Ten Ways to Make Yourself Unpopular On LinkedIn – Liz Ryan

Mar 262018
 

Dear Liz,

I’ve been working on expanding my LinkedIn network. I have 215 first-degree connections so far, so I’m happy.

The other day I connected with a guy I met at a networking event.

As soon as he accepted my invitation, I sent him a quick thank-you message that I created to send each new person who connects with me.

In my welcome note, it talks about me and my background.

In the welcome message it also says “I write to my LinkedIn connections twice a month to keep them up to date with my projects. Please let me know if you’d rather not receive my mailings.”

I thought I was being polite, but my new connection immediately disconnected from me. We were only connected for about twenty minutes before he kicked me out of his network.

Did I do something wrong, or did he?

Thanks Liz!

Yours,

Greg

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Best Practices for Professional Email – Natalie Lundsteen

Mar 192018
 

My institution recently ran a comprehensive career-development program for our graduate students and postdocs. One of the workshop modules that our Ph.D.s valued most provided a general overview of communicating in the workplace. It advised them on some best practices to help smooth their transition to the next career destination.

No matter what career path you choose, communication is a skill you will need to use in every job role. The way you communicate with other people reflects your professionalism — often a vague and nebulous term, but one that generally refers to the conduct and qualities an individual exhibits at work.

It does take time to learn the nuances of behavior in any new setting, and workplaces are no exception. You will have many things to learn when you start a new job, and not everything is clear-cut, especially when you are trying to figure out what “professional” means in that particular place. For example, in every work setting, you will find both formal and tacit practices — also known as “the way we do things around here.” Those workplace practices might be official policies, like how much vacation is allowed or methods of reporting sick time. But there are also unwritten rules in every job setting that might be about expected work time or output, or a culture that affects the way emails are sent (or not), or even what’s considered acceptable casual Friday attire.

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Here’s How to Ace the Curveball Interview Questions You Never Saw Coming – Courtney Connley

Mar 132018
 

A well-prepared interview candidate knows the answer to the most common questions — things like “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” and “Where do you see yourself in five years?” – like the back of their hand. But even the sharpest candidates can be stumped by an unexpected curveball question.

According to bestselling management author and CNBC contributor Suzy Welch, these questions are designed to knock you off your game in order to see how you respond to the unexpected.

Welch tells CNBC Make IT that the key to answering curveball questions like “How many tennis balls can fit into this room?” or “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” is to understand what the interviewer is trying to learn about you.

No one, she says, expects an exact answer like, “I, Suzy Welch, could fit 3,435 tennis balls in this room deflated and 1,115 inflated.” Instead, hiring managers want to see how well you can think in unexpected circumstances and how creative you can get with your response.

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Transferable Skills Guide: Identifying Your Transferable Skills – Kayla Strickland

Mar 052018
 

What is a transferable skill?

Time management. I needed it when balancing a handful of demanding courses, a capstone paper I really wanted to hit out of the park, part time work, bills, (at times) a social life and rest. I need it just as much in my current role as Customer Support and Operations Manager at Addgene. In this role, I balance my daily tasks, meet cross-team project commitments, respond to any issues raised by team members, and plan for the future of the team. All while still paying bills and having a life outside my job.

The same can be said about teamwork, communication, writing, management, and creativity; I have developed these skills through school, jobs, and volunteer work, and I guarantee you have developed them through similar experiences in graduate school. These skills will be useful anywhere I work in the future; they are transferrable across most, if not all, industries and work environments. This is why they are called transferable skills.

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