So You Want to Be a Freelance Project Manager

Maybe you've always wanted to work for yourself or you are just looking for a change of occupation. Perhaps you were recently laid off and see freelancer as an opportunity to continue your career. Regardless of your reasons, there are 3 points every project manager should consider before engaging as a freelancer.

I recently heard someone on the radio talk about the 3 points. I'm sorry that I can't recall his name, but he stated that, "Every business needs 3 things, someone to find the work, someone to mind the work, and someone to grind the work."

These points were so important that I had to write them. Let's take a moment and discuss each of the points to see how they apply to a freelance project manager.

Find the Work

Every business needs someone to find the work. Actually this role of finding the work is essentially a dual role with responsibilities in marketing and sales. As the marketing manager, this person is responsible to identify and describe the services to be provided by the freelancer, that is, to create any marketing collateral including brochures, advertizing, whitepapers, and fliers that will be used by the sales role to identify and secure new business.

In the sales role, this person will beat the streets looking for the next job. Typically this includes prospecting, qualifying, and selling the services to new or existing clients. Selling services can be time consuming; consider the time spent on phone calls, in-person meetings, writing proposals, responding to RFPs, and negotiating contracts. All of these activities are resource intensive, non-productive, and expensive when you consider your time, the cost to travel to client sites, and luncheon meetings.

Mind the Work

Every business needs someone to mind the work. This sounds like the business manager to me. In this role, the business manager is responsible to run the office, answer the phone, manage the contracts, invoice for work completed, manage accounts receivable, pay the office expenses, and make sure the payroll is ready on-time. In a small office, the business manager also creates and manages the business budgets, forecasts sales, manages contract milestones and deliveries.

Grind the Work

Every business needs someone to grind the work. This is the role that actually does work that will be invoiced to provide the funds required to run the business and make the payroll. It's a full time job to perform the contracted services within schedule, under budget, while achieving the quality of service expected by the client.

A freelance project manager is a one-person show. The freelancer must fulfill all 3 roles to run a successful one-person business. The freelance project manager must somehow balance the needs to find and mind the work while still having time to grind out the work. The freelancer who focus on project delivery, but doesn't make the time to look for the next contract will soon be out of business. Likewise, the freelancer who finds a job and focuses on delivery without remembering to invoice will also soon be out of business.

In summary, you may be a great project manager, but freelancing requires sales and business skills to run the business. Make sure you cover your bases before embarking on your new career.

By: Ray Myers, Jr., PMP About the Author: Ray Myers, Jr. is a PMP certified project manager with over 20 years experience planning and managing technology projects.

Identifying And Making The Most Of Your Transferable Skills

Many times, when we're applying for jobs, we think about how our skills relate specifically to the position we desire. There's no doubt that it's important to show that you already have experience and qualify for the position you want. However, if you're trying to switch careers, you may not have this luxury.

How then do you still apply for a position that you have little or no prior experience doing? You can identify your transferable skills, or those skills that would be valuable to an employer even if those skills are not directly related to the job you're seeking. Here are some ways to identify and make the most of them those skills.

Think of Your Favorite Accomplishments

Most likely, when you're thinking of switching careers, you're moving toward something you would love to do versus something you think you have to do. This is why it's a good idea to think of your favorite accomplishments as you seek your transferable skills. What are you good at doing that simultaneously makes you happy?

Are you a master organizer whose organizational skills changed the face of a company? Did you give a speech at a non-profit in your spare time that touched the lives of numerous children? Whatever you're really good at that makes you happy should be your centerpiece when identifying your transferable skills because you'll be openly passionate about it as you approach employers in your new field or industry.

Pinpoint Skills for Each Position You Apply For

What you'll probably notice as you identify transferable skills and try to apply them to different positions is that varying skills will deem themselves relevant. For instance, if you're a former travel agent and you've decided that you want to become a writer, you might find that one of your transferable skills may be travel, especially if you apply for travel writing positions. In other words, while you may not have extensive writing experience, noting your knowledge of the world-at-large may work in your favor.

On the other hand, you might be able to apply for the same travel writing position, having been a waitress, if you highlight your extensive list of personal travels throughout your life along with your passion for keeping a vivid, well-written journal. While this transferable skill isn't professional per se, it may be help you get the job. One of your duties when identifying your transferable skills is to determine exactly what the employer is looking for to help you determine just what you can offer them as an employee, so keep this in mind as you apply.

It may seem somewhat intimidating to try to apply for a job when it seems that you have no direct experience relevant to the position. However, many employers will take strides to train you when once you're hired whether you have relevant experience or not. So don't let a lack of experience deter you from pursuing your dream. If you can exhibit a basic understanding of the position by highlighting your transferable skills, you may just surprise yourself by being hired for the very position you desire.

Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information.

Build a career portfolio to highlight your accomplishments

By Douglas E. Welch, Tech Republic

Gathering evidence of your day-to-day successes on the help desk can help you promote your career. Take the advice of one contributor and build a career portfolio to showcase your recognitions and achievements.

Conventional wisdom says that to have a good career, whether manning the help desk or sitting in a call center, it is best to keep your head down and not make waves. Although I would question whether this was ever wise, in today's economy, it is almost a sure way to end up at the unemployment office.

If you want to have a long and satisfying technology career, you need to ensure that you get the recognition you deserve. Then, you need to develop a career portfolio to highlight your successes. When performance reviews, layoffs, and promotions come around, you will be well positioned and prepared for anything that comes your way.

Make your name known
To build recognition in your company, one of your first actions should be to take credit for the work you do. Have you produced a report for your manager or upper management executives? Did you recently solve a major problem that can help all of your clients? Did you create a program that reduces purchasing time by 50 percent? Did you make sure to include your name, phone number, and e-mail on the report or in the program? Your name doesn't have to be in 72-point type or flash on the screen every 15 seconds, but it should be there.

Do you have a corporate-wide information system to help you and your peers manage the help desk? Are you entering your most important calls and solutions into this system? If so, be sure that the system clearly marks the origin of the information and how to contact you with further questions. Not only are you being a good coworker by sharing your information, but people will learn that you are also a great source of information in the future.

Take pride in your work
I once had an art coach who explained to me the importance of signing your work, regardless of whether you thought of yourself as an artist. Signing your work demonstrates a certain amount of pride in your work and shows that you find it important and worthwhile. If you don't take your work seriously, why should anyone else?

Of course, the importance of taking credit for your work goes far beyond personal satisfaction. First, it gives readers or users a place to call if they have questions about the report or program or any of the assumptions used in creating it. Second, it places your name in front of people who might otherwise never see it. As a tech worker, it's easy to become anonymous within your own company. You are either locked away in the call center all day, away from other workers, or, if you do on-site support, you appear, do your magic, and then disappear. Taking credit for your work is one way to avoid this trap.

Make sure callers know your name and how to contact you directly, if your company allows this. Leave your business card or other leave-behind material with each user you assist. Let users know that they can contact you directly, if needed. Do everything you can to personalise your service so that your users know who is directly responsible for helping them.

Take on special projects
Another way to raise your profile is to take on special projects such as organising a technology open house, brown bag lunch training sessions, or other events for your department. To produce such events, you will need to work with colleagues in your own and other departments, again making your name known outside your own department.

Taking a role in promoting your own career can be particularly important when the layoff specter raises its ugly head. Managers always find it more difficult to downsize those people they know wellâ€"especially those who've played an active role in the company. Standing above the crowd may help you survive the tough times that can occur in any company.

Keep track of the praise you receive
If you have worked in support for any length of time, you have probably received the occasional kudos from your manager or clients. You need to make an effort to actively collect these examples of praise.

Did you recently recover a collection of files for the accounting department, make a recalcitrant printer function, or install new software for an entire business unit? If people have offered verbal praise to you, gently ask them if they would mind putting their praise in an e-mail or memo to you and your manager. If you spent longer on the phone than normal to solve a particularly nasty problem, ask the client whether they might e-mail a note to your supervisor. It never hurts to ask, and in most cases, you will find that these happy people are more than willing to comply.

As you build your technology career, it is also important to request letters of recommendation from anyone who appreciates your work, not just your immediate supervisors or managers. Collect these letters as soon as possible after a particularly good experience so that it is fresh in the person's mind. Letters of recommendation are extremely important since they show significant appreciation for your work. These people are making the ultimate gesture by putting their reputation on the line for you, and almost everyone will recognise the strength of these personal recommendations.

Build a career portfolio
Once you've started collecting this material, you need a place to store it so you can make use of it in the future. You might think that portfolios are the domain of artists, but everyone should have a career portfolio that can be used in a variety of situations.

If you are currently employed, your career portfolio will be a fine companion during your regular performance reviews. Nothing is more impressive than being able to cite specific examples of the good work you have done, including personal notes of praise from those involved. You can also include past performance evaluations in your portfolio, so that you can demonstrate how you have achieved the goals you created with your manager during your last meeting. You should document any projects you are working on and their current status. This allows you to easily lay out a comprehensive overview of your work during the previous year. Performance reviews can be one of the most stressful professional events, but your career portfolio will go a long way toward alleviating this stress.

Your portfolio can be even more important if you are looking, or thinking of looking, for a new job. Everyone should be prepared for a job search at any time. Companies rise and fall. Technologies come and go. You never know when you may find yourself looking for a new or better position. A well-maintained portfolio will help you make a good impression on interviewers.

Keep your portfolio up to date, as you never know when you might need it. You might even want to develop several copies of the portfolio if you are engaged in talks with several companies. This will allow you to leave your portfolio with the interviewer to share with others.

Along with your resume, include copies of letters of recommendation and the more informal examples of praise mentioned above. You might also want to include descriptions of important projects, difficult support situations and their solutions, and anything else that helps to convey the nature of your work.

Most importantly, you should always be on the lookout for good stories about your career. Perhaps there was the troublesome employee you were able to convert into one of your best users. Maybe you developed an ad hoc system that helped a particular department be more productive without additional budget. Putting these stories in writing can help you to better present them in an interview situation.

It's up to you
The most important thing for you to remember is this: No one is going to swoop down and pull you out the anonymity of your help desk or call center cubicle. It is up to you to develop and promote your own career, document your success (and good failure) stories, and build your career portfolio. You are the only person who is truly interested in promoting your work. It is up to you to honk your own horn, stand above the crowd, and get the recognition you deserve.

Top Interview Mistakes

I love job interviews - JUST KIDDING. Do you ever wonder if people who say they like job interviews are a little crazy? Who really likes them? Apparently some people. Whether you like to interview or not, chances are you might have to given the nature of Britain's economy.

Your performance on a job interview will obviously determine whether or not you get hired. Many of us leave interviews feeling like we did amazing and then never get the job. Why is this? It could be that someone better came along. Or, it might be that we did fine in the interview, however, we made common mistakes that ultimately ruined our chances at getting the job. What are these mistakes? And, how can you avoid doing them so you can ensure that you are chosen for the job instead of the other candidates?

One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to a job interview is "going with the flow." It is natural to assume that since you are not in control of the questions that you are not in control of the interview. This, however, is just not true. When you go with the flow, you often lose your chance to address important topics. Make sure that you know ahead of time what you want to tell the prospective employers. Then, during the interviews, use the questions to get those points across.

Also, when you are in an interview it is only natural that you will get to ask a few questions. The old saying, "there is no stupid questions," does not apply here. Do not ask the person interviewing you if they like their job. What if they hate it? You will obviously make them uncomfortable. Instead, ask insightful questions that pertain to the job.

Next, avoid the negative. You are trying to sell yourself in an interview. Paint yourself as positively as possible. Figure out how to answer each question to make you look better. And, if something comes up that you cannot answer or do not understand, use that to your advantage. Discuss your willingness to learn and your work ethic. Good companies are full of individuals who work hard and are willing to learn from each other.

Remember - be positive. There is nothing worse than someone who is negative or unsure of his or her abilities. Stay optimistic and the right job will be just around the corner!


Source>>

Beta Launch Update

As of July 4th, 2009, we officially opened up the New and Improved Distinct Portfolios 'Beta' to you with so many new and amazing features! We wanted to give all of our users a quick update on these features and future additions currently in development:

• 2 more portfolio templates have be uploaded this week with 10 more in the works for launching this summer and fall.
  
• Email signature file creation has been integrated...very cool!
  
• Template customization feature is in the works and scheduled to launch mid August 2009.
• Form creation feature under development and scheduled to launch mid August 2009.
• Embed Code feature developed using AJAX, working well, and looks awesome!
• Export your portfolio to a CD/DVD (Virtual Business Card) is being tested and will be launched at the beginning of August 2009.
  
• Payment gateway for upgrading to premium memberships has been fully tested and is now activated.
• Upload CV feature has been added which works to add an additional area in certain portfolios for downloading resumes/CV's.
• All other features have been going through rigorous testing and appear to be running smooth.
  
• More in-depth demo currently in development which will give you a head-to-toe explanation of Distinct Portfolios and features.
• "Creating Your Portfolio 101" video in development to compliment DP's help library and support team.
• Integrating a Resume Builder for easy resume development within your digital portfolio.
• Building up Tips & Tricks section along with resume and cover letter examples for you to use as templates when developing your portfolio.
• And so much more that we will cover in future blog posts!!!
  
• We test (and will continue to test) all applications within the site daily to ensure a working and high quality product for you!

We have many more features in the development phase but would love to hear your thoughts on what you'd like to see...so if you think of anything, please contact us or email us at development@distinctportfolios.com.

Of course, check back with our blog and twitter account for information on new features, news, and more!

Preparing for a second job interview

If you've gotten through the first job interview and you're moving on toward the second one, the odds of being hired have just gone up. With that in mind, you really want to be prepared for that second job interview. The questions will be tougher and things will be more complex in a second interview. Make sure that you dress appropriately and that you are on time. You probably did that for the first interview, too, but make sure you do it for the second one, since that's likely going to be where the final decision is made about hiring you or hiring someone else who presented himself or herself better. If you find that you'll be late for your interview for any reason, call ahead. Let someone know. That's much more responsible than breezing in the door fifteen minutes after your scheduled appointment time and saying you're sorry you're late but traffic was bad, etc.

Another thing you should do is make sure you know about the company before you go to that second interview. You can't know everything, but you can Google the company and read what is said about it. You can visit its Website if it has one. You can also see if it has a Wikipedia entry. If it's a big company, it probably does - and some smaller companies do, too. While it's never wise to believe everything you read on the Internet, this kind of information will give you a lot of knowledge about the company overall, and you'll notice things that don't match up properly. If you've done anything very important in between a first and second interview, such as received an award or completed your degree, be sure to update your resume and bring the new one to your interview. There's no shame in letting your potential employer know that you're still moving forward with your goals. It shows your desire to work, and that's important. Ultimately, relax and be honest at a second interview. Think about what kind of salary you're really looking for, and know what's common for that position. You might be asked about it. Honest answers are very important for success.

More Awesome Templates Have Arrived

We've recently added 4 new awesome portfolio templates to the theme library...sign in or register to check them out in action:

Perfecting Your Digital Résumé

I came acrosse this article by Selena Dehne (Jist Publishing) and wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

You spent hours scrutinizing every word and punctuation mark of your résumé. You listened to the criticism and advice of one proofreader after another telling you exactly how to make your résumé flawless. Now it's perfect and you are ready to send a digital résumé to the company of your dreams through the Internet with just a click of the mouse.

Before you send it, stop and consider the hundreds, maybe thousands, of job seekers you're competing with who are about to do the same thing. Are you still confident your résumé is ready to shoot through cyberspace?

The Internet has drastically changed the job search and how to write an effective résumé. Years ago, the classifieds section of a newspaper could only reach job seekers in a limited area. Today, the Internet allows job seekers from all over the country to find and apply for jobs thousands of miles away. A study of more than 1,500 job seekers discovered that 34 percent found their last job on an Internet job board, according to Peter Weddle, an expert in recruiting and Internet job search. The competition that this has created among job seekers requires résumés to be more precise and outstanding than ever.

With so many employers relying on computers to screen résumés through keywords, job seekers must know how to make their résumé stand out from the thousands of others it competes with.

"It is believed that more than 80 percent of all résumés processed by employers are now electronically searched for specific keywords before a human ever sees them," says Richard Beatty, author of "The Ultimate Job Search" (Jist).

Keywords are typically nouns and noun phrases that represent specific areas of skill or experience that the employer identifies as important. Computers sort through résumés and distinguish which ones feature more of these keywords than others.

Beatty suggests job seekers scan job ads, job descriptions and company Web sites to create a list of which skills employers need most often. Placing these skills on your résumé will demonstrate that you have something employers want. Because computers also count the number of times keywords are used, Beatty recommends repeating the words moderately throughout the résumé to ensure the computer pulls it from the masses.

Beatty also believes it is important for people to create a plain-text version of their résumé to quickly copy and paste into the body of an e-mail, rather than send as an attachment.

Although it would seem easier to send an MS Word document, employers have shifted away from accepting résumés this way due to computer viruses that are often embedded in e-mail attachments.

The subject of your e-mail should catch the reader's attention by featuring words more enticing than "résumé" or "profile." Beatty suggests job seekers try using subjects like "Talented Human Resources Professional" or "Award-Winning Sales Professional" to stand out to employers.

As job seekers prepare to apply for jobs, Beatty encourages them to use these techniques to get ahead of their competition.

But job seekers beware. Just because you've loaded your résumé with keywords, converted it into a plain-text format and e-mailed it to an employer under an enticing subject, that doesn't mean it won't be discarded later.

Job seekers would be wise to avoid the mistakes most often committed on résumés. The following are the most common résumé mistakes:

• Typos or grammatical errors


• Including too much information


• Not listing achievements in former roles


• Poor layout and/or design


• Including too little information

"Considering the extent of today's competition and the huge numbers involved, résumé writing is not a process you can afford to leave to chance," Beatty advises. "Designing the right résumé can make all the difference in the world. It will determine whether your candidacy rises to the top or sinks to the bottom of the stack."

Top 10 Tips for Job Interview Success

Attending an interview can be a nerve-racking for even the experience professional. However, there are a few points to remember that can ensure your interview gets off to a great start and to give you the knowledge and comfort you need to reduce anxiety and calm you down. Here are the 10 top tips when attending your interview and getting successfully through it.

1. Do a little research - researching the company beforehand and finding a little about what they do and who they are can go a long way to being a success or not, it could make all the difference to them hiring you. Understanding what they are looking for in a person can also greatly increase your chances, you can use the companies prospectus or the internet to do your research on the company.

2. Present yourself well - preparing yourself is essential for success in your interview, always give yourself plenty of time to shower, groom and dress appropriately for your interview. Choose your outfit wisely and dress appropriately for the type of job you are applying for.

3. Arrive early - always make sure you arrive at the interview roughly 10 minutes before the actual interview starts, this will ensure that you don't arrive flustered after rushing around and will show the interviewer that you are punctual.

4. Ask questions yourself - while it is you that is being interviewed you should also prepare questions to ask the interviewer, by preparing questions to ask beforehand it will show the interviewer that you have taken the time, have shown initiative and are interested in finding out more about the position or company.

5. First impressions count - always remember that first impressions count for a lot, walk into the interview with your head held high, smile and give a firm handshake. Showing you have confidence in yourself is essential and can make all the difference to you being successful.

6. Show interest - make sure that you show interest in the person conducting the interview, ask them questions such as how long they have worked for the firm and what involvement with members of staff are.

7. Watch your body language - be confident in your body language, the way you conduct yourself is a tell tale sign in your body language and will give the interviewer insight into the type of person that you are, interviewers place a lot of faith in a persons body language so make sure yours doesn't let you down.

8. Make sure you understand the requirements - if you are unsure of any questions that the interviewer asks then be sure to ask them to clarify what they mean, if you answer without fully understanding the question you are only asking for trouble.

9. Ask about follow up - make sure that the interviewer knows how interested you are by asking about what happens after the interview regarding follow up, make sure you know how and when they will contact you if you are successful.

10. Make sure the interviewer knows you want the job - at the end of the interview make sure you reiterate how much you are suited for the position and what you could give to the firm as a member of staff.

We're Now On Twitter

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the system, but for those of you who aren't, twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

Utilizing twitter allows us to post quick notes to our users about, well, basically anything. But besides "anything", we'll also be using it for things like new feature launches, important dates, software tweeks, new partnerships, industry news blurbs, and really anything worthwhile that we feel you should know.

Our twitter URL is www.twitter.com/distinct_port. It is free so you can join, become a follower of Distinct Portfolios tweets and get automatically updated when postings go live.

We look forward to tweeting with you!

Self Promotion and Personal Marketing Tools for the Serious Job Seeker

So, we've all read the paper or saw the news...it's all around us...the economic climate is not in its best state around the globe. With more and more layoffs by the day, how do you make yourself stand out when there are so many other candidates competing for the same job? The answer is to use a non-traditional self-promotion and personal marketing tool like Distinct Portfolios video resumes.

Distinct Portfolios offers job seekers the ability to effectively market themselves and impress potential employers with electronic profiles that can include:

• Resumes
• Curriculum vitae/CV
• Cover letters
• Pictures/images
• Video clips
• Interviews
• Work samples
• and more!

A traditional resume, no matter how strong, does not stand out and will not properly communicate your value to potential employers in today’s market. Interactive and online self-promotion tools like video resumes are invaluable resources used by savvy job seekers to gain job interviews and ultimately job offer.

With recruiters and employers seeing hundreds of applications, resumes, CVs and cover letters from individuals competing for the same jobs every day, the successful job seeker is the one who understands that selling yourself begins well before the personal interview.

Flash video resumes enable potential employers the opportunity not only to assess your skills but to gain valuable insight into your personality and professional demeanour.

Can Distinct Portfolios' video resume products really help me convey my value and potential over my formatted, type-written CV?

Your curriculum vitae will contain valuable insight into your education and background, but why stop there? Video resumes enable potential employers to view not only your CV or resume but also video interview clips, work samples and images.

Will Submitting a video resume take the place of an interview?

Before getting an interview you first need to make the short list. A video resume will help you stand out and get noticed. After that, your skills will speak for themselves.

Are video resumes limited to specific industries?

Absolutely Not! Video resumes are a much in-demand tool used by serious job seekers from every industry:

• Post-Secondary Students
• Doctors
• Lawyers
• Accountants
• Engineers
• Heath Care Professionals
• IT Professionals
• Advertising Executives
• And more…
  

The reality is that there is little that can be done about the competition in today’s job market. The other candidates aren’t going to go away and distinguishing yourself from the masses will take more than a paper resume and cover letter. If you want to grab the attention of potential employers, you need to be unique, memorable and distinct! You need Distinct Portfolios.

Oh yeah...did I mention we have a free account...we call it our freelancer membership...no credit card required! Click here to register today. Try it out...you won't be sorry...and hey, what do you have to lose, right?

Using Your Distinct Portfolio to Write a Job Transfer Request

Your spouse just got a job and he/she needs to leave for another part of the country. Fortunately, your company has an office there. Now all you need to do is to know how to write a job transfer request.

A job transfer request could be written for a relocation or if you want to go out for a different position within the company. It can also be written if your company is on a transition because of a merge, a buyout or any other change in leadership.

Knowing how to write a job transfer request should then have the end goal of you getting that job transfer...and by utilizing our easy, do-it-yourself eportfolio builder, you demonstrate to your current employer your seriousness and dedication to the company.

The characteristics of an effective job transfer request are the following:

● It clearly states the reason for your request.
● It would highlight your value to the company.
● It would illustrate how the company can also benefit from your transfer.

Some experts say that a job transfer request is much like a resume cover letter or even a resume (CV) for an application to a new job. Indeed, companies always base their decisions on how these would affect the operations, and whether these decisions would add to the profits or if they make things more efficient. A distinct portfolio allows you to demonstrate to your employer just how valuable you are by allowing you to attach electronic documents of work you've done for the company, upload videos of you or projects which have helped the company reach its goals, and so much more!

In knowing how to write a job transfer request, you should always frame your job transfer request in a manner that would lead the company to a conclusion that the transfer would benefit them, and not just you.

In writing a job transfer request, the same rules for writing a business letter apply. You still have to observe grammatical rules, and to keep a formal tone for the letter; you still need to make sure that your request is concise yet interesting.

Since this is a request, it would boost your chances of approval if you keep a positive, respectful, and confident tone. Strike a balance between a respectful tone and confidence, taking care to not sound pushy or arrogant. Keep all these in mind when you mull over how to write a job transfer request.

Truly, your knowledge of how to write a job transfer request would spell the difference between an approval for your job transfer or a rejection. Make sure you follow the principles in this article, and you’ll get your job transfer approval in no time!

Is This The Secret To Success?

I want to discuss a key that is vital in your quest to achieve your life goals.

Ask any successful person what was it that enabled them to reach goals that to the ordinary person appeared beyond comprehension, they will tell you they took action. If you do not take action on a goal or a dream it will eventually die.

Being decisive and taking action fortunately is a skill that can be learned. Successful people do the opposite to unsuccessful people in as much as they make decisions quickly and change them slowly, if at all, unsuccessful people make decisions slowly and change them quickly.

Unsuccessful people want everything in place BEFORE embarking on a goal achieving journey; they continually ask 'What If Something Happens?' Successful people ask 'What if it doesn't happen?'

Top achievers do not wait until every 'I' is dotted and every 't' is crossed before they decide to take a course of action. Once they feel they have enough information to make a decision that is just what they do, they then use the time on their journey to modify plans, take different directions, even stop and re-consider. But they took the initial action to get going, un-achievers procrastinate and are subject to inertia.

It was Dr Martin Luther King who said, 'Take the first step; You do not need to see the whole staircase before you, just take the first step in faith.'

You see there is no shame in failure. To successful people failure is only finding out that what they were doing needed modifying, they learn from the experience.

I have experienced both situations, although I have always been known as a person who makes decisions quickly, embarking on some activities that were doomed to a lack of success. But each time I did not succeed another lesson was learned what I was doing was not the correct way to reach the goal I wanted. Time for analysis and modification - so what at least I was going toward my goal not sitting hoping something would happen.

There were times in the past however when I used to blame anything around me, people, events situations for my lack of success, I always had an excuse. You know what is the wonderful thing about our minds? We cannot tell ourselves lies. Think about it, when you are looking to blame someone else for you lack of success isn't that an outside thing, don't you just know deep inside yourself that the responsibility really lies at you own door.

Remember when you point a finger there are always three fingers pointing back.
There are three types of people in the world as far as I am concerned.

Those that make things happen; Those that sit back and watch what is happening and finally those that say 'Uh! What happened?'
To which group do you belong?

There again it is amazing how little effort you need to exert to start off making things happen in your life. As you start toward your goal you attract more and more energy that drives you toward success. Getting into action helps you maintain action; it's the simple law of physics, once a body is moving it is easier and easier to keep it moving.

I can only use the analogy of driving a car, at first as you press the accelerator you move slowly but the law of physics takes over and the car moves easier and easier with less pressure on the accelerator (Gas pedal for our American colleagues).

Look at your goals you have written down. Just take one of them and decide to take action on it NOW! Ignore the fact that you haven't planned out the finest detail, ignore the number of times your negative self tells you it cannot happen Just DO IT! Choose a reward you will give yourself when the goal is achieved; no matter if it is just a goal to clear the garden of weeds, take action and you will quickly learn that the only way to achieve a goal is to take action in the first place.

As Martin Luther King jnr said "Take the First Step In Faith" This is where your journey begins but only if you take that fist step with ACTION!

Write the Perfect Resume with Your Distinct Portfolio

Not that long ago, the easiest way to get a job was to visit the company you wanted to work for and ask for one. Today, however, it's not quite that simple. Most companies require you to submit your resume to them before they'll consider you for a position. So the resume has become a great deal more important, because it's the first, and possibly last, chance you have to make the right impression. That's why it's so important to get it right!

First off, you need to start writing a resume by being clear about what you're trying to achieve. Which company are you planning to apply to? What type of job are you hoping to get? The answers to those questions will give you a direction for your resume. Remember, no matter how good your resume is, if the person reading it doesn't think you're suitable for the job, you won't get any further. So make your resume good, but don't spend countless hours stressing about making it perfect; you're probably wasting your time.

It's a good idea to keep your resume short and simple. Work out the types of things the employer is most likely to want from an employee, and make sure your resume shows you have those skills or qualities. For example, if the job is likely to require attention to detail, mention your ability in that area. Summarize your past job responsibilities with a focus on skills requiring attention to detail. Give your prospective employers plenty of chances to see how your skills could benefit their organization.

Perhaps you've never had this type of job before, and so don't know exactly what the employer will be looking for. That's okay; just spend some time researching the industry. If possible, ask some professionals in that industry what type of skills or qualities they'd look for in a person holding the job you're applying for. Look at job advertisements, searching for clues, particularly if they mention certain qualities they're looking for. Check out newspapers at the library, or search on the Internet. Even better, look at the website of your potential employer, if they have one. Learn as much as you can about the business you're trying to join, so that you have a better chance of targeting your resume correctly. That knowledge will pay off in an interview, because you can show you know something about the employer's industry.

One word of warning - never make the mistake of writing a general resume, hoping that you'll hit all the right buttons. That almost never works.

Now that you have an idea what sort of direction you need to give your resume, start putting it together. Most resumes contain the following sections, although they can vary a little depending on the industry. Still, you should always try to cover these areas somewhere in your resume:

- Employment history
- Positive personal characteristics
- Computer or technical skills
- Educational background and results (include GPA if it's over 3.0)
- Any other relevant accomplishments, such as a public speaking award

Once you get the hang of it, writing a resume really isn't hard. All you have to do is put in everything you can to show the prospective employer that you can add value to their business, and take out anything that doesn't.

Skills for Effective Communication

Effective communication skill is vital for any relationship to thrive. It is imperative, as people, that we develop the ability to understand one another and, in doing so, cultivate deeper and more significant relationships. There are a number of factors that contribute to effective communication . As with any skill, these traits can be developed through concentration and practice. Here are some basic skills for effective communication to work on.

• Listen more than you talk. One of the most overlooked skills in effective communication is the ability to truly listen to what the other person is saying. All too often we’re so intent on getting out point across that we don’t take the time to digest what the other person is saying. Effective communication, first and foremost, is about understanding the other person’s position.

• Remain calm and collect your thoughts. Another key to effective communication is having a clear idea in your own mind what you want to achieve in the exchange with the other person. Whether that communication is written or verbal, in order to be effective one must pause, understand in your own mind exactly what you want to communicate, and process that communication appropriately.

• Take Time to Reflect. Whether the communication method is verbal or written, an important communication skill to cultivate is the patience to pause and reflect on what is being communicated. If you are the listener/reader make certain that what you are understanding is what is actually being spoken or written, not what you THINK is being communicated. (Remember the old saying about what happens when we ass-u-me!) If you are the speaker/writer make certain that you are saying or writing what you mean to say. This sounds pretty fundamental but how often have each of us been in situations where we are frustrated because what we are thinking in our minds is not what the other person is getting? Often the reason for this is because we are simply not saying/writing what we mean.

• Stay Humble. Remember, you don’t know all the answers to every question nor hold the only valid position on any issue. One of the primary purposes of human communication is inter-personal growth. There is seldom a situation where another person doesn’t have something they can contribute to our lives that we don’t already know. We short-change ourselves if we don’t take the opportunity to learn something from almost everyone.

• Recognize Areas of Commonality. Almost everyone can find something that they have in common with another person. That area of commonality might be an interest in horses or cars or an author or a hometown. There’s almost always something that we can find in common with someone else. This commonality often forms the basis for effective communication.

These are some basic effective communication skills that will apply in almost every situation. Whether you are talking to your spouse or a complete stranger in a new situation, applying these skills will stand you in good stead.

The New and Improved Distinct Portfolios Coming Soon!

Welcome to the new Distinct Portfolios blog! We will be posting here every week or so with with helpful information regarding our products, industry news, tips and tricks, portfolio spotlights, and other newsworthy items that you will find interesting and helpful in your portfolio journey. Whether you are an individual looking for a high-end, self marketing tool for the job application process, personal web sites and even self-promotion, you have come to the right place.

We will be launching the New and Improved Distinct Portfolios real soon. We know all of you have been waiting for this. We have been hard at work implementing new features, templates, services, and much more which we are excited to bring to you before long!