DON’T BE SCARED: if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
DO IT PROPERLY: book an official meeting with your boss.
DO YOUR RESEARCH: check the going rate for similar roles and assess what you’re worth.
TIME IT RIGHT: don’t choose a time when your boss is very busy or stressed.
ARE YOU WORTH IT? check that your performance/input has increased.

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Week In Review:

Toronto - Product Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Marketing Specialist (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Web & Graphics Designer (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Account Manager (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - Manager, External Comms. (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Montreal - Analyst, Loyalty Sciences (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Montreal - Solution Developer / Integrator (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Manager, Employee Performance (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Social Media Product Specialist (Internet) Details / Apply
Ottawa - Product Manager - Checkout (Internet) Details / Apply

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

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: 3 Things Successful Professionals Eventually Figure Out
Career Savvy: Why Success is a Catalyst for Failure
TED Talk: Wingham Rowan: A new kind of job market

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In school, we learn in a controlled environment where things are linear and answers can be found in a textbook. Yet, the world of work couldn’t be any more different. In fact, it’s the opposite. Reid Hoffman, co-founder of Linkedin and Paypal, discusses three important traits we miss out on in school and will all eventually figure out - either the easy way or the hard way. Here’s the easy way:

Build a competitive advantage
We’re told we can do or be anything we want to be. What we’re not told though is that everyone else also wants to be those things and they’ll be competing with you for those opportunities. In order to stand out you need to have a competitive advantage. A competitive advantage comprises of three things: assets, aspirations, and market realities.

Your assets would include your resources, network, and intelligence while your aspirations are where you might like to go in the future. Finally, market realities are what the world of work is willing to pay you.

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We’re often amazed when companies or careers stumble when they seemed destined for continued success. For instance, of the 500 companies that appeared on Fortune’s initial list in 1955 only 71 still remain.  Some of the most well-known names (at the time) on that list have long since disappeared from it, such as Scott Paper, Zenith, and Warner Lambert.

The study of how companies can go from the pinnacle of their industry to the bottom in such a short time has become a furious topic of study, particularly in management circles. Of all the theories discussed, the idea that success itself is at the root cause is one of the more interesting.

In his article, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown suggests that companies and careers can suffer what he calls the “clarity paradox” that consists of four phases:

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Week In Review:

Toronto - Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Investor Relations Analyst (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - Senior Account Manager (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - Project Manager (Market Research) Details / Apply
Toronto - Sales Development Analyst (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Montreal - 360 Ad Team - Adidas (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Montreal - HR Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Sales Development Representative (Internet) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Marketing Localization Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Ottawa - Implementation Consultant (Computer Software) Details / Apply

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

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: When It Comes To Your Career, The Details Make The Difference
Career Savvy: 5 Killer LinkedIn Profiles
TED Talk: Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit

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If the 20th century was dominated by the thinking and influence of large, bureaucratic organizations than the 21st century is being shaped by ‘lean’ thinking. This approach has been most famously popularized in Eric Ries’s book The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses and is a methodology that extends beyond simply startups.

The lean approach propounds a process of validated learning, scientific experimentation, and iterative product releases in order to shorten product development cycles, measure progress, and gain valuable customer feed with a view to launching new products or companies.

Essentially, ignore the details early on and focus on building small pieces that can be quickly tested and move on from there. In many ways it turns the traditional model on its head, whereby companies would spend months on complex prototypes only to find out nobody wanted them.

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There was much interest in last week’s article on creating a great Linkedin profile we thought we’d continue on this topic.  So we went out in to the world of LinkedIn and found 10 great profiles which trump the many millions out there. Enjoy!

Wendy Brache
What makes it great: Her profile summary of herself is short, and concise in a personal yet professional manner which makes for an interesting read.

Her experience is laid out in the same manner making it easy to follow and understand the experience she has.

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Week In Review:

Toronto - Designer – Web & Digital Marketing (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Engagement Manager (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - Content Coordinator (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Head of Healthcare Innovation (Consumer Electronics) Details / Apply
Toronto - Mkt. Coordinator, Planning & Comms (Internet) Details / Apply
Montreal - Account Executive, Direct Antidote (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Montreal - Junior Market Anlayst (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Intermediate Business Analyst (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Project Manager / Business Analyst (Market Research) Details / Apply
Ottawa - Business Analyst (Internet) Details / Apply

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

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: It’s Time To Fill The Education Gap
Career Savvy: How to Write a Cover Letter by Don Draper
TED Talk: Nilofer Merchant: Got a meeting? Take a walk

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According to The Economist, almost 300m 15- to 24-year-olds are not working - almost a quarter of the world’s youth. The late Margaret Thatcher famously quipped “Young people ought not to be idle. It is very bad for them.” She was right.

Societies that leave their young workers idle in their formative years is problematic: young workers are more likely to struggle later in their careers, with lower wages and less job security as a result. It’s also a stark omen for the future of any economy, given an aging population will eventually be reliant on the goods and services that generation produces.

It’s tempting to only look at this from the perspective of less developed countries. However, it’s a big problem here in North America as well as other so-called developed countries. According to the OECD, there are 26m young people in ‘rich countries’ they count as “NEETS”: not in employment, education, or training.

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Everybody’s cover letter looks the same, which is good news for you. Take this opportunity and break away from the tired old model of copy and paste, or worse just re-stating what’s on your resume.

If you’re looking for a way to stand-out, look no further than the advertising industry for inspiration. If there’s anyone who knows a lot about trying to stand out, it’s the advertising industry and their poster boy Don Draper. The same things that make that industry tick can help you improve your own pitch.

Your audience matters.  Advertisers spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours trying to figure out how to target their message.  Your job is infinitely easier because you already know who you’re selling to.  What’s more, thanks to social media it’s possible for you to even dig up the hiring manager’s name, so don’t dare be tempted by that “Dear Sir or Madam” stuff.  Once that’s done, don’t lose momentum.

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Week In Review:

Toronto - Consultant, Talent Development (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - Project Manager (Market Research) Details / Apply
Toronto - Social Media Specialist/Coordinator (Consumer Electronics) Details / Apply
Toronto - Sales Operations Manager - EMEA (Consumer Electronics) Details / Apply
Toronto - PR Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Montreal - HR Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Montreal - PHP Web Developer (Internet) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Product Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Finance Manager: Client Services (Market Research) Details / Apply
Ottawa - Recruiter (Internet) Details / Apply

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

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: How Creating A Manifesto Will Spark Your Career
Career Savvy: Simon Sinek: If You Don’t Understand People, You Don’t Understand Business
TED Talk: David Pogue: 10 top time-saving tech tips

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We deal with decisions every day - some far more complex than others. This is true of your personal life as well as your career. It’s also true of the company where you work. The true challenge is in assessing and weighing those decisions, because there’s always trade-offs between one path and another.

For instance, do you accept a promotion in a different group that’s less interesting than the group you currently work for? Do you make a career move based purely on financial considerations? As a company, do you put your customers or your shareholders first?

Each question has huge implications depending on how you answer them. An oft cited example from the corporate world provides a stark example. In 1982, seven people died in the Chicago-area after taking cyanide-laced capsules of Extra-Strength Tylenol, the company’s best-selling product, during what became known as the “Tylenol Crisis”.

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Simon Sinek: If You Don’t Understand People, You Don’t Understand Business from 99% on Vimeo.

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Week In Review:

Toronto - HR Recruitment Specialist (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Product Marketing Manager, Tablets (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - PR/Marketing Coordinator (Consumer Electronics) Details / Apply
Toronto - Manager, External Communications (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - HR Services Specialist (Internet) Details / Apply
Montreal - Content & Community Coordinator (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Montreal - Intern - Product Manager (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Web Intelligence Analyst (Internet) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Community Manager, Asia (Internet) Details / Apply
Ottawa - Junior Accountant (Internet) Details / Apply

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

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: The Key Steps (And Missteps) on the Path to Success
Career Savvy: How To Leverage Twitter In Your Job Search
TED Talk: Freeman Hrabowski: 4 pillars of college success in science

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Recently, a Forbes article discussed “The Six Enemies of Greatness (and Happiness)” and labelled them as the principal factors that can erode even the grandest and most well-meaning of plans. They’re intended as a warning to those who only dream big, rather than do.

Conversely, and perhaps more interestingly, it also implicitly helps to identify the key steps on the path to success. For instance, what factors influence greatness and happiness? What elements consistently place you in a position to succeed?

Rather than focus on what we shouldn’t, the following compares the original list of “enemies” (found in brackets), with their polar opposites in order to generate a useful guide to achieving success and happiness.

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