“Ten years ago, I would only get two or three students to raise their hands,” said Rainwater, a DeVry University professor and president of the Small Business Advisory Firm. “Now, the majority of my students do – and some share ideas even before class begins. It really represents a new mindset as students take a more entrepreneurial approach to learning. I think they’re surrounded by fast-growing startups like Uber and GrubHub, and they feel inspired to quickly bring their own business ideas to life.”

Business enterprise shows like Shark Tank, Beyond the Tank, and How I Made My Millions are indicative of a bigger business trend: renewed growth in small business and startup ventures. According to the 2015 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity and National Trends, the Startup Activity Index rose in 2015 – reversing a downward trend that began in 2010 – allowing the largest year-over-year increase in the past twenty years.

“Students see new, successful companies run by young creatives whose passion propelled them to success faster than climbing the traditional corporate ladder,” said Rainwater. “Not only is this inspiring more people to do the same, but it’s encouraging a whole new type of student to head back to school looking for resume-building experience that can jump-start job prospects right out of the program.”

Shaping a New Culture of Entrepreneurs
Today’s college student is different than past generations. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 75 percent of undergraduate students today could be considered “non-traditional.” They are often busy, working adults that have to balance the demands of school, work and family life.

Several non-traditional students need colleges that can fit into their busy schedules of work and family responsibilities. Moreover, many are coming back to school because they want to advance their current career or move to a new field quickly. Non-traditional students want their degree to speak for itself, demonstrating their capabilities and value.

That’s why Rainwater puts hands-on learning at the center of her curriculum.

“In my Senior Projects course, I challenge my students to explore their own neighborhoods, develop business plans for local companies and even kick-start businesses of their own,” she said. “It’s always rewarding to see their eyes light up when they first come up with a viable idea, or see the impact they’ve made in their communities.”

The approach has given students real-life experience and has encouraged collaboration with local organizations. Online grocery store Relay Foods enlisted the help of Rainwater’s students to revamp their salsa canning and distribution plan. As a result, the students were able to help the grocer increase brand awareness and customer appeal for their signature salsa. Another student turned her passion for making premium homemade soap into a business, eventually turning the side job into an online boutique.

The Benefits of Breakthrough for Rising Innovators
Outside the classroom, Rainwater is the president of the Small Business Advisory Firm, a network focused on meeting the educational, networking and program-specific requirements to compete in the federal and private-sector contracting environment.

“In the past, people had to go through an extensive process to start their own businesses,” said Rainwater. “Today, technology has removed many of the barriers that used to stand between big thinkers and entrepreneurship.”

Rainwater considers immersive learning an imperative tool for business students’ professional development. She believes that it not only fosters creative thinking and entrepreneurial spirit, but also creates a safe environment for students to build tangible skills that can be immediately implemented in the workplace – across a variety of roles and practices.

To help today’s students learn more about starting a new business, DeVry University offers a small business management and entrepreneurship degree specialization within its College of Business & Management. At the graduate level, its Keller Graduate School of Management offers an entrepreneurship concentration within its MBA program.

“Right now, U.S. startup activity is rising for the first time in five years, showing entrepreneurs are the most hopeful they have been in several years,” said Rainwater. “And the beauty of these entrepreneurship programs is they not only teach students how to grow businesses, but they arm them with skills to succeed when they hit obstacles along the way – setting them up for long-term success.”

*BPT

The post Start up your future: Teaching for today’s entrepreneurial business culture appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Small businesses everywhere are asking these same questions, and to help, Susan Solovic, The Small Business Expert, offers these helpful tips.

* Keep in touch. Connecting with someone is a good idea any time of year, so why not pick up the phone and see if you can schedule a coffee or lunch meeting for the New Year, especially if it’s an old colleague or a customer who has fallen off your radar. You may also consider sending holiday cards and greetings to everyone on your list to close out 2015 right. Staples Copy and Print has customizable stationary and cards you need to send the perfect message at the perfect time. They also have all of the marketing materials, product customization and graphic insertion options you could ever need, making it easy for you to make more happen.

* Tie up loose ends. Get out your “to-do” list, find the projects you never had time for, and jump on them when the New Year arrives. Mark them off your list and start 2016 with some momentum. And if your project list includes upgrading your business with some new tech, Staples Tech Services services can keep your small business running smoothly with the latest tech that will improve your productivity and save your company money in the long run.

* Review successes and failures. What worked well for you this past year? What didn’t work? What do you think you can do better? The New Year represents the chance for a clean slate. Fill that slate with the things that work!

* Read and learn. You’ll probably have some extra down time when the New Year rolls in. Spend a few minutes searching the Internet for lists of “must-read” business books. Find a couple that look like they’d be a good fit for your business and commit to reading them in the first part of 2016. In the same manner, learn a new skill. Experiment with social media or learn how to manage an online marketing campaign

* Start tax preparation. Review your bookkeeping system and make sure everything is up to date. Start organizing your files in anticipation of tax season. If you get organized now, the process will be much easier come tax time.

The New Year is the perfect time to say goodbye to a successful 2015 and prepare for the year ahead. Apply the tips from Solovic and you’ll be ready to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. To learn more about finding the right tech solutions and everything else your small business needs, visit Staples.com.

*BPT

The post 5 tips that will help your small business make the most of 2016 appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

The traditional career path is dead, says business consultant Pete Gilfillan.

With rapidly changing technology and a global economy, the average company and employee in the United States continue to come to terms with the new normal.

Workers aged 50 and older who lost their jobs during the recession were 20 percent less likely to become re-employed than those 24 to 34, according to the Urban Institute. And, unemployment doubled for workers 55 and older between December 2007 and March 2012.

“It’s not just factory jobs that have gone, it’s also a wide range of middle-class, white-collar jobs that are letting go of their experienced people,” says Gilfillan, an entrepreneur who is opening new opportunities for business professionals as a franchise matchmaker, as detailed in his book “HIRE YOURSELF,”.

“Gone are the days when you could expect a job out of college to last an entire career. The new normal is, for many, a very cobbled career trajectory. Unfortunately, there are many talented, middle-aged professionals who are getting lost in the new shuffle. However, many are cutting their own new path.”

Gilfillan calls it “entrepreneur lite” – a franchise option that fast-tracks people to business ownership without the requirement of a brilliant idea.

“In franchising, someone has already dreamed the big dream, figured out how to make it work, and marketed and sold their way into a well-defined niche,” he says. “Now they’re looking for an investor and partner in building on that success.”

Is the entrepreneur lite career path right for you? There are many things to consider, including Gilfillan’s five Cs, which he summarizes as:

• Capital: Most franchise companies require a minimum level of liquid capital. A number of costs beyond the initial fee need to be considered when you’re investing in a franchise. There will be legal fees, rent, royalty fees, and equipment and inventory to purchase – to name some costs. Keep in mind that there is a ramp-up period with any business. You need enough money to cover your expenses during this time when more money will be going out than coming in. Meanwhile, the ordinary expenses of life continue.

• Capacity: You must have a certain level of business acumen. As a business owner, you must understand people and how to motivate, lead and support employees. Experience in sales and operations management is a plus. It takes strong leadership skills to build a business and develop a reliable staff, and savvy hiring skills will save you from costly mistakes.

• Cooperation: A franchisor will have a detailed plan for you to follow—and they need to know you will embrace that plan in a spirit of cooperation. They want to feel confident that you’ll follow their procedures and systems to create a consistent product and service upon which they can build their brand.

• Character: Franchisors expect the people with whom they partner to operate with honesty and integrity. As a franchisee, you will be representing the brand, and franchisors will take a close look at how well you will do that. A company may do a background check on their candidates to make an assessment of this quality.

• Customer satisfaction: Warren Buffett famously said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Think about your own shopping and service provider experiences and how those interactions have shaped your opinion of businesses. Everyday transactions can earn your repeat business—or ensure you won’t be back. Do you have the desire and passion to create a superior customer experience? A franchise needs to ensure that you will take good care of customers.

About Pete Gilfillan

With more than 20 years of experience as a corporate executive and small business ownership, Pete Gilfillan is a matchmaker for entrepreneurs who seek career independence via franchise ownership. He also is author of the book “HIRE YOURSELF” (www.hireyourselfbook.com). As a young man, he worked 17 years at Ford Motor Company, rapidly advanced to general manager, when he guided 600 franchise dealerships generating $5 billion in revenue. Gilfillan became a franchise owner in 2010 when he purchased a multi-state master license to a junk removal franchise. Since 2011, he has been working as an independent franchise consultant with FranChoice to help potential franchisees gather information, evaluate opportunities and make smart selections in franchise ownership. Gilfillan is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.

The post Need A Mid-Career Jumpstart? HIRE YOURSELF! appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

When it comes to landing the job of your dreams, there are so many ways to go wrong in your efforts – including deciding on the right career path, says career coach Lisa Quast.

“A few years ago, many professionals were happy simply to have a job as we slowly recovered from the economic meltdown of 2008-2009, which signified years of an ‘employer’s market,’ ” she says. “But in 2015, employees have more options, including more jobs in their field, and many are considering other fields, too.”

Whether you’re just out of college or looking for a better deal with another company, landing an interview takes work. Once you’ve earned that interview, you don’t want to mess it up.

Quast, author of the book “Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Career Coach: A Foolproof Guide to Getting the Job You Want Every Time” (www.careerwomaninc.com), briefly reviews eight ways to make the interview a success.

• Anticipate interview questions and prepare answers. There are five groups of questions you should consider for the interview: your background; familiarity with the field/industry; your functionality and competency for key aspects of the job; your style and personality; and how you see your future. It’s helpful to think about questions the hiring manager might ask and prepare how you could respond.

• Prepare questions for the employer. Good questions indicate to hiring managers that you know what you’re talking about. Consider questions about the character of the company; the history, nature and future prospect of the open position; and the department.

• Conduct practice interviews. The more you do something, the easier it gets, and practice runs will not only help your interview performance but also help you consider further the content or substance of the discussion. Conduct mock interviews with someone you trust. And when you get to the interview, remember to be yourself and don’t be afraid to show your personality. Companies hire real people, not robots.

• Prepare to answer the toughest interview questions. One of the hardest questions to answer is “What’s your biggest weakness?” For interviewers, how you answer this offers insight into your level of self-awareness; how you handle obstacles; and how much you know about the position.

• Practice watching the hiring manager’s nonverbal cues for important clues. People say plenty while not verbally saying anything. Facial expression, eye contact, posture and gestures tend to work together for an overall impression. What are these cues telling you? The answer could help you overcome challenging moments in the interview.

• Learn to close the interview with class. You can do just about everything right and miss a key point: Don’t forget to ask the hiring manager about the next step in the interview process! When friends ask whether or not you got the job, how would you know what to say if an interviewer doesn’t tell you what’s next and you never ask?

• Ensure all documents are ready for the interview. Preparedness says so much in an interview. It’s better to have documents and not need them than vice versa. Have multiple copies of your resume and reference list. Recommendation letters may not be required, Quast says, but they’re good “leave behind” documents. Other items that will either be necessary or useful include the job description, portfolio of your work, paper and pen.

• Dress for positive impact. The dot-com era ushered in a more casual approach, but the recession brought back a more “dress for success” style. Dress appropriately for the position and also the geography. For example, a jet-black pantsuit in Florida during August will make you uncomfortable and make you look out of place. Match your attire with the image of the company.

About Lisa Quast

Lisa Quast is a career coach, a business consultant and author of the book “Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Career Coach: A Foolproof Guide to Getting the Job You Want Every Time” (www.careerwomaninc.com). Quast spent more than 20 years climbing the career ladder in corporate America with career success in traditionally male-dominated companies/industries. She has completed projects around the world in the areas of strategic planning, marketing & communications, sales, service, operations, pricing, business development, pre-acquisition analysis and acquisition integration and HR/talent development. 

The post You’ve Got The Job Interview, Now What? appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

TED talks, YouTube rants and Mr. Peanut, the mascot for Planters Peanuts, are all signs of just how highly valued the art of oratory is today.

“Yep, even Mr. Peanut can be seen in Planters ads giving TED-style presentations; people are spending top dollar to attend a well-presented speech with useful information from an inspired perspective, and the best speakers may be regarded fairly as today’s rock stars,” says expert speaker coach Jane Atkinson, author of “The Wealthy Speaker 2.0” (speakerlauncher.com).

“The ability to command a fee is a sign that you’ve made it as a speaker. However, as with rock stars, it’s a long way to the top if you’re just starting. But if you have something to offer then you can reach that fee status, and there’s a reliable path to follow.”

Atkinson outlines the three phases to becoming a paid speaker.  

•  Ready. “Picking a lane” in your topic is the first step to becoming not only a paid speaker, but a wealthy one, too. Ask yourself the questions, “What topic do I want to be known for five years from now?” and “Will someone pay me for that information?” When looking to hire a speaker to deliver a keynote speech for a conference, who will be picked from a pool of experts – a jack of all trades or someone who hits the center of the bull’s-eye on a topic? When picking a lane, consider delving into topics including leadership, engagement, corporate culture or communication. This is the phase in which you’ll want to really develop your bona fides, including your material and establishing the goal of how you’d like to help your audience.  

•  Aim. Here is the marketing phase that cannot be underappreciated. It includes aspects like your website and what you do to drive traffic there, which may include a well-written blog with relevant content, and media exposure. However, the most important way to market yourself is to do a truly excellent job with your actual speech. A good speech for a speaker is like a great pastry for a baker – a quality product speaks volumes itself. There is no better form of marketing than a great speech. Therefore, if you think your speech could use help, take care of it right away. No amount of marketing dollars, no fancy Facebook page and no ultra-cool website can overcome a mediocre presentation. However, when you market yourself, you’ll want to include a number of materials, including your brand, promise statement, photos, a bio illustrating credibility, testimonials and more.

•  Fire. Now, you need to identify your target market and determine the best method to reach them. You need to roll out your product and continue to build momentum. Be ready to fire your message to your target market via a public relations campaign strategy. There are multiple ways of effectively getting good attention from the media, but don’t believe all attention is good attention. Carefully consider your press releases. Atkinson says the mistake most speakers make is sending out a press release that does not answer the question: “So what?” They don’t tie it to anything relevant into which the press can sink their teeth. Another way to “fire” is to identify your ideal customer, also called the The Attraction Method, as detailed in the book, “Attracting Perfect Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity” by Stacy Hall and Jan Brogniez.

“If you feel as though you have something to offer audiences via oral presentations, then you probably do,” Atkinson says. “These days, so much content can be had for free online, but that doesn’t take the place of a live experiential presentation. A presentation that is ‘epic’ will remain in your memory for years. The ability to present your content live, and make the presentation worthwhile and relevant, means you can earn a reliable stream of revenue based on what you’re good at.”

About Jane Atkinson

Jane Atkinson has been helping speakers catapult their businesses for over 20 years. As a former speaker’s agent, she has represented business speakers, celebrities and best selling authors. Today, Atkinson coaches some of the industries hottest stars, some earning over $1M per year. Atkinson is the author of “The Wealthy Speaker 2.0” and “The Epic Keynote” (www.speakerlauncher.com).

The post Have You Ever Wanted To Get Paid To Speak? appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Only 11 percent of employers believe recent graduates have the skills needed to succeed within their work forces, according to a recent Lumina Foundation report. Two-thirds of employers say recent college graduates may have the skills and knowledge for entry-level positions but less than half believe recent graduates have what it takes for advancement to higher level jobs, according to a 2013 survey conducted for the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

So what are these essential competencies that candidates are missing? At the top of the list are the three “Cs”: critical thinking, collaboration and communication. Hiring officers look for candidates with good problem-solving abilities, the ability to work in teams, and those who have good verbal and written communications skills. For the “traditional” college graduate in his or her early 20’s, much of their focus in school was spent on mastering subject matter, not necessarily on cultivating the three “Cs”. They may have a degree but not much in the way of experience. On the other hand, working adults who are earning their degrees later in life have had ample opportunity to hone these skills and are lacking the credential – a diploma – to get hired or promoted.

A new approach to higher education taking hold on campuses and in board rooms is called competency-based education. Under this model, students can receive credit for knowledge and skills they already possess. A 2013 Gallup poll revealed that 87 percent of Americans believe students should be able to receive college credit for knowledge and skills obtained outside the classroom. Some schools, like Excelsior College, are well-established leaders in this practice. Degree programs like these define what students must know, have well-defined learning outcomes and have a rigorous means of assessing whether students have achieved these outcomes.

How can job candidates, young or older, demonstrate both subject-matter mastery and competence? To start, first evaluate and identify your unique combination of skills, values and personal traits. Research the job that you are seeking and the company that is doing the hiring. Think broadly and don’t confine yourself to the same industry in which you may have experiences, either as an employee or a student who had an internship. List the knowledge you have gained and skills you have developed.

“After you know who you are and what you have to offer, explore and choose the educational and career options that suit you best,” says Maribeth Gunner, director of career services at Excelsior College. “The key to selling yourself is to show your ability to apply knowledge (competence), rather than simply possessing it (mastery).”

(BPT)

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But changes can negatively affect those we leave behind. When it comes to your career and it’s time to leave one job for the next, you need to avoid burning bridges and depart your old position gracefully.

Here’s how you can quit your job with class.

Give Plenty of Notice

Standard practice suggests that you provide your employer with two weeks’ notice before quitting your current job. Depending on your position and the level of responsibility you have, you may need to give your employer more time to find and train a replacement for you.

And give your notice in person, face-to-face with your supervisor. Don’t try to sneak in an email to avoid a personal meeting — but don’t spring the conversation on your boss, either. Schedule a time where you can sit down with them to discuss the situation.

You might also want to do what you can to help your company prepare for your departure. Offer to show someone else some major functions of what you do, or give your supervisor any helpful notes you made for yourself that might be valuable for future hires.

Focus on Making Your Last Days Good Ones

You may be pumped up and excited about the opportunity that you quit your job for, but don’t go on and on about it or any future plans with your boss or coworkers. Focus on fully completing the last chapter of your time with this employer and stay positive about your experiences with the company while you’re still there.

If you’re pressed to explain what you’re doing next or why you decided to quit your job, give the basic facts and skip the juicy details (no matter how much you might want to brag about this next stage of your career).

In the meantime, work hard and continue to provide value to the company you’re leaving. Be complimentary of your supervisor if you have an exit interview, and express your appreciation for the opportunity you had to work in your position.

Avoid Confrontations

You may want to quit your job with class, but not every boss or coworker will share that same desire to be respectful. If anyone gets heated, emotional, or confrontational, decline to engage. If someone is set on burning a professional bridge, make sure it isn’t you.

Say Goodbye

Before you leave, make sure you send out a personal note to your coworkers to explain you’re making a transition to a new position and when you’re leaving. If you work in a smaller company, consider saying your goodbyes in person rather than over email.

Don’t forget to make vendors, clients, or others that you worked with on behalf of your employer aware of the change. Provide them with the appropriate contact information so they can redirect any correspondence, and make introductions where necessary.

Once you’ve done all of the above, you’re ready to quit your job with class — and move forward to your new, exciting opportunity.

Kali blogs about common-sense financial advice at GoGirl Finance, as well as her personal blog, Common Sense Millennial. She’s passionate about personal finance and helping millennials manage their money and live well on less. Currently, she is pursuing the ultimate dream of writing for a living and moving abroad. You can connect with her by tweeting @KaliHawlk. 

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Generation Y, or the Millennial generation, has been known for its struggles with a weak job market. Only one out of two Millennials had a full-time job that required at least a Bachelor’s degree in 2012, which meant a full 50 percent of recent college graduates were either unemployed or underemployed.

Being underemployed means you have a job, but it might be part-time and it’s definitely below what your skill set and education says you’re capable of doing. This is the position I found myself in three months after graduating. I got a job doing basic data entry for a small company that paid $12 per hour. The job didn’t require training or any of the abilities I had picked up through four years of undergraduate study, but I felt lucky: the position was full-time and it came with benefits.

However, I wasn’t satisfied with remaining underemployed. I was determined to make the most of my position. Here’s what I did, and what you can do, too, if you find yourself underemployed but wanting more.

Take Pride in the Quality of Your Work

My job might have been incredibly easy, but I didn’t coast. I was determined to be the absolute best in the position that I could be. I worked to streamline processes, cut down on inefficiencies, and reduce mistakes. Soon, I was doing work in half the time my predecessor took to complete the same tasks (and more accurately, too).

I took pride in the work I was doing – and my supervisor took notice. Within a few months of starting my job, I had earned myself a raise and went from $12 per hour to $15. I still wasn’t rich, but I was making progress.

Be a Go-Getter

Eventually, I started doing my work almost too well. I would finish tasks so quickly that I was soon twiddling my thumbs for half the day. Instead of waiting to be assigned a project, I started looking for more ways to fill my time. I started volunteering for any work that needed to get done even if it was outside the list of responsibilities in my job description.

My superiors appreciated that I was willing to work and eager to help. I was able to take on more responsibility and higher-level work. This both kept me from getting bored and made me feel a little more useful – and more one step away from underemployed. It also netted me another raise, and I moved from an hourly employee to a salaried one.

Don’t Limit Yourself to Your Day Job

For me, one of the worst things about being underemployed was the fact that I felt useless. I wasn’t utilizing anything I learned in college, I wasn’t doing what I always dreamed of, and the work I was doing was simplistic and didn’t challenge me.

So I started up a side hustle. In my free time, I picked up writing gigs. Eventually, I even started my own blog, which lead to more paid writing work. Now, I’m looking at starting my own content management business and taking my entrepreneurial endeavor full-time within a year.

Don’t limit your opportunities

Work hard and prove how valuable you are to your employer, even if you’re not working your dream job. This will open new doors for you and might lead you to pay increases and even upward mobility within your company. But remember, you can always strike out on your own if you’re frustrated with underemployment. Millennials are, after all, also known for their indefatigable entrepreneurial spirit.

See more of Kali’s writing on GoGirl Finance (www.gogirlfinance.com). Kali also blogs about common-sense financial advice at Common Sense Millennial. She’s passionate about personal finance and helping millennials manage their money and live well on less. Currently, she is pursuing the ultimate dream of writing for a living and moving abroad. You can connect with her by tweeting @CSMillennial 

The post How I Made The Most of Underemployment appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Clean Up – and Update – Your Online Presence

It’s common knowledge that employers check out social media profiles before they make a hire. They can also use these platforms to check up on current employees. Keep your accounts clean and professional – this means no snapshots of your drunken exploits and no tweets about how much you hate your boss.

Of course it is possible to lock down your social media accounts by making everything private and weeding through your connections to keep weekend activities hidden from your company or potential employers. But be careful, as having no online presence is as harmful as having an overpowering one. Strike a balance: if you keep Facebook and Twitter accounts highly private or don’t have them at all, maintain a LinkedIn profile and keep it up to date. Consider buying your name as a domain and set up a simple site as your online portfolio (you can check out mine, KaliHawlk.com, as an example).

Keep Learning

One of the best ways to boost your career and to make yourself more valuable as an employee is to continue learning new things. Educate yourself on the latest information and practices related to your work, or consider teaching yourself something new (like coding, SEO, or how to use a new online service that may be useful to your company). Always seeking a new challenge helps keep things fresh and interesting, and it’s really rewarding. It also makes you an indispensable member of your employer’s workforce.

Be a Volunteer

When it comes to new projects or tasks around the office, be one of the first to volunteer to take them on. Be eager and willing to accept new responsibilities at work, and don’t wait to be asked or told to get on an assignment. Your boss will appreciate your dedication and willingness to help and get stuff done.

Make New Connections

In a job market that is still pretty tough, it’s all about who you know. With more and more people with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences competing for the same jobs, having an “in” with a company will give you a huge leg up on everyone else.

This year, make an effort to meet new people. Consider attending a conference, an event relative to your field, or simply reach out to people of interest via the Internet and email. When building your network, it’s always helpful to be accessible to potential connections and willing to add value to their business or project. Be open to exchanging ideas, taking a few minutes to brainstorm with them, or volunteer to answer a few questions or suggest a solution to a particular problem.

Start Your Own Business

There’s never been a better time than now to start your own venture as a freelancer or business owner. If you’re tired of being an employee working for someone else, make 2014 the year you start working for yourself instead.

Don’t think becoming an entrepreneur requires a huge investment or startup cost. People like Chris Guillebeau, author of The $100 Startup, and Natalie Sisson, author of The Suitcase Entrepreneur show that all you really need is an idea you’re passionate about and that other people would love to get involved with.

Kali blogs about common-sense financial advice at Common Sense Millennial. She’s passionate about personal finance and helping millennials manage their money and live well on less. Currently, she is pursuing the ultimate dream of writing for a living and moving abroad. You can connect with her by tweeting @CSMillennial 

The post 5 Ways to Boost Your Career in 2014 appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Having a unique, well-defined and authentic personal brand is one of the keys to landing the job you want and having career success at the job you have. A strong personal brand will differentiate you from your competitors; ultimately making you more marketable. No two professionals are the same; and those nuances, differences and distinctions make up our “brand.” Are you multi-lingual? Have an MBA from a top school? Hold a top position at a professional association? Created a non-profit? All of these accomplishments are part of your brand—and set you apart from your peers. Here’s what you need to know about how to build your personal brand for career success.

Create a Personal Mission Statement

An important starting point for brand building is crafting a Personal Mission Statement. Your mission statement is a personal GPS system meant to guide you in your day-to-day activities and to keep you on track to meet your goals. Here is a sample of a personal mission statement crafted by a woman looking for a position as a brand manager: “To secure a position as a brand manager at a luxury goods company where I can utilize my proven track record in marketing communications and my quantitative skills. I will accomplish this by attending and eventually speaking at professional association meetings; utilizing social media to connect with experts in my field; and by blogging about the luxury good markets.” To see samples of personal mission statements check out www.quintcareers.com or www.timethoughts.com.

Become an Expert or Thought Leader

Becoming a subject matter expert is an excellent way to build your personal brand. If you are a “go-to” person in your field you are eminently hireable and desired. Some ways to accomplish this include:

• Create a blog; or contribute to a blog in your chosen field (check out www.technorati.com for top blogs in each industry.
• Do your own personal Public Relations: Perhaps you got a promotion; were quoted in an industry publication; or spoke at a professional association meeting: send out a press release on www.freepressreleases.com to help raise your visibility.
• Sign up for Help a Reporter Out: www.HARO.com this site matches reporters with experts and experts with reporters. With so many media outlets available, reporters are often searching for professionals to quote for industry articles or blogs: sign up to be an “expert.”

Monitor Your Brand

• Set up Google alerts (www.google/alerts) to monitor your name and your brand
• Search www.technorati.com to track your name mentioned in blog posts
• Track your twitter posts utilizing the search feature on www.twitter.com

Pamela Weinberg is an independent career coach and works with clients in all phases of career development. She has developed a niche in personal branding and speaks frequently to students and alumni at various universities across the country on the topic. Recently seminars and webinars have been presented at NYU, Columbia University; Johns Hopkins University and the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. Pamela works with participants to build their personal brands through social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin) as well as through personal public relations and networking. Through her company MYOBmoms.com, Pamela works with on-ramping women to help them return to the workplace after taking time off to raise their families. In addition, Pamela is an adjunct instructor at NYU-SCPS in the field of Career Management. 

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