Things to do While Traveling for Work

Posted on October 1, 2016 by

Business travel sounds glamorous. You get to visit a far away place and put it on an expense account. But, ask anyone who travels for work and they will tell you it’s not as glamorous as it seems. Many business travelers feel lonely when they’re working on the road. However, business travel doesn’t have to be lonely or stressful. Here are a few things you can do to make your time away from home comfortable and fun.

Don’t Work in Your Room

Working alone in your room can make you feel lonely and isolated. Instead, find other locations in your hotel where you might feel less isolated such as the guest business center, hotel lobby or even a nearby coffee shop. Working with a little activity and white noise around you may feel more like your normal work location.

Keep in Touch with People Back Home

Make quick calls to friends and family when you’re traveling. You can do this while in transit, as well as before or after your work day. Use texts or pictures to stay connected. Also, using Skype or FaceTime to see your loved ones’ faces can give you a big comfort boost.

Go Sightseeing

If you are traveling to a place you have not been to before, and especially if it is a “tourist destination”, find some time to enjoy what’s unique about the place you’re visiting. Many cities and regions have landmarks, local attractions, museums, shopping malls and parks to visit. Take pictures to share with your friends and family back home, and so you can remember some of the fun time from your business trip.

Bring Someone With You

Ask a companion to join you on your trip when you can. If you know people in the place you will travel to, meet up with those friends and family in the area. While you typically cannot include your companion’s expenses on your expense account, the time you share with others may be worth the cost.

Make the Most of Your Time Alone

Read a book, watch a movie, go to a local show or attend an event. Also, simply going to bed early will help you catch up on missed sleep or adjust to a time-zone change.

Create a Routine

The hardest part of a prolonged business trip is the disruption to your normal routine. While your work day may be hectic, try to keep to the same work start and end times. Make sure you plan your meals at about the same time each day, especially breakfast and dinner. Wake up and go to sleep at the same times each day. Schedule a block of non-work personal time. Having a routine while traveling on business will help minimize the disruption your trip may cause.

Even the most seasoned road warrior can find it challenging when traveling for business. With just a little preparation and planning, you can minimize any challenges you encounter and you might just have a little fun.

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David Schuchman

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Things to do While Traveling for Work

Posted on October 1, 2016 by

Adam Kovitz

Don’t Work in Your Room

Keep in Touch with People Back Home

Go Sightseeing

Bring Someone With You

Make the Most of Your Time Alone

Read a book, watch a movie, go to a local show or attend an event. Also, simply going to bed early will help you catch up on missed sleep or adjust to a time-zone change.

Create a Routine

Click here to contact me regarding this or any other blog post.

David Schuchman

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Are You Blaming Self for Being Unemployed?

Posted on September 25, 2016 by

Adam Kovitz

It is not unusual for one blaming self for being unemployed. Recently, while looking around LinkedIn, I came across an article that intrigued me. It was about a book titled Flawed System/Flawed Self, written by Ofer Sharone, who taught at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, where he was assistant professor of work and employment research. […]

The post Are You Blaming Self for Being Unemployed? appeared first on Landing Expert Career Coaching.

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Why Are They Asking These Interview Questions?

Posted on September 18, 2016 by

Adam Kovitz

Have you ever asked yourself why are they asking these interview questions? People sometimes feel they did not do their best at their job interview. This has several reasons. First, in general, most people do not prepare sufficiently for that oral test commonly known as the job interview. They simply don’t know how to. But […]

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Monthly Meeting

Posted on September 10, 2016 by

Adrienne Roman

The Breakfast Club NJ Presents: :“LinkedIn: It’s About Being Found”

Presented by Alex Freund

Saturday October 8th,at 8:00am ET

Synopsis:

Please share this with other groups you may be in. Join us on Meetup.com at: http://www.meetup.com/The-Breakfast-Club-NJ/ to RSVP for the meeting.

Presentation: :“LinkedIn: It’s About Being Found”

In today’s market, a LinkedIn profile is a “must have” for any professional or job seeker as more than 90% of companies use LinkedIn to identify or vet a candidate. But having a profile isn’t enough — it’s ALL about being found. Alex Freund, The Landing Expert, will be featured in an insightful and highly valuable presentation for any professional: “LinkedIn: It’s About Being Found.”
This highly interactive session is designed to help you understand the dynamics of LinkedIn and how to position yourself for success. If you cannot be found, you cannot be considered for a position. There are a number of reasons why your profile might not appear in a search. Alex will reveal how to break through these impediments so that YOU make a recruiter’s search list.
And, not all components of your LinkedIn profile are created equal. In this presentation, you will learn which elements of your profile weigh more heavily in searches and which sections require your attention first. Alex will provide tips and easy-to-use tools that you can use right away to optimize your profile giving you a distinct competitive advantage.
Few spend much time cultivating their “headline” often inserting their last job title. But this important piece of real estate is how viewers define you – often within seconds. Learn how to structure a strong, compelling headline that has the viewer wanting to learn more about YOU.
During this event, participants will:
• Evaluate the role of LinkedIn in a job search
• Understand how to structure their profile to be “found”
• Learn how to address job transitions and unemployment
• Experience a recruiter’s view of a candidate
• Distinguish an optimized profile from a poor one

Acquire free tools and techniques to create a “stand out” profile

About the Speaker:
Alex Freund

Alex Freund – The Landing Expert

Known as “The Landing Expert,” Alex Freund helps his clients land new positions and promotions through effective interviewing. As a former director at Honeywell, Sanofi and Tyco International, Alex has hired hundreds.
Currently, Alex is career coach with expertise in improving interviewing and making them confident and comfortable in the interviewing process. Alex has helped more than 600 clients ranging from managers to senior executives and CEOs in a multitude of industries.

Alex is well-known via his volunteering in several job-search networking groups where he is a frequent presenter, conducts workshops on interviewing, effective resumes, and LinkedIn in addition to publishing a blog written specifically for job seekers. Alex also teaches a course for people in transition via the Princeton Adult School and publishes The Landing Expert List, a free directory of job-search networking groups via his website at landingexpert.com.
Alex is a graduate of Cornell University and speaks five languages.

About the Meeting:

Networking begins at 7:30 am, meeting starts promptly at 8:00 am.

There is a $10 fee at the door to cover the cost of the room.

Be sure to tell your friends and bring them along. Be a part of our growing network of Job Seekers, Hiring Managers, Recruiters, Career Coaches, and people who want to be able to help themselves and each other.

Event Location:

Days Hotel Conference Center

195 Rt. 18 South, East Brunswick, NJ 08816

732-828-6900

Meeting Format:

7:30 to 8:00 – Registration & Open Networking

8:00 to 8:15 – Welcome and housekeeping

8:15 to 9:15 – Presentation by the guest speaker – Limited to 60 minutes

9:15 to 10:15 – Elevator Pitch – 30 Seconds about yourself, who you are, what you are looking for, target companies (3-4), how we can help you, how you can help others. Follow the rule of the Three B’s of Public Speaking: Be informative; Be brief; Be seated.

10:15 until you choose to leave – Open Networking, follow up with people you are interested in meeting following their elevator pitch, exchange business cards, peruse the library, arrange follow up meetings, etc.

The Breakfast Club NJ – 10 Points for Good Member Citizenship

1) Attend meetings regularly to keep group strong and help pay back to others (meeting logistics on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)

2) Keep anti-virus on your machine up to date and run scan regularly

3) Review messages and if request for assistance please help whenever possible

4) Once you have received your invitation and joined our linked in group, connect to other members directly(questions see Gerry Peyton -gpeyton@ptd.net)

5) Join groups Facebook group, Google +, and connect to other members directly (questions see Adrienne Roman – adrienne1204@optonline.net)

6) Join groups twitter account (questions see George Pace – keeppace@gmail.com)

7) If you run across someone in transition invite them to join our group and sponsor them through process (details on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)

8) Sunday mornings listen to our radio show, “Your Career Is Calling”, at 8am ET either on radio at 107.7 or via internet 24/7 live or on demand at www.1077thebronc.com (as this is a call in show your calls help make it successful)

9) If you are in transition put your elevator pitch in writing to group, ask for help with job search issues or connecting to people at target companies, regularly post job opportunities (from email you joined the group – send email to thebreakfastclubnj@yahoogroups.com)

10) Help fellow members whenever possible

Attend meetings regularly to keep group strong and help pay back to others (meeting logistics on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)
Keep anti-virus on your machine up to date and run scan regularly
Review messages and if request for assistance please help whenever possible
Once you have received your invitation and joined our linked in group, connect to other members directly(questions see Gerry Peyton -gpeyton@ptd.net)
Join groups Facebook group and connect to other members directly (questions see Adrienne Roman – adrienne1204@optonline.net)
Join groups twitter account (questions see George Pace – keeppace@gmail.com)
If you run across someone in transition invite them to join our group and sponsor them through process (details on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)
Sunday mornings listen to our radio show, “Your Career Is Calling”, at 8am ET either on radio at 107.7 or via internet 24/7 live or on demand at www.1077thebronc.com (as this is a call in show your calls help make it successful)
If you are in transition put your elevator pitch in writing to group, ask for help with job search issues or connecting to people at target companies, regularly post job opportunities (from email you joined the group – send email to thebreakfastclubnj@yahoogroups.com)
Help fellow members whenever possible

We look forward to seeing everyone let’s make this a great meeting for our members that are in transition and welcome those that have landed

Posted in Monthly Meeting Tagged with: Alex Freund, BCNJ Member, being found on linkedin, Breakfast Club NJ, business, career coaching, career opportunities, career opportunity, cloud, Days Hotel Conference Center, Interview, job offer, job search, Linkedin, TBCNJ, TBCNJ Edit, The Breakfast Club NJ, The Landing Expert

How Not Feeling Nervous When Interviewing

Posted on September 5, 2016 by

Adam Kovitz

Most if not all people feel nervous before and during a job interview. For the past ten years, I’ve been helping people prepare for job interviews. I’m also a very experienced interviewer, but recently, when asked to be on a radio talk show, I went through the same emotions and nervousness as all my clients […]

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How Not Feeling Nervous When Interviewing

Posted on September 5, 2016 by

Adam Kovitz

The post How Not Feeling Nervous When Interviewing appeared first on Landing Expert Career Coaching.

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The Importance of IT Governance

Posted on September 1, 2016 by

Adam Kovitz

Gartner defines IT Governance (ITG) as “the processes that ensure the effective and efficient use of IT in enabling an organization to achieve its goals.” ITG ensures that the IT organization operates in an effective, efficient and compliant fashion. This includes processes for project prioritization & management, product selection, systems implementation, IT security, oversight & review and even funding.

From the perspective of the IT users within an organization, IT governance is often seen as an unnecessary set of procedures set by senior management that hinders the productivity of the organization. While IT governance does represent a set of management standards and policies to be followed, at its core IT governance is primarily concerned with the alignment of the goals and objectives of the business with the utilization of its IT resources to effectively achieve the desired results. The end result of good IT governance is that it aligns your business strategically to support the growth of the IT enterprise architecture so that it delivers consistent and improved business value. In contrast, poor IT governance can lead to wasted resource efforts, bureaucracy, lower morale, reduced financial performance, and expose an organization to IT security issues.

Characteristics of Good IT Governance

IT investments and decisions are assessed in a similar manner to business investments and decisions. This means there is top management participation in key IT decisions. There is oversight of IT investments, and a steering committee of executives are held accountable for realizing benefits.
IT is an essential part of corporate planning and strategic planning. IT understands the business dynamics and contributes to the development of the business strategy. IT and business work together to identify opportunities and improve efficiencies.
Top IT risks are considered within the entire enterprise risk management framework. Risks such as data protection, IT security and business continuity receive periodic steering committee review.
IT performance is regularly reviewed and compared with industry best practices.
How decisions are made and why is well understood. Expectations and outcomes are clearly communicated to the stakeholders. Formal exception processes are documented to promote transparency.

As business organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on IT, there is growing recognition that IT governance is an essential part of the overall corporate governance. Alignment between IT and business strategy, as well as between IT and business governance, must develop and remain strong.

Click here to contact me regarding this or any other blog post.

David Schuchman

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What Makes a Website Effective?

Posted on August 16, 2016 by

Adam Kovitz

If you soon plan to develop a new website, or if you have an existing one, it’s necessary that you understand the attributes and characteristics that can make or break the effectiveness of your online presence and brand. An unattractive or poorly built website will do more to hurt your online presence than to help it.

Website & Web Page Purpose

A good web design always caters to the needs of the user. Each page of your website needs to have a specific purpose & message. It must fill the need for your website users in the most effective way possible. Minimize mixing messages or topics on any one page. Keep separate topics or messages on their own pages, or create separate visual sections on a webpage with their own topics.

Organized for Good Communication

People reading on the web tend to want information quickly. So it is important to communicate clearly, and to make your information easy to read and digest. Some effective features to include in your web design include:

Organizing information using headlines and sub headlines.
Using bullet points instead of long winded sentences.
Each page or page section keeps to one topic.

Short Load Time

Everyone hates a website that takes a long time to load. Tips to make page load times more effective include:

Optimizing image sizes (size and scale).
Do not use very high resolution images. Their data density requires more load time.
Combining code into a central CSS or JavaScript file, which reduces HTTP requests.

Clear Fonts

In general, Sans Serif fonts such as Arial and Verdana are easier to read online. Sans Serif fonts are contemporary looking fonts without decorative finishes of Serif fonts such as Times New Roman. The good font size for reading easily online is 15 – 16 point.

Block/Grid Layout

By placing content randomly on each web page, you can end up with a haphazard appearance that is unattractive and not functional. Grid based layouts arrange content into sections, columns and boxes that line up and feel balanced. Doing so leads to a better looking website design.

Add Images

A picture is worth a thousand words. Choosing the right images for your website can help with branding and in connecting with your target audience. If you don’t have high quality professional photos on hand, consider purchasing stock photos to lift the look of your website. Also consider using videos and other graphics. All of these can be much more effective at communicating than even the most well written piece of text.

Mobile Compatible

It is now very common to access websites from multiple devices with multiple screen sizes. This includes tablets and smartphones. So, it is important to consider that your website is mobile friendly. If your website is not mobile friendly:

You can either rebuild it in a responsive layout. This means your website will adjust to different screen widths and platforms.
You can build a dedicated mobile website. That would be a separate website optimized specifically for mobile users.

Search Engine Optimized (SEO)

There are hundreds of rules and guidelines for effective search engine optimization. However, this is not the place to cover them all. To start, follow these simple rules:

Include plenty of written content in HTML format. Limit using Flash, JavaScript or image-only objects for your navigational items.
Use your important keywords frequently and appropriately in your written content.
Leverage your links. Make them descriptive and use your keywords in the link text.
Add links to other websites.

Click here to contact me regarding this or any other blog post.
David Schuchman

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Monthly Meeting Job Seekers

Posted on August 14, 2016 by

Adrienne Roman

The Breakfast Club NJ Presents: “The New Start Career Network: Helping Older, Long-term Unemployed Job Seekers”
Presented by Maria Heidkamp