Your Profile Picture is Bringing Down Your Job Search

Your Profile Picture is Bringing Down Your Job SearchYour Profile Picture is Bringing Down Your Job SearchYour head shot should add value to your profile. Fix these common mistakes to get it on the right track.To help, Ive created a list of nine profile picture pitfalls to avoid.Profile Picture Pitfalls from Ladders Blurry or Too Small Ideally your photo should be 200 x 200 pixels or larger. Anything smaller and youre guaranteed to end up with a fuzzy or teeny tiny image that just screams unprofessional. I recommend choosing a square head shot, as its sure to work with all your professional social media accounts. Too Close or Too Far Away Stick with a standard head shot for your profile pic. Prospective employers and those in your professional network have no desire to examine your dental work, and a shot from far away wont help them identify you at an event or interview. The Group Shot Remember, this picture is supposed to represent your professional brand no one elses. Dont make recruiters guess which person you are in the photo. Use an image that shows you and only you. The Crop Cropping yourself out of the group shot doesnt work either. While it may be your favorite picture, no one wants to see half of your loved ones face or your best friends hair on your shoulder. Stick to a solo shot that doesnt require Photoshop. Bad Lighting Not only do these pictures look creepy, but they are certainly not providing employers with a positive, professional first impression. Too Serious Opt for photos where youre looking at the camera and smiling. You dont necessarily need a cheesy grin on your face, but you want to appear friendly and approachable. The glamour shots arent doing you any favors. Goofy Expressions Remember, this image is supposed to represent your professional brand. When you look at your profile photo, does it send the same message as your resume? Pet or Baby Pic Yes, your puppy is adorable and your family is beautiful. However, thats not what your pro fessional network or a prospective employer needs to know about you. Save these cute pics for your personal social-media channels such as Facebook or Instagram. Stick to a photo of yourself for your professional profiles. No Photo As I mentioned earlier, recruiters today expect to find a head shot with your professional profile. In her article on profile photos, job search strategist Meg Guiseppi says the first thing recruiters and hiring managers notice is your photoor lack of one.If you have no photo, their anfangsbuchstabe thought will likely be, What is this person trying to hide?, says Guiseppi.If youre concerned that including your photo could cause people to discriminate against you, I urge you to carefully weigh the benefits and drawbacks of the profile photo before making a final decision. The right image can reinforce your brand and help viewers connect more easily with your profile. Best Practices Use a recent head shot that meets the file type and size and pixel size rec ommended by each site. Consider your outfit, the background of the shot, and the lighting to ensure it reflects your current professional brand and career goals.Having no photo is better than uploading one that doesnt project the right image, so put some thought into the picture you choose to represent your professional brand.

What doesnt last is more important than you think

What doesnt last is more important than you thinkWhat doesnt last is more important than you thinkMany years ago, before the advent of smartphones and the Internet, people used to lug around Polaroid cameras and camcorders to record events.The earliest camcorders were bulky and had to be rested on yur shoulder to use.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreMy fatherbei wore his Polaroid camera on a strap around his neck. Whatever the special occasion, Dad would interrupt the festivities to gather everyone together for a picture.The novelty of the Polaroid welches that it spit out a photograph immediately after you took one. A few seconds later, the image would develop before your very eyes. Wed stop whatever we were doing, just to wait for the picture to come into focus.Image by John WeissIt welches common to see parents at their kids sporting events, running around like news reporters with their clunky camcorders, trying to capture all the action. Sadly, they often missed exciting moments because they were fiddling with their equipment.I remember reading an insightfularticleback then in Newsweek magazine. It was all about a woman who documented every bit of her childrens lives with a camcorder until she attended a performance at her daughters school and forgot her video camera.The woman had tears in her eyes as her daughter sang a solo in the performance. Initially, she could have kicked herself for failing to remember her video recorder, until a friend suggested that not filming was what allowed her to have the unadulterated joy of this experience. She was freed from the demand to document what was happening, and able to simply live it.In the article, the author wroteQuantum physics posits that the essential nature of a phenomenon is changed by the act of measuring it, and I know this idea has applications here. Our cameras come between us and what we document. How many moments have I missed?- ?or altered?- ?in an effort to capture them for all time?While Im sorry I cant share my daughters recent solo with relatives and we dont have a hard copy for the future, the moment wouldnt have been the same for me had I been fumbling with the electronics.Little did the author know how prescient her concerns about fumbling with the electronics were. Nowadays, were all fumbling with our smartphones, and consumed by social media.How many special moments in our lives have been diluted by intrusive technology? Why do we feel an urgent need to document everything, instead of just experiencing it in full? Whats worse, how often do we really revisit the thousands of photos and videos stored on our smartphones?The untethering ofegoHave you heard of the British land artist Andy Goldsworthy? He produces site-specific environmental art, using branches, stones, leaves, and natural objects found in nature.Whats unique about Goldsworthys artwork is its impermanenc e. Unlike a stone sculpture or framed oil painting, Goldsworthys creations are more ephemeral. There to be enjoyed briefly before they disassemble back into the earth.Goldsworthy notes that hikers and outdoor people come across his artwork, maybe even more so than the artwork in an artists studio. He has built permanent sculptures and uses photography to memorialize some of his work, but none the less, there is elegant transience to his creations.I discovered Andy Goldsworthy via the author Peter Hellers new novelThe River,which tells the story of two rugged, university buddies, Jack and Wynn, who decide to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada. Both men share a love of mountains, books, and fishing.In a scene in the novel, Wynn is wading in the river water, creating Thingamajigs. The scene continuesWynn was crazy about Goldsworthy, the environmental sculptor, and was in awe of the ethic of ephemeral art, from Buddhist sandpainting to the sapling moons of Jay Mead. The untetheri ng of ego the purity of creating something that wouldnt even be around to sign in a matter of hours or days. What that said about ownership and the impermanence of all things. He was less impressed with the extravagant shrouding of Christo, which he thought were grandiose and domineering.Peter Hellers character Wynn is clearly a deep thinker, who is moved by the purity of creating something that wouldnt even be around to sign in a matter of hours or days.In todays egocentric culture, where everyone is posting on social media and clamoring for attention, its fascinating to encounter an artist like Goldsworthy, or a novelist like Peter Heller, who seem to appreciate the simple joy of direct experience.In Hellers novel, Jack and Wynn arent taking selfies of their canoe adventure or looking for wi-fi to upload the days action to their social media channels. Theyre enjoying natures beauty, one anothers company, and the western paperbacks they read at the campfire. Theres no technology to get in the way of their experience.I just want to stay initIn the underrated movieThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty, actor Ben Stiller plays Walter Mitty, a photography department employee at Life magazine. He goes on a quest to find one of the magazines celebrated photographers, Sean OConnell (played by Sean Penn), to tell him where a missing cover photo is.Walter finds Sean in the Himilayas, waiting to photograph a rare snow leopard. As the two are talking, the snow leopard appears, but Sean doesnt take the photograph. Walter asks him if hes going to take the shot.Their exchangeSean OConnellSometimes I dont. If I like a moment, for me, personally, I dont like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it.Walter MittyStay in it?Sean OConnellYeah. Right there. Right here.How many times have we all reached for our smartphones at special moments? How often do we invite the distraction of the camera instead of just staying in the moment?Magical moments in ourlivesTher es nothing wrong with capturing that graduation snapshot, or group photo with friends as you hike in Italy. But maybe we dont need to reach for the camera (or our smartphones) as often as we think.What doesnt last is more important than you think. The most intimate moments, often with the ones we love, can be some of the most magical moments in our lives. Or those quiet times in nature, when a deer unexpectedly walks by. Such moments are often ephemeral and short-lived but stay in our minds forever.To reach for the camera or smartphone is to interrupt the magic, and possibly blur your memory of it forever.Andy Goldsworthy sees the beauty in his transient artwork. It is meant to be experienced briefly, and then it fades away.The author Peter Heller, who is an avid outdoorsman, clearly understands the importance of ephemeral things. The main characters in his novel The River are young men who find deeper meaning in the fleeting beauty of nature rather than the endless distraction of s ocial media and self-documentation.Even the famous photographer Sean OConnell, in the movieThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty,knows when to set aside his camera and just stay in the moment.What doesnt last is more important than you think. When such moments arise, think twice before you reach for the camera or smartphone. Choosing to just stay in the moment might be sweeter, and better memorialize the experience in your memory than any intrusive, digital device.Before you goImJohn P. Weiss.I paint landscapes, draw cartoons and write about life. Thanks for readingThis article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

What to Do When You Feel Fake at Work - The Muse

What to Do When You Feel Fake at Work - The MuseWhat to Do When You Feel Fake at Work Have you ever felt like youre being fake at work? Keeping your head low, hiding out in the bathroom, wearing a fake smile?Its exhausting But mora importantly, its a sign that you need a change.However, before we get to that, lets take a closer look at what being fake at work really meansYour boss calls and asks you to tackle an interesting new project and your first response is to wonder how you can get out of it.Youre sitting in a meeting with your head down, pretending to take notes, but really just playing games on your computer.Your face hurts from pretending to smile and care about other peoples personal stories. Youre offered a big promotion, and instead of cheering, a voice inside your head starts shouting Nooooo. You spend time wondering how much severance youd get if you were fired or laid off.You excuse yourself from office happy hours to get back to work, but the truth is that youre going home to watch TV.I dont have to tell you about the toll this behavior can take on you mentally, emotionally, and even physically.Trying to be something youre not- in this case, happy at work- can cause all sorts of issues. You get tired. You get unmotivated. You get stressed. You get anxious. You get that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach. And eventually, your manager and co-workers will catch on.The bottom line Soldiering on with a pretend smile and the lie that PowerPoint is my life (when its the number one thing you hate in the world) isnt helping you, and it definitely isnt helping your career.So lets talk optionsOption 1Stay at Your JobIf you stay at your job, youve got to resolve that fake feeling. And that entails making changes.To get started, spend a week keeping a daily journal. At the end of each work day, record what you liked doing, what you didnt like doing, and anything that really stressed you out. At the end of the week take a look and bucket everything into one of unterstellung three categories1. Things You HateIf theres anything you can stop doing, pass off to another colleague, or just talk to your boss about shifting around, make a note of it and work to get it off your plate.For the things that you must do (but you dont like), is there any way to make them easier? Can you do them first thing before the day starts so theyre off your desk? Can you set a timer and have a race with yourself? Can you just plan on taking a few more breaks?Get creative and brainstorm ideas- sometimes the tiniest change can make a huge difference.2. Things You EnjoyNow, look at this list. Can you take on any more work here, or offer to do more tasks similar to these? For example If you like helping people learn the ropes, can you offer to do more company training?Take a look and see what, if anything, you can add to the work that you already enjoy. Once youve got a few things in mind, set up time to talk to your boss about making it happen.3. Things That Stress You OutThis bucket has things that might be interesting or could become fun if you just had more learning or help.So cast a beady eye over this list and ask yourself, Is there a company or free online class I can take to help me learn this skill? Or, Can I talk to my boss about getting more help?Or even think about asking for an assist from a co-worker who might have more knowledge than you and could help you enjoy these tasks more.Option 2Find a New JobI know, this is a scary optionBut if youve already tackled option one and discovered that you absolutely hate everything on your plate, then staying at your job isnt helping your company, and it especially isnt helping you.All you need to start job hunting is two hours a week. Use one hour to research and identify interesting jobs and companies, and use the other hour to reach out and connect with your network and let them know youre looking for something new. It doesnt have to be a huge deal, especially at first. Instead, jus t tackle it one piece at a time. When youre ready to start applying, you can begin spending more time on the process.And remember, the sooner you dedicate time to the job search, the sooner you might have a career that makes you smile- for real this timeRegardless of which option you end up choosing, remember this You deserve to have a job in which you can be yourself.