How to Prepare for an Online Interview

If you are lucky to get called for an interview during the current Covid-19 crisis, it is very likely that it is going to be an online interview. Technology continues to influence the world of work during and post the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies are slowly adopting the available technology to keep their operations running and using tools like Zoom, Skype and Google hangouts to hold meetings and interviews. Employees are also working from home so it is likely that a HR professional will suggest to conduct an online interview. Here are tips to get you ready for that online interview. Read More ...
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Interview Tips: What Employers Want

What employers want to know about you You walk into an interview room and find 3 people waiting for you. For a moment, you are tensed. You do not know what to expect. Once you settle down and the real interview begins, questions start coming from all sides and for a moment, you are not sure of what exactly the recruiters want to hear. Currently, all those common interview questions and answers you had rehearsed have evaporated from your head due to the confusion. Well, panicking is a very valid response in such a situation but, you can manage to keep calm and ace the interview. Recruiters often have a few things they want to hear from a candidate and they are always keen to filter what they consider valuable to them from the candidate’s responses. It has nothing to do with rehearsed responses or very deep research about the company, even though covering these two areas does set you apart from the crowd. In...
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Agile Doesn’t Work Without Psychological Safety

Twenty-one years ago, 17 software engineers published the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, more commonly known as the Agile Manifesto. Responding to the bureaucratic waterfall model of software development, with its linear phases and heavy documentation, these engineers advocated a more flexible approach, one that could adapt and succeed in a highly dynamic environment. That simple declaration of values and principles has since spawned a global movement that has gone far beyond software development, gradually expanding to include under its umbrella a broad set of tools, processes, and functions. Agile has fundamentally changed the way we build software. In my organization, for example, we scrum, run sprints, and far outperform the pace of development from the past. During the last 20 years, the agile movement has gained astonishing momentum, even outside of software development. There’s agile HR, agile project management, agile customer service, agile sales, agile operations, agile C-suite, and so on. Read More...
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Your Brain Has A “Delete” Button–Here’s How To Use It

There’s an old saying in neuroscience: neurons that fire together wire together. This means the more you run a neuro-circuit in your brain, the stronger that circuit becomes. This is why, to quote another old saw, practice makes perfect. The more you practice piano, or speaking a language, or juggling, the stronger those circuits get. The ability to learn is about more than building and strengthening neural connections.For years this has been the focus for learning new things. But as it turns out, the ability to learn is about more than building and strengthening neural connections. Even more important is our ability to break down the old ones. It’s called “synaptic pruning.” Here’s how it works. YOUR BRAIN IS LIKE A GARDEN Imagine your brain is a garden, except instead of growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables, you grow synaptic connections between neurons. These are the connections that neurotransmitters like dopamine, seratonin, and others travel across. “Glial cells” are the gardeners of your brain–they act to...
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Interview Tips: What Employers Want

What employers want to know about you You walk into an interview room and find 3 people waiting for you. For a moment, you are tensed. You do not know what to expect. Once you settle down and the real interview begins, questions start coming from all sides and for a moment, you are not sure of what exactly the recruiters want to hear. Currently, all those common interview questions and answers you had rehearsed have evaporated from your head due to the confusion. Well, panicking is a very valid response in such a situation but, you can manage to keep calm and ace the interview. Recruiters often have a few things they want to hear from a candidate and they are always keen to filter what they consider valuable to them from the candidate’s responses. It has nothing to do with rehearsed responses or a very deep research about the company, even though covering these two areas does set you apart from the crowd. In...
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5 Types Of Coworkers You Need In Your Circle

Everyone needs a great support system. This is why you must identify the types of coworkers you’d like to associate with in your place of work. Picking the right office relationships is necessary for successful career growth. No matter where you work, ensure you are constantly developing a relationship business. Technology has seen most millennials inhibit interactions with other people as they can easily live in their own cloud bubble. We all have, at some point in our careers, sent an email over to a colleague sitting right across instead of standing up and having an actual conversation. This is why there is a need to start cultivating the right connections in the workplace. These are the types of coworkers that can help you get a promotion, get that salary raise or better yet, connect you to the right markets for life. So who are these coworkers and why do you need them in your circle? 1. The Office BestFriend We all have one or...
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Why Leaving Your Job Could Be the Smartest Career Move You’ll Ever Make

Every week I get them: Emails from women in the ad industry asking if they should quit. It happens so often that I've started to call myself the Quitting Coach. These weary notes don't surprise me. Despite recent efforts to hire a more diverse workforce and promote women, advertising is still a boys' club. The women who write to me get passed over for raises and promotions. Their less experienced and less talented male colleagues get the prime accounts, projects, and job offers. Related: Female Founders Need to Stop Self-Sabotaging Research performed by the 3% Movement bears out what is obvious to anyone who has worked in the industry: Women who don't adjust to the grueling workweeks, inflexibility and family-unfriendly environment simply leave. I understand the yearning for something different: I spent 10 wonderful, magical years working for Wieden + Kennedy, producing work for brands like Nike, Coca-Cola and Powerade -- but I started itching for new ways to challenge myself and take some risks. Then the universe...
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Characteristics of a Great CV to Help You Stand Out

Do you think your CV can stand out from a pile and catch the attention of a hiring manager? If the answer to that question is a no or a maybe there’s quite the work to be done. Your CV should represent you fully to a hiring manager and give you an opportunity to meet the interviewer. Here are 10 characteristics of a great CV you should check your CV against; It Grabs the Reader’s Attention This is the most important aspect in a CV. Your CV should stand out from pile and intrigue the reader enough to want to read it. On average, a recruiter or HR practitioner takes about 7 seconds to decide whether or not your CV is worth their time. A great CV captures the attention of it’s reader right away. It tells the Reader the Kind of Job You are Looking For Your CV should immediately state the job and industry you are interested in. This information can be entered in...
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How To Write A Professional CV

There is no sure way to write a professional CV that captures all recruiters’ attention. However, with the tough competition in the job market, a professional CV is what you might just need to stand out. The ultimate rule for writing a CV that stands out, is to ensure that you showcase your unique selling point – stand out. A Curriculum vitae, popularly known as a CV is a professional document that gives a summary of your work history, education, and skills. Your CV should sell you, as a candidate, to hiring employers. There are 2 types of CVs, the skills-based CV, and the experience-focused type. A skills-based CV, also referred to as functional CV, highlights qualifications and skills, as compared to experience. An experienced focused CV, on the other hand, prioritizes work expertise and achievements. This section contains your official names, email addresses and phone numbers. Make sure the number provided is active and belongs to you. A recruiter will want...
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Why You Should Watch Out for Your 5-Year Job Anniversary

Most of us begin a new position with energy and a desire to impress. Our effort is high. Our passion is infectious. Our enthusiasm helps us to excel quickly. But for some, work becomes mundane and repetitive. They lose some of their passion, and their work can begin to feel like a chore. Eventually, some of those executives who had initially loved their careers enter the dimension we call the “day prison.” As they enter their workspace, they feel the metaphorical bars close around them in a zone where they are unmotivated, dissatisfied, and much less productive than they could be. To better understand this phenomenon we examined data from 970 such people in a single organization. They were between 35 and 44 years old (the typical range for the onset of a mid-career crisis), and they all rated their engagement at work in the bottom 10%. ...
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What The Law Says About Leave Days in Kenya

Taking a rest is important for your physical and mental well-being. In addition to having some time off work just to relax, there are other circumstances which might force you to take some time off. As a result, the government of Kenya has gazetted some important laws which guide employers and employees on how to take some time off work, under different circumstances. It should be noted that these are the legal privileges protected by the law. This is perhaps the most common and widely known type of leave. According to section 28 of the Kenyan Employment Act, clause Clause 7.8.9, every employee is entitled to 21 annual leave days after one year of service to the company, with full pay. This is calculated as 1.75 working days per month. It does not mean that an employee is not entitled to leave days if they have not completed one year of service. Rather, it means that the employee accrues their leave as...
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Infographic – How to Prepare for an Online Interview

If you are lucky to get called for an interview during the current Covid-19 crisis, it is very likely that it is going to be an online interview. Technology continues to influence the world of work during and post the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies are slowly adopting the available technology to keep their operations running and using tools like Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts to hold meetings and interviews. Employees are also working from home so it is likely that a HR professional will suggest to conduct an online interview. Here are tips to get you ready for that online interview. Read more ...
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A Simple 3-Part Strategy to Conquer the Fear of Public Speaking

You don't conquer the fear of public speaking; you manage it. Some people find this observation surprising because they've been told they can "conquer" or eliminate their fear. Eliminating the fear of speaking entirely shouldn't be your goal. In fact, from an evolutionary standpoint, fear of public speaking is a holdover from our ancient brain. Our ancestors needed to be accepted by the group to survive. Getting nervous about speaking in public is natural. The secret is to turn those butterflies you feel into positive energy by reframing the situation as an opportunity to share your ideas. Reappraising nervous energy as excitement is a simple way to turn your fear into confidence. For example, instead of saying "I hate public speaking," say "I'm excited about sharing my ideas with the team on Tuesday." Negative self-talk will raise your heart rate. Positive self-talk will keep you calm and boost your confidence.  Read more ...
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What First-Time Founders Should Know About Naming a Company

The principles of naming are the same the first time you name a business and the 30th time. The rules don't change, but you change. You learn what is important in branding a new business and choosing a name, over time. Very few first-time founders realize how intimately connected things like brand positioning, brand personality, knowing your customers, and knowing the naming norms of your industry (whether or not you lean into them), are to choosing a great brand name. Even if you're a marketing genius in other ways, naming your first business is a nerve-wracking process. To help first-time founders put their best foot forward, and hopefully avoid learning lessons on brand naming the hard way, I've put together some tips and tricks I've picked up both from naming my own businesses and helping to name many, many more with my company Squadhelp. Read more ...
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How to Successfully Market a New Website in 2021

With countless websites competing online in every industry, it can often be a challenge to successfully market a new website in 2021. If your startup brand is ready to launch its online presence, you need to work hard to generate consistent visitor traffic and gain a foothold in the marketplace. Unlike in the early days of the internet when companies were less digitally savvy and there were fewer websites online, in 2021 there is plenty more to consider. Branding, content and targeted campaigns are crucial to your ongoing business success. Designing and then launching a website is only one part of the journey. If you are to meet your business goals and attract a steady stream of targeted visitors, it is important to blend traditional marketing concepts with newer digital approaches. This is especially true if your marketing budget is low or modest at best. Larger companies with big money to spend will inevitably have success in attracting customers. If your startup firm is small, you...
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