What Girls Can Learn About Personal Branding From Barbie

July 30, 2014

What Girls can learn from Barbie — Classic Barbie Style

Mattel introduced Entrepreneur Barbie this year to inspire girls to go for their dream careers, and soon after, a study out of Oregon State University said that girls who play with Barbie dolls limit their career choices.

But wait. Barbie doesn’t limit us, we limit ourselves.

Barbie was my favorite toy when I was growing up, but she has been blamed for giving girls a poor body image, because of her unattainable curves.

But wait. Our body image comes from within, not from comparing ourselves to a plastic toy.

Girls can thank Barbie for developing their storytelling skills, and utilizing their imaginations in making her seem real. Storytelling is a powerful marketing tool that Entrepreneur Barbie will find useful to engage her customers.

My Barbies – ‘Gidget’ and ‘Midge’ were handed down from my older sisters, and when my brother gave up playing war, he gave me his GI Joe doll, beginning a new chapter in my life.

Joe’s feet were blown off in one of my brother’s battles, and he became Gidget’s true love, his war wounds only adding to his cachet.

My mom fashioned cool couches and chairs for my dolls out of cereal boxes, and we made clothes for them on the sewing machine. If Entrepreneur Barbie had been around then, she would have expanded our primitive manufacturing process into mass production of ready-to-assemble Barbie office furniture.

Learning to repurpose items for Barbie, paid off later in my life, as it taught me how to create something out of what I had available. When my sons needed a pirate costume for Hallowe’en, or a paper mache Viking helmet was a school project, it was no problem. The resourcefulness learned while playing with Barbie, will be useful when Entrepreneur Barbie is under pressure in the boardroom to offer a quick solution.

Barbie has a personal brand

Imagination is free, and it turned my bed into Barbie’s diving-board, and my floor into a recreation complex with swimming pool, skating rink and a department store. My roller skates doubled as Barbie cars, and empty shoe boxes made perfect sized Barbie beds.

As young girls, we gave Barbie her voice, and our narratives were our way of acting out our fantasies about growing up. Barbie was the social toy of girls in the pre-social media era, engaging girls, their moms, their families, and their friends. Time will tell if the change from gossiping to networking will help girls advance in their careers.

Entrepreneurial Barbie is more sophisticated than the dolls of 1960’s and 1970’s, and she has embraced social media. She has a Linked-in page, a Facebook page, and 213K twitter followers with the hashtag #imaboss.

I hope Entrepreneur Barbie encourages girls to dream big, and work hard to achieve their dreams, but I hope they don’t blame her if it doesn’t work out.

In order for Entrepreneur Barbie to become what she cannot see, she must have the courage to be the first. The girls who play with her, must give her a confident voice, and dress her in business attire, so she looks the part, and they will learn to look the part of the entrepreneur.

But wait. It’s not about changing the way girls look that will open up their career options. It’s about changing the way we look at them.

By: Ann Hoy

photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/romitagirl67/14535251135/”>RomitaGirl67</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a ref=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a

photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/romitagirl67/12443013315/”>RomitaGirl67</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a>

http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2014/mar/playing-barbie-dolls-could-limit-girls%E2%80%99-career-choices-study-shows

Your Job Search

A Resume That Will Take Their Breath Away

July 11, 2014

A quality resume helps you stand out from the crowd

Resumes 101:

Whether you are a recent graduate preparing your resume for the first time, or a seasoned professional seeking a career move with a new company, the competition for jobs makes it imperative that you prepare a resume that will take their breath away, and prompt an employer to call you for an interview.

Whether you are seeking a seasonal job before heading to college, or advancing your career, the following tricks will help you stand out from the crowd in your job search. Congratulations and good luck!

A resume is a short read for a time strapped employer, it is one or two pages long, detailing what you have to offer this employer to help their business, in a clear, neat, easy to read, and error free document. It is not only about what job you want to get, it is also about what you can give – demonstrated skills and accomplishments that you have achieved that are transferable to a new job.

State Your Job Objective

Begin your resume with a sentence outlining your job objective – what position you are applying for, and why they need to hire you. Tell them why you are a better candidate than the other one hundred people who emailed resumes to their inbox. This is the way to sell yourself: for example “I am applying for the advertising sales position to assist your company in exceeding your sales goals”.

Broadcast Your Skills and Abilities

Construct your resume with descriptive action words and adjectives showing your enthusiasm and skills for getting the job done. If your employment experience is limited, detail transferable skills that you have acquired from babysitting, paper routes, hockey teams or volunteer work.

Quantity Increases Your Odds

A quality resume alone won’t get you noticed, you need to send out quantities of resumes to increase your odds of landing a job interview. On average, for each 10 resumes you send out, two employers will respond.

Seven Tips To Get You Hired:

Put the word out with friends and family that you are looking for work, as networking is one of the best ways to learn about job leads. Everyone you know may know someone who is hiring.
Tailor your resume to the job that you are applying for, either by changing the career objective sentence, or changing the entire resume for a specific position.
You may want to change the order of your resume to suit different positions as well. For example, if you have a lot of experience in a field of work you are applying for, list your work experience first, and education second. However, if you have limited experience in your field of study, and need relevant work experience to match your educational qualifications, list education first, and work history second.
Your goal is to make an impression in the first 30 seconds of an employer considering your resume, to make him or her want to continue reading, so list the skills or education that are most desirable to that employer first.
Write a good cover letter to send along with your resume. This brief letter of a few paragraphs serves as a quick and memorable introduction to you and your resume.
Prepare a list of references that future employers may contact.
If an employer requests an interview, remember to dress appropriately for the job you are applying for. Wear clean clothes, similar to what employees at that workplace wear, have neat hair, turn off your mobile device, and remember to thank the employer for their time at the close of the interview. A follow-up thank you email with a “looking forward to hearing from you soon” comment is also a nice touch. Ann Hoy

photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/jwynia/56443582/”>J Wynia</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a>

Your Job Search

Fulfilling Work Doesn’t Feel Like a Job

July 9, 2014

According to Right Management, in Canada and The United States, the unhappy in their jobs, outnumber the happy by two to one. That may mean it’s time to start job hunting.

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. – Confucius

Signs you need a new job:

When you have stopped learning new things at your job, and you know everything about it, it gets stagnant, and you feel trapped. Staying at a job where you are not advancing, affects your mental and physical health, according to an article in The Vancouver Sun.

The stress of being unhappy in your job resonates in your body with: weight gain, pain, and insomnia. If you feel drained, and see diminishing returns at your current job, your efforts and output decline, affecting both you and your employer.

Once job dissatisfaction sets in, often your productivity decreases and your absenteeism increases, as coping mechanisms, until you realize that your happiness is more important than staying in a job you dislike.

Life is not about pain and fear, or waiting to punch out on the time clock to numb your pain with a glass (or bottle) of wine, it’s about taking action to make your life better.

The job market is an open market, and you are a free agent, acting on behalf of yourself.

The first step to finding a new job is to know what job you want

When I ran a resume writing business, and I asked clients what their dream job was, some of them had never considered going for their dream job. Most were looking for work in the same field that they had been working in, or were willing to accept the first job that was available. With their dream job in mind, we could start building their resume and working towards getting it. This made them more enthusiastic about their job search.

Having the courage to pursue their dreams, vaulted them above thoughts of working for a paycheck, or seeking a job that they already knew how to do, and got them thinking about beginning a new adventure.

Being unemployed causes your confidence to dip, so if someone can help you identify the great skills you have and believe in you, it lifts your spirits, and sets you on a course to go out and sell yourself at job interviews with a great resume in hand. This is the first step in landing your dream job.

The secret to finding a better job is to ask for one

You have to ask a lot of people for a job – in fact, everyone you know may know someone who is hiring. Sending a lot of resumes on speculation or in response to ads also increases your odds.

I once registered with a job placement agency, and they gave me an employment test, and set up numerous interviews for me. I didn’t accept any of the jobs, but they were good jobs, although they weren’t what I was looking for. But, the agency almost pre-qualifies you to work, so you are at an advantage for getting hired.

How to take action

Once you decide to stop biding your time at your current job, don’t quit your job in a huff. It’s important to always maintain good relationships with your former employers, even if the job didn’t make you happy. It speaks volumes about your character to future employers. Your current employer may also give you a reference for your job search, and help you find a better job, and may leave the door open for you if you want to come back and work there.

Ironically, it is easier to find a job if you already have one. Employers may question gaps in your employment. Before you jump ship, discreetly put the word out to friends and colleagues that you are job hunting. Send out resumes to multiple employers to increase your odds of acquiring an interview.

You may even decide to create your own job, by starting your own business. Whatever you decide, simply deciding what you want to do will instantly make you feel better. Then acting on it by approaching employers will add momentum.

Ideally, you want to be able to give your current employer two weeks’ notice when you resign, or even more if you do highly specialized work, so they have time to find a replacement for you, and train them.

You will have to get creative when searching for work. One of my family members recently changed jobs, and the new employer requested an interview during his work hours. He was lucky that he could go in before his current job start time, and to cover himself in case he would be late returning to work, he arranged with his employer that he had an early appointment and would stay late if it made him late starting work.

Sometimes you can’t change the day or time of a job interview, and you may not want your current employer to know that you are looking elsewhere, so try to go to interviews before or after work or on your lunch break, or switch your days off, so you don’t disrupt your current employer.

Ideally, you will find a job that you are excited about and happy to go to, where you are advancing and enjoying yourself, which is beneficial to both you and your employer. Then the job won’t feel like work – what are you waiting for?

Ann Hoy

(source: Forbes) http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/05/18/new-survey-majority-of-employees-dissatisfied/

Source: Vancouver Sun “Is your job making you sick” June 2014

photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/hashoofoundation/8231296136/”>Hashoo Foundation USA – Houston, TX</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/”>cc</a>

Your Job Search

How to Write a Winning Cover Letter

June 28, 2014

Cover letters 101:

A cover letter can be sent to potential employers along with your resume. It serves as a quick intro to employers to get you noticed, and it may prompt them to call you for an interview.

A brief introduction to yourself makes you memorable among numerous applicants who send in a resume by itself. It also enables you to send out multiple resumes for similar positions, and use the cover letter to tailor each one to a specific employer in the cover letter.

A cover letter consists of a few paragraphs summarizing your skills, experience, or education that qualify you for the position you are applying for.

Before you compose the letter, decide what attracts you to this opportunity, and what relevant experience you have. Explaining why you want to work for the employer, and what you have to uniquely offer to the company, forms a personal connection with the employer.

The cover letter includes contact information, such as your name, address, phone number, and email address. The salutation depends on if you know the name of the person who is hiring for the position, such as –‘Dear Mrs. Jones’, or if you don’t know the name, you could phone and ask, or you can write – ‘To Whom It May Concern’.

Start the letter with your intention: “I am applying for the position of landscaper for your hotel”. Then explain why you are excited to pursue this opportunity and what qualifies you for it. For example, “as my attached resume shows, I was employed at Cedar Garden Center last year, where I gained experience on placement and planting of plants, trees and flowers on-site under the direction of the head landscaper.

Additional information, such as: “I enjoy working outdoors with plants, and have enrolled in the night school horticulture program at college” lets them know that you are hardworking, take pride in your work, and are expanding your knowledge by taking courses to pursue a career in this field in the future.

By introducing yourself and showing enthusiasm for helping an employers’ business while advancing your own career, you stand out from the crowd, and may land an interview and ultimately a new job!

By: Ann Hoy

photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/rabanito/3444623902/”>rabanito</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a>

Mission Statement

Welcome to Raisingbiz.com!

June 28, 2014 1 Comment

Businesses and their customers have a reciprocal relationship – customers support businesses, and they also benefit from the goods and services provided by the business. When businesses thank their customers by supporting their employees and communities, they strengthen a mutually beneficial bond which attracts future business and builds customer loyalty. Promoting that bond is what Raising Biz is all about.

In recent years, The Occupy Wall Street movement highlighted the widening gap between those who can help and those who need or want help. Raising Biz is about bridging the gap, to create economic stability for all.

The ripple effect of a Joe Fresh Factory collapsing in Bangladesh was felt as far away as my community in Canada, halfway across the world. The price of a cheap shirt loses its’ value when those producing the shirts work in unsafe conditions. By paying a fair price for goods, we raise businesses, their employees, and their communities up.

Workers worldwide need jobs, and companies need to make a healthy profit in order to stay in business. Achieving this while helping to raise the social impact of the company is what Raising Biz is about.

Whether you are a business owner, an employee, a citizen, or a charity, we are all connected and affected by each other’s success. Raising Biz highlights businesses that breed success in the world around them, by magnifying their good will.

When businesses attain a new level of engagement with their customers, their social value increases, as we galvanize customer support for their purpose driven efforts, and promote the business through social media. Amplifying business kindness builds brand loyalty.

Providing in-depth, yet simplified blog content on business topics, ranging from finding meaningful employment, to creating a business, to volunteering in the community, we are the catalyst for Raising Biz, one person at a time.

Ann Hoy