Dress for Success

Professionalism in the workplace has been facets:  communicating, listening, collaborating, work ethics, and appearance.  Much too often we overlook the way we dress for work; sometimes too casual, sometimes too formal.  Your appearance not only in your clothing but your overall grooming play an important role in the impression you want to make as a professional. 

The way you dress gives off nonverbal cues that can either be a positive or negative impact on your way to climbing the corporate ladder.  Be aware of what you are wearing when you step out the door; what kind of statement are you making?

http://www.careerealism.com/work-dress-success/

How to Get Your Email Message Noticed

We are bombarded by emails everyday.  In your inbox you have 256 emails waiting to be read, waiting for a response or waiting to be deleted.  How do you know which ones are worth the time? 

You don't know unless you have taken the task of doing what the following article suggests.  Most importantly, this article should apply to you as the sender, not only as the receiver.  So the next time you are creating a message, take a look at the article and you will have a better chance of having your message noticed.

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130826201745-130311-how-to-get-busy-people-to-take-action-when-you-send-an-email

Handling Difficult Coworkers and/or Team Members

This article closely ties in with our book discussion of working together in groups and being able to collaborate effectively.  As we work in various jobs, we may encounter individuals who are difficult to work with and when it comes to decision making prove to be uncooperative. 

In college you are placed in teams for group projects.  Just like you will be working with colleagues in your career choice, you are working with classmates that are representative of these colleagues.  Being able to know how to handle everyone's personality and habits will make the outcome of your project and goals easier.

So how do you handle these people?  This article gives a glimpse of handling difficulty coworkers and some options to overcome the obstacles.  http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130822022815-75054000-how-to-handle-difficult-people?trk=tod-home-art-large_0

"What is your greatest weakness?"

You sent in your resume, received the phone call for an interview, scheduled your interview and now it's time for the interview.  Nervously, you have gone through potential questions your interviewer will ask and have a relative idea how to answer basic questions about your job and roles you have held at work.  Then, the dreaded "what is your greatest weakness" question is asked.  Do you answer by telling your potential employer a weakness, any weakness?  How DO you answer this question without sounding incompetent?

This article gives you a look at how to answer this question and how to make your weakness sound positive.  Take a look and hopefully the next time you are asked the question, you will answer with confidence and land that job!

http://www.careerealism.com/interview-question-ruins/#chitika_close_button

Creating your LinkedIn Profile: What to Include

Millions and millions of job seekers and professionals are turning to social media.  Just like your resume, cover letter, and interview your profile on social media websites needs to perfect and professional. 

As you develop your profile on sites such as www.linkedin.com, it is important to include information that is relevant to your goal of branching out meeting other professionals in your industry.  Many employers are looking at these sites to get background on their candidate, therefore it vital that what you include on profile is concise, error proof and outlines your objective.

Unfortunately, sometimes we are unsure of what to include and how to write our experience to make us stand out from the crowd.  The following site  http://linkhumans.com/blog/perfect-linkedin-profile outlines and specifies what a job seeker and professional should include on their LinkedIn profile to help them network.

Business Etiquette When You Write

The website www.careerealism.com is a great site to help a person as they prepare for the job market.  The following link is a perfect way to begin our semester and to give you some insight on what to do and not do and why it is important to be an effective communicator.  Writing a proper email, business letter and or quick text is vital in making an impression on your present employer or future employer!  Please leave any comments, suggestions or questions you may have! 

http://www.careerealism.com/business-etiquette-when-you-write/

Introduction to Business Communications Blog

This blog site has been developed for BCOM 2050 and 2080 students to assist them in becoming better communicators.  The site will provide a plethora of information that are in conjunction with the classroom material.

Students will be able to link to other websites to help them in becoming better writers and communicators in order to get the perfect job.  Information on resume writing, interviewing techniques, do's and don'ts in business writing and overall etiquette to set you apart from the competition.

I hope that you will be utilize this site to your advantage and share the useful tips with your friends and family.  Communication between students and instructor is urged, so please leave comments so that we learn together from each others experiences.