Tag Archives: Executive Coaching

How to Give Feedback 

Giving feedback to someone is a real gift as it helps that person to grow. And yet many of us shirk away from doing it as we are worried that we will upset that person and ruin the relationship.

 

I agree that if you give feedback to someone and you haven’t thought about how you’ll communicate it then yes, it can end in disaster. But follow these tips and you can both walk away feeling that you’ve had a helpful conversation.

 

Research shows that creating a culture of feedback will help to develop your team. This in turn will help you retain your top talent so it’s definitely worth getting in to the habit of doing.

Structure of giving feedback 

1. Timing

Give feedback as soon as you can after an event while it’s still fresh in everyone’s mind.

Don’t wait for the annual appraisal 7 months later. The person you are giving feedback to isn’t going to remember an event from months back and so won’t be able to ask questions and learn from it. All you’ll achieve is frustrating the individual.

Also, think about how the person will receive it? Will they need time to digest the feedback after the discussion? If so perhaps giving feedback prior to a lunch break would be helpful? This way the individual can take some time out to reflect on the conversation. Offer to meet them the next day to answer any questions that they may have.

2. Regular

Get in to the habit of giving regular feedback to your team. That way they’ll know what they need to be working on and what they’re doing well so they know to do more of that.

Ask your manager for regular feedback so that you can also learn and grow.

3. Location

Don’t give constructive feedback to an individual in front of their colleagues. This is uncomfortable for all concerned.  Instead, ask to see them in a meeting room where you can both have an open and honest conversation and where you won’t be interrupted.

5. Be specific

The more information that you can give to the individual the more that you’ll be able to help them learn from the event. So, talk about what you saw, what you heard and suggest how this can be improved. Then come up with an action plan of how they can implement this change.

Discuss the positive effect on them, the team or the company by starting or stopping doing what you’re discussing.

Agree a deadline for implementing this change or improvement – whether it’s to have immediate effect or is something requiring training and implementation over the coming weeks.

6. Follow up

At the end of the discussion confirm that you will send them an email documenting the conversation, so that they can refer back to it if they need to and know what they are doing and by when.

Asking for feedback 

If you receive feedback then acknowledge that this person has taken the time to give you this gift and you may want to acknowledge that as you feel fit.

Every time you receive feedback, even if you don’t agree with what’s being said, treat it is a learning opportunity. Take the time to reflect, be kind to yourself and see how you can take this information onboard.

Ask your HR team if they can do a 360 feedback. This will be so beneficial for you to know both what you are doing well and what is working less well for your team.

If your HR team isn’t able to do this then consider asking for feedback yourself. The book “The Miracle Morning: The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before 8AM” has a template email that you can use which asks for feedback.

I did this a few weeks ago and also set up a survey monkey questionnaire so that, if people didn’t want to give direct feedback to me, they could do so anonymously.

I can’t recommend this exercise enough. The information I got from it was so valuable and I really appreciated  everyone taking the time to complete it so that I could work on my strengths and weaknesses.

http://amzn.to/23lf5dt

If you’ve found this blog helpful then why don’t you come over to my website and sign up to my newsletter so that you don’t miss the next blog.

 

Caroline Arnold 

Executive Coach

M: 07886 794 742

E: info@carolinearnoldcoaching.com

T: @carnoldcoaching

F: Caroline Arnold Coaching

W: www.carolinearnoldcoaching.com

Tips To Turn Off Your Inner Voice

We all have an inner voice.

Mine often appears when I’m confronted by IKEA furniture and it generally says something like this: “you can’t put that table together, there are too many parts to fit in place it’s not worth trying”.

Enter my fab boyfriend!

I’ve found that it also pops up when I am trying to create an Excel spreadsheet and the voice says “you hate Excel, don’t you remember the last time you tried to add a fancy formula and you had to watch a video on Google on how to do it”.

Yours may speak out when you’re about to present to your team, ask for a pay rise or start a new job. Or, in your personal life, when you’re in a Zara changing room, cooking dinner or signing up to a 5k run.

I think we can all agree that in none of these situations is it helpful to have an attack on your confidence and ability to get the job done.

 So what is the inner voice, why is it bad and how do you stop it sabotaging your success? 

What is it?

The inner voice, inner critic, negative chatter, inner dialogue, gremlin, intrusive thoughts – what ever you want to call it – is that voice inside your head that can produce feelings of shame, deficiency, low self-esteem, and even depression. It may also cause self-doubt and undermine self-confidence.

 

Why is it bad?

Whatever you call this thing everyone has one and yours is sabotaging your success in your professional and personal life.

Maybe you didn’t apply for that job because you couldn’t do three out of the ten competencies, maybe you didn’t ask for a pay rise this year because you didn’t feel “worth it”. ‘After all’, the voice will reason, ‘if you were worthy of a pay rise then your employer would surely have given you one?’

Sorry, I hate to burst that bubble but that’s just not the way the working world works.

Whenever I give presentations to companies the most frequently asked questions are about the inner voice and how to deal with it.  So check out my tips below to stop your inner voice sabotaging your success.

How to stop it 

1. Say Stop 

When you notice it talking at you simply say “stop” and then repeat a positive affirmation such as “I can do this. I am confident. I am worthy, or I am strong.” Which ever works for you. But keep repeating it until the inner voice disappears.

2. Awesome list

Create an ‘awesome list’ that you can refer back to when you need a confidence boost.

Every Friday afternoon I sit down and write down everything that I’ve achieved that week. This reminds me of how much I’ve managed to get done and puts me in a positive frame of mind for the weekend.

You may want to do yours every Friday afternoon. Alternatively you may want to write down 3 things that you’ve achieved as you go to bed so that you’re in a positive mind before going to sleep.

3. Gratitude list 

Create a gratitude list that you can refer back to if you need a reminder of everything that you have in your life. I created mine by writing down 100 things that I was grateful for and I look at it at least twice a week.

You may want to do something similar. Or, at the end each day, you might write down 3 things that you’re grateful for that day along with 3 achievements of the day.

4. Meditation 

If you haven’t read my blog on Mindfulness then I recommend checking it out https://carolinearnoldcoaching.co.uk/benefits-of-mindfulness/  I’ve found that doing some simple meditation every day really helps tune out the inner voice.

5. Get an Executive Coach

I can’t recommend enough how much it helps having someone that will support you in overcoming that inner voice and work out what’s holding you back from achieving what you really want out of life.

6. Step outside your comfort zone

Once a week do something that you feel uncomfortable with so that your comfort zone stretches. If you don’t like public speaking put yourself forward at work to do a presentation. Once you’ve completed it you’ll realize it wasn’t nearly as scary as you thought it would be. Then the next time you offer to do a presentation you’ll notice your inner voice doesn’t appear because you know that you’ll be a great success having done it once before!

7. Video Clips

Check out some other resources that may also help you learn how to turn off the inner voice.

Jim Duffy TedxGlasgow Talk

http://www.entrepreneurial-spark.com/tedx-jim-duffy-asks-what-stops-us-from-living-our-dreams/

Bree Brown TedxTalk

https://www.ted.com/speakers/brene_brown

Marie TV – Overcome Fear of public Speaking

http://www.marieforleo.com/2013/03/overcome-fear-shyness-josh-pais/

If you’ve found this blog helpful then why don’t you come over to my website and sign up to my newsletter so that you don’t miss the next blog.

Caroline Arnold 

Executive Coach

M: 07886 794 742

T: @carnoldcoaching

E: info@carolinearnoldcoaching.com

F: Caroline Arnold Coaching

W: www.carolinearnoldcoaching.com

How To Choose The Right Executive Coach For You

Clients come to me for one of two reasons:

  1. Because they have a problem of some sort.
  2. Because they want to achieve their full potential in their professional and personal lives and they think having a coach will help give them a competitive advantage.

Those clients that come to me because they have a specific problem often finish our sessions with the observation that if they’d signed up to an executive coach sooner then they might have been able to prevent the problem in the first place. And THAT would have saved them a lot of energy and anxiety.

So, if you’re thinking about getting an executive coach but are still undecided let’s remind ourselves of the benefits to be gained from committing to a coach.

 

The benefits to the individual

  • Preparation for role/career changes and joining the board
  • Enhancing personal impact and performance
  • Improved leadership and management skills
  • Increased productivity
  • More effective working relationships
  • Increased revenue through more focused action
  • Greater integrity in managing and decision making
  • Fewer negative effects of stress
  • Better balance between personal and professional life
  • Improved career planning
  • Greater confidence
  • Focus on solutions rather than problems
  • Break through any barriers holding them back
  • Develop greater awareness and understanding
  • Understand and navigate their interpersonal relationships
  • Gain clarity and learn to think creatively
  • Deal with change

That’s a lot of benefits so why wouldn’t you have a coach?  Usually it comes down to time and cost.

Most coaches offer a 30 minute coaching call which most people can fit in somewhere in their working week.

As for the cost – well I agree that it can be a barrier for some. But if you want to discuss going for a promotion which would increase your salary by 10% surely a few sessions with a coach would pay for itself?

Also, many companies will now pay for you to have a coach so it’s worth asking them. If your company isn’t sure then why don’t you remind them of the benefits that they’ll gain from you having coaching?

 

The benefits to the organisation

  • Greater commitment from employees
  • More creative outlook in business planning
  • Improved management of other staff
  • Improved revenues and profits
  • Improved organisational performance
  • Retention of high performers and greater staff loyalty
  • Less absenteeism
  • Enhanced operational efficiency and flexibility
  • Improved staff morale and motivation
  • More effective development and performance of new team members
  • Unleashing of the potential of teams and improvement in their efficiency and performance
  • So how do you choose a coach?

It’s worth asking yourself a few questions which will help you choose the right coach for you.

1. Can this coach help me achieve my professional growth objectives?
2. What do you want from a coach?  Does your proposed coach specialise in that area?
3. Do you want face to face or Skype?
4. How often do you want to see a coach? Once a week or once a month?
5. How long do you want to see this coach for? Do they have the capacity to take you as a client?
6. Do you feel that you can be open and honest with this coach?
7. Do you want to spend time with this coach?

So now that you know the benefits of coaching for you and your company and you’ve found the right one how do you get the best out of the relationship?

 

Making it a success

1. Feedback
This is a two way process. So if something isn’t working then tell the coach – they aren’t mind readers. If you feel that you’re being pushed too much or not enough then give them this feedback. The more honest you can be with your coach the more they can help you and the more you will get from the sessions.

2. Commit
Once you’ve put the coaching sessions in your diary commit to this time. Block out time before and after if you can so that you can be in the right headspace for the session. There’s nothing worse than worrying that you need to rush to a meeting straight after.

3. Action
You’ll have most likely agreed what action you are going to take from the session. Commit to doing this so that you don’t just talk about it for an hour and then fail to follow up. This is where you will see the real change so take action!

If you’d like to discuss having an executive coaching programme with me then please feel free to connect with me, drop me an email or phone me.

 

Caroline Arnold 

Executive Coach

M: 07886 794 742

T: @carnoldcoaching

F: Caroline Arnold Coaching

W: www.carolinearnoldcoaching.com

Get More Productive At Work

I don’t know about you but I think one of my favourite things to do is to book a holiday. I love the excited anticipation of having a few days away – whether with my loved ones or a group of friends to go exploring new places, eating a little too much from the buffet and enjoying a cocktail and ice cream by the pool whilst enjoying a book.

However, there’s always a little part of me that starts to panic at how much I have to do before I go and how much there’ll be to do when I get back. Do you get that as well?

I am at that excited stage now as I have just booked a holiday in June to attend a friend’s wedding in Italy. I know the next few weeks are going to fly by and so I’m already thinking about how best to organize my time so that I can enjoy my holiday.

I started to think about what I needed to achieve before I went and I remembered that I always get so much done on my last working day before a holiday as I know there is no option to leave it till tomorrow. So I thought I’d write a blog on how you can be more productive at work allowing you to get more stuff done every day – and not just on the last day at work before you depart.

1. Turn off social media

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are the biggest time wasters ever!  I’m so thankful that they have been created as they really help me keep in touch with friends and grow my business. But I can lose hours if I am not careful in posting pictures, liking friends statuses, retweeting articles that I think my followers might find interesting and congratulating people on their new job.

It’s great to know what’s going on in the world and keep up with everything that’s happening in my friend’s lives but it doesn’t help me to complete my to do list and it won’t help you either.

I now have to keep my phone in the kitchen away from my desk otherwise I find myself just “quickly checking” twitter when it vibrates and then losing focus on what I was doing.

Now, I’m not perfect so I do admit to cheating on this rule if I know a friend is going for an interview or moving house or something equally important to them. In that situation I’ll send them a quick message to ask them how it’s going and kid myself that it will only be a minute.

However research shows that switching tasks can lead to more stress and frustration as you struggle to get everything done. Also, it can take up to twenty-three minutes to become focused again on the task that you were doing before you interrupted yourself. The more complex the task the longer it will take you to refocus.

I’m going to take a guess that you’re probably like me so I recommend that you only check your phone at a specified time such as a lunch break and on your bus ride home. Otherwise leave it in your handbag in your draw at work and don’t look at it.

2. Action list

Get into the habit of doing a brain dump and writing a list of everything that you have to achieve and then order it from what’s urgent and important to it “would be nice but not critical to get done”.

I write my list on a Friday afternoon so I’m clear on what I’m doing when I sit down at my desk on Monday morning.  I then find that I don’t suddenly remember on a Sunday morning as I watch Sunday Brunch about emailing someone or changing a meeting time and can enjoy my weekend.

3. Block out time

Once you have made your list schedule these activities into your diary.  It may be that the first and last hour of every day is best for clearing your email inbox and making any phone calls.

The morning is the best time to do any strategic or big project work as you’ll feel more alert then. Towards the end of the day you may do more administration tasks when feeling less creative.

When I was doing a lot of recruitment in my last corporate HR job I use to schedule a whole morning on a Friday to make briefing calls with recruitment agencies. It really helped me block out my diary and clump tasks together so that I could be focused on that one task that needed to be done and it helped my colleagues know that on Friday mornings I would usually be on the phone and wouldn’t be able to help them till lunch time.

4. Eat That Frog

If you haven’t read the book “Eat That Frog” then I highly recommend that you do. It has some great tips that you can quickly action to become more productive. The book talks about getting the hard things done first so that you’re motivated and focused to do everything else knowing that you’ve  accomplished the most difficult/unpleasant tasks of the day. Here’s an Amazon link to the book.:http://amzn.to/1SnksWn

5. Take breaks 

If you don’t take a lunch break then you may want to check out my blog about “Why You Need To Take That Lunch Break”. By taking a break you will feel more focused and energized for the afternoon’s work and you’ll find that you get a lot more done.

https://carolinearnoldcoaching.co.uk/blog/

6. Change your mindset

If you ’re someone that tells yourself that you’ll leave work when you’ve completed everything then I would take a guess that you probably don’t leave the office before 7pm.  But try changing your mindset and saying to yourself that you’re going to get all your work done by 5.30pm every night because you’re going to meet friends, go home and see the kids or go to the gym. That way you’ll make an extra effort to get everything done and be out of the office by 5.30pm.

Research shows that we can make work expand to fill as long a day as we want. And I think that we can all agree we don’t want to be in the office at 8pm every night.  So start telling yourself you’re leaving at 5.30pm.

A favourite tactic of mine that you might try is treating every day as if you’re going on holiday the next day for a month and everything has to be done that day. Whenever I do this I always manage to cross off so much on my to do list!

7.  Environment 

Your working environment can make a big difference to your productivity at the office. Take a few minutes to assess your current office set up and see if there are any changes that you need to make.

  1. Make sure that your chair and desk are at the right height and if you can work at a variable desk try standing for a few hours every day – you will really notice the difference. I tend to sit at my desk in the morning and then stand in the afternoon which helps me stay more alert especially at 3pm when I find my energy levels are at their lowest.
  2. If you’re allowed pictures in your office then have one of a nature scene as research shows this will help calm you.

3. Try and shut out noise as much as you can or have a white noise playing in the background. This will help you zone out of the other noise in the office.   I use Calm wesbite  https://www.calm.com and have the Mountain Lake noise playing on my computer. It has the added benefit of being nice to look at on your screen when you’re on the phone.

8. Personal well being

Looking after your self will make a big difference to your wellbeing, which in turn will help you to be more productive at work.

1. If you’re new to mindfulness then check out my blog “Benefits of Mindfulness” which gives practical tips for practicing mindfulness.

https://carolinearnoldcoaching.co.uk/blog/

2. Get exercise – if you can, get at least thirty minutes of exercise every day then you will really notice a difference in your work productivity.. As the weather gets nicer why don’t you grab your colleagues and go for a walk together at lunchtime? This way you’re getting exercise while building stronger relationships with your team.

3. Read Miracle Mornings by Hal Elrod, this is a great book, which will help you start the day on a really strong footing.   http://amzn.to/1XEFlxC

4. It’s important to get up and move occasionally so set a reminder on your computer and every 90 minutes get out of your chair even it’s only  to walk to the printer or top up your water glass.

9. Nutrition 

Looking after your body by being aware of what you are drinking and eating will help you maintain your energy and concentration levels.  Try drinking at least 2 litres of water, eating a great brain boosting breakfast and having healthy snacks by your desk such as fruit, cut up vegetables and nuts.

 

If you’ve found this blog helpful then why don’t you come over to my website and sign up to my newsletter so that you don’t miss the next blog.

 

Caroline Arnold 

Executive Coach

M: 07886 794 742

E: info@carolinearnoldcoaching.com

T: @carnoldcoaching

F: Caroline Arnold Coaching

W: www.carolinearnoldcoaching.com

How To Nail That Interview

I recall an incident about 10 years ago.  I was applying for an internal job and I asked colleagues for any advice that might help me prepare for the interview.

The advice I received was to wear a short skirt. Not quite what I was expecting. But rather than responding to it in some way  I simply kept my skirt length where it was and  went for the interview.

Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I can see that I should indeed have commented. As I think about it now, I can see that it was really rather shocking that someone should say such a thing. However, I didn’t want to make a scene and I really wanted the job.

Since then I’ve had numerous job interviews and have also been the interviewer for hundreds of candidates. You can definitely see the difference between the candidates that have prepared for an interview and those that have simply rocked up and not given it much thought.

So, how do you succeed at interview especially – if you haven’t been for one for a while.  Here are some tips to help you to interview success:

1. Research 

LinkedIn – Have a look at the profiles of the interviewers and some of their team and senior management. Look for what experience they have, their length of service with the company and if they’ve either been promoted or made any lateral moves – and how often. Remember this is a two-way process so you want to know if people are leaving after a year or so or if people stay and are promoted.

  • Job description – go through the JD and write down against each competency a couple of examples of when you achieved this. If there are any points where you can’t think of anything don’t worry – simply think about what training or support you may need to achieve that.
  • The Company  – have a look at their website, familiarize yourself with their accounts, how many employees there are, what their mission is etc. I remember one interview where the hiring manager’s last question was about the company’s previous day’s share price. Luckily I knew this.  So it is worth spending time to get to know the company.
  • How will you get there –  I remember interviewing someone that would have to walk and then take a long train journey and then a bus.  I was sceptical that they could manage the journey every day and be on time. However, the candidate had checked all the options and worked out that if there was a problem with one method of transport then they had alternative routes. Do consider though if you want a long journey in rush hour every day. If the answer to that is ‘no’ then look  for a role closer to you.

2. CV 

Go through your CV, know the facts and figures that you have stated, the dates when you were at particular companies and be comfortable expanding on any of the achievements listed.

3. Arrive early 

Leave yourself plenty of time to get to the interview. There is nothing worse as the interviewer then meeting a candidate who is hot & sweaty, out of breath and completely stressed out because they were running late. Instead, help yourself by arriving early and grabbing a coffee near by so that you go in to the interview relaxed and in a positive frame of mind.

4. First impressions

  • You only get one chance to make a great first impression so make it count.
  • Smile – when you see the interviewers smile at them, you want to appear approachable.
  • Make eye contact – this can make you look interested and trustworthy.
  • Firm handshake – this can help you look confident.

5. Give examples 

When you answer a question follow it up with a supporting example. That will show the interviewer how you work through problems as well as what experience you have.

6. Questions & next step

Have a couple of questions prepared. These questions may vary depending on your experience level. If you’ve come through a recruitment agency they may have answered, what sort of role you are going for but think about:

  • Why has the position become available?
  • What are the main objectives and responsibilities of the position?
  • How does the company expect these objectives to be met?
  • What obstacles are commonly encountered in reaching these objectives?
  • What is the desired time frame for reaching the objectives?
  • What can you expect from them in terms of development and support?
  • Where will the job fit into the team structure?
  • What’s the best thing about working at the company?
  • What is the turnover of staff like throughout the company?
  • Are there any plans for expansion?
  • How would they describe the company culture and management style?

7. Thank you 

It’s good practice to send an email or a message on LinkedIn after the interview to thank everyone for their time. You can add in that you are interested in the role and that you look forward to hearing from them.

If you’re going for an interview then I wish you all the luck. If one of your friends is going to an interview then please do forward this blog to them and come on over to the website to sign up to the weekly newsletter.

 

Caroline Arnold 

Executive Coach

T: @carnoldcoaching

F: Caroline Arnold Coaching

E: Info@carolinearnoldcoaching.com

W: www.carolinearnoldcoaching.com

Why You Should Take That Lunch Break

The other day I looked out of my office window and thought how lucky I was to live in such a beautiful city as Bristol.

So taking advantage of the gorgeous spring day I threw on my trainers and went for a quick twenty-minute walk along the harbour. I came back had a salmon and avocado wrap followed by a banana and then sat down for the afternoon feeling more energized and focused than I had 45 minutes earlier.

So ladies I have a question for you. Do you take your lunch break?

“No, of course I don’t” is the usual reply. Followed by “I’m far too busy”, “It’s not encouraged in my office” or “I will be at work even later at the end of the day if I take a break”.

If you are the 1 in 5 who does take a lunch break then well done you. I hope that your colleagues learn from you as I can imagine that you are a lot more focused than they are in the afternoon.

If you currently aren’t taking a lunch break then it’s time to reassess and claim back your break. If you’re thinking to yourself: “I’d like to but I just don’t have time” then check out my latest blog for why you need to do it.

The benefits of a lunch break, even if it’s only for twenty minutes, can make a huge difference to your afternoon’s productivity. So it’s a shame that so many people work in a culture where lunch breaks are frowned upon. Or, worse still, not taking them is seen as something commendable – as saying ‘I’m far too busy and important to have a lunch break.’

I’m sure you don’t really need me to tell you that no one is that important. Nor how beneficial taking a break is. But if you’re reading this blog it’s likely that you don’t – so let’s remind ourselves:

Benefits

1. Increased energy 

By taking a break, especially if you’re able to get some fresh air and exercise, you avoid that afternoon slump so common at about 3pm. This is when the typical lunch of sandwich, crisps and a chocolate bar results in energy levels plummeting and a struggle to stay awake rather than getting work done.

2. Higher productivity 

As you benefit from an increase in energy you’ll find that you’re more productive because your concentration levels have increased making it easier to focus on your work. If you’ve been lucky enough to get a walk around a park you may find this a good time to do any creative work.

3. Team building 

Should you go out for lunch with your colleagues then this gives you an opportunity to build on your relationship with them and form stronger connections with those that you share the office with.

If you’ve been working on a project in the morning that you’re struggling with then you could ask for their help or opinions and perhaps brainstorm some ideas that you hadn’t considered. They may have experienced similar problems and you could find that, when you return to your desk, you have the solution.

 

4. Fresh perspective 

By taking a break you can return to your desk with a fresh pair of eyes. That way you’ll find it easier to spot any mistakes that you may have made on any drafts you were working on. Plus you’ll have a clearer idea of what decisions need to be made to complete your work that afternoon.

5. Try new places

If you’re going out with your colleagues, as well as building a stronger team relationship, lunchtime might be a good opportunity to try new any new restaurants near the office. Plus there’s the additional benefit of taking the time to enjoy your food. Isn’t that better than a hastily eaten BLT at your desk? Or worse still devouring the contents of the biscuit tin. There’s a road to piling on the pounds if ever there was one.

6. Back to nature 

If you’re lucky enough to work near a park then lunch is the perfect time to get some fresh air and exercise. It will help improve your afternoon mood and levels of concentration and reduce your stress levels.

Invite your colleagues along with you and you can get fit together.  Getting outside will also top up your Vitamin D level, which encourages the production of serotonin (a hormone that plays an important part in the regulation of mood). Taking a break from your desk and moving around also prevents the onset of musculoskeletal disorders.

If you’re managing a team then encourage everyone to take a break. You may find that you notice reduced sickness and lower turnover as you have happy staff and an increase in customer service. With these benefits can you afford not to take a lunch break?

Still not convinced?  Why not give it a try every day next week and see the benefits for yourself. Go for lunch with colleagues, go for a walk together (ideally in a park), read a book, do a spinning or yoga class if there is a gym nearby and enjoy taking a break and the benefits that come with it in the afternoon.

So, put it in the diary and start on Monday. Don’t feel guilty that you’re taking a break and grab your whole team so that you can all benefit.

If you have found this blog helpful why don’t you come check out the website and you can sign up to the weekly newsletter.

Caroline Arnold 

Executive Coach

T: @carnoldcoaching

F: Caroline Arnold Coaching

W: www.carolinearnoldcoaching.com

Five tips to a winning CV

Five tips to a winning CV

I saw thousands of CVs in my HR career and it never failed to surprise me how bad they could be!

From being six pages long to tonnes of spelling & grammar mistakes and cover notes stating the wrong job title or, even worse, the wrong company name – to highlight a few of the horrors.

If you’re thinking about applying for a new job, whether internally or externally, you’ll only have seconds to impress the hiring manager/recruitment consultant/HR team. So it’s important you get it right the first time otherwise you’ll simply waste your time and theirs.

1.List your achievements

Go through your performance appraisals and your email folders and write down all your accomplishments and then highlight the top ones in your CV.

Make sure that you highlight key figures such as ‘I increased sales by 20%, I reduced costs by 10% or I recruited ten people every month’.

The number of accomplishments you have may depend on how long you’ve been in that role. So, if you’ve been with a particular company for a year then you may only have three bullet points, but if you’ve been with them for ten years then you may have seven achievements that you want to state.

Above all make the CV no longer than two pages.

2.Talk to a recruiting company

Recruiters can get a bad name but I’ve worked with some fantastic ones so it’s definitely worth building relationships with those in your industry.

They can give you advice on your CV, the buoyancy of the market and the realism of your salary expectations. They’ll also ask questions to understand what you are looking for.

They can then additionally look for opportunities on your behalf – roles that you would perhaps not have come across because they weren’t advertised on their website or LinkedIn.

You can download a list of recruitment companies HERE that I have put together so that you don’t have to spend time googling, you can concentrate to contacting them and getting that new role you deserve.

3.Be truthful

If you have said that you led a team of fifty then have ready examples of how you did this, what were your successes and your challenges and what you learnt.

If you’ve lied on your CV then be sure it will come out – maybe not at interview but definitely once you are in the job. And then it’s simply uncomfortable for everyone and you risk losing your job.

4.Tailor your CV to the role that you are applying for

Read the job description thoroughly and make sure somewhere on your CV you’ve covered all the requirements as best you can.

If there’s a skill on the job description that you don’t have then that is absolutely fine – but think about how you’ll learn that skill once you start so that it’s not a problem for the recruiting company.

5.Vary the vocabulary on your CV

I have seen CVs where each line begins with managed, implemented or introduced. This shows lack of imagination and laziness so don’t do it!  You can download a list of 180 CV power words HERE that I have put together that CV experts recommend, so have that by you and introduce them throughout your CV.

I quite often got asked whether to include a photo or not on a CV or cover letter.  I personally didn’t attach one but I would love to know what you think. Get in touch with your thoughts and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Caroline

Caroline Arnold 

Executive Coach 

T: @carnoldcoaching

F: Caroline Arnold Coaching

W: www.carolinearnoldcoaching.com

E: info@carolinearnoldcoaching.com