Career Development Category Archives - General Assembly Blog | Page 32

Top 3 Tech Skills To Get Hired In The Digital Age

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Building-A-Brand-Centric-Business-Strategy

When you graduate from college, you have a degree in some specific subject(s). But it is becoming increasingly important that you have practical skills when you enter the workplace, in addition to the specific knowledge you gained during your college career.

When you enter the workforce, no matter who you work for, there will be some learning curve as you learn how they do business, what tools they use, and their processes and procedures. But wouldn’t it be great if on day one when you arrived at that sweet new job, you were teaching them new tricks?

If you learn these three digital age skills, there’s a good chance that you will blow their doors off when you start work on Monday.

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How To Make Your LinkedIn Profile More Recruiter-Friendly

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Getting-The-Most-Out-Of-LinkedIN

By this point, you probably have a LinkedIn profile and are familiar with how to use the site. You’ve filled out the profile requirements and made sure your LinkedIn presence is professional and polished (and if you’re super on top of it, you might have added a cover photo!), but can you say your profile is recruiter-friendly?

It’s a great idea to invest some time in optimizing your LinkedIn profile specifically for recruiters, because many companies use a tool called LinkedIn Recruiter to search for candidates via keywords, location, industry and a number of other parameters. I know this because I was a recruiter  for a number of years, and LinkedIn Recruiter and I were BFFs. Plus, with 250+ million users, you can see why recruiters use this tool A LOT.

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Opportunity Fund Fellow Mentors Teens in Tech

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allstarcode

Jarret Sims, back row, third from the right.

As a recipient of General Assembly’s Opportunity Fund Fellowship, it is a privilege to fulfill my responsibility to give back by volunteering 100+ hours of my time to the tech community. Working in partnership with All Star Code, a non-profit initiative that prepares qualified young men of color for full-time employment in the tech industry, I look forward to assisting in their efforts to provide mentorship, industry exposure, and intensive training in computer science.

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5 Ways to Follow Up After a Job Interview

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Interview follow up image

Landed an interview at a company? Congrats! Dedicated time to research the role and prepare questions to ask your interviewer? Smart! Assuming they will let you know what happens next? Nope.

Following up after your meeting matters almost as much as the interview itself, and yet many people opt to do nothing for fear of making the wrong move.

But doing nothing is the wrong move because it increases your chances of being forgotten. With the right tactics, you will stay top of mind, and impress the hiring manager.

These five tips will help you follow up tactfully and effectively after your next interview:

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How to Optimize Your Digital Marketing Resume

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Apprentice-Program

So, what on earth actually happens to your resume when you submit it online? Is it scanned by a computer? Is it submitted to human resources? Does it go directly to the hiring manager for the position? Or is it just lost in the Internet abyss of unread applications?

All of these scenarios are possible—the last one being the dreaded and all too common outcome of the online application.

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12 Signs You’re Ready to Go Freelance

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entrepreneur

Escaping the 9-5 prison and voyaging into the Great Unknown can be a bit intimidating. Many people who want to freelance take years to make the leap (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing).

But how do you know you’re ready? Here are 12 serious and not-so-serious signs it’s time to make the leap.

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3 Ways Your Internship Can Actually Hurt Your Career

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intern image

I’m sure you’ve heard many times that without an internship, you’re not going to find a job in your desired field. While there is some truth to this (without experience it’s much harder to find a full-time job), there may also be ways that your internship is actually preventing you from getting the necessary experience.

Before you commit to a business and become their summer or school year intern (or if you already are), watch out for these signs that the position may actually hurt your career.

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4 Everyday Sales Techniques (For People Who Hate Sales)

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Startup-Sales-Strategies-Nailing-The-Close

Whatever your notion of sales and sales people, the reality is it’s impossible to survive in business without making sales. But all sales tactics don’t have to be pushy, or take advantage of the gullibility or ignorance of others. In fact, the best ones do neither.

Sales, at its core, is all about connecting to those who need what you offer, and building mutually beneficial relationships. You can do this without being sleazy or unethical; you just have to find sales techniques that are comfortable for you. Here are some you can start putting into practice today.

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6 Steps to Advance in the Job You Already Have

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6 Steps to Advance in the Job You Already Have

There is an overwhelming amount of advice out there for job seekers, but what about advice for those looking to advance in their current jobs? Back when the economy tanked and so many people were suddenly looking for work, the focus on career advancement took a backseat to finding a job. Now that the economy is stabilizing, it makes sense to also focus on how to succeed once you land the job.

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Online Learning Is a Boon for Small Towns and Small Startups

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small town online learning

Depot Town, Michigan. Image source: Cmadler via Wikimedia Commons

In today’s virtual world, the next great business idea need not come from California’s Silicon Valley or New York City’s Silicon Alley. It could come from a silicon cornfield, digital bayou, or mobile rustbelt in any one of thousands of tiny rural regions or small towns across America, towns that may have lost a past glory or never thrived because of a lack of employment opportunities. With online learning programs offering the ability to train adults to do in-demand careers, people throughout the country now have the same inroads to specialized learning and potential innovation available to residents of big cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, and Boston.

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