by Ian Christie
Blaze Your Own Career Expert
How would you like to establish yourself as the hub of an expanding network? Organizing and hosting your own networking events is a smart way to accomplish this.
Why should you host an event? First, you will take charge of meeting new people and expanding your network. Second, you establish yourself as a connector, creating a reason for people to want to know you. Third, you will strengthen your own relationships, because you will genuinely be helping other people.
Here's how to get started:
1. Determine the Kind of Event You Want to Host
I highly recommend a formal, organized networking event at which each attendee gets less than five minutes to talk about himself and his problem or opportunity. Then the other participants contribute ideas, connections, advice and referrals. At the end, attendees mingle.
2. Choose a Venue
Pick a spot where you can all sit at a table, or if it is a bigger group, fit into a room. Cafes or a reserved table or function room at a restaurant are good choices, as are library meeting rooms.
3. Select and Invite Your Initial Guests
The success of your event will rest largely on the quality of the attendees, so make your guest list carefully. The best guests will be able to describe what they need clearly and concisely and will also have valuable suggestions or information for others.
Decide whether you want your invitees to bring their own guests. If they do, you will be able to expand the group faster. Remember, however, you could lose control over who's coming. One way to mitigate that risk is to encourage invitees to refer their contacts to you. When creating your guest list, talk to these prospective invitees to get an idea of whether they would be good additions to the group.
4. Send an Agenda and Intros
Email a list of all confirmed attendees with a two- to four-sentence bio of each. Reviewing this information beforehand will help guests maximize their networking efforts, because they will know a bit about who they will be meeting. Also confirm the date, time and directions to the location. Send it to the group three to five days before the event and again the day before.
5. Play Host
Here's where you solidify your role as the network hub. When the event begins, welcome everyone and introduce those who don't know each other. Begin and end the meeting on time. Control the clock so everyone gets a turn to talk. And don't forget to talk about yourself and what you're looking for.
6. Follow Up
Send an email thanking everyone for attending and following up on any action items that came out of the meeting. Also, remind everyone that details about the next event will be forthcoming, and make sure you personally follow up with the people you want to get to know better.
7. Set a Date for the Next Event
Meeting monthly sets a good pace, but if your group has the time and is really aggressive, twice a month could work. Decide whom to invite back from the original group, and determine if there's anyone new you want to bring in.
For future gatherings, you might want to experiment with the format. You could host an unstructured event where attendees introduce themselves and mingle. Another option is an organized discussion group in which you bring people together to talk about a particular topic. Attendees can get acquainted through the discussion itself.
Regardless of the event type, once you've established yourself as the go-to person in your growing network, you will be able to feed off its contacts, energy and ideas to build your career or business.
Ian Christie founded BoldCareer.com to help individuals build bold, fulfilling careers and help organizations attract, develop and retain talent. A career coach, consultant, three-time entrepreneur, former senior director at Monster and former retained executive search consultant, Ian is an expert in the fields of careers and recruitment. He believes that career management is a central theme to both personal and organizational effectiveness. BoldCareer.com offers career services to companies and individuals as well as free career resources.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
One in Five Violent Incidents Occur in the Workplace
by Melanie Joy Douglas, Monster.ca
Nearly one-fifth of all incidents of violent victimization, including physical assault, sexual assault and robbery, occurred in the victim's workplace in 2004, according to a new Statistics Canada study.
The report, the first-ever study of its kind, found that there were more than 356,000 violent incidents in the workplace in the 10 provinces, with the majority, 71%, classified as physical assaults.
Violent Sectors
Violence in the workplace was much more common in certain employment sectors. 30% of all workplace violent incidents involved a victim who was working in social assistance or health care services such as hospitals, nursing, or residential care facilities. Moreover, there was also a high level of incidents in the accommodation or food services, retail or wholesale trade, and educational services sectors.
Gender Differences
It was found that men and women were equally likely to have reported experiencing workplace violence, but men were more likely to be injured. Specifically, 27% of incidents involving male victims resulted in injuries, compared with 17% of those involving female victims.
57% of violent workplace incidents involving male victims were reported to the police, compared to 20% of those involving female victims.
Reported?
The Statscan survey found that violent workplace incidents were twice as likely to be reported to the police than violent incidents that occurred outside the workplace. Furthermore, in 90% of cases, victims of workplace violence said they spoke about the incident to another co-worker and approximately 65% of incidents, victims said they told family, friends, or neighbours. 20% of victims told a doctor or nurse.
By contrast, victims of violent incidents outside the workplace sought support from a coworker in 30%, family in 47% of incidents, friends or neighbours in 76% of incidents and a doctor or nurse in 6% of incidents.
About the study: The study, measuring criminal victimization on the job, used self-reported data from the 2004 General Social Survey that questioned respondents in about 24,000 households about the prevalence of violence for these three offences (physical assault, sexual assault and robbery) in the 12 months prior to the survey.
Nearly one-fifth of all incidents of violent victimization, including physical assault, sexual assault and robbery, occurred in the victim's workplace in 2004, according to a new Statistics Canada study.The report, the first-ever study of its kind, found that there were more than 356,000 violent incidents in the workplace in the 10 provinces, with the majority, 71%, classified as physical assaults.
Violent Sectors
Violence in the workplace was much more common in certain employment sectors. 30% of all workplace violent incidents involved a victim who was working in social assistance or health care services such as hospitals, nursing, or residential care facilities. Moreover, there was also a high level of incidents in the accommodation or food services, retail or wholesale trade, and educational services sectors.
Gender Differences
It was found that men and women were equally likely to have reported experiencing workplace violence, but men were more likely to be injured. Specifically, 27% of incidents involving male victims resulted in injuries, compared with 17% of those involving female victims.
57% of violent workplace incidents involving male victims were reported to the police, compared to 20% of those involving female victims.
Reported?
The Statscan survey found that violent workplace incidents were twice as likely to be reported to the police than violent incidents that occurred outside the workplace. Furthermore, in 90% of cases, victims of workplace violence said they spoke about the incident to another co-worker and approximately 65% of incidents, victims said they told family, friends, or neighbours. 20% of victims told a doctor or nurse.
By contrast, victims of violent incidents outside the workplace sought support from a coworker in 30%, family in 47% of incidents, friends or neighbours in 76% of incidents and a doctor or nurse in 6% of incidents.
About the study: The study, measuring criminal victimization on the job, used self-reported data from the 2004 General Social Survey that questioned respondents in about 24,000 households about the prevalence of violence for these three offences (physical assault, sexual assault and robbery) in the 12 months prior to the survey.
What Executives Think About Today's Young Professionals
By Melanie Joy Douglas, Monster.ca
A new global survey of executives found some interesting answers to questions about today’s young professionals.
The latest Korn/Ferry International Executive Quiz, a survey with respondents from more than 70 countries representing a wide spectrum of industries and functional areas, asked executives what they thought about today’s young professionals’ career opportunities, work ethic, and education.
Here are the key findings:
Career Opportunities
A new global survey of executives found some interesting answers to questions about today’s young professionals.The latest Korn/Ferry International Executive Quiz, a survey with respondents from more than 70 countries representing a wide spectrum of industries and functional areas, asked executives what they thought about today’s young professionals’ career opportunities, work ethic, and education.
Here are the key findings:
Career Opportunities
- 64% of executives said that better career opportunities are available to today’s young professionals compared to when they began their own careers.
- 75% of executives would recommend their profession to their children.
- 83% of executives had either guided or will try to guide their children’s career paths to at least some extent, 30% of those admitting guiding them to a great or very great extent.
Work Ethic
What is the work ethic of today's young professionals compared to that of previous generations?
- 49% said it was worse
- 31% said it was unchanged
- 19% said it had improved
Education
- 89% of executives said they want to see their children obtain at least a master’s, doctoral, or professional degree.
- 66% stated they intend to pay for these levels of continued education.
"Today's young professionals are met with improved career opportunities, however, they also face increasingly rigorous job requirements," said Charles W.B. Wardell III, managing director and head of the Northeast U.S. region of Korn/Ferry, in a statement released to the press. "In addition, many must contend with additional pressure from their Baby Boomer parents, who often try to dictate their children's education and career paths."
For more information, visit www.kornferry.com.
From Classroom to Boardroom
by Colleen Clarke
Soon thousands of post secondary students will leave the hallowed halls of higher learning for a real education – the world of work! All those years of toiling away with books and beer will be put to the test at their first staff meeting, a phone call with a client, a team project meeting or casual smoozing around the proverbial water cooler.
The main focus when getting that first job probably has dollar signs dancing in your head. Instead, you should be focused on making a great first impression, establishing relationships and appearing as professional as possible with little or no know-how.
Some aspects you might like to keep in mind include:
• Upon arriving at the new place of employment, befriend the receptionist – she knows everyone and what makes the place tick.
• Find out exactly what time you are expected to come in, when most people take lunch, are breaks acceptable and when do people go home. Note the hours of operation, and when people actually arrive and leave in a position similar to yours or within your department or section.
• Learn the layout of your new haunts so you are always early or on time for meetings. A hallway of closed doors can hide a lot of meeting space.
• Eat in the lunch room often the first few weeks so as to meet people from other departments, learn some politics and broaden your network.
• Ask questions related to business; don’t give out too much personal info about yourself.
• Find an ally in at least one person in your department. Before people will open up to you, you must be willing to share something personal about yourself, not intimate, but personal.
• Keep your business opinions to yourself for the first few months, but ask others theirs. Even strong opinions about social issues should be expressed with candor.
• Share ideas for change, development or depletion with tact and a well founded sense of histronics.
• Dress like you want to succeed in the job, like you want to make an impression, like a grown up. Leave your baseball caps at home and mini skirts in the closet. You may want to visit the building a few days before your start date to scope out how people dress in your new environment. No gum chewing during the day.
• Watch how you sit, carry a nice pen and look people in the eye.
• If you take your cell phone to work, turn it off!! Most work places are well equipped with telecommunication equipment and you won’t be talking to Suzy during work hours for a while anyway.
• Limit your personal calls to “none” the first couple of weeks. Call at lunch on your cell from the street or parking lot.
• Personal email and internet surfing is absolutely foreboden.
• Never tell people you are hung over, don’t be, or you engaged in debauchery over the weekend.
• Never be late. Get enough sleep.
• Read trade magazines and business books. Find out about your competition. Increase your vocabulary.
• Read books about meeting etiquette.
• Keep office or cubicle decorations, like plants and family photos, to a bare minimum until after your probation period.
• Ask people to join you for lunch.
• Don’t expect too much. Let people know you are available to help out in certain areas of expertise, but know your limitations and don’t try to be all things to all people.
• Learn to say “no” where and when appropriate. If you start out as a “yes” person you will have a heck of a time pulling back down the road. Pitch in but don’t sell out.
• Don’t name drop well know friends of your parents.
• Use all the manners your mother ever taught you and use please and thank you often.
You don’t have to lose your youthfulness, spunk or individuality just because you are now a working stiff, but there are politics to be played and noses to be browned!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colleen Clarke is a Toronto based Career Specialist and Corporate Trainer. Check out her website to see how she can help change your life.
www.colleenclarke.com
Author of Networking: It’s Telling, Not Selling
Soon thousands of post secondary students will leave the hallowed halls of higher learning for a real education – the world of work! All those years of toiling away with books and beer will be put to the test at their first staff meeting, a phone call with a client, a team project meeting or casual smoozing around the proverbial water cooler.
The main focus when getting that first job probably has dollar signs dancing in your head. Instead, you should be focused on making a great first impression, establishing relationships and appearing as professional as possible with little or no know-how.
Some aspects you might like to keep in mind include:
• Upon arriving at the new place of employment, befriend the receptionist – she knows everyone and what makes the place tick.
• Find out exactly what time you are expected to come in, when most people take lunch, are breaks acceptable and when do people go home. Note the hours of operation, and when people actually arrive and leave in a position similar to yours or within your department or section.
• Learn the layout of your new haunts so you are always early or on time for meetings. A hallway of closed doors can hide a lot of meeting space.
• Eat in the lunch room often the first few weeks so as to meet people from other departments, learn some politics and broaden your network.
• Ask questions related to business; don’t give out too much personal info about yourself.
• Find an ally in at least one person in your department. Before people will open up to you, you must be willing to share something personal about yourself, not intimate, but personal.
• Keep your business opinions to yourself for the first few months, but ask others theirs. Even strong opinions about social issues should be expressed with candor.
• Share ideas for change, development or depletion with tact and a well founded sense of histronics.
• Dress like you want to succeed in the job, like you want to make an impression, like a grown up. Leave your baseball caps at home and mini skirts in the closet. You may want to visit the building a few days before your start date to scope out how people dress in your new environment. No gum chewing during the day.
• Watch how you sit, carry a nice pen and look people in the eye.
• If you take your cell phone to work, turn it off!! Most work places are well equipped with telecommunication equipment and you won’t be talking to Suzy during work hours for a while anyway.
• Limit your personal calls to “none” the first couple of weeks. Call at lunch on your cell from the street or parking lot.
• Personal email and internet surfing is absolutely foreboden.
• Never tell people you are hung over, don’t be, or you engaged in debauchery over the weekend.
• Never be late. Get enough sleep.
• Read trade magazines and business books. Find out about your competition. Increase your vocabulary.
• Read books about meeting etiquette.
• Keep office or cubicle decorations, like plants and family photos, to a bare minimum until after your probation period.
• Ask people to join you for lunch.
• Don’t expect too much. Let people know you are available to help out in certain areas of expertise, but know your limitations and don’t try to be all things to all people.
• Learn to say “no” where and when appropriate. If you start out as a “yes” person you will have a heck of a time pulling back down the road. Pitch in but don’t sell out.
• Don’t name drop well know friends of your parents.
• Use all the manners your mother ever taught you and use please and thank you often.
You don’t have to lose your youthfulness, spunk or individuality just because you are now a working stiff, but there are politics to be played and noses to be browned!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colleen Clarke is a Toronto based Career Specialist and Corporate Trainer. Check out her website to see how she can help change your life.
www.colleenclarke.com
Author of Networking: It’s Telling, Not Selling
From Classroom to Boardroom
by by Colleen Clarke
Soon thousands of post secondary students will leave the hallowed halls of higher learning for a real education – the world of work! All those years of toiling away with books and beer will be put to the test at their first staff meeting, a phone call with a client, a team project meeting or casual smoozing around the proverbial water cooler.
The main focus when getting that first job probably has dollar signs dancing in your head. Instead, you should be focused on making a great first impression, establishing relationships and appearing as professional as possible with little or no know-how.
Some aspects you might like to keep in mind include:
• Upon arriving at the new place of employment, befriend the receptionist – she knows everyone and what makes the place tick.
• Find out exactly what time you are expected to come in, when most people take lunch, are breaks acceptable and when do people go home. Note the hours of operation, and when people actually arrive and leave in a position similar to yours or within your department or section.
• Learn the layout of your new haunts so you are always early or on time for meetings. A hallway of closed doors can hide a lot of meeting space.
• Eat in the lunch room often the first few weeks so as to meet people from other departments, learn some politics and broaden your network.
• Ask questions related to business; don’t give out too much personal info about yourself.
• Find an ally in at least one person in your department. Before people will open up to you, you must be willing to share something personal about yourself, not intimate, but personal.
• Keep your business opinions to yourself for the first few months, but ask others theirs. Even strong opinions about social issues should be expressed with candor.
• Share ideas for change, development or depletion with tact and a well founded sense of histronics.
• Dress like you want to succeed in the job, like you want to make an impression, like a grown up. Leave your baseball caps at home and mini skirts in the closet. You may want to visit the building a few days before your start date to scope out how people dress in your new environment. No gum chewing during the day.
• Watch how you sit, carry a nice pen and look people in the eye.
• If you take your cell phone to work, turn it off!! Most work places are well equipped with telecommunication equipment and you won’t be talking to Suzy during work hours for a while anyway.
• Limit your personal calls to “none” the first couple of weeks. Call at lunch on your cell from the street or parking lot.
• Personal email and internet surfing is absolutely foreboden.
• Never tell people you are hung over, don’t be, or you engaged in debauchery over the weekend.
• Never be late. Get enough sleep.
• Read trade magazines and business books. Find out about your competition. Increase your vocabulary.
• Read books about meeting etiquette.
• Keep office or cubicle decorations, like plants and family photos, to a bare minimum until after your probation period.
• Ask people to join you for lunch.
• Don’t expect too much. Let people know you are available to help out in certain areas of expertise, but know your limitations and don’t try to be all things to all people.
• Learn to say “no” where and when appropriate. If you start out as a “yes” person you will have a heck of a time pulling back down the road. Pitch in but don’t sell out.
• Don’t name drop well know friends of your parents.
• Use all the manners your mother ever taught you and use please and thank you often.
You don’t have to lose your youthfulness, spunk or individuality just because you are now a working stiff, but there are politics to be played and noses to be browned!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colleen Clarke is a Toronto based Career Specialist and Corporate Trainer. Check out her website to see how she can help change your life.
www.colleenclarke.com
Author of Networking: It’s Telling, Not Selling
Soon thousands of post secondary students will leave the hallowed halls of higher learning for a real education – the world of work! All those years of toiling away with books and beer will be put to the test at their first staff meeting, a phone call with a client, a team project meeting or casual smoozing around the proverbial water cooler.
The main focus when getting that first job probably has dollar signs dancing in your head. Instead, you should be focused on making a great first impression, establishing relationships and appearing as professional as possible with little or no know-how.
Some aspects you might like to keep in mind include:
• Upon arriving at the new place of employment, befriend the receptionist – she knows everyone and what makes the place tick.
• Find out exactly what time you are expected to come in, when most people take lunch, are breaks acceptable and when do people go home. Note the hours of operation, and when people actually arrive and leave in a position similar to yours or within your department or section.
• Learn the layout of your new haunts so you are always early or on time for meetings. A hallway of closed doors can hide a lot of meeting space.
• Eat in the lunch room often the first few weeks so as to meet people from other departments, learn some politics and broaden your network.
• Ask questions related to business; don’t give out too much personal info about yourself.
• Find an ally in at least one person in your department. Before people will open up to you, you must be willing to share something personal about yourself, not intimate, but personal.
• Keep your business opinions to yourself for the first few months, but ask others theirs. Even strong opinions about social issues should be expressed with candor.
• Share ideas for change, development or depletion with tact and a well founded sense of histronics.
• Dress like you want to succeed in the job, like you want to make an impression, like a grown up. Leave your baseball caps at home and mini skirts in the closet. You may want to visit the building a few days before your start date to scope out how people dress in your new environment. No gum chewing during the day.
• Watch how you sit, carry a nice pen and look people in the eye.
• If you take your cell phone to work, turn it off!! Most work places are well equipped with telecommunication equipment and you won’t be talking to Suzy during work hours for a while anyway.
• Limit your personal calls to “none” the first couple of weeks. Call at lunch on your cell from the street or parking lot.
• Personal email and internet surfing is absolutely foreboden.
• Never tell people you are hung over, don’t be, or you engaged in debauchery over the weekend.
• Never be late. Get enough sleep.
• Read trade magazines and business books. Find out about your competition. Increase your vocabulary.
• Read books about meeting etiquette.
• Keep office or cubicle decorations, like plants and family photos, to a bare minimum until after your probation period.
• Ask people to join you for lunch.
• Don’t expect too much. Let people know you are available to help out in certain areas of expertise, but know your limitations and don’t try to be all things to all people.
• Learn to say “no” where and when appropriate. If you start out as a “yes” person you will have a heck of a time pulling back down the road. Pitch in but don’t sell out.
• Don’t name drop well know friends of your parents.
• Use all the manners your mother ever taught you and use please and thank you often.
You don’t have to lose your youthfulness, spunk or individuality just because you are now a working stiff, but there are politics to be played and noses to be browned!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colleen Clarke is a Toronto based Career Specialist and Corporate Trainer. Check out her website to see how she can help change your life.
www.colleenclarke.com
Author of Networking: It’s Telling, Not Selling
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