves. The “riskier” the choice, the greater we’re supposed to discount it.

When we’re evaluating a choice, risk has a very well-established place in this process. We use it to avoid making mistakes others have made, to heed the warnings of friends, family and colleagues, and to make ourselves feel better about the choice we ultimately end up making.

However, somewhere along the line risk has taken on a far more prominent place in our everyday decision making than it deserves. That isn’t to say you should ignore risk, but when we’re so focused on mitigating them, we can lose sight of and undervalue the importance of opportunity. This has a lot of implications for your career and the decisions you make.

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Looking for a new career?  Want to launch a new business?  Trying to put your crazy ideas into action?  Whatever the project, most productive innovators will tell you it’s not about the ideas; it’s about making them happen.  One of the most famous American inventors of all time, Thomas Edison famously said, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.”  In the book “Making Ideas Happen” Scott Belsky goes on a mission to show us how to stay productive and organized in order to drive creative projects to completion.

Today more than ever, we have opportunities to accomplish almost anything we want thanks to the information economy.  The only problem is, that most often we face certain common obstacles that hold us back such as disorganization and perfectionism.  But don’t sweat, here are 3 productivity tips that can help you execute on that next project, big or small!

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Week In Review:

Toronto - Sales and Efficiency Field Representative (Telecom) Details / Apply
Toronto - Business Development Associate (Market Research) Details / Apply
Toronto - Product Education Specialist (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Toronto - Junior Copywriter (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Market Research Analyst (Market Research) Details / Apply
Montreal - Senior Product Manager and Integration Manager (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Montreal - Account Manager (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Research Manager (Market Research) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Senior Product Manager (Market Research) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Senior Financial Analyst (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: Don’t Give A Speech. Put On A Show.
Career Savvy: 5 Job-Search Tactics That Should Be Gone Like the ‘80s
TED Talk: Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

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The nature of work and the job market are always shifting, but the same can’t always be said for the nature of job-seekers.  A lot of people with great qualifications are scuffing their chances at landing a job or an interview by using tactics that should have been left in the ‘80s along with spandex and jazzercise. 

Liz Ryan, of Bloomberg, has a short list of job search strategies that you should avoid like a sparkly, rhinestone-studded plague.

1) Using Dedicated Resume Paper/Envelopes – Unless you’re applying for a creative position like Graphic Design, overly fancy or colorful stationary is only going to make you amateurish and out of touch.  Most resumes are read electronically, and simplicity and readability is the key when it comes to proper digital formatting.

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When we attend a talk, we generally go to see the speaker not to hear what they have to say.

We know that they have to say. That’s why we go to see them.

How many speeches have you heard? How many of them can you remember?

Words, words, words.

In a song, we remember firstly the melody and then we learn the words.

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Week In Review:

Toronto - CRM Analyst (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Project Manager (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - Consulting Analyst (Market Research) Details / Apply
Toronto - Marketing Manager (E-Learning) Details / Apply
Toronto - New Business Intern (Internet) Details / Apply
Halifax - Digital Marketing Specialist (Information Technology & Services) Details / Apply
Montreal - Digital Manager (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Montreal - Recruiter (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Social TV Web Developer (Internet) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Junior Writer (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: 6 Job Interview Tips from Politicians
Career Savvy: Joshua Foer: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Study Yourself Failing
TED Talk: Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea

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