The blog for all things Apochromatik.
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How Holiday Parties Can Help You Expand Your Network
It’s holiday party time!
Whether you love everything about networking opportunities or started sweating just reading the title of this post, December can be a great time to expand and deepen your network. Here are some tips to do just that (and avoid the alternative scenarios that are the stuff of office gossip everywhere). This topic is so important and so fraught with peril that has been addressed by numerous people over the years. No one blog post can fully exhaust it, but our goal is to get you ready in 1,400 words or less.
How can a mastermind help you transform your career in 2020? | VOTW 111919
For this week’s Video of the Week, we’re featuring an episode of the Hustle & Flow podcast hosted by Heather Hubbard. This particular episode discusses masterminds: what they are, and why attorneys and other professionals can benefit. If you haven’t joined a mastermind this is your chance to learn what they are all about.
University of Chicago Career Webinar...TODAY! | VOTW 111219
Does the thought of answering the question “where do you see yourself in five years?” in a job interview make you want to melt into the floor?
Leslie Knope Likes Masterminds*
*OK, so maybe I’ve never had a direct conversation with TV character Leslie Knope of “Parks and Recreation." Or with Amy Poehler. But I’m pretty sure if I could, they’d both be in favor of masterminds. And, as we know, waffles.
Second to last month of...the decade!
The end of one month and beginning of the next is the perfect time to look ahead and reset where you are and where you’re going. It’s less intimidating and overwhelming than the beginning of a new year, and much more manageable to think about how you’ll use the next month to have more of the things you want in your career and life, and less of the things you don’t. And, as we enter one of the last two months of the decade, now is a great time to follow these six steps to set yourself up for a great month.
Is your annual review approaching?
Performance reviews are just around the corner in many firms and organizations. We often hear that people are “too busy” to prepare for their review. As we always say, that’s like saying “I was so busy packing for vacation that I didn’t have time to book a plane ticket.” Your review may be the one time all year when you and your boss both carve out time to sit and talk about your career. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.
You are More than a Worm
Have you ever heard the expression, “to a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish”?
If you haven’t, it may take a minute to process. (My first reaction was “why would a worm be in horseradish? Is it like having a worm in tequila?”) Another way to think about it is that when you’re in the thick of a situation – whether temporary or long-term – it can be impossible to see more than what is immediately in front of you. That can be a reasonable perspective; if a bear is charging you, it’s a huge asset to be able to focus on getting out of the way without being distracted by thoughts of a long-term crisis. But putting your head down and focusing on the things right around you it is not a good long-term strategy.
Future in Focus 2020 and Hustle & Flow | VOTW 101519
For this week’s Video of the Week, check out the newest episode of the Hustle & Flow podcast with Heather Hubbard. Heather interviews Apcohromatik’s Keith R. Sbiral and Amy M. Gardner. The trio discussed a range of topics, including Apochromatik’s Future in Focus 2020 Masterminds, specifically the two cohorts for attorneys who want to succeed as a partner or change jobs/careers.
6 Tips to Keep Clients Happy
Landing clients is one thing. Keeping them happy is another. Last week we addressed what to do when you’ve disappointed a client. This week, we’re sharing six tips to help you keep clients happy in the first place.Here are seven tips to turn around a disappointed client, and to make sure even those who leave say good things about you.
7 Tips to Turn Around a Disappointed Client
Whether you’re an accountant, attorney, bus driver, business owner, or teacher, you have clients. Next week we’ll focus on how to keep those clients happy. At some point, though, no matter how hard you try, you will inevitably disappoint and even lose clients, whether for a reason you can agree with (maybe they need a service you can’t provide) or one you can’t (they aren’t happy with the services you’ve provided). How you treat disappointed clients not only reflects on you and your business, but also can impact whether they come back and what they say about you to others.
Here are seven tips to turn around a disappointed client, and to make sure even those who leave say good things about you.
Live Webinar This Thursday | VOTW 100119
This week’s Video of the Week is a live webinar this Thursday.
Join Apochromatik’s Amy M. Gardner for a free webinar on how to effectively give feedback the recipient needs to hear.
Job Search Month: 6 tips to a successful salary negotiation
Negotiating your compensation package with a new job can be complicated, which is why we shy away from avoiding one-size-fits-all advice on this topic. Instead, due to requests, we offer one-on-one negotiation coaching, and a popular negotiation presentation delivered as a live program or online webinar well-suited to professional organizations.
Job Search Month: Interviewing Skills and Small Talk
September is job search month, and this week we’re focusing on interviews. Below we’ve collected a number of resources to help you prepare for all types of job interviews. But here’s a tip that will take less time to implement than reading any of those resources.
Job Search Month: Using Your Résumé and Cover Letter to Market Yourself
What is the one thing you know most about?
What is your number one field of expertise?
What does the culmination of your experiences create?
You might find it surprising that I actually know the answers to each of these questions.
7 Strategies to Manage Stress, Burnout, and Anxiety During the Job Search
“Kate” has it all together. We’ve worked to ensure her resume is excellent. Her cover letters are customized and strong. She is focused in her job search. She knows that networking is (usually) where the jobs are, and has worked to build an engaged and supportive network.
But . . . she’s at that point where she’s waiting to receive an offer for a job, waiting on another interview that needed to be rescheduled, waiting for a couple of key people in her network to come back from vacation and make introductions. And she’s hit a wall. She is tired from the stress of job interviews, networking, tired of working to find her next job at the same time she’s working ridiculous hours at the current job, tired of also doing her share at home, anxious about how much longer she’ll have to continue enduring this process. . . .
How to Excel at an Initial Interview: 5 Tips Learned Eavesdropping at Starbucks
“It’s just a conversation at Starbucks to make sure they want to call me back.”
“It’s a pretty low bar. As long as I come across as normal, I’ll advance to the next phase.”
“It’s at Starbucks. It’s just an initial interview.”
Do any of these sound familiar? Recently I’ve observed several initial interviews in various coffee shops where it seemed clear that the job candidates had those thoughts before the interviews. And afterwards, based on their performances, I am confident they each regretted that approach.
Executive Presence: A key element of leadership
When you think of leadership skills, executive presence may not be the first thing that comes to mind.
Stop Giving 110%
Stop Giving 110%.
Picture it: 1993. Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” is the song that proms are made of, and I’m interviewing for a college scholarship in my best dress from the pages of Seventeenmagazine with my hair freshly permed at Great Clips. My high school guidance counselor is one of the interviewers.
He asks, “What is your best quality?”
I proudly respond, “I give everything 110%.”
3 Actionable Tactics To Save 2019
Do you have plans to grill or enjoy the sun during the long July 4th weekend?
I’m going to be entertaining guests from out of town…