Ashton Kutchers simple yet brilliant email strategy

Ashton Kutchers simple yet brilliant emaille strategyAshton Kutchers simple yet brilliant email strategyOn a recent episode of The Thrive Global Podcast, Thrive Global founder and CEO Arianna Huffington sat down with television and film actor, venture capitalist, philanthropist, producer and - the role that matters most to him - father Ashton Kutcher. In a wide-ranging conversation, Huffington and Kutcher spoke about everything fromfamily,social media and privacytosleeping,time managementand what it means to truly relax.Kutcherpreviously told Thrive Globalthat he considers email to be everyone elses to-do list for you. And when Huffington asked if he still feels that way, Kutcher said yes. And he has a straightforward strategy for keeping his inbox from overwhelming him.Make email about what you want to accomplishWhen I wake up I spend the first hour of my work not looking at email, and actually just writing out what it is that I want to accomplish in a given day, Kutcher said. An d then before I go through my emails, Ill do all my outgoing, outbound stuff, which is what I want everyone else to do for me. And then Ill go and get reactive to whatevers going on.Ladders is now on SmartNewsDownload the SmartNews app and add the Ladders channel to read the latest career news and advice wherever you go.That is such an amazing productivity hack, Huffington said. I want everybody to pay attention because I know how inundated we all become with email.Kutcher said that before he adopted this strategy, he found himself spending two hours of his morning responding to email.It became an impossible hole to get out of, he said. Because then every response I had had three more responses. All I was doing was other peoples work all day long, and I never actually got to the things that I wanted to accomplish.Now, Kutcher said he makes it clear to people that if they email him, You may not get a response from me.Hes also set clear email guidelines at his venture capital firm, So und Ventures. When they bring a new company into their portfolio, they send a mailer to every founder that says, Here are the team members. If you want X, go to this person. If you want Y, go to that person. If you want Z, go to this person, he said. If you go to me, the likelihood of my responding within 24 to 48 hours is very, very low, so go to these individuals who are responsible for these things. And it actually creates efficiency inside of our organization.To hear the full conversation,click here.You can also listen to the Thrive Global podcast internationally for free oniTunesandStitcher.This article was originally published on ThriveGlobal.com.

Study says phone snooping can actually be good for relationship

Study says phone snooping can actually be good for relationshipStudy says phone snooping can actually be good for relationshipA quick read through your partners texts and a dash through their emails seems like relationship suicide. While this breach of trust certainly ends many couples relationships for good, the couples that survive actually come out with a stronger connection between them, according to a new study.Researchers from the University of British Columbia and the University of Lisbon recruited 102 online study participants from Europe, Canada, and the U.S., and asked them to write down an experience about a time they went through someone elses phone or found someone snooping on theirs. Forty-six people said this happened within a romantic relationship, and within that group, 21 broke up, leaving 25 couples intact.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraIn cases where the rel ationship ended, it was either because the phone owner felt their trust was betrayed, or the relationship was also experiencing difficulties,said study author Ivan Seschastnikh, a professor at UBC, in a release.Some relationships that ended over phone-snooping simply werent strong enough or built on a solid enough foundation to survive to begin with, as was the case with two work friends where one stole valuable contact information from the others cellphone, said Beschastnikh.Snoopers listed a few different reasons to do the snooping into their partners phones, including jealousy, and a desire to control their relationships. Some said they wanted to prank the owner of the phone or to use the information they stole from it for financial gain.But if the relationship made it past the phone hack, it was because the union was already built on a solid foundation, and the victim considered the friendship or relationship important enough to look past the breach. In the grand scheme of their relationship and everything else theyve been through, phone-snooping is something that can be forgiven.In such cases, the victim explained away the snooping by considering it as a sign that they should reassure their romantic partner about their commitment to the relationship, said Seschastnikh. They end up excusing the behavior and, in some cases, continued to give the other person access to their phone.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Ensuring Your Résumé Avoids Applicant Tracking System Pitfalls

Ensuring Your Rsum Avoids Applicant Tracking System PitfallsEnsuring Your Rsum Avoids Applicant Tracking System PitfallsHave you wondered what happens to your rsum when you submit it online? The black hole it enters is actually an applicant tracking system database. Virtually every major and midsize company, governmental organization and recruiting firm employs this kind of software to contain, manipulate and access the large volume of resumes they receive.Robin Schlinger, owner of Robins Resumes, recently outlined how job hunters can best avoid the landmines associated with submitting a resume online at the Career Empowerment Summit, a conference for elite professional rsum writers and career coaches organized by Career Directors International.To get your rsum read, scored highly and acted upon, she offers the following tips1. Divide your rsum into clear sections, and use common headers for each one. ATS software often takes cues about what to do with information within a rsum from the heading it is found under. It parses the information and puts it into the database bucket that it thinks is the most relevant.Even if you have the skills, accomplishments or certifications an employer is looking for, if this information isnt located in the right section of your rsum, it likely wont be found. The result is you dramatically decrease your chances of gaining menschengerecht consideration.Standard headings include Contact Information, Summary, Professional Experience, Education, Training, Certifications and Skills.Schlinger suggests using Professional Experience as opposed to Work History or just Experience, especially if you have been out of work a while. When handled this way, it becomes fair to include experience you have acquired volunteering when the skills and accomplishments relate to the position you are seeking. Make certain, also, that your listed skills match up exactly on your rsum and LinkedIn profile.Throughout the rsum, use keywords and phrases you fin d in the job announcement wherever possible to describe your experience and successes to achieve a higher matching score.2. Not all ATS systems are alike. There are many systems available today, from large-scale enterprise solutions utilized by corporations to desktop versions suitable for a single recruiting desk. Each imports and stores data its own way, and offers different features to end-users.When crafting a rsum, Schlinger warns Some ATS can only read text or Word 2003 files. Many cannot read tables or graphics, some cannot scan italic or underlined words and many will substitute funny characters for non-standard or special characters. Since some can read paper with narrow margins and crammed text while others are incapable of doing so, you should be certain to have adequate margins and use a very standard or vanilla font like Helvetica.Save pretty formatting with lines, boxes, graphics, pictures or color for a bio or a different version of your rsum that you distribute in pe rson.Schlinger goes so far as to suggest that when meeting someone at a company where you want to work, provide them with the dressed-up rsum and another one that is more ATS friendly. You might even say Here is a copy of my rsum for you, and in case you want to include it in your companys database, heres another one that will be better suited for that purpose.3. Myth You can avoid the ATS black hole by networking.Reality While networking is an indispensable parte of working your way into a company, many companies require that all rsums, no matter how they are obtained, be put into an ATS system for both compliance reasons and to prevent charges of discrimination.4. Myth You can avoid networking by going through the ATS.Reality No matter what ATS system is utilized, hiring managers like hiring people they know, or people who are directly referred to them by others they know and trust. If your timing is right, a hiring manager might identify what you offer as priorities for which the y request an ATS to screen. And you can still receive preferential treatment once your application is approved through an ATS compliance function.It is easy to feel slighted when your rsum doesnt rise to the top. And it is easy to blame the grading criteria applicant tracking systems use when you arent hired for a job. But the reality is that ATS software treats all candidates equally. It is your job to make certain you present your qualifications in a clear format, with content that can be understood both by human beings and ATS software.When you study the suggestions Schlinger sets forth, you can better understand the rules of the ATS road and employ them to your advantage.Happy huntingArnie Fertig is the head coach of JOBHUNTERCOACH.COM, where he utilizes his extensive background in HR Staffing and as owner of a recruiting company to help mid-career job-hunters land their next job. Arnie provides one-to-one coaching services to individuals throughout the U.S. in all aspects of th e job hunt, including resume writing, personal branding, utilizing social media, enhancing networking skills, preparing for interviews, and negotiating compensation.