
Business and Career Articles To Help Executive and Business Women Succeed!

While college admission officers are increasingly making use of students’ social media profiles to know more about applicants, it need not necessarily be a bane completely
In fact, a study by Kaplan Test Prep in 2010 proves otherwise. A total of 386 colleges and universities participated in the survey and its analysis show that 82 percent of college admission officers make use of Facebook for student recruitment and further, 80 percent of the college admission officers received friend requests from the students seeking admission. Thus, it will be safe to assume that social networks can be beneficial for college admissions. In this article, we highlight some of the benefits.

The top companies understand that the high performance job seeker is looking for more than just a paycheck,
that provide attractive incentives to career candidates.
On the flip-side, employers also know that by offering on-site wellness programs, they are likely to better control health insurance premium costs, experience fewer employee sick days, and increase productivity when their employees are happy and healthy.
A 2010 Harvard University special report on the benefits of wellness programs in the workplace found that, “medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent.” Over the years, there have been numerous independent studies conducted, and they all indicate that investing in employee health and wellness makes sense from a business standpoint.

Women bring a different approach and perspective to leadership
In 2010 women made up only 12.5% of corporate board members. This was up from 9.4% in 2004 but the rate of increase is too slow. At the current rate of change it will take over 70 years to achieve gender-balanced boardrooms in the UK!*
So what, does it really matter?
Primarily the issue is about improving business performance not necessarily promoting equal opportunities for women yet there is a strong business case for a more balanced approach. Inclusive and diverse boards are more likely to be effective, better able to understand customers and stakeholders and to benefit from fresh perspectives and new ideas. This in turn leads to better decision making.

The concept of timeliness is only one of the many nonverbal variants you encounter when doing business internationally
On a speaking tour a few years ago, I traveled from the United Arab Emirates to China to India to Malaysia to the Philippines to Indonesia – and it seemed to me that in each country, the audience was arriving later and later. When I reached Jakarta, my program was scheduled for 7:00 p.m. “Just ignore that announcement,” I was advised. “We tell people to get here at seven, hoping they will arrive by eight. But just to be on the safe side, we never begin the program before nine.”
Contrast that to a recent experience in Toronto where my speech was scheduled to open the conference at 8:00 a.m. In order to check the audio-visual equipment I arrived an hour early, only to see a line of people already standing outside the auditorium. Concerned that I had misunderstood the agenda, I grabbed the meeting planner. “Don’t worry, “ she assured me, “you’ve got plenty of time. We Canadians just have a habit of getting places early.”
Here’s the question: Which was right – the Indonesian concept of “rubber time” or the Canadian view of promptness?
Your answer, of course, depends on the cultural standards you grew up with --because different cultures relate to time very differently.
Body language is the management of time, space, appearance, posture, gesture, touch, facial expression, eye contact, and voice. The concept of timeliness is only one of the many nonverbal variants you encounter when doing business internationally.

Become the ‘TOP CHEF” of Your Career Change
Career reinvention is a lot like cooking and YOU are the top chef! Use your passion and the ingredients you’ve been given to create the career of your dreams full of flavors, layers and balance.
More people than ever are questioning their current career path either because they have to, or better yet simply want to! Consider this data: 23 year low in job satisfaction (Harvard Business School), 84% of people say they will look for a new job in 2011 (Business News Daily)
Your career change, transition and reinvention is really about taking who you are, what you do and making it relevant and effective in today’s business environment. That may require some reinvention.
I admit it I LOVE the Food Network and Bravo cooking and chef reality shows. Although I don’t cook regularly, I absolutely see how “Career reinvention is a lot like cooking”.
On the Food Channels Chopped, they have 4 chefs go head to head through 3 courses: appetizer, main course and dessert using a basket of 4 diverse, often not complimentary ingredients. They use their style and these ingredients as the base (you and your skills), find a way to mix them together (re-purpose and adapt you and your skills), plate and present them (re-brand and put yourself out there).
The process of cooking and career change are quite similar. You take your passion and expertise, together with your skills and qualities, prepare them , mix them together, present them and serve them!