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Letting Go Of The Fear And Embracing The Adventure

By Amanda Sherman, CEO & Founder Of Aps Events And Travel

The fear that one feels is considered the emotion that

is modulated by the process of cognition and learning. Fear it is conceived as either a rational, irrational, appro-priate, or inappropriate emotion. Fear is closely related to, the emotion "anxiety". Experiencing adventure is some-times an exciting or very unusual feeling to take a chance or a dare. Adventure creates excitement and that emotion increases the adrenaline rush.

Our fear stems from the anticipation and outcome of the adventure, and either one of these feelings dictates our ability to deal with a problem and come up with its solu-tion. When you are faced with a new challenge in your life whether it is starting over in a career, changing your busi-ness, recreating your way of life, these challenges create somewhat of an emotion that can leave you with uncer-tainty or provide you with the excitement of the adventure.

I myself have come across the emotion of fear and the adrenaline rush of adventure. My company as well as my

lifestyle has changed. For many years, I had done the same thing and I was comfortable in my safety zone. I survived in a situation where I didn’t realize or expected that it was going to be dramatic hiccup in my life. For years, I had expected that I would never have to view, adjust, or operate on a different level. The partnership that I developed in my business, with my clients, suppliers, or even my life part-ner gave me that safety net which created that safety zone.

So I have decided to let go of the fear and embrace the adventure starting out new. This gives me the advantage of jumping out of the airplane into new endeavors. I had the opportunity of meeting new suppliers this past week when I went to an event- meeting planner’s conference. The op-portunity of being able to work with new suppliers will give me the needed push to connect the right people with my clients and my potential new clients.

My company brand although it is really the same as be-fore but with a lot of changes I allow me to create a new brand for me. My new life style has definitely created the fear that a lot of people experience when there has been a major breakdown of that comfort zone. The changes will definitely take me into new territories building new clien-tele, suppliers, and of course new adventures; am I ready for this of course not, because of “the Fear factor”, will I get ready of course, I will because of the adventure.

As a business owners we are always looking for that new advancement in technology we are always looking for that special finesse; the “wow” factor, to keep our clients updated on the latest information. As event-meeting plan-ner we do whatever is possible to make our clients visions, their dreams, become reality. While my life style is the bread and butter of my existence, my visions and my dreams they become the next step into my adventure. The universe allows us to connect in every way, adventure al-lows us to prepare for the excitement, and the emotion al-lows us to connect with the “fear” factor. We allow our-selves to be emotionally pulled in either direction no mat-ter what it is. The cost of being a business owner, the cost of being a new partner, the cost of having a new client or supplier will determine whether or not we succeed in our new life, old life or even stay in the same life…we determine whether we will be dictated by the “fear” or the adventure … no matter what it all becomes reality… Succeed, expand, or stay in the situation. Either way the best method is to “Let go of the fear and Embrace the Adventure… Good luck in all that you set out to do….

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From the Editor’s Desk

Adelaida A. Rodriguez

Looking Back - - -

- - - FEBRUARY 2009 - - - The Maiden Edition of LAMPLIGHTER - - - was published online!!! We would like to thank and honor the pioneer/volunteer staff for providing us with the venue to carry out the ETP mission of networking and career empowerment. Come and join us in reading the first edition of the Lamp-lighter. Please click to access the Lamplighter (first edition).

Contributing Volunteer Staff Adele Simon-Ehlin Group Leader & Contributing Writer

Joe Auerbach Contributing Writer Scott Chase Contributing Writer

Jerrold “Jerry” Clifford Contributing Writer Adelaida Rodriguez Contributing Writer Amanda Sherman Contributing Writer Wendy Woolfork Contributing Writer James Yoakum Contributing Writer

Eric Nilsson Layout

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from the Lamp-

lighter Staff!!!

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Characteristics of a Good CEO

By Rod Colòn

Although there is general agree-ment about what characteristics are common to all effective leaders, there is no corresponding authoritative “desk reference” that’s ever been published and widely accepted by business leaders. Instead there are hundreds of books on the subject that attempt to do so, adding slightly to the overall confusion.

The following qualities are cited most often in literature about leader-ship. Leaders:

• Are authentic and not afraid to be them-selves

• Have a desire to help others

• Empower the people around them

• Are guided by heart, passion, and com-passion

• Recognize their mistakes and shortcom-ings

• Exhibit diligence and have a "never give up" attitude

• Build enduring relationships

• Know exactly where they stand on issues

• Refuse to compromise their values when tested or challenged

• Have excellent interpersonal skills

• Have excellent communications skills

• Project confidence

• Are flexible

• Adapt well to change

• Are highly creative

• Nurture creativity in others

• Focus on achieving results

• Understand the importance of occasional failure

• Learn from their mistakes then move on

• Build teams

• Know when to delegate

• Have access to people, information and resources to help solve problems and create opportunities

• Have a healthy sense of humor • Help to provide strategic direction for the

organization they serve

• Have the ability to stay positive at all times (Positive Mental Attitude)

• Seek counsel and advice when they rec-ognize the need for it

• Know how to inspire others

• Have total commitment to their position or niche within the group

• Are consistently teachable and coacha-ble

• Are willing to step aside rather than com-promise the integrity of the team

• Are motivated by the welfare of the team instead of their own agenda • Are oriented to whatever the team cannot provide through its own efforts

If you’re thinking, “Well, that’s an interesting list. But I’m not really in-terested in taking on any leadership roles right now … I’m kind of busy” … I en-courage you to close your eyes and remember that

you are the CEO of Me, Inc. representing a wonderful Board of Directors (your family). Has it hit you yet?

You are in a race with millions of others for a finite number of opportunities in the global marketplace. It can be very uncomfortable to view the business world in this way, but unfortunately, that is our 21st century reality and we must all learn to deal with it.

Some have likened today’s business climate to a some-what cruel version of musical chairs in which lots of players don’t get seats when the music stops. Borrowing from that theme, I believe those who will find a chair will be those who can demonstrate a mastery of career ownership along with a natural flair for leadership.

CEOs are, by definition, leaders. And because not eve-ryone in pursuit of those limited opportunities will adopt this mind-set, the CEOs of ME, Inc. will find themselves solidly positioned at the front of the pack, uniquely situ-ated to grab opportunities away from those who chose not to manage their careers wisely but opted instead for the ease, convenience, and short-sightedness of The Black Hole.

Dare to Tap Your Full Potential By Rod Colòn

A few years ago, there was an automobile accident that

got widespread media attention because of the heroic ac-tions of a young mother in saving her 5-year-old daughter’s life. In the aftermath of the accident, the child had become pinned under the wheel of a car and was probably mo-ments from death when the woman summoned the strength to lift the rear bumper just high enough to permit her son to pull his sister to safety!

We sometimes hear stories like this and think, “That’s amazing! Could I have done the same thing under similar circumstances?”

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I’m here to tell you that the answer is a resounding “YES!”

We can all perform at levels far greater than we ever believe possible. And that’s part of the problem. Most of us never stop to think about the size and scope of our own potential. It’s just not a hot item on today’s “to do” list.

I offer a challenge to you … three, to be exact: 1. First, I challenge you to begin exploring the hid-

den reserves of physical strength and mental stamina you didn’t know you had. The objective: Find out if you can do the supposedly impossible task. Really push yourself and push hard!

2. Second, assuming you were successful with the first challenge, I now challenge you to shift that vast untapped ability onto your daily radar screen. Make a genuine effort to see it, think it and feel it all of the time. As the CEO of ME, Inc., allow it to become the driving force behind your day-to-day business decisions. The objective: Make your extended capabilities the standard for everything you do.

3. Third, I challenge you to take the Own Your Ca-reer “test drive.” There is no cost or obligation. Put yourself through the paces for a month or two. Participate in our regularly scheduled programs and learn the unique 7-Step Job Search Method-ology in a friendly, supportive environment that we call a “safe harbor.” Try to pick up the rhythm of our career management and job search sys-tems. The objective: See how much more you achieve ― and how much better it feels ― when you put yourself in charge of all your career man-agement decisions.

Why the challenges? Let’s think again about the woman who lifted a car to

save her child. Do you really think you have a chance to win this crucial race ― or even stay in it at all ― if you don’t push yourself? And I mean really, truly push? Will you be content doing what everyone else is doing in the same way they’re doing it? Are you willing to settle for cookie-cutter mediocrity knowing that an unknown num-ber of others may be putting 10, 100, or even 1,000 times more effort?

Back to the woman who lifted the car: She could have flagged down a passing motorist to help her, but she didn’t. There was no time. There was just one Herculean obstacle separating her from her child’s survival. She chose a bold, decisive, almost superhuman action to meet the challenge ― and that split-second decision saved her daughter’s life.

With that in mind, stay focused on one key idea: In the race for 21st century opportunities you have competi-tion ― lots of it. As the total number of competitors in-creases, the ability to distinguish yourself becomes more and more difficult yet more and more necessary. Make a decision to face that challenge head-on. Commit to the

idea of expecting more of yourself and break away from the pack!

Lead, Follow or Get out of the Way By Rod Colòn

Thomas Paine supposedly coined the expression

“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” If he was alive today, I'm sure Mr. Paine would probably get a chuckle out of this story:

In 1992, two airlines became embroiled in a lawsuit because both were using the tagline "Plane Smart." They decided to resolve the matter in an extremely unconven-tional way: The CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelle-her, accepted a challenge from the CEO of Stevens Avia-tion to settle their legal dispute with an arm-wrestling match. The plan was simple, bold — and totally outrageous: Whoever won the arm-wrestling match would keep the rights to the tagline!

Kelleher lost the match, but the media attention over the event generated so much good will and public interest in both companies that Stevens agreed to let Southwest use the line.

Was Herb Kelleher an exceptional business leader? Or was he just plain nuts? Most business analysts agree that his bold, audacious participation in this event was enough to keep him in the leadership spotlight for a long time.

Clearly, being bold and audacious can work in a CEO's favor, but it can backfire too. By participating in such a high-profile and thoroughly bizarre maneuver, Herb Kelle-her took a great risk, the risk of being perceived as a buf-foon. But I like to think that the mistakes he made earlier in his career taught him how to use good judgment. Expe-rience probably showed him how to weigh the possible out-comes of certain behaviors — so much so that when he agreed to participate in the arm-wrestling stunt he was ac-tually executing a well-planned strategy.

A CEO doesn't have to be unconventional to be suc-cessful, but he or she does need a core set of leadership skills that are considered vital to the organization's success.

Note: The arm-wrestling leadership story about Herb Kelleher is included in a great book called NUTS! South-west Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Suc-cess by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg (Bard Press, Austin, TX).

Why Write a Book About Networking? By Rod Colòn

May the souls of our lost on September 11, 2001 and

the families they left behind be comforted to know they will never be forgotten and always in our prayers.

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When friends learn that I wrote a book about network-ing they often ask, "Rod ... There are at least 15,000 books out there about networking. Why did you write another one?”

For one thing, this isn’t just another book about net-working. This book is about a bold new approach to find-ing jobs, clients, and business opportunities — as well as performing complete career makeovers. It’s about helping business professionals win the race for 21st century jobs.

The second reason for writing this book — a far more compelling reason in my view — is that it was the right thing to do and now was the right time to do it.

Many people out there are in pain. Their financial sit-uations are dire. They have lost their jobs, their life savings and in many cases, their self-respect while chasing around looking for a new position.

It's that "chasing around" part that started to bother me many years ago, long before today’s economic turmoil started creeping toward critical mass. It became obvious to me that far too many people were conducting their job searches in an illogical and self-defeating way. They were lured into the easy, deceptive world of Internet job boards where hunting for a job simply meant finding an interest-ing opening, uploading a resume and cover letter, clicking a few buttons, then waiting for a response.

I used to imagine job seekers sitting by the phone, wait-ing for that special call from a key decision-maker telling them that, yes, they’d been chosen for an interview and to please make all the necessary preparations.

But the folly of this approach is that the job board, at best, is nothing more than a piece of software. It cannot engage in meaningful two-way communication with hu-mans. Without a human-to-human “networking” compo-nent in the equation, how can anyone expect to get mean-ingful results?

This is the connectionless void in which so many peo-ple have spent thousands of hours toiling their lives away in the false hope that a database somewhere in cyberspace would electronically ride to their rescue, find them a job, reinstate the flow of money into their households, and make things right with the world again.

How much more wrong could they have possibly been?

Negotiation Techniques By Rod Colòn

Negotiations are unique to each individual and to each

individual client engagement. For every negotiation you undertake, maintain a CEO's mind-set with clarity and pur-pose as your goals. Ask yourself if this is a short-term gig or a long-term engagement. The answer is directly tied to the financial status of ME, Inc. Remember that this is a critical matter to your Personal Board of Directors. De-pending on the situation (if you're currently unemployed your compensation is zero) you may have to settle for a cli-ent on a short-term basis while you continue to look for better, mid- and long-term opportunities.

Other points about negotiations:

• This is a business to business discussion. You are a CEO so act accordingly.

• You are on equal footing with the client — provided you have a service the client is look-ing to engage.

• It's all about negotiating the details. • Depending on the level of mutual interest,

every offer has some wiggle room.

• Always ask “Is this your best offer?” • Never say "no". Instead, offer a counter pro-

posal that you are prepared to say "yes" to.

• If you're asked, it's OK to talk about money. If you're not asked, it's best to stick to the facts, then you can negotiate when you prove you're the best candidate for the job.

• When asked what salary you're looking for, reply “What are you budgeted for?” Always counter with a follow-up proposal.

• Ask your network for guidance prior to the ne-gotiations. Seek anecdotal information on the organization's salary and benefits programs.

• Use www.salary.comto give you a baseline idea about salaries.

• Unless there are other reasons for you to move (e.g., industry, core competency exper-tise, location, etc.), you are seeking at least a 20% bump in salary.

Lamplighter Survey

Lamplighter wants to hear from you. As you know, Lamp-lighter has changed since it first started and much of this change is due to the comments of our readers. Please take a few minutes to tell us what we're doing right and — it's hard to believe — what we are doing wrong.

Lamplighter Survey.

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• At times money may not be available but other benefits can be negotiated, (e.g., vaca-tion, training, bonus projection, title, future movement, large projects, more responsibil-ity, leadership within the organization or rep-resenting the organization externally to grow the network, tuition, association fees, etc.).

• You always have time to think about an offer; ask how much time you have and bring in your Personal Board of Directors to help you develop a great counterproposal.

• Saying “yes” doesn’t mean you're getting married; it just means you are being engaged y a client to do “X” for a period of time. Your commitment to each other is mutually benefi-cial. When the engagement is no longer mu-tually beneficial the relationship should end. Stay ahead of this process instead of being caught off guard. Never forget that your real work is running the business of ME, Inc.

• Employers pay you what the position is val-ued at, not what you are worth. Don't take this personally, simply consider it vital infor-mation about how they see the role and its importance to the organization.

• One special key to negotiations is this: Early in the interview process, make a compelling, up-front argument as to why you are the best candidate for the job. The earlier and more compelling the argument, the better your ne-gotiations will be.

• Never make the mistake of prematurely ask-ing for money, benefits, or perks during the interview. Why? These issues are part of the negotiation process. Knowing the difference demonstrates your business savvy.

• Build a foolproof case for yourself so the in-terviewers don't find any weakness to hold against you.

• We’re looking to bring you on board” … that’s a signal … so is "how soon can you start?” When the client makes the transition from be-ing a buyer to wanting to be sold, change your responses accordingly.

• An ideal negotiation is a win-win. If you push the client into a corner to get an unrealistic salary, you'll be off to a bad start. Instead, both parties should feel that they gave up a little to get a lot. As the CEO of ME, Inc., this is a skill you must continuously sharpen

The Influential Interview

By Jerrold (Jerry) Clifford

In one of my volunteer roles, I led a committee that

helped candidates find jobs by providing mock inter-views. One glaring characteristic of the interviews became obvi-ous to me - - - I noticed that interviews tended to follow a specific pattern. Individuals being interviewed tended to look at interviews merely as question and answer sessions. (The interviewer asks questions and the candidate answers them).

To get the best productive results from an interview, it should be bidirectional where the company finds out if the candidate is a good fit and the candidate deter-mines if the organization is one for which he/she would like to work. By allowing the one-way question/answer scenario to hap-pen, the candidate cedes control to the interviewer and lessens the opportunity to influence the company that he/she is the best candidate.

There are some things the candidate can do to help manage interviews. These include:

1. If you want your interview to reflect what you want, proactively participate in it. Ask questions. Besides giving you information that may help you better make your job se-lection easier, questions show enthusiasm for the job. This is one factor hiring man-agers look for in select-ing a candidate. Make sure the questions are appropriate to the interview. For example, don’t ask how many vaca-tion days you get in a technical interview or whether the company embraces IPV6 technology over IPV4 in an inter-view with HR. Do diligent research and ask questions di-rectly relating to the company and its industry.

2. Lead your interviewer. Get him/her to ask the questions you want asked. One way to do this is to include a “lead in” in your answer to a previous question. For ex-ample, suppose you want to inform the inter-viewer that you have strong skills in motivating people. If the inter-viewer doesn’t ask about this but did ask you to describe a time that you have saved your company some money, work your prompt into the answer. Instead of just stating that “I negotiated with the vendor and got the cost of our raw materials reduced by 20%” - - - you could say, “I motivated

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the vendor with whom I was negotiating to reduce his prod-uct cost by 20%.” If you were the questioner wouldn’t you want to know how?

3. Companies look for individuals who are a good fit. To help support this impression, try to find some common inter-ests with the interviewer. For example, if the inter-view is in the interviewer’s office, look around for personal items such as awards, family pictures or special interest magazines (flying, boats, sports, etc). If you enjoy, play, or read about tennis in the sports pages, saying something like “I see you have a tennis magazine, do you play?” can break the ice and help establish rapport.

While you may wish to influence the direction of the

interview, on the other hand, you don’t want to flirt or convey the impression of being too familiar with the inter-viewer. Personality can go a long way in setting the tone of an interview but since interview time is probably too late for a personality transplant just - - -

Be YOURSELF!

Welcome to Fall! Back to School and Job Search lessons

to learn…read on for more!

Record high U.S. job openings point to skills shortage

WASHINGTON, SEPT 9 | BY LUCIA MUTIKANI

U.S. job openings surged to a record high in July, but

a slightly slower pace of hiring suggested employers were having trouble finding qualified workers, a trend that could eventually boost wages.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased 430,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.8 million, the Labor De-partment said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Wednesday.

That was the highest level since the series started in December 2000 and pushed the jobs openings rate to 3.9 percent in July after holding steady at 3.6 percent for three straight months. Hiring, however, dipped to 5.0 million in

July from 5.2 million the prior month. The hiring rate slipped to 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent in June. Keep reading: http://www.reuters.com/arti-cle/2015/09/09/usa-economy-employment-idUSL1N11F18720150909

Why You Should Never Walk Into a Job In-terview Empty-Handed

How to create your own marketing toolkit to leave with employers.

By Chrissy Scivicque Sept. 9, 2015 | 11:07 a.m. EDT

First impressions matter. A job interview is indeed your first opportunity to impress upon a prospective em-ployer just how amazing you are. And yet many people make one really simple, easy-to-fix mistake that sets the tone for the entire thing: They walk in empty-handed.

I know what you're thinking: What the heck should I take with me? They already have my résumé and cover let-ter. They didn't request anything additional! What else do they need?

Well, before we get to that, let's talk about why you want to bring anything at all. And, to be clear, a purse or a briefcase storing your everyday things – keys, cellphone and so on – doesn't count, and neither does an applica-tion or background check agreement form the employer requested.

Keep reading: http://money.us-news.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-ca-reers/2015/09/09/why-you-should-never-walk-into-a-job-interview-empty-handed

Return of the tweets By Mario Trujillo - 07/21/15 06:00 AM EDT

There is nothing stopping scores of individuals and media outlets from starting their own private Polit-woops projects, said the manager for the now-defunct archive at the Sunlight Foundation.

Nicko Margolies is the 28-year-old Sunlight em-ployee who for the past three years largely ran Polit-woops, the tool that published the deleted tweets of lawmakers and political candidates.

During an interview with The Hill nearly two months after Twitter effectively killed the operation for violating its terms of service, Margolies said his sugges-tion should not be interpreted as a call to arms for other users to flout the social media company’s privacy policy.

“I would not be surprised if there are other people or organizations that are interested in this or finding

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ways around it, or just not doing it publicly,” he said. “That’s the other thing. We were following members of both parties. We were doing it in public. And we were allowing anyone to see these deletions. So really it was an accountability tool for everyone.” Read more: http://thehill.com/business-a-lobby-ing/lobbyist-profiles/248568-return-of-the-tweets

The New Age of Visual Storytelling

by Frederic Filloux

A new generation of photographers reinvents the way sto-ries are told. For their images, the weapons of choice are social networks and applications, video and mobile phones.

I’ve lived the golden age of photography. When I was a young newspaperman, photojournalists were kings, they made big money crisscrossing the world on prestigious as-signments for Time, Newsweek, Paris-Match, or elite photo agencies such as Sygma or Gamma. Twenty years later, quite a few photojournalists are now on welfare, others struggle with cheap commercial jobs, and the once prestigious agencies have all but vanished.

Moore’s Law has killed the genre in at least two ways.

Read more: http://www.monday-note.com/2015/07/05/the-new-age-of-visual-storytell-ing/

Top 10 mistakes in handling website images and how to solve them

by Itai LahanJan 30, 2013

inShare13

Images are a major part of any modern website. Im-ages nowadays account to more than 60% of a website's total bandwidth. This is even more pronounced when dealing with cutting-edge web design. On an image rich social website employing a Pinterest-like layout, this num-ber can reach upward of 85% (!).

Bandwidth is unfortunately a costly commodity. For high traffic websites, bandwidth will probably be responsi-ble for the majority of your IT costs, easily surpassing hosting and storage costs. In addition, such a large vol-ume of traffic takes time to consume, and so, when brows-ing your website, your visitors are likely to spend a lot of time waiting for images to load.

Looking at the IT costs from one end and visitor abandonment due to lengthy load times on the other, you would probably like to take a good look at how you man-age your images online. When every second passing re-

duces your website's overall conversion and ultimately rev-enues - it makes perfect sense to want to optimize your im-age and image delivery as much as possible. See the 10 mistakes at this link: http://cloudi-nary.com/blog/top_10_mistakes_in_handling_web-site_images_and_how_to_solve_them

Have a social media or great know-how article to

read and share? Email me! We will publish it in upcoming issues...

bndaisak@verizon.net

And many continued Thanks to Eric and Aida for

continual news to use! Your posts are always welcomed!

Check our next issue for another great Tech and Social Media Tip!

Don't You Love a Good Job Search Success Story? Here are Two!

By Brenda Bernstein, the Essay Expert

I love a good success story, don’t you? And, given my profession, I especially love a good job search success story. This week I heard two of them and I want you to be inspired by these two professionals who used their net-works and their talents to land jobs they love!

See the stories here>> http://theessayex-

pert.com/blog/dont-you-love-a-good-job-search-suc-cess-story-here-are-two/

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Why 6 Million Americans Would Rather Work Part Time

They don’t want to commit to one job or employer

By Jeff Green August 18, 2015 — 7:00 AM EDT

With jobs more plentiful these days, Matt Tait could easily find full-time work. But he wanted to focus on his wooden toy business and took a part-time gig at Team De-troit, Ford Motor’s advertising agency.

It’s a win-win. Tait’s boss is happy to have him be-cause the 31-year-old graphic designer’s outside activities make him more creative. And Tait has time to run Tait Design Co., which sells balsa airplanes and wooden yo-yos of his own design.

Six million Americans like Tait are choosing to work part time, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis-tics. Typically young and college-educated, they’re not do-ing so because personal or economic circumstances forced them to. Rather, many are abandoning the traditional ca-reer path their parents took and working just enough hours to pay the bills or pursue a passion: toy making, puppetry, nonprofit advocacy. Their numbers have in-creased 12 percent since 2007, according to the BLS, a shift with broad implications for hiring practices.

Keep reading>> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/ar-ticles/2015-08-18/why-6-million-americans-would-ra-ther-work-part-time

Three Rules Every Job-Seeker Needs To Break

By Liz Ryan Aug 23, 2015

You don’t fully grasp how strongly some of these an-cient job-search rules have embedded themselves in the collective job-search psyche until you ask people to break them.

Then you see that we’ve been trained since childhood to follow rules — anybody’s rules! It’s kind of scary from a sociological point of view. It’s hard to get people to break rules.

The good news is that the tiny sub-set of rule-breakers ends up ruling, in the colloquial sense — they get what they want.

They nudge an organization with broken systems — which is to say most organizations — to wake up and get a little better, and become a little more human.

The rule-breakers get good jobs and projects and then people scratch their heads and wonder “How did that guy get that job? I applied four different times through the ap-plicant portal. I didn’t even get a call back!”

Keep reading>> http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2015/08/23/three-rules-every-job-seeker-need-to-break/

How to Look For a Job If It’s Been 10+ Years Since You’ve Had To

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Lisa Rangel

If you’re a very experienced professional it may have been a while since the last time you looked for a job.

If you were lucky you got swooped up out of college and have been with the same company ever since. Now you’re starting to notice that being employed by the same company for life is a thing of the past. You may have no-ticed that even executives are changing jobs.

You’ve realized that it’s time to move on to bigger and better things, but you feel overwhelmed by all the changes that have happened since you last had to look. Use this handy guide to help you get back in the game.

See what Lisa suggests>> http://chameleonre-sumes.com/2014/05/18/how-to-look-for-a-job-if-its-been-10-years-since-youve-had-to/

8 Things That Make You Look Like a Weirdo to Hiring Managers

These behaviors will raise some eyebrows and ruin

your job search. By Alison GreenAug. 24, 2015 | 9:00 a.m. EDT

Getting a job isn't just about having strong qualifica-tions. It's also about being someone who hiring managers want to hire and work with every day. That means they're paying attention to how you operate and whether you un-derstand business norms at every stage of the hiring pro-cess, from the very first contact.

There are a few things some job candidates do that

function as flashing neon signs of weirdness to employers. Here are eight of them: See them at this link>> http://money.us-news.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-ca-reers/2015/08/24/8-things-that-make-you-look-like-a-weirdo-to-hiring-managers

Want a job? Improve your social skills By Heather Long @byHeatherLong

People can meet the love of their lives just about any-

where. The same is true for landing a job. Joshua Wolfe's break came at the soda machine.

Wolfe was getting a drink refill at a restaurant when he

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recognized the company logo on the shirt of the man standing next to him.

"How's the wonderful world of rent-to-own?" Wolfe, who lives in Oklahoma, asked the man.

That simple question led to about a half-hour conver-sation and an invite for a formal job interview a few days later. It turns out that the other man at the soda machine was a regional manager for Aaron's, a rent-to-own furni-ture and appliance company.

Wolfe started as a customer accounts manager at Aa-ron's a few weeks later at the end of 2014.

"My advice is always: never stop looking," Wolfe, who's in his late 20s, told CNNMoney. There’s more to see>>http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/01/news/econ-omy/job-search-social-skills/index.html

Will That Certification Actually Get You a Job? Susan Hall 11/21/2014

Those willing to spend the time and money to earn a

certification must feel that it will boost their careers. But experience often trumps certification, according to IT ca-reer experts.

With the IT unemployment rate at just 3 percent, many companies aren’t putting many limitations on the candidate pool, according to John Reed, senior executive director for staffing firm Robert Half Technology: “A lot of things that might have been ‘must haves’ are becoming ‘nice-to-haves’ now.”

See the full article: http://in-sights.dice.com/2014/11/21/will-that-certification-ac-tually-get-you-a-job/

How to Write a Tech Résumé Dice Staff 09/01/2015

A résumé is the story of you, limited to one page, that

tells an employer why they should hire you for a tech posi-tion. It is a collection of your best professional moments, arranged to highlight your skills and experience. If exe-cuted properly, it will prove a major element in securing you that awesome new position; done poorly, it will be-come a significant impediment to landing anything at all. See if these tips will strengthen your résumé: http://insights.dice.com/2015/09/01/how-to-write-a-tech-resume/

Five Reasons Why Your 'Perfect Resume' Still Isn't Leading To Job Interviews

By Caroline Ceniza-Levine September 13, 2015

Most job seekers spend most of their time (and worry) perfecting their resume, then submitting dozens if not hundreds of applications online, only to land a few, if any, job interviews. You might even refine your resume based on feedback from recruiters like me, prioritizing the five items on your resume that recruiters notice first. Still no bites? The submitted resume pile is actually not the first (or second or third) place that recruiters look for can-didates. In fact, there are five resources recruiters always tap before reviewing resume applications, and these five competitors are why your perfect resume still isn’t leading to job interviews: See Caroline’s reasons here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolineceniza-levine/2015/09/13/five-reasons-why-your-perfect-re-sume-still-isnt-leading-to-job-interviews/

Clouds ahead: What an IT career will look like five years out

By Paul Heltzel InfoWorld | Sep 14, 2015

Don't get us wrong: In today's quickly evolving tech

world, it's easy to get lost chasing the turbulent present moment. The pace of change can be dizzying, and keeping up on everything that's emerging in IT today can drive even the most devoted tech worker to distraction.

But IT pros who don't take the time to lift their heads and assess the likely IT landscape five years out may be asking for career trouble. Because one fact is clear: Organ-izations of all stripes are increasingly moving IT infrastruc-ture to the cloud. In fact, most IT pros who've pulled all-nighters, swapping in hard drives or upgrading systems while co-workers slept, probably won't recognize their of-fices' IT architecture -- or the lack thereof -- in five years. See the future of IT here: http://www.computer-world.com/article/2981905/it-careers/clouds-ahead-what-an-it-career-will-look-like-five-years-out.html

10 Ways to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Scream “Hire Me!”

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Wayne Breitbarth

Whether you’re just graduating from college and look-ing for your first great job or a 30-year workforce veteran

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looking for your next job, your Linked profile – and specif-ically the ‘Experience’ sections – will make you… or break you.

Here are 10 ways to fire up those sections in your LinkedIn profile, and use this prime real estate to tell your unique “Hire Me!” story! Article continues here: http://www.youtern.com/the-savvyintern/index.php/2015/02/15/10-ways-to-make-your-linkedin-profile-scream-hire-me/

Sentence Punctuation Patterns Contributors:Dana Lynn Driscoll, Allen Brizee

To punctuate a sentence, you can use and combine some of these patterns. For more information on inde-pendent and dependent clauses plus independent and de-pendent markers, see our handouts on those subjects. See this article at this link: https://owl.english.pur-due.edu/owl/resource/604/1/

Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses

Contributors:Chris Berry, Allen Brizee

When you want to use commas and semicolons in sentences and when you are concerned about whether a sentence is or is not a fragment, a good way to start is to be able to recognize dependent and independent clauses. The definitions offered here will help you with this. See this article at this link: https://owl.english.pur-due.edu/owl/resource/598/1/

A Brief History of Punctuation Where Do the Marks of Punctuation Come From

and Who Made Up the Rules? By Richard Nordquist Grammar & Composition Ex-pert

My attitude toward punctuation is that it ought to be as conventional as possible. . . . You ought to be able to show that you can do it a good deal better than anyone

else with the regular tools before you have a license to bring in your own improvements. (Ernest Hemingway, letter to Horace Liveright, May 22, 1925)

Hemingway's attitude toward punctuation sounds em-

inently sensible: make sure that you know the rules before you break them.

Sensible, maybe, but not entirely satisfactory. After all, just who made up these rules (or conventions) in the first place?

Join us as we look for answers in this brief history of punctuation. See this article at this link: http://gram-mar.about.com/od/punctuationandmechan-ics/a/PunctuationHistory.htm

10 Quick Tips to Improve Your Writing By Richard Nordquist Grammar & Composition Ex-pert

Whether we're composing a blog or a business letter, an email or an essay, our usual goal is to respond clearly and directly to the needs and interests of our readers. These 10 tips should help us sharpen our writing when-ever we set out to inform or persuade. See this article at this link: http://gram-mar.about.com/od/developingessays/a/quicktips.htm

Overused words

Nothing betrays the lazy writer faster than fly-blown phrases used in the belief that they are snappy, trendy or cool. Some of these clichés are deliberately chosen (bridges too far; empires striking back; kinder, gentler; f-words; fla-vours of the month; Generation x; hearts and minds; $64,000 questions; southern discomfort; back to the fu-ture; shaken, not stirred; thirty-somethings; windows of op-portunity; where's the beef?), usually from a film or televi-sion, or perhaps a politician. Others come into use less wit-tingly, often from social scientists. If you find yourself using any of the following vogue words, you should stop and ask yourself whether (a) it is the best word for the job (b) you would have used it in the same context five or ten years ago, and if not why not: NOTE: The following link gives alternatives to overused words. Keep reading: http://www.economist.com/style-guide/overused-words

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Although this occurred in September and many of you saw this message, Lamplighter proudly displays it again. Take a look at the Own Your Career web site for more

information.

Tonight on Own Your Career

Celebrating Own Your Career’s

100th Show

Host: Rod Colon

Date: Monday, September 21, 2015

Time: 9:00 PM (ET) / 8:00 PM (CT)

Listen-In: www.BlogTalkRadio.com/OwnYourCareer

From the staff of Lamplighter Newsletter: Congratulations to Rod, Carl, and all past and present ETP members.

Membership Meeting - Professional Development and Emerging Professionals October 13, 2015

When: Tuesday October 13, 2015 from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM EDT Where: Pfizer International Headquarters

235 East 42nd Street New York City, NY, NY 10017

Tuesday, October 13, 2015 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Rod Colon has a unique perspective on what it takes to succeed in today's global economy and presents keynotes at corpora-tions, conventions, colleges and universities across the globe, including China, India and the Philippines. He provides real-world, 21st century solutions for people in all types of career management situations, based on thirty years of experience in corporate HR and staffing.

Click the hyperlink to Register Now!* or click ISM Meeting Details for more information

Confirmations will be sent Monday October 12, 2015 *ISM-New York New Membership Offer: If you join ISM-New York as a New regular member after the October 13th meet-ing, we will apply your guest fee against the new regular membership fee ($45 one time savings).This offer applies to individ-uals who register in advance and attend the meeting, have never held membership before or haven't been a member in over a year. Look for our special membership application at the meeting. When you register* Please remember to register early for the meeting as space is limited and we want to be sure you have the opportunity to be part of this exciting event. We are counting on your attendance as funds are committed with your reservation. In the event that you are not able to attend, early notification is greatly appreciated. All members and guests who have registered must have photo ID and confirmations will be sent by October 12, 2015.

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Lamplighter Contributors

Jerrold (Jerry) Clifford is a project/program Management, PMO management and strategic Project planning specialist with advanced expertise in managing multiple, concurrent, highly visible projects and rescuing troubled projects. He is the author of several books including Computer Mathematics Handbook, Modern Electronics Math, Handbook for Electricians, Complete Car Owners Manual, and Basic Woodworking & Car-pentry. He is also the recipient of the President’sVolunteer Service Award from President Obama.

Rod Colon Career Strategist, Corporate Trainer, Motivational Speaker,Radio Show Host, Author and Master Networker. Professional Training & Coaching - Greater New York CityArea Current: Rod Colon Consulting, LLC, InclusionINC, Wolters Kluwer Health

Carl E. Reid, CSI Chief Savvy @Intrapreneur Empowering People to AchieveEXTRAORDINARY RESULTS Greater New York City Area - ManagementConsulting Current: Empowering Today's Professionals, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Amanda Sherman Founding Member C.E.M.P.A -Charlotte Event & Meeting Planners Association Charlotte, North Carolina Area Events Services Current Charlotte Event & Meeting Planners Association, APS Events and Travel, Empowering Todays Professionals

Lamplighter Staff

Adelaida (Aida) Rodriguez is the Editor-in-Chief and Contributing Writer of the Lamplighter Newsletter. She is a Project Manager Professional (PMP), Business Analyst/ Consultant at the War-ranty Recovery Specialist, LLC

Barbara Daisak is the Lamplighter Contributing Writer & Proofreader. In addition, she is a Learn-ing, Training, & Development Specialist and Microsoft Certified Master Instructor. Barb is also an Instructor Adjunct with the County Colleges of New Jersey with specialties in the Technology Train-ing Divisions and Corporate Training Programs. Phone Numbers:732.863.4948 ― 732.616.2397-mobile Email Barbara at: bndaisak@verizon.net

Eric Nilsson is the Compositor and Contributing Writer for Lamplighter. Eric enjoys the art and science of newspaper layout. He has been an IT consultant at the Professional Service Group of New Brunswick and previously worked for North Jersey Media Group (Bergen Evening Record) as a Pro-ject Manager and Programmer/Analyst. Interests include economics, history, and journalism. Email: ericnilsson@earthlink.net; LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ericsnilsson