30 Oct 09 How To Network Professionally

I’ve written many times stating the importance of networking yourself in your professional industry. But how should you go about networking yourself? We all know that networking is important if you want to succeed and take your career as far as possible. But how do you get your name out there? Where are you supposed to turn when you’re just starting out?

Well first off, make sure you know why you should be networking. Most jobs that are available on the market aren’t even advertised. In fact, some of the best jobs out there are never even advertised before they are filled. By making a name for yourself, and connecting to as many people as possible, you create more chances to find out about these opportunities. Whether through connecting with someone whose company is hiring, or finding out through a friend that’s applying with the same company.

To network effectively, it’s as simple as making the effort to find professional relationships. Career related seminars or conferences are a great way to get yourself out there. The same goes for websites that feature social networking for professionals. Resources like LinkedIn should be taken advantage of, as they are decent resources for making fast friends.

Beyond that it’s easy to make the little connections. If you have children, try to talk with the other parents around you at school related events, or extra curricular activities. You may find someone on the same career path, and that friendship could pay off in the long run.

Just remember to return all the favors you receive. Networking is a two way street, it’s not about meeting people to benefit yourself, and then forgetting about them. To make strong professional bonds you have to help, as well as take the help they are willing to give. Tip them in to opportunities at your company, or openings you know of around you. That’s the only way to network effectively, and keep yourself in a positive light with those around you.

Tags: Arou, Career Path, Conferences, Decent Resources, Extra Curricular Activities, Friendship, Jobs, Many People, Meeting People, parents, Professional Bonds, Professional Industry, Professional Relationships, Related Events, Seminars, Social Networking

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02 Oct 09 5 More Ways to Improve Your Writing Part-XI

We have come a long was in this series, and in the process we have learned quite a few things. We have covered from timing to inspiration to description to techniques to tools of writing. Each one of them was important, and so are the tips I am going to share in this part. In this part of the 5 Ways to Improve Your Writing series, I will tell you about quality; about how you can maintain the quality of your writing. Let’s begin with shedding inhibition for risks.

Take risks

Do not always play a safe game; rather, never play a safe game. Take risks and explore the terrain. You will not learn new things about life, about new ways to construct sentences, and will never get new ideas to write about until you venture out and take risk. Try different construction; try different storyline; so what if you fail!

Revisit your write-ups

Reading and analyzing what you have written in the past is another way to ensure quality of your future writing. You should have a sense of history. You should know from where you started and how far have you come, and then only you can realistically decide where you can go from here.

Rope in your friend

This advice is the toughest to follow because no matter how good your friendship is, he or she will not like to do proofreading for you, at least not readily. My friends have never done that for me, and neither have I put myself through the grueling session of proofreading for my friends. You got the clue, but still you need to talk your friend into proofreading your stuff. If they don’t agree then you have not tried hard enough.

Take a break

Writing is not like producing soap in the factory. You cannot just keep on pouring oil and chemicals for hours, even when you are tired and exhausted, to get the final product. To write well, you need to take breaks between your writing. Play games, watch TV, listen to music, or do whatever you like, but take breaks.

Take a break then return to proofread

Do not proofread your document right after finishing it. You will miss out many errors because your mind was primed by the article. Take a break 10-20 minutes and then come back to do the proofreading. Please do not think about what you wrote during the break.

Tags: Break, Chemicals, Clue, Documen, Friend Advice, Friendship, Grueling Session, Inhibition, Inspiration, Listen To Music, New Ways, Play Games, Risk, Rope, Sense Of History, Sentences, Soap, Stuff, Tools, Ups

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