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Category: Career

1-Minute Strategies: July ’10

Interviewing for a job? Ask whether this is a new position or whether you are replacing someone … Avoid misunderstandings by asking others to repeat what they heard … Trade in old electronics for cash or discounts … Humanize interoffice communication by relaxing some of the grammar rules you grew up with …

Got an idea? Make it happen

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration,” Thomas Edison once said. Making ideas happen is usually more difficult and time-consuming than announcing it in the first place. Jack Dorsey, creator and co-founder of Twitter, offers these tips for making ideas happen:

Re-evaluating an extra 10 pounds

This should come as good news to anyone struggling to keep up with a demanding daily exercise schedule—and feeling guilty when schedule conflicts get in the way of gym time: A body of research suggests that there’s little risk to carrying a few extra pounds—and there may even be some benefit. Still, there’s a big difference between carrying a few extra pounds and being obese.

You: The secret workplace weapon

Administrative professionals could be a secret weapon in helping companies bounce back from the recession. New research by OfficeTeam and the IAAP shows admins are moving beyond their traditional roles to take on responsibilities in areas such as cost control, technology and the use of social media, hiring and corporate social responsibility.

What are your job accomplishments?

Someday, hopefully not too terribly soon, you’ll be looking for another job. And when that happens, you’ll need to sharpen your résumé so that it captures the attention of hiring managers. The main focus on your résumé should be itemizing victories, so that your future boss can imagine you doing the same things for him.

Get ahead by being cross-functional

Consider two administrative assistants within the same company: Tara forges relationships across departmental lines while Max is mainly interested in meeting his team’s needs. When it’s time for company leadership to tap employees to work on a new, interdepartmental project, whom do you think they’ll pick?

Dare not to compare

I feel passionate about how much time we waste comparing ourselves to others. We make assumptions about their lives, rather than recognize that they, too, struggle with their own limiting beliefs, challenges and self-doubts. If we compare ourselves only to the superachievers, we’re always going to walk away thinking we’re not good enough. We need to acknowledge that we are doing our best daily and give ourselves credit for all our efforts.

Top 5 reasons job hunters fail

Many of the mistakes people make when job hunting could be avoided, says Robin Ryan, a vocational counselor. “I divide my time between talking to hiring executives, HR folks and working with job search clients. This gives me a very broad view of what people do that works, and what trips them up—often without realizing it,” Ryan says. The top reasons job hunters fail: