Pluralsight #32 Boosting Innovation How Leaders Can Create Innovative Teams

Pluralsight #32 Boosting Innovation How Leaders Can Create Innovative Teams My 32nd course on Pluralsight is now live. Youll only see 31 because I had one course retire (it was replaced by a more updated version). This course is pretty fun, it is titled  Boosting Innovation: How Leaders Can Create Innovative Teams. This course is one hour and forty five minutes. The meat is in the second and third modules, where I give dozens of ideas for leaders to create and nurture innovation on a team. Some of the ideas you might wholeheartedly agree with. Others you might think are crazy (or, wont work for your team). Others might be something youve never thought about before. My hope with this course is that you take ideas that you can implement and work, one idea at a time, to create an innovative environment. For JibberJobber users who are reporting back on the Course Tracker, go ahead and click twice for each view of this course for the next week. Thats right, double the JibberJobber upgrade each time you watch this course. Enjoy! Pluralsight #32 Boosting Innovation How Leaders Can Create Innovative Teams My 32nd course on Pluralsight is now live. Youll only see 31 because I had one course retire (it was replaced by a more updated version). This course is pretty fun, it is titled  Boosting Innovation: How Leaders Can Create Innovative Teams. This course is one hour and forty five minutes. The meat is in the second and third modules, where I give dozens of ideas for leaders to create and nurture innovation on a team. Some of the ideas you might wholeheartedly agree with. Others you might think are crazy (or, wont work for your team). Others might be something youve never thought about before. My hope with this course is that you take ideas that you can implement and work, one idea at a time, to create an innovative environment. For JibberJobber users who are reporting back on the Course Tracker, go ahead and click twice for each view of this course for the next week. Thats right, double the JibberJobber upgrade each time you watch this course. Enjoy!

Writing a Resume For a Fintech Job

Writing a Resume For a Fintech JobWriting a resume for a fintech job is not rocket science. After all, it's hard to come up with a new idea, so who needs it? The concept is fairly simple, and it might be a little shocking to some people that a resume could be that simple, but when the stakes are high, writing a resume for a fintech job should be straightforward and easy to read.The person preparing the resume has to go over the skills, experience, and any other information that will help show the candidate is the best fit for the career path. Carefully worded questions on an applicant's degree of interest should also be included. Once everything has been sorted out, the candidate can write their personal statement.When the personal statement is complete, there is still work to do on the resume. The candidate should write out the resume in neat, short paragraphs and make sure that the numbers are correct. Carefully check the copy before sending it off to the hiring company. Rejection letters will be particularly harsh if they see mistakes in the resume. Even if you have sent it off after you've edited the resume, the application has to look fresh and professional.For many fintech job seekers, the hardest part of the job search is the resume itself. Not only do applicants get little or no practice on how to write a resume, they also have no idea how much time and effort goes into creating one. To top it off, many websites offer free resume services. However, not all companies do, and so many people get lost in the shuffle and never see the light of day.That said, there are a few things to remember when writing a resume. For starters, use as many relevant keywords as possible. More specifically, look for 'fintech' in the title, and anything after that. Also, be sure to use the right spelling and grammar, as a resume is supposed to be clear and readable.Avoid too many unnecessary details, such as dates of experience, especially if they aren't relevant to the positi on being filled. In fact, you should make sure that you include exactly what you've been working on, in chronological order. This gives the reader an idea of the entire process, not just the meat of the resume. Finally, remember that you're looking for a connection between the project and the hiring manager, so make sure you include a great deal of detail, both about the project and about the candidate.Another major point to consider is the font. As a rule, use at least 12-point Times New Roman. It's fine to use a condensed version of this, but don't use a full size for the first page. Doing so gives the reader the impression that it's very lengthy and complicated, and that will only hinder the reader's view of your resume.Make sure that you give yourself enough time to finish a resume. A good idea is to find a table to place your resume on, and to spend some time on the first page. That will allow the reader to skim through it quickly, and to follow up on that first impression by h aving them stop and read the entire document.

Do You Know The Processing Time For Home Equity Loans and HELOCS

Do You Know The Processing Time For Home Equity Loans and HELOCS Are you a homeowner who has considered borrowing against the equity you have built up in your property? If so, youre probably already familiar with the two primary methods for doing that: home equity loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). Each method has its own set of rules, advantages, disadvantages and processing times. Here is a short explanation about what you should expect the average processing times to be for each type of loan, along with some of key points of difference between the two. HELOCs Processing time for a HELOC can be as short as 30 days. Because the crux of qualification is the amount of equity you have in your home, it’s quite possible to qualify for a HELOC at the same time you make your original home purchase. Lenders will use the 30-45 days to determine that you meet the basic loan criteria like income, debt-to-income ratio, equity, credit scores, and employment history. You’ll need to have about 20 percent equity in your home in order to qualify, but as noted above, it only takes HELOC lenders a few weeks to verify the other criteria, so you can be approved in under 30 days if all goes well. Home Equity Loans Applications for home equity loans can also be processed quite quickly, often in less than four weeks. Borrowers can speed the process along by gathering all the relevant documents and having them ready before they meet with lenders. What will you need? Common items a lender will request include deeds, proof of income, a recent mortgage statement that shows how much you currently own on the property, a list of other debts, a property tax assessment, at least two years of prior years’ tax returns, and verification of any income that’s not shown on the pay stubs. In order to gather all these items, you might need a couple of weeks. After that, the underwriting agent will go through each document and verify the data before approving the loan. As is the case with HELOCs, you’ll need to meet the basic criteria of the lender, which can include credit score minimums, employment history, income thresholds, equity amounts and debt-to-income ratios. The bottom line for both the HELOC and home equity loan applicant is this: as long as you meet the basic requirements and have the necessary documents ready to go, it’s common for a loan approval to take about one month. Key Differences Between HELOCs and Home Equity Loans HELOCs are like credit cards because there is no lump-sum payment to the borrower, as is the case with home equity loans. And HELOCs come with variable interest rates while traditional home equity loans offer fixed-rate financing. Finally, full interest-plus-principal payments begin immediately with a home equity loan. HELOC borrowers can often make smaller, or interest-only payments, during the initial draw period on their loan. Home equity loans are inflexible in terms of interest rates and amounts borrowed but HELOCs allow variable interest and variable borrowing amounts up to the draw limit.

My new path to self-discipline DBT

My new path to self-discipline DBT My new thing is self-discipline. I am going to get better at it. I am nervous writing this, because I dont want to fail. So this is the first thing I know: If you are really serious about doing something, its painful to tell people, because fear of failure is so high. Once you decide that you really want something enough to shift your life to get it at that point you want it so much that you will feel like your life is somehow incomplete if you dont get it. So it is scary just to talk about it. This is how Im feeling about sugar and bread. I think it only leads to bad things. I think it makes me crazy and I have googled a thousand different sites about addiction to sugar and bread, and I think its true. Heres what I think: 1. Food acts like drugs, and some foods make us crave more and more and more like an addictive drug. Eating carbohydrates and sugar is totally unnatural to the human diet. 2. There is some sort of link between Aspergers and bread. Im not sure what it is, but we tried taking my son off gluten when he was younger, because so many people say it makes a difference with autism. And while I couldnt really tell with him, I ate the same diet, and I could tell that I was more calm. Most people I know who have Aspergers also have an obsession with gluten. Im not sure what this means except that I should stay away from it. 3. I definitely notice a difference when I stay off gluten. I have more energy and I lose weight effortlessly. I think this is because when I eat for emotional reasons I always choose wheat-based products. 4. When I take myself off bread, I start craving sugar. So I think I also have a problem with sugar. And, confession: I eat a lot of it. No soda or deserts, but tons of sugar in my coffee. All day long. There is a lot that I want to change in my life: More yoga Less nervous eating More weight lifting Less yelling at kids More leaving the house Less acting like an agoraphobic More blog posts Less mindless email administrating This is way too big a list, though. What I really want, if I boil it down, is to have more confidence in myself. Then I would believe I could have a good life and Id do the things I think I need to do to have a good life. Heres what happens, though. I say, Oh. Forget it. Ill never stop eating sugar really.And then I dump five spoonfuls into my coffee. You have to believe in yourself that you can create a good life in order to do the life you want. Why is that so hard? I dont know. I mean, I have a pretty good track record for getting what I want. And still: Plagued by the bread crumbs left from last nights dinner. So I am starting dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). Actually, I started it a while ago but I thought I would sound like a crackpot on the blog if I wrote about it. But its so cool, that I have to tell you. First, Im going to tell you my version of DBT, and its sort of cultish, to be honest, so if you want to get an official version, click here. I know you didnt click, though; of course my version will be more interesting. The idea is that you identify a behavior you want to change, and then, each time you dont do the change, you write down everything you were feeling while you were deciding to not do the change. It looks something like this: I am on a conference call. I feel frustrated that things are not more clear cut with a right path for my company. (You have to always use feeling words.) I feel anxious that I cant help think of a solution. Then I overreact to feeling powerless and I worry that Ill be a terrible parent and Ill never fix it. And maybe Im terrible at everything. (DBT makes you more in touch with how you feel.) I tell myself dont go into the kitchen because you will eat bread. I tell myself to just be with the feelings. Then I go in the kitchen anyway. I tell myself I can eat just one piece. I dont. I eat ten. I feel a strong love for Wonderbread. Not now. Then. Okay. So you do this a million times for DBT, and what you end up seeing is a patternjust as you start having strong feelings, you do your vice so you avoid experiencing the feelings. So the only way to know your feelings and understand who you really are is to not do the thing that separates you from the feelings. Its actually a lot more persuasive to me to tell myself I will never have self-knowledge if I eat the bread. Thats why this is a particularly inspiring message for me: via Oh She Glows

6 Helpful Tips To Help You Get Started With A Career In Fitness

6 Helpful Tips To Help You Get Started With A Career In Fitness The fitness industry is booming at the moment and it simply continues to grow. There is over 200,000 fitness club around the world and the industry is worth over 83.15 billion dollars, according to Statista. Planet Fitness alone makes over 1.5 billion in revenue each year. In the United States, there are around 36,000 fitness clubs, and over 57 million people currently belong to one of these clubs. As you can see, the fitness industry has quite a lot of potential and, for those who really enjoy physical exercise and feel they can contribute to this industry, there is a lot of opportunities available. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to enter the fitness industry, then this article is perfect for you. We are about to share six helpful tips that will help you get started with a career in this industry. We will cover all of the aspects that you need to know before you make a decision to transcend into the fitness industry so that you can make an informed decisions â€" and know whether or not a career in this particular industry is right for you. Note that, while our article focuses on those who wishes to become a personal trainer, the article is also appropriate for those who wishes to enter the fitness industry in a career other than a personal trainer. 1. Don’t Enter The Fitness Industry Blindly After considering the potential opportunities that may await you in the fitness industry, you may be tempted to quit your job and enter the industry without first considering some of the most important factors there are to consider when building a career in this industry. This is not the most appropriate way to transcend towards a career in fitness. To become a personal trainer, you need to do some initial planning, consider your options, realize what it takes and then decide whether a career in this particular industry is suitable for you. 2. Full Time Versus Part Time While some people enter the fitness industry full time when they get started, others rather like to enter the industry by first becoming a part time personal trainer or instructor. This gives them the opportunity to build up some experience before they quit their existing job, and also offers them an opportunity to determine whether they would actually enjoy a career as a personal trainer. This is an important decision that you need to make when you consider a career in the fitness industry. Both full time and part time careers as a personal trainer has their own benefits and drawbacks, so consider these two options carefully and then make a decision based upon your personal findings. 3. Be An Expert In Fitness If you wish to become a personal trainer, then you need to become an expert in fitness first. You will need to offer expert advice and guidance to your customers, and if you are not experience in this particular industry, you will not be able to offer your customers any real value. Know what benefits your customers can gain from becoming fit and adopting an active lifestyle. For example, physical activity can enhance your sex drive. If you search for information about arthritis, you’ll also notice that being physically active is beneficial for patients suffering from this disease. 4. Be Sure That You Meet The Requirements To become a personal trainer, you cannot simply quite your job and start advertising your services. This is against the law as you need to become a certified personal trainer before you can offer your services to clients â€" even if you plan on becoming a private personal training, an ACE certification is still essential. While there are other certifications available to help you enter the fitness industry, an ACE certification has set certain standards that people now consider important in the health and fitness industry; thus obtaining this particular certification may be more beneficial than opting for a cheaper or easier-to-obtain option. Before you obtain your ACE certification, you need to ensure that you meet the minimum requirements. Firstly, you need to be at least 18 years of age and have an official identity document that was issued by your government. Furthermore, you need to have an adult AED certification and an adult CPR certification if you wish to obtain your ACE certification. Once you meet these requirements, you can register at an accredited educational center, where you can complete the ACE exams and obtain your certificate. 5. Join A Fitness Center Or Go Private Another important decision that you will have to make before you can declare yourself an official personal trainer is whether you would like to join a team at a fitness center in your local area, or rather offer your personal training services to clients privately. There are benefits and some drawbacks to both of these choices. Some people tend to start out by joining a team at a fitness center first, and then later on they might decide to move over to becoming a private personal trainer. The most significant benefit that coaching privately has is the fact that you are able to set your own hours and rates. 6. Customer Services Is Important Becoming a personal trainer means you will be working with customers all the time â€" and these customers may be unmotivated obese people who are trying to lose weight. As their personal trainer, you will be required to help get them motivated and to keep them motivated throughout the course of their training program; thus you need to ensure that you know how to deal with customers if you intend to become a personal trainer. This is a very important step as not being able to deal with difficult customers or unmotivated people will get you a bad rep, which means you may not be able to succeed as a personal trainer. Conclusion Becoming a personal trainer is an exciting change of career that could not only lead to an increase in your monthly income, but it can also help you change the lives of many people for the better. As a personal trainer, you will help people become fit and lead healthier lives, which contributes towards a higher quality of life and a happier lifestyle for your customers. Not only will this be beneficial for your bank account, but it will also help you feel better about yourself, knowing that you are bringing positive aspects to the lives of your customers. Starting a career in fitness is an important decision.   If you think it may be for you, why not try out a fitness instructor course to see if this is the right career path you would like to go down? This guest post was authored by Brian Adam This is Brian Adam, I am a Health Writer, Researcher, and Advisor with a passion for Men’s Health and Wellness, places a strong emphasis on Diet as well, believing that the Combination of Exercise, a Healthy Diet, and a Positive Mindset is the best way to achieve ones Full Potential. I write on most of the topics related to Healthcare, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, etc. Each and every piece of content I produce is completely researched. Love content creation basically; however, Im excellent at it when it comes down to the health care community. Say Hi to Brian on Twitter   Facebook.

Why second year is the best time for some extracurriculars

Why second year is the best time for some extracurriculars When you’re starting second year, it’s understandable to think that all your days of fun are over. Work is suddenly intense, the Wild West feeling of halls is gone and now you have to worry about gross stuff like bills and council tax exemption. This is why it’s all the more important to alleviate your misery by picking up some extracurricular activities. Here at Debut, we’ve gone on and on about why things like societies, executive committees and sports teams are good for you, but here’s why getting involved in all this in second year is definitely the way to go. You have a squad Image via Giphy First year is when you weave together the fabric of your social tapestry. By now, you should know who’s going to be a recurring character in your university story and who was just making cameo appearances. Presumably, you’ve moved into a house with some people you’re happy to share your life with. Once you’ve got that solid home base, it’s time to expand and make some friends with similar interests and where better than some societies? You’ve got contacts Image via Giphy In addition to finding lifelong pals, you’ve probably made a few older friends and acquaintances that are already doing the whole societies thing. Follow their shining example and commit to some extracurriculars. Not only will you learn a lot on your own, but you can benefit from their wealth of experience, no matter what society you join. We all know that teamwork makes the dream work! You’re more uni savvy Image via Giphy You know your SU is for more than just a sticky night out. You know where the best meeting rooms are, the least busy computer clusters, you know your way around campus. Basically, you’re a bit more aware of what’s going on. That being said, why not apply some of that knowledge to something you love? Societies need people (on their exec. committee and in general) that can navigate their way around the physical and administrative maze that universities and student unions can be sometimes. With a year of experience, you’re more than capable of handling it. You have more time than you think Image via Giphy Maybe it’s second year and maybe now your work counts toward your final degree classification. Maybe that’s terrifying. But you’ll still have more time than you would in final year, when the crunch really starts. If you don’t go all in on societies now, you may never get the chance. You’re more organised Image via Giphy Your workload has increased this year, sure, but in first year the amount of work you were expected to do autonomously increased significantly. Through the fire and flames of that transition, a halfway competent student at the very least will have been formed, whether you feel it or not. There’s no better way to test that than picking up some new activities, and it’ll help you handle that work/life balance in future. Like it or not, you’ve calmed down Image via Giphy Diddums, you’re growing up. In first year, you wanted to be doing other things and that’s okay. In the moment, you may have felt guilty. Maybe you felt that every time you downed a pint with a potential chum you were flushing your life down the drain. But that’s what first year is for! The fun doesn’t have to stop, but now you’re a second year it’s out with matching-t-shirt nights-out and in with the society socials. Careers-wise, the timing is perfect Image via Giphy Because by the time you hit third year, it may already be too late. Believe it or not, now is the perfect time to be setting yourself up for the job hunt. Extracurriculars round you off as a person and show off skills that you just don’t get from being academic. Whether you going for a summer internship or a big grad job, doing a little something extra might just be the thing that tips you over the edge. Download the Debut app and you could totally grab yourself a summer internship  way before anyone else. Follow Alex on Twitter @AndThenAlexSaid Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter

5 Reasons Jobseekers Should Use Twitter

, what we might call traditional job-search techniques, are continuously eroding in effectiveness.In order to fully understand why Twitter has become a front-running tool, jobseekers need only recognize several core changes that have occurred across the hiring landscape:First, recruitment firms were struggling even before the recession hit â€" especially those less established. Employers are always looking for ways to cut costs, regardless of what the market is doing â€" and recruiters seem to be experiencing the brunt of it.Some might say employers’ new vision isn’t unfounded. When you factor recruitment firms charge fees between 3% and 15%, hiring costs can get out of hand even for the most financially stable employers. The cost of hiring an executive with a $100,000 salary for example costs the hiring company upwards of $15,000.Recruiters do provide a very valuable service, such as resume sourcing and prescreening of candidates, but hiring companies seem increasingly fixated o n the costs of doing business, and how to go about reducing it.What’s the lesson here? Recruitment firms can be a great resource, but don’t overlook the importance of contacting employers directly, using services such as Twitter to make it happen.Second, an estimated 15 million people are unemployed.Fifteen million is a conservative number when you consider there are millions more out of work, no longer drawing unemployment benefits nor looking for employment. At one time, we were experiencing the longest recession in history since the 1940s, and some experts speculate it will take several years (possibly into 2018 or longer) to regain those jobs lost and before unemployment numbers get back to acceptable levels.When factoring all the doom and gloom, jobseekers need great new ways to build relationships and uncover job leads … beyond just those status quo.What’s the lesson here? Twitter isn’t saturated with jobseekers just yet, and if utilized correctly, it can serve as an other resource to generate a nice return for you. Want to Read More Articles Like This One?Sign up here to receive weekly updates from Career Enlightenment, and never miss another powerful job searching tip! SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed!We hate spam too. Unsubscribe any time. Third, few other tools like Twitter give you near direct access to hiring agents. Ideally, two-way tweeting does require approval from both parties though. You follow HiringJim, HiringJim follows you back. Should HiringJim opt not to follow you, however, communication between the two of you becomes more difficult as Direct Messaging (DM) from you to him is impossible.Note: You can submit an open message but the chance of HiringJim receiving it isn’t a sure thing â€" it’s worth a shot though, and may get you on his radar.What’s the lesson here? Twitter is another channel for getting in touch with the right people, at the right time.Fourth, Twitter creates a network like no other. You’d be hard pressed to go anywhere online and not learn networking is still the number one way of locating jobs. Proof of this is represented by hiring companies increasing their use of employee referral programs, meaning they are encouraging employees to refer friends, family, and colleagues for open positions.Can you blame them? The price is right.What’s the lesson here? If you’ve been ignoring your network, you can no longer afford to do so.  Networking is the pivotal focus of Internet 2.0, and hiring companies are recognizing this as well. Twitter is part of Internet 2.0, and frankly one of the easiest ways to keep continued, day-to-day contact with your network.Lastly, we go with what works … and Twitter is giving us results! Business professionals tend to stick with what works, right? A recent CNNMoney.com article entitled, HR by Twitter, highlights the success of Breaking Point Systems (BPS) with hiring a new Marketing Director.The VP of Marketing, Pam O’Neal, stated the company opted to use Twitter to attract a marketing professional with social media expertise.

Nostalgia Leads to Networking -

Nostalgia Leads to Networking - Warning: Illegal string offset 'file' in /nfs/c10/h08/mnt/150887/domains/keppiecareers.com/html/wp-includes/media.php on line 1521 Warning: Illegal string offset 'file' in /nfs/c10/h08/mnt/150887/domains/keppiecareers.com/html/wp-includes/media.php on line 1521 If youre a regular reader, youve noticed a pattern to this weeks posts. Im feeling kind of nostalgicremembering my college days, which makes me think back to high school. My family moved away from my home town in the suburbs of Chicago when I went to college. Moving so far away, it was hard to keep in touch with any but my very closest friends from that time. (I know this probably seems a foreign concept to students today, but this was before social networking and Web 2.0. Think actually PAYING for long distance calls made while tethered to a phone with a cord and needing to mail letters!) This nostalgia led to a little flurry of activity in my FaceBook account, which leads to me todays post. Randomly (it seems), Ive all of the sudden been compelled to spend time friending neighbors from my home town, classmates and even more distant aquaintances from high school. (Being more of a linkedin kind of gal, I admit to not spending a lot of time pursuing FaceBook connections in the past.) We exchange a note, maybe post something on our walls, view photosTheres no long-term investment of time or energy to touch base, and it is comforting to know that maybe I wont lose track of these old friends again. I like that this group of people who share a bond with me, albeit distant, is out there. I know that Id be happy to help or support any of them if I could, and I think they would do the same for me. L No, these werent my classmates, but it is my high school! Luckily, I am not in this flurry of networking activity because I need something from any of these contacts. (Its really more of a nostalgia thing.)Which leads me to connect this post to a relevant career topic! With prices going up and salaries going down (and some jobs becoming fewer and further between). NOW is the time to enhance, re-build or create your network. Networking is about relationshipsMost of us have relationships that weve let fall by the wayside. Maybe a little revival isnt a bad idea. Using social networks which may or may not lead to offline meetings theres no specific time committment, no small talk (really), no what do I wear to go to that event. Reaching out is as easy as a click of the mouse, some exchanged emails and touching base once in a while. FaceBook gives you everyone in your networks birthdate consider sending a note to remember their special day. Baby steps to online networking are okay find some friends, see if there may be some potential revived relationships and nurture them. Stay tuned for more on FaceBook for job hunting Looking for a job? Keppie Careers will help you every step of the way? Need a great resume? Take a look at our resume transformations!