* Personal Branding

We are going German! Join our German Candidate Week February 21st - 25th
(Scroll down for English text)

From DACH to DUTCH. Erfahre wie du bequem von deinem eigenen Wohnzimmer aus in den niederländischen Arbeitsmarkt einsteigen kannst. In der Woche vom 21. Februar veranstalten wir Online-Informationsveranstaltungen, die von Deutschsprachigen für Deutschsprachige entwickelt wurden. Freue dich auf einen spannenden Austausch mit unseren Experten! Sie werden u.a. über folgende Themen sprechen:

• Niederländisches Arbeitsrecht

• Einen Job in den Niederlanden finden

• Kulturelle Unterschiede zwischen Deutschland und den Niederlanden

Die Veranstaltung finden auf Deutsch statt und bieten dir die Möglichkeit auch andere Deutschsprachige kennenzulernen.

Der Ablauf:
15:45 - 16:00 Melde dich bei Zoom an
16:00 - 17:00 Workshop

Workshops:
Einführung in das niederländische Arbeitsrecht mit Wiebke Bonnet-Vogler                                                                                                
Datum: Montag, 21. Februar
Ort: Online                                                                                                                            
Online registrieren                                                                                                          Jobsuche in den Niederlanden mit Moritz Sahay
Datum: Mittwoch, 23. Februar
Ort: Online
Online registrieren Leben und Arbeiten in den Niederlanden - Kulturelle Unterschiede und was dich erwartet mit Nina Pfisterer
Datum: Freitag, 25. Februar
Ort: Online
Online registrieren

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From DACH to Dutch. Learn how to jump into the Dutch job market from the comfort of your own living room. In the week of February 21st we are hosting online employment events...

Within this tight labor market, it is important that a potential candidate immediately becomes enthusiastic about your vacancy. If your vacancy text does not emphasize what you are looking for, you can quickly lose candidates. It has also become even more important in this day and age to write inclusively. After all, you want to try to grab the largest possible target group. In this blog, we give you 5 tips & tricks for writing diverse, equal, and inclusive vacancy texts.

Jargon
This may be an open door, but this part is often underestimated. If you have a lot of knowledge of something, you are often inclined to talk in technical terms. For someone who is just starting a career, this can be confusing and they will therefore drop out faster. If you are looking for someone with experience in the field, it can be good to use the real familiar terms. It is therefore important that you first have the right candidate in mind, and then adjust the vacancy text accordingly. Also try to avoid English terms, unless of course, it is an international function.

Vague language
Imagine you read the following sentence: ''For this spider-in-the-web function, we are looking for a real...

10 tips to increase your empathy

"There is an empathy deficit in the world. More people are living alone and we are putting less time into social and community activities that enhance our empathic sensitivity. This is worrisome because empathy not only makes you a good person - it's also good for you: if you care more about others, you're more likely to be happy," said economist Richard Layard (Krznaric, 2015). Empathy also has the ability to mend broken relationships, deepen friendships and create new ones. And it improves your creative thinking, as empathy helps you see problems and perspectives from another's eyes.

For ten years, Roman Krznaric researched empathy from experimental psychology to social history, anthropology to literary studies, political science to brain science. About this, he wrote the book Empathy. We were inspired by this book and wrote 10 tips to help you expand your empathic potential.

But first: what is empathy anyway?
Empathy is the art of putting yourself in other people's thoughts, understanding their feelings and viewpoints, and acting on them.

So it is not the same as an expression of sympathy. Treating others as you would like to be treated is not applicable. In doing so, you are not taking...

Everyone has a little voice in his or her head. A voice that can say nice and unkind things. Sometimes it helps you but unfortunately it can also undermine you. How do you make sure you keep saying the right things to yourself? What habits make you more confident? How can you easily and in a fun way increase your self-confidence? Great questions with 7 great answers....

1. Compare yourself to yourself
Why compare yourself to someone else? No one in the whole world can be better you than you are yourself. When you don't compare yourself to anyone else, you become who you are. Then you make sure to focus on the best and the most beautiful in yourself.

So make it a priority to follow your own development and keep improving yourself. When you notice that you are growing, your worries will naturally diminish.

Michael Jordan, the best basketball player of all time, often said that he trained so much to beat himself. To become better himself. A wonderful approach. So compare yourself to yourself and discover the opportunities to grow further. There are plenty of them!

Strength

2. Be kinder to others
When you are kinder to others, you will look at yourself differently....

5 tips for being less hectic

Does your work sometimes resemble a madhouse? Your company needs to grow, processes need to improve and we have high expectations of each other. But in the meantime working through all kinds of physical and virtual distractions is quite difficult. We get stressed, the work doesn't get done in the expected time and before you know it you open your laptop in the evening or at the weekend. Unintentionally, your stress seeps through to colleagues, the client, your family and friends....

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson describe in the book "It doesn't have to be so hectic at work" how it can be done differently. Because chaos doesn't have to be and shouldn't be the natural state of affairs. The tips below come from this book:

Tip 1: Stop comparing
We are driven by comparisons. This applies both to companies (who are our competitors? And what do they do?) and individuals (what do others do? What does this say about me?). A quote from Mark Twain reads, "Comparison kills your pleasure. The authors of the book 'It doesn't have to be so hectic at work' couldn't agree more. They run the software company Basecamp and state: what...

What is the drama triangle?
The drama triangle, designed by Stephen Karpman, is a visual representation of communication patterns between people. This triangle is characterized by the fact that you are, as it were, 'caught' in it and then always have the choice of three possibilities, namely: assuming the role of the Rescuer, the Accuser or the Victim.

These three social roles complement each other and produce fixed patterns in communication. The remarkable thing about these three roles is that the persons concerned are not aware of the way in which they keep themselves and the other person, as it were, 'trapped' in a negative emotional game and thus avoid healthy and adequate behavior.

The victim cries 'help' but does not really want to be rescued, the rescuer wants to save and the accuser blames the rescuer or the victim for not doing well. People who communicate from these positions will not talk to each other purposefully and efficiently. They regularly feel that they are not getting anywhere and that they are repeating a pattern with each other in almost predictable ways.

The drama triangle: what is it and do you break it?

How do you recognize the victim?
The...

From quality logos and recommendations by others to statements like "only 1 left! Numerous influencing techniques tempt you every day to make certain decisions. Last September, we attended a seminar where, among others, persuasion guru Robert Cialdini shared his principles for convincing others. We picked up 10 tips that everyone could use:

Tip 1: Use expert opinion
One of Cialdini's principles is authority. If an authority or expert says something, we tend to believe it. See if you can support your viewpoint or opinion with a testimonial or statement by an expert in that field. Can you cite scientific research that supports your ideas and that no one can ignore?
Your reasoning will be most convincing if you open with this statement. Your target group can hang everything that follows on this thread.

Tip 2: Create a favour factor
If you treat someone well, chances are they will treat you well too. This idea is in line with the sympathy principle, which states that people like to say yes to people they find sympathetic.
Suppose you have a customer who experiences problems with his received product or service. You listen to them and reply: "Oh, I'm sorry that this has happened to such a nice customer...

People searching for a job are not very creative when it comes to completing their LinkedIn account. Strange, because they describe themselves as specialized and focused.And there itimmediately goes wrong: for almost everyone. The site with business profiles published its annual list of most frequently used words with which users define themselves.

According to LinkedIn this shows the difficulty of making a ‘significant profile’. Many people use standard terms, resulting in the following top ten empty phrases: specialized, leadership, focused, strategic, experienced, passionate, expert, creative, innovative, and certified.

‘People find it difficult to distinguish themselves from others’, according to Anoek Eckhardt, PR Manager at LinkedIn. The difference cannot naturally be done by using exactly the same words as the rest of the Netherlands. ‘As a recruiter you cannot do anything with it’,explains Eckhardt.

Numbers Are Magic

‘Recruiters want to know what you are capable of, so explain as specifically as possible what you achieved to each buzz word used’, agrees career coach Aaltje Vincent. It is smart to use words from the job you seek. Namely, the recruiters are searching that as well, but then show that you too can live up to it. ‘Say specifically what distinguishes you over...

Don’t worry speak Dutch - Talencoach – Albert Both

Dutch has a reputation for being very difficult. Dutch people love to say that their language is one of the hardest languages to learn.But…if you look at it objectively, Dutch is the closest language to English; it is as a matter of fact a kind of German light (a language that is logical and consistent, according to many people).Yes, chances are high that you’ll experience some challenges and obstacles whenever you try to learn and to speak Dutch. Even if you speak Dutch already, you may often find that somehow you are still limited.
The great news is that speaking Dutch can be far easier than you ever imagined. In this revolutionary workshop you’ll discover many great things:• How to learn faster and speak more with a simple mind shift

• How to save loads and loads of precious time
• Expand your knowledge rapidly with ease
• Great shortcuts that quickly lead to Dutch FluencyAlbert Both, founder of Talencoach will reveal some secrets about Dutch Brainwashing; a refreshing and playful system that allows great results in a short time. If you like new ideas, out of the box thinking and...

“Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.”—Buddha

“People who are happy in life have an easy time feeling good and recovering from adversity; they have close, supportive social connections; and they believe that their presence in the world matters,” writes Emiliana Simon-Thomas, the science director of Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, on the Greater Good Magazine. Similarly, she defines happiness at work as “feeling an overall sense of enjoyment at work; being able to gracefully handle setbacks; connecting amicably with colleagues, coworkers, clients, and customers; and knowing that your work matters to yourself, your organization, and beyond.”

Several studies have confirmed the strong link between happiness and productivity. In his book, The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor mentioned that “we can fully utilize our intellectual powers when we are feeling confident and happy. In a happy state of mind, creative ideas flow in and we are better at problem-solving and decision-making.” Caleb Papineau, director of global marketing at TINYpulse, revealed the following statistics: Happy people are 31% more productive and three times more creative; happiness improves business profitability by 147%; 75% of individuals leave their jobs because they are unhappy with their boss rather...

Why I volunteer at Together Abroad
Like many who graduate from university, it was a challenge for me to find a job that would cater to my academic strengths. I found myself caught in a catch-22 situation that many graduates find themselves in; needing to find a job for professional experience, but not having enough professional experience to land a job. Discovering volunteering opportunities can be an effective way to break the loop, and it shows future employers that you are a proactive individual that keeps finding opportunities where they can.
Having completed a philosophy degree, I wanted to find an opportunity that catered to my strengths in research and writing. Discovering a content writing position at Together Abroad meant that I could translate the critical thinking and analysis skills I had picked up during my time at university, and I could apply them to a business-oriented role that caters to candidates, business HR departments and general audiences. Being able to learn more about business topics in general and to get useful feedback for my writing has better prepared me for professional roles in the future.
Since being a writer for Together Abroad, I have explored a variety of different...

Your Talent Value as a Personal Brand

For young professionals at the start of their career, their talents and potentials may go unrecognized, as they are yet to learn and experience how to effectively communicate their skills and abilities. To overcome this barrier, start with developing a strong personal brand and learning how to ‘sell’ it.

Measuring one’s talent value is an exercise in self-discovery. One area to begin in is to ask those who know you well to describe you with three words. This can show how people perceive you and what characteristics of yours tend to stand out. While you may disagree or be unhappy with some, in general, it often happens that you hear things about yourself you already suspected, and the occasional surprising one that may put a smile on your face and be well-worth exploring further. You can take this list and divide it into what you perceive as positive and negative, then rearrange each column from the strongest traits to the weakest. You know have the top positive characteristics you can focus on for your personal brand, and you also have that dreaded characteristic which answers the infamous question: what is your biggest weakness?...

 


How to Be Wanted by Recruiters

In the stressful business of applying for jobs, recruiters are often the primary gateway to getting the position. Winning them over has many elements, and each one takes some unpacking before you have a strategy that will work. A good CV is an essential part of that strategy, but it is not the only one. Your personal brand, your education, your work experience and even your values all factor into how recruiters view you as a potential candidate.


Recruiters are people too. They are there to find candidates for jobs, not jobs for candidates. This distinction means recruiters are put under pressure to deliver high-quality candidates for their clients. Their credibility rests essentially on being very selective, as their choice should be worth the risk of putting the relationship between client and recruiter on the line.

All this means recruiters are looking for particular skills or industry experience that a business does not have the resources to find on its own. Which, in turn, means that appealing to recruiters requires paying attention to the following criteria. These include, but are not limited to, specific industry experience, current and demonstrated technical and/or other relevant skills,...

Career theory often highlights the importance of role models as a motivational tool for aspirants to set and reach ambitious goals in their career paths. The consensus is that role models provide a positive and nurturing effect for aspirants. Typically, a role model is someone who has already achieved the career goals one desires, sometimes sharing a similar background, mind-set, and core values; in other words, an ideal self-reflection of oneself in the future.

Recent research has backed up the usefulness of role models with similar backgrounds, showing that strong female role models can encourage women to pursue careers in male-dominated fields such as IT and programming, as well as roles in higher management. Meanwhile, many have complained that a lack of female role models has played a significant role in discouraging more women from applying to senior management jobs. Similarly, many have claimed that a diversity of role models can help to empower aspirants from minority backgrounds to pursue their dream careers. Successful role models also have the potential power to change the status quo, tearing down stereotypes and stopping unconscious bias.

The potential downside to following a role model is that aspirants may lose sight of themselves when attempting...

In the stressful business of applying for jobs, recruiters are often the primary gateway to getting the position. Winning them over has many elements, and each one takes some unpacking before you have a strategy that will work. A good CV is an essential part of that strategy, but it is not the only one. Your personal brand, your education, your work experience and even your values all factor into how recruiters view you as a potential candidate.

Recruiters are people too. They are there to find candidates for jobs, not jobs for candidates. This distinction means recruiters are put under pressure to deliver high-quality candidates for their clients. Their credibility rests essentially on being very selective, as their choice should be worth the risk of putting the relationship between client and recruiter on the line.

All this means recruiters are looking for particular skills or industry experience that a business does not have the resources to find on its own. Which, in turn, means that appealing to recruiters requires paying attention to the following criteria. These include, but are not limited to, specific industry experience, current and demonstrated technical and/or other relevant skills, a degree or qualification relevant to the...

Branding is essential for every company to attract new partners, customers and candidates. Branding helps build strong and long-term relationships by increasing the brand awareness within the industry. Nowadays, companies try to recruit talents that they can benefit from, including at a reduced cost of hire, and with useful results and positive recognition. In fact, there are specific practices of branding that employers can apply to recruit talent effectively.

According to a 2014 research from HR analyst Aptitude Research Partners, 1 in 4 companies is not confident about their employer branding. Employer branding consists of a combination of functional, economical and psychological benefits that a company provides to the employees, including its identity, working culture and values. Thus, to recruit talents, employers should be able to provide such a package that would persuade candidates it is the best choice for their personal and professional development.

Therefore, using company branding to attract talents is about convincing candidates how much your company can offer them compared to the competition. Top candidates have several options to choose from, and their final decision will be a combination of salary, professional benefits, as well as what they can contribute to the company and what they...

 
Employee development matters. Successful companies not only invest in human capital, they also know how relevant it is to focus on employees’ welfare and continued learning to maintain engagement and creativity inside their organizations. Helping people reach their fullest potential means investing in the future by fostering productivity and retaining talent within the group.

Studies have shown that organizations with a career development program demonstrate up to 250% higher productivity (Scales, 2012); 25% higher employee retention (Deloitte Research Brief, 2012); 10% sales improvement (Sales Enablement Optimization Study, 2016); and 13% stronger business results (Bersin, 2011). Besides improving productivity, retention, sales, and business results, the overall benefits of investing in employee development :

• Engaging and retaining top workers
• Building loyalty among employees
• Creating capable and promotable people
• Identifying strengths and weaknesses in your workforce
• Fostering good working environment
• Improving efficiency and proficiency
• Increasing sales and output
• Balancing and projecting the future path of your business
• Increasing the company’s reputation of good employer
• Attracting new talent with the best benefits

Every year training top 125 organizations in the world, prizing and recognizing the winners for excelling at human capital development. 2018’s top...

How to Be Yourself During Interviews

What does it mean to be yourself? Why is it important in life, in any given situation, or at an interview? If we could go back in time, and see what was happening on a sunny Sunday morning when we were five, we would most likely see a precious child being totally himself or herself, enjoying life as it comes, accepting it with interest and joy. Regretfully, as we grow older, we forget this way of being, and start getting lost in the world of fear and anxiety, which has nothing to do with our true inner selves. “Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.” —Alan Watts.

The real you is the person you are when nobody is watching, it is the only version of you that feels completely natural, without the masks and pretentiousness. But this person may change as you come across with other people, stressful situations, or groups with different interests. In these moments you may become conscious of what others are thinking about you, feeling tempted to make a pose to impress or to fit in. What is really happening here...

Nowadays, having a weak LinkedIn profile, or not having one at all, is not advisable. LinkedIn offers a variety of tools and options to professionals and job seekers. Although the platform imposes specific uses and actions to its users, you can always learn to work with the network smartly. Companies and recruiters usually ask candidates to also provide them with a link to their LinkedIn profile, which is often more elaborate and detailed than the CV. Thus, try to create a strong online image of competence to impress the recruiters, by highlighting your skills and accomplishments, and be smart with your actions within the platform.

To begin with, a LinkedIn profile has a resume format with a lot more space and options to add the relevant information in each section. For instance, except for the title and description, you can add any available images and links for projects you have done or the companies you have worked at. In such a way, the recruiters will have the opportunity to visually immerse into your professional experience, instead of reading a simple list of tasks or skills, this allows you to stand out of the numerous profiles they see every day. What...

We live in a seemingly extroverted world, where strong communicators with charming personalities and defined characters are the image of success. Or, at least, that is the predominant definition sold to us in the media. But half of the world is filled with introverts too—quiet, smart professionals that do not necessarily need to make noise to pull attention upon themselves. They shine because of their inner power, a more truthful source than their peculiar tone of voice. Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, and Marissa Mayer are examples of the many thoughtful, introvert and yet successful leaders.

In the sphere of business, however, it is not always easy to balance our personal brand against what it is expected of us to say, to do or how to behave to safeguard the brand of a corporation. According to the book Online Personal Brand: Skill Set, Aura and Identity by Mattheu Frischmann, “it seems everything works out well when your personal brand coincides with a company brand, but it is unlikely that you agree to all of the expected behavior of your employer, so you will have to conform at some point.”

The central idea here is how our personalities match a given organization...

Finding the opportunity for personal development at work can be a challenging but worthwhile pursuit. Companies are typically incentivised to only promote professional growth amongst employees to push them further in their careers and work skills for the benefit of a business, without giving much thought to the personal ambitions and desires of an employee. However, employees want meaningful work that enriches their lives beyond their daily tasks. Most workers would find more satisfaction in their work if they felt their skills were valued, and that they have the chance to further develop their career paths and passions.

Creating any personal development plan means tailoring to one’s own specific needs and interests; there is no universal solution to meeting one’s own personal needs. In other words, one needs to be self-driven and passionate about what they want. One example of this was an employee who also happened to be passionate about photography even though it did not coincide with any of his work duties at a local company. By taking the initiative, he persuaded his employer to allow him to take promotional photos for the company brochure, giving himself the opportunity to develop his hobby while using it as a...

An interesting and informative CV can make all the difference between landing an interview for your dream job, and being passed over. There are multiple parts in a resume that are equally essential and can serve as a marketing tool to sell yourself to your future employer. One of these is personal development.

Based on the Maslow pyramid, personal development or so-called “self-actualization” is the most important need that each individual has. Due to our differences, people have diverse developmental targets; therefore, it is crucial in your CV to state the most critical ones for the job you are applying to.

Types of Personal Development

Personal development can be seen as skills that are developed throughout the year and are often experience based, for instance, good presentation skills or time management. It can also be acquired through educational means by attending special courses or trainings, for example, perfect knowledge of Excel or a diploma in the Japanese language. Furthermore, personal development can be personal, such as seriously working on a hobby, which is often creative; and research has continued to show the importance of creativity at the work environment.

Knowing the difference may assist with putting the right competences in...

Have you ever visited a company hoping to schedule an appointment for an interview only to find yourself being interviewed on the spot or being offered a position? Here are some helpful tips to keep you prepared for just such a scenario.


Know what you want before searching

Create a personal SWOT analysis (strength, weakness, opportunity, threats). Then create a list of specific and personal objectives. This will help you be aware of where you are now in your career and where you want to be in the future. This can help you to know what direction you want your career to follow. Then it is time to follow up on how you intend to realize these specific and personal objectives in order to narrow down your job search. Doing this can help you avoid, working in a position or company you would rather not work for in the future. Therefore, it is helpful to mentally prepare yourself before you start your job search. And this information will be fresh with you in the event of an on-the-spot interview or offer.


Educate yourself about the companies you will visit and prepare for a an interview

Learn as much as you...

Personal development is a process that candidates can use to reflect or to evaluate themselves on. They can use it to understand what needs to be improved, and what steps to follow to help them discover their full potential and reach their goals.

Strategies for Personal Development

Create a personal vision or mission statement: Create a personal S.W.O.T. and clear goal you want to specifically focus on. Perhaps you want to apply for a new course, further study, volunteering, internships, or learn a language. Make a list of personal developments that you wish to develop in order to improve on them and to reach your goals. Set short-term or long-term goals for the next day, week, month or year. You can also create a fun vision broad or list, and place it where you will see it every day to motivate yourself.

Plan and record your goals: Once you have set your goals, it is time to plan how you will actually achieve them. Planning for both short-term and long-term goals is the key. Create a plan or schedule to follow that will help you stay on track, and will help you remember your daily tasks and goals. Put a...

Tired of constantly being rejected? Getting the feeling that you might be making the same mistakes over and over again? There are many different ways on how to look for a new job and, in general, how to approach it. Below are tips on how to make your life easier when finding a new job.

1. Update your resume and LinkedIn profile.
The reason to focus on LinkedIn is because of its position – it is one of the top networking sites for professionals. Furthermore, there are more than 414 million users among whom there are many recruiters and company owners who are looking for a new colleague. What is important to focus on? You should update your work experience, skills, education and profile picture. Please keep in mind that the picture should be recently made and look professional.

Your resume is another essential aspect. It is the same as with the LinkedIn profile, it has to be up to date, and there should be a summary of your best qualities and skills. Keep in mind that your LinkedIn profile or resume can be adjusted depending on the job you are applying to. The right wording and skills pointed out...

If you read any article about creating a successful and happy working life, you will see that good communication is always listed as one of the main keys to achieving this. So, why is good communication so important? The short answer is: because it underpins everything you do, both in your personal and professional life. As such, being able to communicate effectively, as well as appreciating the importance of doing so, is a vital part of any career.

One area of professional communication that may sometimes become difficult is communicating effectively with colleagues. Due to working closely with your colleagues every day, miscommunications and misunderstandings are bound to arise. Sometimes, you may even be unaware that you are not communicating effectively with your colleague/s. While the odd occasion of poor communication can usually be glossed over, recurrent episodes of bad communication have an impact not only on your colleagues but also on the company as a whole.

Some common bad communication habits include:

• Not responding to your colleague’s emails and/or requests in a timely fashion.
• Being vague when working on a task with colleagues. This includes not letting people know which aspects of a task you will perform,...

We see it across LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter every day: people, trying to grow a strong digital presence and personal brand by constantly posting whatever will represent them in a positive light.

When you are building your personal brand across all your social media channels, it is important to not accidentally detract from your public image due to unintended errors, such as posting a status complaining about the commute to work, or listing a detailed schedule of the day in an effort to look important. Now, if you are sitting there thinking that you are just a regular person who is not going to make such poor decisions no matter the degree of desperation, that is great. However, keep in mind that nobody sets out to make dumb decisions or to damage their own reputation.

One of the key aspects of personal branding is to build an identity that stands out and gets noticed, at least in theory. The problem is that the pursuit of attention can be a slippery slope. There is a fine line between doing it just right and going too far. But how much is too much?

No matter the occupation or personality, you should have...

Successful companies are starting to realise that increasing wages can help to increase profits and growth by boosting productivity; companies such as Costco, a US warehouse company, have seen a rise in profits compared to its competitors, and they owe their success to increased employee morale through better pay. However, as an employee, it can be difficult to persuade employers that you deserve more money when the company grows. Even if your argument is that employees hard work should be rewarded and it would help further boost working incentives.

When a company’s success can be confidently attributed to one’s hard work, then it is a reasonable request to ask for a raise based on self-value. For example, if someone works in sales and has had a successful sales year, which he or she feels has benefited the company, then they should quote their figures and how their work has influenced the company’s success. In other words, it is best to negotiate a salary that reflects one’s value within a company. To do this sufficiently requires researching a reasonable salary compared to what rival companies provide, and to explore the salary range within an industry.

Another factor is if a company’s...

The goal of a job interview is to show that you are the interviewer’s best choice. Just repeating what is on your CV will not help the interviewer much. During the meeting, it is your job to show the opposite party how you differ from other candidates. Also, you have to ensure that the interviewer realises they need you for the job.

Last week, I spoke with a client who struggles with job interviews. He was used to showing his resume, have a quick chat about hours and wages etc., and either accept or refuse the offer. Nowadays, he was asked all kinds of questions he did not see the point of. Especially questions about his qualities and achievements, which made him shut down. He was afraid that the employer might find him cocky if he would start talking about those. Besides, his CV was self-explanatory, right?

A resume is not a self-explanatory document; recruiters wish to learn more about the candidate, hence the request for a few examples. However, in providing examples of oneself, the chance of overselling yourself increases.


Effects of Too Much Talking

Only claiming to be able to do something does not really sound convincing. Giving...

You got the job, now how do you keep or further build your personal brand within the company? When it comes to personal branding most people struggle with how to promote themselves within their workplace without being considered as narcissists or aggressive. On that account, there are specific practices you can apply to stand out from your colleagues and capture your boss’s eye.

1. Ask for feedback
The first step that will help you build a successful personal brand within your workplace is to care about your job and always ask your supervisor for feedback on your performance. In this way, you will show your boss that you never give up and you always want to improve yourself. In addition, you will learn from your weaknesses and develop them into strengths. Besides, being honest and making an effort are the right policies when it comes to personal branding regardless of the industry.

2. Be proactive and offer your help
Furthermore, it is important to show your competencies and effectiveness to your boss. But avoid being too extravagant. Always be helpful and proactive with some limits. No one wants you to ask them every time if you can help, because they...

‘We are going to determine what colours we are’, was the answer given by my colleague, when asked what the teambuilding day was about. To be perfectly honest, I am not thrilled to sit down and watch a pallet of colours pass by, which describe our personality and communication preferences by putting a label on them.

There are different approaches on determining what kind of communication style someone prefers. It can be done by using colours, elements or by describing the main qualities such as analytical, inspirational, or controlling. There are different models that classify a different number of communication styles. The results are supposed to give a representation of the different approaches people have when it comes to communicating.

Purpose

Knowing each other’s communication styles can improve the quality of meetings. During meetings, I usually keep track of the minutes, apparently a task no one seems to enjoy doing. It is always the same people who speak their mind, who hold their tongues, and who incidentally decide to join the conversation. And it causes friction at times, depending on the topic and who is speaking.

Four Types

The four styles that I use during my training with clients identified...

In recent years, the term ‘personal branding’ has become more popular. The amount of searches hits on Google increases steadily, yet people often do not fully understand what a personal brand entails.

A personal brand is not about changing who you are and creating an image just to meet someone else’s expectations. It is about identifying who you are, and which selling points make you stand out from the crowd. People who market their own brand are more likely to be seen as experts in their field, and therewith receive job offers at higher levels.

How It Works

Before creating and displaying your brand, some thorough self-reflection is necessary. How do you project yourself to the outside world at the moment? What do you have to offer that you would you like to be seen by others? The personal brand can include, for instance, a mission, a niche product or profession, a lifestyle, as well as abilities. It helps to get a feeling of how one is perceived by asking others directly.

After having gathered a clear picture of yourself, the next step is to plan what and who to reach with the personal branding. By defining the goal, it...

Creating your personal brand entails combining who you are and what you want to promote, in order to attract people’s attention and build your reputation. First of all, whether it is for personal or professional reasons, you have to start thinking of yourself as a brand, by emphasizing your best competencies and core values, and creating a fascinating story about yourself. The stronger the brand you have, the more motivated and disciplined you will appear, while providing a successful mindset.

There are two main levels where you need to create and promote your personal brand effectively: online through social networks, and through interpersonal relationships that include interviews, meet ups and conferences.

The configuration of the suitable personal brand can be difficult due to the widely varied audience, including friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues etc. Through impression management you can adjust your behavior and share the right information selectively depending on the audience and the situational context. Everyone has a different persona for each audience; as a consequence, you should learn how to construct your personal brand appropriately.

Social media are the ideal platforms for impression management as they allow you to easily control and create your personal brand and content, especially...

Negotiations with a boss or supervisor can be a daunting task for employees; nonetheless it is sometimes a necessary means for improvement under unsatisfactory working conditions. The aim of a negotiation can vary from typical requests such as higher wages, more responsibilities and better working hours to improvements in the working environment such as a bigger office, newer equipment or safer working conditions. In any case, negotiating is usually the better option to improve a situation instead of pursuing a better job elsewhere.

In addition to knowing what you wish to get out of a negotiation, making use of suitable tactics and knowing your minimum requirements of a trade union’s collective agreement is crucial when it comes to making it a success. A good negotiation requires some careful planning and knowing what type of negotiation style works best with your boss; if your boss uses an aggressive method of negotiating then it may be best to diffuse the situation by using a passive but firm style to counter their arguments. Being aggressive against an aggressive boss could turn a negotiation messy, and being too lenient against them could give them room to bully you into accepting an undesirable agreement. In...

Creating your personal brand entails combining who you are and what you want to promote, in order to attract recruiters’ attention and build your reputation. Whether it is online through social or professional platforms, or in conferences and interviews, you should try to tailor your personal brand depending on the context and the person, by highlighting your strongest skills and characteristics. Let us now see in more details how to build a successful personal brand that recruiters will be unable to resist.

1. CV/Résumé

Your CV/Résumé is usually the first thing that recruiters encounter, which represents your personal brand. Try to have a simple, to the point, and coherent CV, with phrases that will catch their eye, representing your skills as best as you can, as well as using terms that relate to the specific job you have applied for. Each sector and industry desires a specific format and content, so it is advised to do thorough research on the demands of your sector, either by finding relevant articles or asking other professionals in your field for tips. However, keep in mind that recruiters spend on average five to seven seconds looking at each CV. Thus, make sure that within...

Building your online presence is no easy task – first you undertake the soul-searching trip to the best of your skills and characteristics, then you have to carefully synthesize the outcome into a mind-blowing, knocking-all-socks-off pieces of texts, all while cautiously balancing between the creative and the appropriate. And still, if you fail to live what you preach, you will be dismissed as a fraud in a heartbeat. Harmonizing the image you present online with your offline persona is a crucial part of your personal branding – simply because we (still) live most of our lives offline.

Get Going and Stay Focused

After you have identified your objectives and the image you want to project, start moving towards it. Take charge of your personal brand and make sure you are operating with intent. If you find yourself feeling disengaged and unmotivated, it may be because you forgot to focus on the goal behind your pursuits. Why are you doing what you are doing? What do you want to achieve? Is doing what you are doing helping you achieve it? These checkpoints can help you stay focused and eliminate counterproductive behaviour. Learn to look for constructive feedback about how your actions...

The startup community in the Netherlands has been growing continuously for the past few years and has become extremely well-known. It has become so prominent that the country is now giving out new visas allowing entrepreneurs to pursue their young companies in an effort to make The Netherlands, Europe’s best startup location. Working for a startup can either be the best opportunity or the worst nightmare for an employee, depending on personality and goals.

There are advantages for seeking out employment with companies like this. While, salary might not look as nice as it does at the larger corporations, perks at startup companies are usually abundant. Small companies usually offer work from home days, free lunches, and/or stock options in lieu of a large salary package. Additionally, the small workforce of a startup means more opportunity to shine, especially if you are new. You will not find fifteen other marketing associates all vying for the same project. As a new employee, you can walk in and take over projects that may not even be in your department. If you value flexibility and opportunity, a startup may be the best type of company for you.

With advantages, of course come disadvantages....

In an increasingly competitive job market, it is important to stand out from the crowd and be noticed by recruiters. We all know the meaning of the term ‘brand’ and how effective it can be in a company’s reputation. Names such as Apple, Sony or Nike are immediately identifiable and carry with them in some sense a promise of product quality and consumer expectation. The same is true of personal brands. Prospective employees are selling a ‘product’ (themselves) to a ‘consumer’ (the company). Having a good brand gives you the cutting edge in job interviews, and prepares you to answer the dreaded question, “tell me a bit about yourself”. Below are some useful tips on how to build your personal brand.

First things first: know who your target audience is, and be clear about the image you wish to present to them. Once you know your audience, get their attention. Do not be complacent and wait for them to come to you. Add them on networking sites such as LinkedIn, and get noticed. This will make it easier for you to promote your brand. Make your brand clear, concise and memorable. What aspect of ‘you’ you wish to promote will...

So much time is spenttailoring our Facebook and Instagram accounts with the perfect descriptions, favorite quotes, and best filters for our pictures. Yet we rarely put as much emphasis on tailoring our personal brands for employment.Which picture to post on Facebook is seldom thought of twice, but when it comes to representing ourselves in the professional field, most candidates are lost. There are some common mistakes made by candidates when creating or sustaining their personal brand.

Not relaying contact information-You attend a career fair, or meet an important contact in a café, but you gave no way for them to get in touch with you. Those that do not carry around business cards or who leave contact information offtheir CVs or LinkedIn profiles, are asking for a missed opportunity. Do not make it harder for someone to reach out to you, or else they just will not. If it is too much work to hunt you down, they will not contact you.

Thinking it’s a sales pitch- While having a quick profile of who you are and what you want to do at the ready is good, a scripted speech can be pointed out easily. Authenticity is key here and...

Because markets nowadays are very competitive, branding is at its highest priority for companies of all sizes.
A brand is more than just a logo or name; it is bound with the customers for a lifetime. It is like owning a single idea, concept or feeling in the mind or heart of the customer. Sometimes it is just a thought, an emotion, a phrase, or a word. Whatever it is, you, as a company want to own it in your customers’ minds.  Often people start with great ideas about their brand. They make thorough marketing analysis; they have a great product or service to offer, a catchy name, logo, tagline, message etc. But they miss the last steps to get these great ideas about the product or service into the customers’ minds or hearts, and to own them there. Building a marketing toolkit for your brand will make your brand“stay alive”. It might be an e-brochure about the firm, ora one-page “sales sheets” that describes the core services offered or key markets served.
Lately, the marketing toolkit also includes videos. Popular video topics include firm overviews, successful projects or case studies. Offering the key services is also very useful. If prepared...

Maybe you did not build it consciously, but let me assure you – you do have a personal brand already. Even if you have no Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. account (I hope you do, though). It is the way you communicate with people, the way you talk and walk and dress and express your attitudes to just about everything, that is part of your personal brand.

If you find yourself in a position of a jobseeker, you are suddenly presenting your image to a whole new audience that – unlike your friends and family – does not accept you as you are, but rather measures you by their standards. As intimidating as that may sound, personal branding is not rocket science and you can get it right with just a little effort.

Reflect thoroughly on what you are currently communicating to the potential employers. If you are not self-aware about your personal brand, then do not be surprised if others will misunderstand your message, or not get it altogether.

Personal branding is an outward manifestation of what is going on inside, so it is quite crucial to start by examining yourself – your character, values, passions and aspirations. Are these...

“Trust” is a keyword when it comes to finding the right person for a job. In a world where the internet plays a significant role in finding that “go to person”, it is very important to establish a strong image for others to see so that they could really trust somebody. Not only does it help others in giving them reasons to hire or work with you, but it also gives you authority and a better view of offers in the particular field. Getting the attention of potential clients is one thing, but making sure they stay interested is another. Here are some tips on how you can establish yourself as this “go to person”.

1. Decide and think on how you want people to perceive you:

Before actually going out there and branding yourself, know the key factors you would want to use in your personal page (website/blog/etc.). These factors include photos, words, information and even location, services, and other sort of unique or “different” factors that make people want to try something new.Take time in branding, as competition may be tough and you want to stand out.

2. Build on what you have:

Competition will be tough (depending...

Personal Branding is a subject mentioned in interviews and career fairs, but why is it important? And how can you create or improve yours? Enter your name into a Google search—what comes up? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blog posts, etc. This is what an employer, customer, or friend sees when they want to find out more about you, and using social media is the easiest way. Improving your personal brand involves building out of all these social media profiles to make you stand out.

Where to Start?

1. Decide how you want to be represented. What are your passions? What industry are you in? What is your dream job? Ask yourself these questions and then make sure all platforms clearly portray these things about you. Create a brand statement that describes who you are and what you are trying to achieve with personal branding. Make it relatable while still being unique to you. You want to connect with others, but standing out is important in making you memorable for customers and employers.
2. Build up your sites. Time to build up your accounts. Look through a competitor's social media or the profile of someone who you look up to and come...

It does not matter whether you are “just” a regular jobseeker or an ambitious startup,you have probably heard about personal branding, and if you dismissed it thinking it is just a shameless self-promotion, maybe that is the reason why you are not quite where you intend to be.

The beauty of personal branding is in the fact that it is not something you have to create from scratch; it is something you already do. The things you are good at, the things you have done, and the reason why you do what you do. When reviewing your personal brand, start with a clear idea about what you want people to believe about you and compare it to what they actually currently believe. You can ask people you know or work with, to name a couple of things that come to mind in association with you, or – yes, I will say it – Google yourself.

If you cannot be found online, you will miss out on opportunities. Develop a solid online presence. You will probably want to start with a LinkedIn profile. Here, your motivation should not be to brag about your accomplishments, it should be to paint a picture...

Personal branding is the whole sequence of showing what you want to accomplish, how you want to market yourself to other people, and the overall impression of who you are as an individual. Networking is considered to be one of the most essential yet usually underestimated concept when it comes to personal branding. According to BH Careers International, 80% of available jobs are never really advertised, and over half of all the employees receive jobs through networking. Networking is a strategy which not only creates a chance of lasting relationships with people, but it also opens doors to different opportunities in finding a suitable workplace.

In an ever growing society where technology plays a vital role in the social dynamics of communication, the concept of personal branding can be viewed in two ways: online branding and offline branding. Creating a strong online presence is important, as most employers will now resort to social media in finding candidates. Social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter are a good way to show your brand with other people. Another social media site is LinkedIn. With over 300 million users, LinkedIn is the largest social media site for professional networking, which makes it...

In the past few years, the term “personal branding” has become much more popular. Google searches of the term have steadily increased, even though people do not often fully understand what a personal brand entails.

Important to note is that the personal brand is not about changing who you are or creating an image to meet someone else's expectations. It is about identifying who you are and which selling points make you stand out from the crowd. People who market their own brand are more likely to be seen as experts in their field, thus receiving job offers at higher levels. Here is how it works:

Before creating and displaying the own brand, thorough self-reflection is necessary. How do you currently project yourself to the outside world? What do you have to offer that you would like others to see? The personal brand can include, for instance, a mission, a niche product or profession, a lifestyle, as well as abilities. It helps to first get a feeling of how one is perceived in the surroundings by asking others directly.

After having gathered a clear picture of the self, the next step is to plan what and who to reach with...

The first thing to realise about your personal brand is that you already have one. Google yourself now. The results that show up? That is your personal brand. All those social media accounts and online activities that have your name attached to them create an impression of who you are, whether you want them to or not. Therefore, it is more useful to think in terms of managing your image rather than creating one. This article will cover the initial steps you need to take in order to start managing your brand.

1. Make your personal brand personal.
This might sound obvious but that does not make it any less important. Your personal brand should be true to yourself. You should not build your brand around a fake persona you invented to try to appeal to as many people as possible. Not only would this be exhausting to keep up but people are sure to see through it in the long run. Instead, have an honest think about what kind of person you are. What is your story? What is your passion? What are your traits and values? These things should be reflected in your brand. Not only will they...

Albert Einstein once said „If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. I believe that an elevator pitch shows just that. How good you know yourself/ your business and what you want. Simple. To the point. No one wants to hire or do business with someone who can’t explain themselves simply. Better said, no one wants to hire or do business with someone who doesn’t know what they are all about or what they want. No one wants someone who has a poor elevator pitch.

An elevator pitch is a short introduction of yourself or your business. It should be to the point and no longer than 30 seconds. Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing your elevator pitch:

1.Keep it short

The idea of an elevator pitch is not to tell your entire story and everything what you are doing. It has to be engaging and raise curiosity among your audience. It gives a glimpse of who you are or what your business is doing. Don’t just say your position or the field you are working in. Tell what makes you different, you unique selling point. The main question your elevator pitch should...

Are you aware that your default LinkedIn headline can be changed?

In fact, LinkedIn sets it as "At" - say for example "Senior Manager at Microsoft". While this conveys a certain message, there is a lot of potential to attract prospective leads to view your profile by making a discrete sales pitch and offering more info about yourself

What your headline should achieve
• Have keywords: Your headline should contain key words that will make you more visible in search items. You could be looked up for a number of reasons - recruiters, potential clients, and people from your company. These keywords will make you more searchable and instantly give others an idea of who you are and what you specialise in.
• Standing out: Often times I found myself looking for leads or wanting to network with people. I'd search for something and an entire list would pop up. What makes someone stand out? Their profile photo and their headline act, together in forming an image to first-time viewers:

For example, if you look at the list below, which headline gives you the most information and entices you to click further?
1. Instructional Marketing Manager at SchoolKeep
2. Account...

Personal branding is not hype or a trend; it is something that stays with you forever. It reflects your differentiation because it’s your OWN, it’s who you are. Developed or not, personal branding is the way you are perceived. Invest time and create a perception that will make others invest in you

Here are 6 steps on how to create an efficient personal brand.

Find your passion
The most important part of creating a personal brand is to figure out your passions and what you would like to be known for. Passion being your foundation, it’s essential that it’s something strong and real. Do not choose a topic just because it is popular. An old Chinese proverb says “Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life”. If the topic or field that you choose feels like work, than that is not your passion. Creating a successful personal brand on something that does not represent you is impossible.

Know your audience
The success of your personal branding is calculated based on how many people find you inspiring. It is crucial to know their needs and wants to be able to meet them. Connect...

The night before your interview prepare a short story about yourself. This story should cover who you are and why the company should hire you. You need to write about your education, work experiences and which career path you are interested in. Go through what you have written whilst traveling to your appointment. This self-analysis exercise will help you to think about potential questions which could be asked by the interviewer.
...