Love should prevail. Equality for all. Simple.

“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

— The full quote. (via nprfreshair)

(Source: NPR)

Naked and Famous (Taken with Instagram at The Observatory)

White Arrow (Taken with instagram)

fuckyeahrockphotos:

The Velvet Underground.

(Source: thefyrp)

Fast cars (Taken with instagram)

Post marketing drink (Taken with Instagram at Anthill Pub)

Network, Network, Network

Among the many group projects, class assignments, career counseling sessions and midterms, one theme seems to have emerged - Network your brains out.

Now, I consider myself to be an extrovert who can pretty much talk to anyone but nothing, NOTHING, makes me freeze up more than when I’m supposed to network.  I guess I’m afraid because to me, networking because it feels fake.  Its as if I have a hidden motivation to talking to a person rather than having a genuine interest in talking to them. 

Luckily I have a friend who is a networking queen.  She has talked with tons of business people since entering the “real-world” 4 years ago and has amassed a network of some pretty interesting, not to mention high-ranking, business professionals.

So, when I told her about my fear she said “Ryan, relax…The key to networking is to be yourself. Be personable and most of all, be able to make the person you are speaking with feel valued. Networking is not about asking for a favor, its about having a general conversation. Just be yourself and talk to people all of the time.”

Not going to lie, at first I laughed at this advice. But as I started to really think about what she said, I began to realize how right she was.  Going to a networking event to do anything other than conversing is not networking.  Networking, at its core, is purely about meeting people and making connections.  When was the last time you met a new friend and immediately asked them for a favor.  Its weird and pretty stupid, right? So why should networking be any different.

I’ve not quite fully overcome my networking fear, but I have become more confident in speaking with other business people.  Just be yourself, make them feel valued, and smile.  You never know what may happen with that connection later on.

Here are a few more tips for networking that I found helpful.

Tumblr Just Raised $85 Million In Funding

newsweek:

journalofajournalist:

Congrats to the little microblogging platform that could.

w00t

Creating a Successful Resume

I’ll be heading out of the workforce at the end of this month to begin a new journey as an MBA student in Orange County, CA.  In making the transition out of my current position, my managers have asked me to lead a search to find someone to fill my position.  Over the past week, I have reviewed countless resumes and have learned a few lessons on what to do and what not to do with a resume.  So listen up current job-seekers, my resume tips may just help you get that job you want.

Resume tips from a recently appointed “HR” guy:

1. Your resume should be one page - People at a small firm who are reviewing a ton of resumes for a position do not have time to flip through pages of your resume, especially if you graduated 2-3 years ago (huge resume no-no).  Your reviewer should be able to take your resume and focus on important aspects of your background.  It is key that you communicate your “story” (ie, your education and career experiences/responsibilities) effectively.  If you can do this, I’d say you have a great shot at landing an interview.   
2. Use action words and show results - Unfortunately, simply stating your job responsibilities won’t attract much attention.  When crafting descriptions of your previous job tasks, be sure to think specifically about what tasks you performed and what outcomes occurred.  For example: “Led corporate business development efforts by identifying potential client companies…..resulting in over 10 meetings…” is much more action oriented then just saying you “led corporate development efforts by x,y, and z.” Employers want to see how you impacted the company in your previous or current position because they want you to do the same at your new firm.
3. Simple is better - Resume’s shouldn’t be a “seek n find” for the HR professional. Your information should be displayed on a single page in an organized and succinct format.  Typically resumes should have 3-4 sections: Intro (Your name and brief contact information); Professional experience detailing your most current career history or history that has transferable skills to the job you are applying for; Education; and Interests or Additional skills that give the HR professional a bit more insight into what you can do and what you like to do outside of the office.  Remember, the person reviewing your resume is also reviewing 100 others as well.  Therefore, when a reviewer can quickly find, read, and get a sense of what you have done in the past, you are more likely to get a call back for an interview.   

Well there you have it, my tips for a better resume.  Recruiting for my position was an eye opening experience that taught me a number of lessons in both resumes and interviewing.  Hopefully this was helpful and will give you that edge to get the position you so dearly want.  I’d love to hear your feedback so post away!

Tahoe tranquility (Taken with instagram)