How Sharing Other People's Content Makes You an Irresistible Job Candidate

When it comes to standing out online, your best bet is to offer your own original content. Blog posts or tweets that revolve around your unique ideas will make you a standout candidate.

But the truth is, not everyone has the time, writing ability or even confidence to grow a quality blog or social media account, and plenty of people who don’t have a blog still want to move up the career ladder, into more challenging and better-paying positions.

What if there was a way to show the world just how smart you are, without creating your own content?

Well, there is, and it’s a tactic you should seriously consider: sharing other people’s content.

Whether you curate on Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr or all of the above, here are five things sharing content created by others says about you — and why it can move your career forward.

1. You know your industry inside and out.

When you share an abundance of interesting information, people begin to realize you know your stuff. Not only do you know what’s going on, but you understand what’s valuable to people in your industry and what they want to read, which is just as important.

Even if you don’t consider yourself highly knowledgeable on a certain topic — if, for example, you’re looking to change careers and are using your online presence to pivot — you’ll become knowledgeable on that topic as you sift through blogs and tweets looking for quality information to share. In other words, curating content can help you become an authority in your field and help others see you as an authority.

2. You’re innovative.

Not only do you use the latest social tools to share advice and ideas, the information you share is often about your industry’s latest trends and developments, which suggests you’re forward thinking.

Anyone can say in an interview that they like to follow tech trends, but serving your community as a content curator shows the hiring manager you’re serious about learning, brainstorming and innovating.

3. You enjoy helping others.

So many people talk about themselves on social media. You’ll stand out if you get off the soapbox and instead offer helpful, valuable information, giving props to whoever created it.

This is helpful not only to the minions who read your tweets, but also to the industry leaders who wrote the blog post, tweets or updates to begin with, since you’re helping spread their content and ideas. Those thought leaders will likely appreciate your efforts and might even look to connect further with you, which could lead to more opportunities.

See why being generous online is one of the best things you can do for yourself?

4. You’re familiar with the big (and little) players in your field.

Knowing who the thought-leaders are in your field and where they hang out is just as important — if not more — than being in-the-know about innovative developments. Why? Because those people likely are part of those developing trends, or at least talking about them. In many ways, they are the trends.

In their book The Startup of You, Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha wrote, “If you’re looking for an opportunity, you’re really looking for people.” Knowing who’s doing what in your industry can go a long way toward helping you take the next step in your career. Curating content is a solid way to keep up with what everyone’s doing.

5. In some cases, you have access to those industry players.

Know what every employer wants more than an awesome, skilled employee? An awesome, skilled employee who knows people. Every one of your connections means a connection for your company.

If you don’t know any of the major players in your industry now, look to create those connections through sharing other people’s content. Your generosity could lead to online conversations with those people as they leave comments on your blog posts or reply to you through Twitter. Really want to get on their radar? Try an email introduction after you’ve mentioned that contact on your blog or Twitter, with the hope that they’ll recognize your name.

If you’re keen to give this a go, you’re probably wondering: What’s the best way to find quality information to share with your growing online community?

Try using an RSS tool like Feedly, organizing tweeps who share valuable information into Twitter lists, and streamlining the sharing process with apps like Hootsuite, Buffer and Twitterfeed. Before you know it, you’ll be the one who people in your industry turn to for all the best information, which makes you that much more marketable.

By Alexis Grant for Mashable

How to Become a Social CEO [Infographic]

Better Together: Why consolidation in the charitable financial market works.

At dinner with a few friends talking about charity, life, addiction and lego, when my ramble was interrupted: “I’ve never heard about charity talked about as a percentage of GDP” - something I had apparently let slip during the evening. Charity, in the eyes of most, is the quaint undertaking of the passionate few trying “change the world.” Charity is the thing we do because of moral, guilt, religious or societal pressure. Charity is a sidebar to our lives and our economy, it’s the bonus after our fixed and even variable expenses are paid off. Charity is small.

Wrong.

Let's look at the numbers, and one reason why ignoring these numbers (mainly by leaders of charities themselves) is detrimental to our economy. Advance warning, this is a fly-over. 

The charitable market in Canada is around 110 billion dollars [link to http://www.imaginecanada.ca/node/32] , or 7% of our country’s GDP [link to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Canada#Key_industries]: . To give some perspective, that’s larger than retail, transportation, the finance industry, education and just barely under the gas and mining industry. Yes, even the almighty Oil Sands. I guess I’ve missed my invite to our annual congress, lobby group, council or economic summit. 

The size of Canada’s charitable industry is significant . It’s a major player in the Canadian financial landscape and has (or could have) a lot of influence. One of the reasons (just one) why the size and scale of the charitable market matters, is around the issues of consolidation, and centralization of this financial market. 

We are a fragmented bunch. All 85 000 of us (charities) are managing our own money, processing our own transactions borrowing from our own institutions and functionally acting completely independent of one another, all under the name of autonomy of mission and independence of leadership and I would suggest a zero sum mentality over access to capital (a donor giving to you means a donors not giving to me right?). 

Why is this so problematic? A few obvious reasons come to mind, lets pick two and briefly explore them: cost and access. Our fight to survive, short term thinking mindset and general unwillingness to co-operate with those ‘not like us’ is hurting us tremendously in both present and opportunity costs and access.

Cost:

What does your charity spend on just the basics: Credit Card processing, cheque and bank fees, website security and PCI, receipting, and general donation processing technology as a percentage of what your charity nets in donations? I’d wager on the low end it’s 4% and on the high end… well lets take the low. 4% on the 10 billion that Canadians gave last year is $400 000 million dollars just on the very basic components of receiving a gift. Add in bookkeeping and compliance fees and the figure goes even higher. Could the downsides of consolidation be outweighed by the very obvious cost savings that would arise?

Access:

What did your charity spend on accessing the very fragmented capital available to the charitable sector (aka fundraising)? Sectoral average is around 20%. The sector is 110 billion dollars, but lets just focus on the 10 billion that’s donated every year (which is problematic as we know the difference doesn’t just magically appear either) and take 20% of that figure. If we operated like sectors much smaller than ours and had designated banks for the specific type of finances we needed (capital / long term, short-term money market etc) how would our approach to fundraising shift?

This is not an indignant on the costs of charity - it’s in part a reflection of the effects of a decentralized financial market for the charitable sector and it needs to change if we are ever going to actually tackle the worlds most significant problems. There are a lot of things wrong with capital, money and other markets, but one thing they understand is consolidation, and access reduces costs and increases opportunity. If our fundraising shifted to telling our story and raising awareness rather than hunting for fragmented pockets of money, could we better educate the sector? If we consolidated processing to a few specialized institutions could we shift our funding to developing more mission advancing technology?

Chimp Foundation, an operation I am connected to is trying to lead this shift. Starting with the donor market, it asks the question of what would happen when we increase Canadian’s access to, participation in, and knowledge of charity. Chimp right now is arguably immaterial financially speaking in the market place, but it represents something that could be industry changing. Through consolidating the donor market and leveraging the web to democratize the legal and financial charitable tools previously afforded only to the very wealthy, it could address those two really basic issues raised above: cost and access. 

Chimp launched the GiveOn campaign earlier this month. GiveOn is a consumer centred campaign that tries to highlight the idea that when we give together (centrally that is, not all to one cause) we can not only reduce costs, but we can find innovative ways to cover those costs for those who do not want to pay them. Partnering with another leading technology company, HootSuite, Chimp’s able to offer ‘fee free’ charitable transactions. This is interesting and significant to a point, but more because of what it represents than what the campaign around it provides right now. What it represents is hopefully a transparent conversation on the reality of fees in the gift processing market - a real conversation that neither cons people into thinking 100% “just happens” or that fees should be hidden. It also represents hopefully an insight into what happens when co-operation, consolidation and a longer term view of the market lead the conversation. Hopefully this idea signals one tangible reason why a little coordination in the market can go a long way in raising capital and reducing costs for all.

The tasks assigned to the charitable sector are too massive and too important for us not to be spending significant time thinking, planning and creating ways for us to solve the access to and cost of capital from a long term mindset. Money isn’t going to solve the most important problems facing humanity - you are. However, seeing the sector for its financial significance and potential can hopefully elevate our thinking away from fragmented, short term and scarcity thought processes and towards real collaborative solutions that overtime will help fuel the causes you are fighting for on our behalf.  

BIO: Jeff Golby works for Chimp Foundation, an online bank that allows people to manage and amplify their charitable giving. His role is to create a space where creativity, law, charity, money and trust come together in a way that inspires and motivates people to give.

Nap rooms are just one of many unconventional methods businesses today are employing in efforts to increase employee engagement, spur innovation and enhance productivity. Strange as it may sound, more companies today are finding that the more creative the incentives they offer, the more creative their workforce becomes.

Take a cue from the following companies and apply some of these unconventional methods to your own organization. You may find yourself – as these companies did – reaping the benefits of a more productive workforce – and a bigger bottom line – in return.

7 Ways to Increase Your Employee Productivity Value

1. Play musical chairs: Companies such as MODCo Media in New York andKayak.com have gotten into the practice of shifting employees from desk to desk every few months, believing the change in atmosphere spurs innovation, promotes collaboration and increases productivity.
   
2. Take the “office” out of office space: Quid, a San Francisco-based data analytics firm, turned a 5,200-square-foot warehouse into an office space that is anything but typical. Among its unusual, but inspired features: a “meat locker,” a meeting space enclosed by rubber strips, designed to promote creative conversations; a “mezzanine” area, a collaborative area equipped with block furniture, bean bag chairs, colorful rugs and comfortable pillows; and a library designed to “recreate…that feeling of discovery” that comes with finding an interesting book.
   
3. Plug in and play: Gamification has been a growing trend for companies looking for new ways to engage candidates and train and develop employees. Plague, Inc., created an iPhone game to help one company build its employment brand and turn workers into brand ambassadors, while software company iActionable designed a platform to help workers learn new skills and “advance from new employee to workplace master.” Plague and iActionable are just a couple of companies tapping into this industry, as experts predict that workplace gamification will be a $2.8 billion business by 2016.
   
4. Just say ‘om:’ Promega Corp., a biotech company in Madison, Wis., encourages employees to participate in a healthy lifestyle by offering heavily discounted meditation and yoga classes, along with on-site fitness centers, workspaces infused with natural light, and healthy meals. The company believes that “happier, healthier workers make for a stronger business.” Google, Target and General Mills are among several other companies that subscribe to this notion, encouraging employees to practice meditation techniques.
   
5. Let them count sheep: In effort to fight what some health experts call an“epidemic” of worker fatigue that can take a toll on employee health and productivity, many companies, such as The Huffington Post and Nationwide Planning Associates, have created “nap rooms,” where employees can live the dream catch up on sleep during office hours.
   
6. Play doctor: The number of U.S. employers hosting on-site medical clinics in effort to minimize lost productivity due to sick days has been increasing steadily since 2011, according to Towers Watson. In addition to increased productivity, companies are seeing very real results in terms of cost savings. Hanesbrands, for example, estimates it has saved $1.4 million annually since creating its on-side clinic two years ago.
   
7. Send them packing: Research indicates that travel incentives are motivating for 96 percent of employees and may also be good for the bottom line. Perhaps that’s why Effective Environmental, a Texas-based environmental services company,rewards five employees with an all-inclusive family vacation each year.
   
   What are some unconventional perks your company offers to motivate employees? perks your company offers to motivate employees?

Managing your Best Non-Profit Marketing Resource: Time

Every afternoon as I walk to the kitchen in our office to make a cup of coffee, I think about how quickly time has gone by.

It’s already 3:15 p.m., and there is so much more to get done. Time has run out on me. Our clients echo the same sentiment in emails:

“Something else popped up. Can I get my feedback on those Facebook images tomorrow?”

“Our server crashed today so I am busy getting our email back up. Can we postpone our meeting until Friday?”

“I don’t know what happened, but its 5:00 and I still have 15 unread emails I need to get to before I leave. Catch up tomorrow?”

As an nonprofit digital advertising agency, time is a precious resource, so we are pretty protective of it. We’ve found a few tools along the way that have helped us gain better insights into how we spend our time. This isn’t Six Sigma black belt material, rather just some cool life-hacks we discovered to make the most of every day. As a nonprofit employee, you are probably in the same boat. Check out these three simple tips to get your day back and enjoy that afternoon coffee without the anxiety of looking at the clock.

STEP 1: CREATE A GAME PLAN

What is on your plate? Facebook? Twitter? Email? Google Analytics? Be realistic about how long it takes to effectively handle these tasks. Take into account how much total time you have to complete everything — 10 hours? 15 hours? Based on that, set aside time for each task. Having a strong grasp of how to utilize various platforms efficiently can play a big role in saving time. Check out our 10 tips for an effective nonprofit content strategy.

STEP 2: STICK TO GAME PLAN

We are big believers in technology being a force for good. We use two web-based apps to help us stick to our game plan.

1. RescueTime.com This tool runs in the background and lets you know your productivity based on web activity. It also has a great feature called “Get Focused” that will block distracting sites like funnyordie.com for a certain period of time.

2. Toggl.com  This is a time-tracking software that is simple to use. It can be downloaded to your desktop, smartphone and tablet. It can also run in your browser. It has a one-click timer function and gives you the ability to edit any entry if you forget to turn off the timer. But here’s the best part: The company offers a nonprofit discount!

STEP 3: REEVALUATE GAME PLAN

You found out you are an efficient and effective time management machine, but it still didn’t help you find 10 more hours in your week to get another handful of emails out or to better segment your messaging. Maybe it’s time to re-allocate some staff hours? Tell your boss you want to put in some overtime? Or go with our favorite solution: Hire Media Cause to be your new nonprofit marketing resource. Not only can we give you more time, but we can make you a mean cup of joe.

By Cody Damon Posted in Nonprofit Marketing Agency 

What to Answer When the Interviewers Ask "Why Should We Hire You?"

We often go into an interview prepared to answer technical questions regarding ourselves and the job that we are applying for. Being prepared is a good thing, but there would always be a question or two that would catch us off guard. One of these questions would be “Why do you want this job?”.

A lot of people would consider this a silly question and give a random answer such as “because I need a job”. To an interviewer though, this is not any silly question. It asks why you want it, and gives you an opportunity to tell them why the job attracted you, and how interested you are in getting the position.

Here are a few tips to consider when coming up with an answer to this crucial question:

1) Consider the company:

It would not hurt to say that you would want to be on a winning team, as this would give the interviewer the fact that you did your research about the company. Something such as this would be able to convey this idea:

I have been following the rising performance of the company, and would want to be part of the team that makes it to the top of the industry

2) You’re prepared for the part:

Another good answer to this would be to talk about your qualifications and how they compliment the needs of the company. This would let the interviewer know that you are not fooling around with your application and the company’s need. An answer showing this would go something like:

The subjects I took up while working for my degree in management accounting have prepared me for this particular post. My two year experience working with company x has given me the experience that I need to deliver what is stated in your job posting. It is as if I was prepared all my life to land this job.

3) It can further your career and you can help the company in return:

One thing that recruiters want to see is hunger. They want to see this because it gives them the impression that you are willing to go the distance, and even further, in order to get the job done, get recognized and move up. You can express this by saying something like:

I want the job because it can give me a chance to prove myself at this level. My plan is to do an awesome job and move up the ranks of this company, helping the company improve and getting me the job experience in the process. It would be a win-win situation for both parties.

4) Passion:

Of course there is always an answer that shows that this is what you want to do.   A simple statement such as below would give a recruiter the idea that you just want to work in this field:

Since college, this has been the line of work that has always fascinated me. I have taken quite a few jobs in this area of expertise and I still keep on learning.

Conclusion:

Depending on the job that you are applying for, you can mix and match. If you are applying for a higher position than what you were previously in, then you would need to go for the stronger approaches. The biggest mistake you can make though is just pass this question off as a joke and say something such as you are just in it for the money. That would signify disinterest on your part, and you may very well lose that job opportunity. Play your cards right, show your interest, and you would not be jobless for long.

3 Steps To A Successful Cover Letter

Cover letters can be a chore to write for job seekers. Whereas the things that need to be in a resume are cut and dry, what to include in your letter is a little more ambiguous.

In article posted on Boxwood Tech’s Career Learning Center Marshall Brown, founder and CEO of Marshall Brown & Associates, explained that cover letters need to be tailored to the specific job for which you are applying. While it’s fine to have a template that you work from, Brown explained that you can’t simply copy and paste that template and call it a day. If you can, take the time to find out what the unique problems, challenges etc. of the organization might be. Show them how you have the qualifications to help them solve their problems.

When it comes to what you should include in your cover letter, Brown wrote that it’s okay to include information that already appears on your resume. Specifically, Brown states that the document should be no more than three paragraphs, containing the following information:

Paragraph 1: The “Hook”

• Introduce your qualifications up front.
• Tell them a story.
• Drop a name.
• Highlight something about their business.
• Jump right into your results.
• Ask a question that makes them think.

Paragraph 2: The “Pitch”

• Highlight your relevant qualifications and results.
• Target what the organization needs or wants.
• Make it clear and easy to read.

Paragraph 3: The “Close”

• Quick summary (one sentence).
• Call to action (request for a phone call or interview).
• Contact information.
• “Thank you.”

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