How to Leave the Perfect Voicemail

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I’m not a big fan of voicemail. I don’t mind leaving voicemail messages; I just hate having to listen to them. For some strange reason when people know their voice is being recorded, their brain short circuits. What normally would take 30 seconds to say, now takes 2 minutes.

I don’t mind it so much for people I know. I have to deal with them on a daily basis, so I can’t hold voicemail grudges against them. However, if someone cold calls me or it’s just an acquaintance that calls, a crappy voicemail annoys me and leaves a bad impression.

I know. It’s superficial, but I’m human. But a prospective employer or client is also human, so there’s a good chance that crappy, unclear, and long voicemails annoy them too.So, for your consideration, here are 10 tips to help you leave the perfect voicemail and, consequently, a good impression.

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Make Your Resume Pop

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Every six months or so, it’s a good idea to update your résumé. Even if you’re not in the market for a new job, it’s something you should do. You never know when an opportunity for advancement within your current organization will arise or when you’ll get that dreaded pink slip. It’s at these moments when an up-to-date résumé comes in really handy.

While you’re updating your information on your résumé, why not take some time to make some small changes that can really make it pop?

Get rid of the Microsoft Word Templates. Part of making a résumé pop is having a unique layout. It’s hard to be unique if you use the same template that every other candidate is using. There are plenty of great résumé templates out there. Take the ones you like and mesh them together to make your own unique layout.

Use bullets, bold, and italics effectively. You want to make your résumé as scannable as possible. Use formatting to assist in this.

Give figures and be specific. In your past job descriptions or volunteer section, give specific figures of what you accomplished while holding that position. For example, I used to train third party verifiers for gas and electric companies. Instead of just putting “trainer”, I put “Trained 15 new employees on how to perform third party verifications.” If your only job experience are part time jobs during college, put down how many hours you worked during a week while going to school full time. This shows employers that you know how to multi task and manage your time.

Be confident. Your résumé is not the time to be modest. Your goal is to sell yourself to the interviewer. If you have a big accomplishment, make sure to include it. Be proud!

Read up on copywriting. Copywriting is the art of writing to sell. By studying copywriting you can learn which words are the most effective and powerful in getting your message across. A great place to start is Copyblogger.com. Also, go by your library. There are tons of books on copywriting.

Don’t lie. This is a given, but you’d be surprised by the number of people who fudge their résumés. You can make yourself look good without having to be dishonest. Nothing can hurt your reputation more than lying on your résumé.

Check for grammar and spelling errors. Repeat. Then repeat again. Remember, your résumé is a reflection of you. If it’s full of typos, recruiters will automatically assume you do sloppy work. Take the time to edit your résumé again and again. Have your friends take a look at it as well for editing purposes.

Give your résumé a face lift. Head on over to LifeClever for some awesome tips on how to spruce up your résumé. They offer several design tips in order to make your resume easier on the eyes.

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Make Yourself Stick With These First Impression Tips

When you’re interviewing for a job, one of the keys to success is your first impression. If you’re about to go in for an interview, maybe its time to re-evaluate the first impression you give off. Do you come off as likable? Do you exude professionalism and charm?

The goal of every first impression is to stick to a person’s brain. You want them to instantly like you and to keep thinking about you hours or even days after your first met them. Here are few things we can all do to give a killer first impression.

Dress to impress. You don’t want to walk into an interview looking like a slob. If you look sloppy, people will assume you do sloppy work. Look neat and presentable. Also, dress so you’ll fit in with the people who are interviewing you. For attorneys that means conservative suits, white shirts, and ties. If your job is more creative, say like a graphic designer, dress so it looks like you’re creative.

Look fit. People are attracted to people in good physical shape. If you’re out of shape, start heading to the gym everyday for 30 minutes of cardio and strength training. Also, quit eating junk and start eating healthy.

Give an impressive handshake. The first handshake is a key part in giving a good first impression.

Focus on speaking. Speak clearly and at a moderate pace. Work on varying your voice intonation. You don’t want to come off as a monotone bore. Also, speak the language of the person interviewing you. Avoid slang and jargon not associated with the job you’re interviewing for. Use proper grammar and vocabulary that reflects a higher education. If people can’t understand you, it’s hard for them to like you.

Use the person’s name. Using the interviewer’s name makes the conversation more personable. It also shows that you were paying attention during introductions and that the other person was important enough for you to memorize their name. However, avoid overusing a person’s name. Too much name use is off putting because it sounds fake and a little bit creepy.

Let the person know you’re listening. If it looks like you’re not listening, people will be turned off. Give subtle hints that you’re listening such as looking the person in the eye, nodding, and saying an occasional “I see.” Also , ask questions about what someone had just said. It shows you’ve been paying attention and that you want to know more about what they’re saying. Finally, don’t interrupt.

Shine the spotlight on the other person. The secret to charm is directing attention away from you and on to the other person. Avoid blabbing about yourself and start asking questions about the other person. Great questions to ask in an interview include:

• “How did you end up at (name of company)?”
• “What drew you to (name of company)?
• What do you like most about working at (name of company)?”

You’ll not only get key insights about your potential employer, but the questions also require the interviewer to talk about themselves and people love talking about themselves.

What other things can we do to give a good first impression? Drop a comment and add to the conversation.

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How To Ask For (And Get) A Raise Like a Man

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from The Art of Manliness reader and my good friend, Josh Wilsie.

One of the fastest and easiest ways to increase your income is to ask for a raise. But some men’s palms get clammy just thinking about doing so. Here are five tips on how to ask (and get) the raise you deserve.

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3 Lame Excuses For Not Saving

It’s common knowledge that if you want to be wealthy, you have to save and invest. But looking at statistics, it seems this knowledge is becoming less and less common. In 2005, the United States recorded a negative savings rate for the first time since the Great Depression. We live in one of the most prosperous times in the history of the world, yet we’re not saving. Why?

Well, here’s a short list of lame excuses that people give to justify not saving.

1. I’ll do it later. This is a common excuse among young people and probably the lamest. A young person in their 20s thinks “I’ve got 60 years to save money. I need to enjoy myself now.”  If you’re in your 20’s, NOW is the time to save. You have plenty of time to let the magic of compound interest grow your wealth. Start young and you can save less and still make more money in the long run than if you started to save later.

To give you an example of the power of compound interest, consider two different people- Jack and Jill. They’re both 22 years old and both have an extra $2,000 a year. Jack takes his extra $2,000 and socks it away in a IRA Account with a 12% return. Jill on the other hand spends her $2,000.

Jack saves $2,000 a year for 6 years and doesn’t save a dime after that.  Jill spends her extra $2,000 a year for 6 years, but decides she should start thinking about the future. She finally opens up an IRA account with the same 12% interest that Jack gets. She invests $2,000 each year until she’s 65. The chart below shows the value of Jack and Jill’s respective accounts when they’re 22 years old. Remember that Jack only invested $12,000 while Jill invested $74,000.

Age	Jack	Jill
22	$2,240	$0
23	4,509	0
24	7,050	0
25	9,896	0
26	13,083	0
27	16,653	0
28	18,652	2,240
29	20,890	4,509
30	23,397	7,050
35	41,233	25,130
40	72,667	56,993
45	128,064	113,147
50	225,692	212,598
55	397,746	386,516
60	700,965	693,879
65	1,235,339	1,235,557

They ended up with the same amount, but Jack saved less. Imagine how much Jack would have he kept saving $2,000 a year after the first six years. Whoa! He would have been a millionaire a couple times over.

2 . I don’t make enough money.  If you earn a paycheck, you earn enough to save. It doesn’t have to be much. Start off small. Sock away 5% of any income you make into a high yield savings account. You’ll be amazed how little contributions can add up quickly. Gradually work your savings up to 15% of your income. Whenever you get a windfall like Christmas gifts or a tax return, put half in the bank. With slow, gradual saving you’ll find yourself with a small fortune.

3. I deserve a little luxury in my life. Many people sabotage their savings plans by taking the money and splurging on stuff they don’t need. Usually the justification is they’ve worked hard and deserve the splurge. I’m battling this excuse in my life right now. I really want to buy a Macbook. I have the money for it and could easily go to the Apple Store and buy one. I justify the excuse by telling myself I’ve earned it from the hard work I’ve done and the sacrifices I’ve made saving. But do I really want to lose $1,000 in savings for something I don’t really need? No way.

Instead of looking at “things” as luxuries, think of saving as a luxury. When you save, you’re giving yourself the luxury of financial freedom. How nice would it be to not have to worry about money? Pretty dang awesome.

What some other lame excuses that you hear people give for not saving money? Drop a line in the conversation box and add to the conversation.

How To Become the “Go-to Guy” at Work

Do you feel like your career is in a rut? When was the last time you got a promotion or a raise? That long, huh? The best way you can get your career moving on the right track is to become the “go-to guy” at work. What is a go-to guy? You’ve seen these people before. They’re the ones who your boss and all your colleagues seek out for advice or to get something done. These people have made themselves indispensable at work. Therefore, they can leverage this to their benefit in negotiations for a raise or a promotion.

There’s no secret to becoming the go-to guy at work. You don’t have to be witty or charismatic. It just takes some good old fashioned hard work and some initiative from you.

Become the Man at Work

Volunteer for extra assignments. Whenever an opportunity arises for more work, take it on and do it well. Your boss will start noticing and you’ll gain his confidence. The great British Navy Admiral, Horatio Nelson, applied this principle throughout his entire career in the Navy. He took on extra jobs cheerfully and did them well. He soon earned a reputation as the go-to guy on all the ships he staffed. He was eventually rewarded by being made captain of his own ship when he was just 23. Nelson continued taking on more responsibilities until he was finally made the head of the entire British fleet.

Sure, it will be more work, but if you really want to rocket your career, you’re going to have to make the sacrifice.

Talk with as many colleagues as you can everyday. Make it a goal everyday to talk with at least 10 of your colleagues each day. If you have less than 10, then talk with them all. If you want to become the go-to guy, people at work have to know you exist. This can’t happen if you’re stuck in your cubicle all day. Take breaks throughout the day to shoot the breeze with your colleagues. Of course you don’t want to interrupt them, so find moments when they’re free to talk. Lunch time is perfect for conversations with your colleagues. Talk about anything with them. Work, family, sports. The idea is to get yourself out there so people can get to know you.

Start a blog on your industry. Blogs are a great tool to market yourself at work. Link to news clips affecting your industry and add your personal commentary on it. This shows your boss and colleagues two things. 1) You’re informed. Informed employees are assets to their companies. 2) You’re thinking about the issues your industry is facing in a critical way. Your commentary will show your boss that you’re taking initiative in confronting issues that affect your company. This is always impressive.

Setting up a blog is a breeze. You can do it for free through Blogger or Wordpress.com. Start yours today.

Join committees. Your company probably has lots of opportunities to get involved with committees. Get on one, even if it’s the committee that plans the company picnic. Committee work is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your leadership skills and is a chance for you to make new contacts. If your boss sees that you can run an awesome picnic, you plant the seed in his head that you can also run your department.

Just do it, damn it. Like all advice given on this site, the overriding principle is that you need to do something today. Find something you can do to make yourself the go-to guy at work right now and get to work on it. Start that blog account; sign up for that committee; take a colleague out to lunch; or volunteer for that extra assignment. With a little extra work, you’ll soon be the go to guy at work.

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Shift Out of Neutral: 4 Easy Steps To Get Motivated and Get Moving In Life

Are you still living in mom and dad’s basement playing Guitar Hero all night? Stuck in a dead end job that pays minimum wage? Have you still not finished school? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re not alone. Studies have shown that men ages 21 to 33 have turned into a bunch of unmovtivated slackers. Meanwhile, women the same age are finishing school, starting businesses, and buying homes. You know… they’re being adults.

If you’re tired of your lackluster and boring life and are ready to shift out of neutral, here are 4 steps to get you motivated and on the right track.

1. Establish goals. Turn the X-Box off for 3o minutes and grab a pen and paper. Write down the goals you’d like to accomplish within the next year, next five years, and in your lifetime. Tired of living with mom and dad? Make it a goal to be in your own place by the end of the year. Want to make more money? Make it a goal to go back to school and finish within the next four years.

2. Discover the benefits. After you have established some goals figure out what the benefits are of fulfilling them. A good reason for moving out of mom and dad’s place is that women don’t want to be with a guy who hasn’t gotten it together enough to get a place of his own. Don’t be like the Entertainer from “I Love New York.” The guy was on his way to winning the love of Ms. New York (why he would want to win her love completely baffles me). But as soon as she found out he was still living with mom and dad, New York dropped him like a bad habit. A benefit of finishing school is more money. Study after study shows that men with college degrees make a ton more money during their lifetime than men who don’t.

3. Just do it, damn it. Don’t wait around for the right time or the right opportunity to appear. There never will be a right time or right opportunity. Just get to work. If you want to move out of your parents’ house, start looking at apartments today. If you want to go back to school, go talk to an admissions adviser today. As you start taking action, you’ll be surprised at how motivated you’ll feel to keep going. Opportunities that you would never have thought would be available to you will start showing up. What are you waiting for? Get to work!

4. Partner up. Don’t go it alone. Tell a friend about your goals and share your progress and setbacks with them. Having someone to talk to holds you accountable and can help keep you motivated. If you need help with something, ask for it. Your friends and family might know people who know people that can help you fulfill your goals.

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