career Archives | Page 42 of 47

Improve Your Business With Employee Engagement

Do you want to increase your employee’s happiness, safety, participation, and good health? Then, you have to be familiar with the term called “Employee Engagement”. Employee Engagement is an approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to the organization’s values and goals. This later leads to organizational success.

The benefits of Employee Engagement are tremendous.

For instance, a study examined 168 engaged and disengaged employees to measure their stress levels and health indicators. Findings showed that engaged employees reported lower stress as well as improved cholesterol and blood pressure readings. Not only that, they engaged employees are proven to perform better by producing better results. Lastly, research showed that engaged employees have a lower chance (i.e., 5 times less) of experiencing accidents at work than their disengaged counterparts.

Having this in mind, you must know that Employee Engagement is one of the most important things to manage and to measure an organization. Measuring employee engagement may seem like a challenge as it focuses on specific areas of the organization’s strengths and gaps. This shall be observed in a personal and a group level through monthly or yearly surveys.

To boost and manage the employee engagement, here are a few steps you may take:

1. ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR STRENGTHS AND CAPABILITIES

Recognizing the employee’s strengths and capabilities does not always have to be monetary. A respectful acknowledgement of the contributions they have made is enough. Never forget to give your employees flexibility to explore how they can contribute best by allowing feedbacks.

2. CREATE TRANSPARENCY

An organization with transparency creates a room for engagement and a sense of significance. Transparency exists when the leader is comfortable enough to share his or her success to the team.

3. EMPOWER THEM

To enable active participation, put your employees in the position of influence. For example, let them lead a project and choose whom they want to collaborate with. This simple deed will make them realize their own potentials.

Image Credits: thetaxhaven via Flickr with Creative Commons License

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

You’d Be Surprise At How Much YouTube’s Grandest Stars Make (Hint: Up To 8 Figures)

Gone are the days that we rely on MTV to show as the latest music hits. Nowadays, with a stroke of the keyboard, we can just browse our favorite music video and play it on the loop. This was made possible by a website called YouTube.

Since its inception, YouTube has paved way for local stars like Justin Bieber or Ryan Higa to emerge in the worldwide scene. It is surely incredible that the founders named Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim created it about a decade ago. In 2006, Google bought it for US$1.65 billion – a price that we currently know as a serious bargain! Good move for Google indeed.

As the rise of the visitors coming to YouTube increase, the revenue of the renowned YouTube stars also increase. Personally, I am curious to know their yearly earnings. With the combination of the recent data available, here are the estimate yearly earnings of YouTube’s brightest. But bear in mind that YouTube takes 45% of the ad revenue. And, these numbers exclude that.

4. SMOSH

The comedy tandem behind the SMOSH is consisting of Anthony Padilla and his friend, Ian Hecox. They usually do amusing sketches, lip-sync videos, or just about anything funny they find on the web. This attracted 20,686,912 subscribers with about 4 billion total views! If you are shocked with those numbers then, brace yourself as they make an estimate of US$336,000-$5.4 million yearly.

3. BLUCOLLECTION

In 2010, BluCollection ToyCollector‘s maker had created children-friendly videos in English, Portuguese, and Español. These children-friendly videos are purely unboxing, trying out, and reviewing of toys and play sets. Interestingly, his collection of videos had attracted about 2,158,228 subscribers and a total of over 3 billion views! Well, those numbers added to an estimate of US$585,200-$9.4 million yearly earnings.

2. PEWDIEPIE

One of my all-time favorite YouTubers is PewDiePie. Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (real name) lives the life he dreamt. He is making money on doing what he wants: playing video games. With the most number of subscribers on the list (37,436,585 subscribers), PewDiePie’s humorous commentary videos have garnered about 9 billion views! It has been estimated that he makes about US$896,100-$14.3 million yearly.

1. FUNTOYZCOLLECTOR (Previously: DISNEYCOLLECTORBR)

A channel filled with videos of a simple premise: to unbox and demonstrate the toys made by Disney, Pixar, and so on. With a staggering amount of 4,774,148 subscribers and a total of over 6 billion views, FunToyzCollector proves to be one of YouTube’s elite. She has an estimate of US$1 million-$16.6 million yearly.

How Does One Get There?

In 2014, New York Times did a case study of a full-time YouTube channel creator named Olga Kay. Olga has nearly a million subscribers to date. And, at that time, she has earned about US$100,000-$130,000 per year. Her earnings are brought by the combination of advertising, sponsorships, and merchandising. Her channel cost include hiring an editor that is paid about US$500-$700 a week.

To put the advertising revenue in perspective, a video with ads makes about US$7.60 per 1,000 ad views. That is a down rate compared to US$9.35 per 1,000 ad views in 2012. Furthermore, YouTube gets 45% from the total ad revenue.

With the diminishing rates of ads and all the effort put into production, Olga shares to New York Times that: “But we think if we were coming to YouTube today, it would be too hard. We couldn’t do it.”

Although being a YouTube star is a viable career, it may not be for everybody.

Sources: 1,2, & 3

Want To Land The Job? Take It From The World’s Most Innovative CVs

Building a creative Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume pays off especially if it is artistically suited to the position you are applying for.

1. SUPER INTERACTIVE RESUME BY ROBBY LEONARDI

Inspired by the legendary “Super Mario Bros.” game, multidisciplinary designer named Robby Leonardi had created an interactive resume featuring his knowledge on illustration, animation, graphic design, and front-end development. Take a look at it here.

With its undeniable awesomeness, this CV had been viral in the social media platforms last 2013. Aside from the striking appearance of the interactive resume, I must point out that he added offbeat details such as being an NBA fan. This is a detail that you do not see often.

Furthermore, he worked in huge companies such as AOL, Incognito Digital, and Fox News. It truly pays to highlight an impressive background. The sum of his overall uniqueness made his CV stand out from the pile!

2. LIKABLE RESUME OF SABRINA SACCOCIO

The Psychological phenomenon called “mere-exposure” effect shows that we develop a tangible preference over things that we are familiar with. Truly, there is something attractive about familiarity. It is comforting and warm.

That is the route that Sabrina Saccocio has taken. Her resume had the format of a Facebook profile page (see it here). She even included the recommendations and references of her previous and present colleagues in her “wall comments”.

With the Facebook suit, she is showing that she knows how to communicate to the general audience. This strategy works because of her knowledge on the influence of relationships and social dynamics. Make it your weapon too.

3. NINA MUFLEH’S IN-DEPTH RESUME

Nina Mufleh’s story proves how handwork and technology can go hand-in-hand to achieve your dream job! She designed a resume (browse it here) that proactively tackles the growth of the company and her rightful place in it through an online resume following the Airbnb’s website template.

She provided data and examples as to how Airbnb as a company can branch out in the global tourism scene, particularly in the Middle East. She chose Middle East, as the company’s penetration there is far too low. She highlighted why her idea matters, how the company can start it, and which partnership opportunities they can explore. Now you see what I meant by handwork! She absolutely did an extensive research of the company’s operations while adding sufficient data.

Then, she tweeted this to the heads of Airbnb. To her surprise, Brian Chesky (CEO of Airbnb) tweeted back with a positive response to meet her. This go to show that if you are really passionate about something, you must work hard for it and show why you deserve it!

Bonus! If you are looking for free tools to help you make your own innovative CV, you may try checking out Prezi, Adobe Photoshop Express, and GIMP.

Image Credits: Flazingo Photos via Flickr

Sources: 1, 2,& 3

6 Highest Paying Jobs In The Field Of Technology (IT)

With the increasing global concern for cyber security across companies, there has been an ongoing demand for Information Technology (IT) Professionals. In fact, recent study showed that the five highest income-earning sectors in Singapore include Information Technology alongside Banking and Finance, Petrochemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Semiconductors.

Salary.sg, a website dedicated to relay information on career and jobs, used the Ministry of Manpower wage date and excluded the bonuses and profit-sharing to generate the monthly gross wages of over a hundred jobs in Singapore. Looking at the IT sector through a microscope, here are the 6 Highest Paying Tech Jobs In Singapore based on the 2014 data by Salary.sg:

6. NETWORK AND SYSTEMS ENGINEER

Network and Systems Engineers can earn about S$4,000-7,000 a month.

They are tasked to oversee functionality, security, and design of the computer systems. To keep the internal and external company databases running smooth, they are responsible to look to how information is shared both internally an externally.

5. APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT

Application Development Consultants can make about S$5,000-7,000 a month.

They are tasked to consult with the program managers, senior consultants, and clients to understand information requirements, operational procedures, and transaction processing. Basically, they are responsible for designing fresh software applications from the concept to completion.

4. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TESTING IT

Testers can earn about S$6,360 a month.

IT Testers are tasked to check for system bugs or other concerns in the new software to ensure that the company standards are maintained or that the product integrity is preserved. They examine a program by going through its typical uses and noting down the observable problems.

Image Credits: Bob Mical via Flickr

3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECURITY SPECIALIST

IT Security Specialist can make about S$6,385 a month.

IT Security Specialists are tasked to analyze the security breaches that have or may occur. Then, they must repair and strengthen the system against these breaches. Simply put, their work focuses on the risks to the security of valued company information or data.

2. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECT MANAGER

IT Project Manager can have a paycheck of about S$8,320 per month.

A bachelor’s degree and significant years of experience is usually required for this position. IT Project Managers are tasked to manage and coordinate with the staff to oversee various computer-related assignments for the company.

1. CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) can earn about S$10,648 per month, on average.

CTOs are tasked to play an important role in setting the company’s direction, development, and future growth by supporting all information and technology-related operations. With your growing years of experience and educational background in tech, you too, can be the CTO.

Image Credits: Chad Kainz via Flickr

Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4

How To Avoid Losing Money To High-Pressure Or Hard Sell

You might have encountered a salesman who constantly pushes a product for you even if you expressed feelings of indifference towards it. This aggressive form of sales or advertising is called “hard sell”. A hard sell, or high-pressure sell, encourages a consumer to purchase a product or a service in a short period of time such as when you are trying to sell a limited car model.

The advantage of hard sell is that it is direct and it helps earn quick bucks. Its disadvantages include customer annoyance and customer avoidance (as some may sound like a scam).

When caught in a situation where high-pressure sell is present, remember these following tips:

UNDERSTAND

Before coming to a decision, it is best to understand the product or service in the eyes of trusted individuals or previous customers. Ask as many questions as necessary.

LOOK AT THE FINE PRINT

Read the fine print such as hidden charges and product risks to avoid adverse side effects and unwanted circumstances.

LEARN TO SAY “NO”

Do not let your momentary emotions and wants dictate your purchase. If the product or service is really unnecessary, learn to say “NO”. For the pushy telemarketers, firmly tell them that you are not interested and end the conversation on the dot.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

If you have been sold a financial product that you did not sign up for or if a telemarketer calls you harasses you with numerous calls, file an appropriate complaint.

Now, if you are a marketer that is trying to avoid the hard sell approach, remember these following tips:

RESEARCH

Assess your target market and focus on building your brand rather than using threatening marketing tactics.

BUILD A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CUSTOMER

If you are hard selling, the tendency is for the consumer to look for a similar service or product that is less pushy. To avoid this, build a strong relationship with the customer by engaging him or her with a good experience. This will create loyal customers in the long run.

(Image credit: George Redgrave via Flickr)

Sources: 1

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