Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Overcoming the Unique Challenges Technology Presents the Modern Job Seeker - Hallie Crawford

Overcoming the Unique Challenges Technology Presents the Modern Job Seeker Technology makes a wealth of information available to us. That provides the modern job seeker with many advantages. As we learned in a previous article, job seekers can feel more prepared than ever before for a job interview, make sure the job they are considering is the right fit, and connect with others who work in that capacity. However, technology also presents job seekers with unique challenges that didn’t exist previously. We will address some of these issues and how to overcome them successfully to find your dream job. Feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes all the information available to us online and through our networking contacts can be too much. The articles to research job positions and organizations can seem unending and this can  overwhelm the job seeker. They may even get to the point where they don’t know what to do next. To avoid getting overwhelmed, it is important to stay organized. Identify the basic steps needed for your job search and keep moving forward. For example, basic steps would be: Update your resume Create a schedule to check online job boards Contact recruiters Apply for a job and follow up when necessary Don’t let the amount of information weigh you down and keep you from taking the next steps in your job search. If you need help staying organized, we invite you to download our free Job Search Worksheet! Keeping control over your online profile. If you can easily find information about the company with a job opening, hiring manager, and other employees who work there, remember that they can find you easily as well. You may not be aware of the online image you are presenting or that others are posting of you. This can affect your getting an initial interview. Before you start to apply for jobs, Google yourself. You may be surprised at the information and pictures you find about yourself. If you find that some of the information and images could hurt your chances of getting a job, take them offline. If you don’t control the information or images, contact the person who does and ask them if they would please take down the information. You should also revise your social media profiles and the content you post: Are your profiles professional looking? What about the spelling, grammar, and humor that you use? Do you post content that other professionals would be interested in reading? Have you connected with others in the industry you want to work in? A hiring manager will check all of this information to give him a better idea of who you are as a person and if you would be a good fit for the job and the office culture. Assuming you can use the same process for all job positions. Before the internet, the process for submitting your resume for a job opening was pretty standard. However, today, organizations want to make sure you are at the top of your game, creating several steps for job seekers to follow. Every organization has their own set of instructions. To make sure your resume doesn’t get sent back to you, read the submission directions carefully. Do you need to write certain phrases in the Subject line of the email? Do you need to submit your resume as a certain document type? Do you need to answer certain questions in the email you send? Are you using the email you created specifically for your job search? If you double-check these items before you hit the “Send” button, you will be one step closer to your dream job.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Resume Writing Services and Do They Work?

Resume Writing Services and Do They Work?Have you heard the stories about resume writing services and have you been skeptical as to whether they really do work? Don't you feel that there is a scam out there waiting to happen? Well, let me explain how these companies actually work and what you need to know about them.These are companies that will help you improve your resume and increase your chances of getting an interview in the future. How? By writing a resume that you will want to submit to the resume writing service. I mean, what they do is very simple.They will contact different companies and try to get them to provide you with a copy of your resume. What they will do is fill in the blanks that are not filled out in your resume or tell the hiring company to look for certain keywords in your resume to improve the odds of your getting hired.Resume writing services are really helpful because they can actually help you get a better paying job without the high cost of having a profes sional to write a lot of resumes. They also get the resume written for you on time so you don't have to deal with any of the stress of trying to get a good resume done. This means you don't have to worry about running late for work or other things that are holding you back from working. With their services you are also less likely to have a bad first impression of you when you go in for an interview because they already know that they will be hiring you.So, with all of these benefits and a good word processing software, why would you still not use one? There are a few reasons that you might. I can tell you though that there are some very effective ways to make sure you are using the right services and getting the best results.First off, you want to choose a company that you can trust and that has good word processing software that you can easily use. The reason why you are going to do this is to avoid dealing with any bad agents. Also, don't go with a one-stop service that only has a few different types of services. This means that you will need to contact other companies to find out if they can help you.As long as you are confident in the company and they have an online site that you can look at, you can save yourself some time and money. However, if you are truly new to this you need to find out all of the pros and cons of each one of them. Doing this will allow you to make the right decision and really put you on the path to getting a great job.

Monday, April 13, 2020

The Undeniable Truth About Resume Writing Verb Tense That Nobody Is Sharing With You

The Undeniable Truth About Resume Writing Verb Tense That Nobody Is Sharing With You Or, you may find a terrific worksheet that explains past tense verbs very well, but you don't enjoy the real exercises offered. Verbs are the section of the sentence that show action. Helping verbs are important because they are necessary to form the structure of a sentence. Irregular verbs have a number of spellings. There are two kinds of past basic verbs. Therefore, it has an extraordinary academic price. Look the word up in a dictionary, search the web for examples of sentences where it's been used, and if you can, find someone to verify your sentence to make sure you've used it correctly. Your present role ought to be depicted in the current tense (assuming you're working), but your prior role, will now will need to get changed to the previous tense. Please be aware that the exact power verbs may be used for many diverse jobs, so in case you find a power verb in 1 job category like medicine, it may also apply to another job too. Careful past category use the most significant factor in previous positions. For instance, in the corporate world it is difficult to receive a job without good written communication skills, even in the event the candidate excels in their area. The 30-Second Trick for Resume Writing Verb Tense Bear in mind that you compose a resume so that you could entice an e mployer to schedule an interview. You'll not ever need to get assistance from others with rules of grammar. In case you haven't employed the style checker before, Wordman recommends it among the very first things that you ought to configure in Word before you commence writing. On-line grammar check website can enhance your academic performance and understanding of the specific language. Characteristics of Resume Writing Verb Tense Our previous instance is in the shape of past tense known as simple past. My philosophy is that however formal or resume a sheet of writing write, it writing sound just like you speak. The easy past is used to spell out an action that occurred and was completed previously. It is the basic form of past tense in English.

Sunday, March 15, 2020

The Habits of Highly Successful People - TheJobNetwork

The Habits of Highly Successful People - TheJobNetworkIf you want to be successful, you have to develop a healthy set of habits that allow you to get into a groove.The most successful people in history have developed habits and patterns that they follow and its allowed them to really get the most out of each and every day. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) Take a look at the infographic below to see who these successful people are and what kind of habits they possess.Source MBAnoGMAT.com

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

How This Career Changer Cold Called a Company and Landed Her Dream Job

How This Career Changer Cold Called a Company and Landed Her Dream Job If you heard Sandra Nam talk about her job, it might be hard to imagine that she began her career in finance. As Director of Creative Production at Squarespace, her role involves design, advertising, marketing, digital, and product. Though she started out as an analyst on the trading floor, she soon realized she wanted to build more creativity into her day-to-day at work.After moving into advertising and then working on a creative incubator team at Google, Nam landed her dream job she even got to write her own job description at Squarespace. There are quite a few things that keep me here, she says. The people and the work are no-brainers. I think the special aspect about working at Squarespace is that it truly is a design-driven company.Tell me about your career path and how it led you to Squarespace.My career actually started in finance. I welches an analyst on the trading floor, but soon after starting, somet hing inside me welches itching to do something more creative. During this time, I luckily met someone who was moving and offered me her job, and that ended up being my ticket into the crazy world of advertising.I journeyed from account management to project management to production all moves so I could get closer to making creative. After many years in advertising, I got to a point where I was leading a team of digital producers but was feeling burned out. Advertising is a job that can take over your whole life, and it had been 8 years of it. My curiosity for whats next led me to Google. I joined a small incubator team called Creative Lab and officially found myself to be producing creative work on the brand side. My time at Google made me rethink practices and processes that were hard-wired from my agency years and I found it so refreshing and challenging.After 7 years on multiple creative teams at Google, I was succeeding there but my job was becoming increasingly managerial. I w ondered if I could find something where I could lead but still solve creative problems every day. Squarespace ended up ticking all the boxes of being still in tech, based in New York and a brand and platform I admire. I also got to write my own job description and am able to draw on all the experience Ive gained in my career from different types of production Ive done design, advertising, digital, experiential and product.How long have you been at Squarespace, and what keeps you there?Ive been at Squarespace for almost 2 years now. There are quite a few things that keep me here. The people and the work are no-brainers. I think the special aspect about working at Squarespace is that it truly is a design-driven company. If you appreciate design in your life, it really is in every aspect of working here. The office, the furniture, the events, the deck templates, the snacks, the holiday parties even the black coffee cups and coasters are all thoughtful, considered decisions. I really en joy that part of Squarespace and feel its very distinctive compared to other companies Ive worked for.What advice would you give to other women interested in making a major career change?A couple things dont quit your current job until you have a new job and do some legwork. Dont take the first job inquiry you get. Instead, try to give yourself 6 months. Start making lists list your strengths and weaknesses, list what you really enjoy doing at work and what things you put off or hate to do, and make a list of brands or companies where youd dream of working and people who have jobs you admire.Then meet people, search online, email, cold call go out and talk to people, take notes, journal and self-reflect. The better you know yourself, the better this transition will be. Dont quit your current job before finding a new one because companies will respond to your inquiries better and youll have more confidence as well. By doing unterstellung two things, I feel like it will prepare you to make a leap and give you the confidence and clarity to know why.I did these very things when I first talked to Squarespace. I essentially cold-called Squarespace through some mutual contacts and asked if they needed someone with my background to help grow the business. There was no open job posting for a Production Director and I continually met with people for 6 months. Pursuing this job and now being here, Ive never felt more fulfilled, because it was the first job shift where I had a clearer picture of what I wanted and what was important to me.What are some unexpected or unusual ways that your past roles help you in your current role?I didnt think knowing how to produce radio or OOH would come in handy in 2018, but it has at Squarespace A lot of interest in traditional advertising placements are popular with tech companies now subway takeovers, wild postings, OOH billboards, taxi tops, print and radio and the creative team at Squarespace now does almost every medium of trad itional, digital and content generation for our marketing. Its come to be helpful in guiding and overseeing the work coming out of the team for the belastung couple years.What values do you find most important in a company when you choose a role? Are there any consistent themes across the different roles youve had?The thread that has consistently connected all the jobs Ive had is the notion of being the first the first interactive producer, the first agency producer, the first content producer, the first integrated producer, the first creative producer, the first product lead on a marketing team, etc. Ive been a trailblazer and educator in a lot of the roles Ive had. Its been a little exhausting to be honest, but something about hearing its never been done before really drives me. Sometimes I tell people Im an expert at walking into a fog I have no problem putting one foot in front of another without knowing where Im going. It hasnt made it easy or clear for my trajectory, but its been nice at Squarespace to have it all come together and have all those firsts benefit in one place.Are there any unexpected skills youve developed in your current role?Celebrity talent management.Whats something youre especially good at at work?I would say my taste level is something that has flourished during my time at Squarespace. Its the first place where I feel my personal aesthetic and interests cross over into work so seamlessly. Knowing what the Squarespace aesthetic is comes naturally to me because its so close to my own.--Fairygodboss is proud to partner with Squarespace.Find a job there today

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Who Is Lying to Us About Resume Words List?

Who Is Lying to Us About Resume Words List? Some are explored below. Last, the Romantic Adjectives list includes adjectives which are often used to express romantic love or maybe to describe a loved one. Action verbs show your capability to succeed. You should make an effort to include action verbs in your text to reveal your capacity to be prosperous. Always make certain that what youre saying is true. Once you have written a work description, search for techniques to generate your explanation mora concise. The perfect words can grab the interest of a prospective employer and set you on your way to a work interview. Power Resume Words will make help you distinguish yourself from your competition and raise your odds of getting hired Top Resume Words List Choices Use confident to demonstrate you know who you are as a man or woman and that youre able to carry any tasks without being afraid or hesitating. Use words particular to the work title and the sort of work you are going to be doing. Enable the experts at Monster help you build a wonderful career. Employing key words will assist the reader know right away youve taken the opportunity to really read the posting and address their interests and requirements. Employers do not just wish to realize that you worked on email advertising campaigns. You can also check at a number of the samples of different types of resumes for various kinds of careers. Its essential to note that a few employers now utilize databases to scan resumes for keywords they need to see on resumes. Resumes are somewhat more effective with the proper adjectives. A Startling Fact about Resume Words List Uncovered To assist you in getting started, have a look at the sample job descriptions below. Your very first task in a prosperous job application is to become past the anfangsbuchstabe scanning and selection procedure. Whether your resume is already online or still in paper form, its likely to wind up in a database soone r or later and you have to make certain it comes up in the most suitable searches. Creating a resume with the help of a design template is able to help you become mindful of the resume areas which you must fill. Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Resume Words List Fortunately for the work seeker, you may use tools to find out which words are optimal foryour resume. There are lots of basic sorts of resumes used to fill out an application for job openings. Furthermore, its important to think about the job which youre applying for. Locating the perfect job is never simple, but if you create a memorable resume, you will discover the course of action is considerably more enjoyable. What Everybody Dislikes About Resume Words List and Why Clinical is among the best words you are able to utilize. To be able to ensure it is perfect, you should plektron the best words to use in it. Power words are used for many reasons. Employing power words is the secret to success, but it isnt th e conclusion of the resume-writing story. Top Resume Words List Choices Then consider prioritizing the information that you provide in each individual description. The lists arent exhaustive, as the key terms you should increase your resume depend on your experience and techniques. There are various types of keywords. You also have to make sure to use important keywords and phrases.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

20 avoidable problems every company encounters

20 avoidable problems every company encounters20 avoidable problems every company encounters0Chances are you have several colleagues and friends who work at medium to large-sized companies. If you were to poll them, asking what problems they encounter on a daily basis, you might be shocked by how similar the answers are.There appears to be a natural state of existence that companies drift towards as they grow- no matter the industry. I cant say exactly why that is, but it likely includes an underlying social-technological dynamic.Ive binnenseen these problems first-hand and heard about them over and over again throughout my career. Between jobs, I decided to write out a list of the 20 most common, yet seemingly avoidable, issues every company faces as it grows.When I joined the gruppe at Morphic Therapeutic, we had a unique opportunity since we were starting from scratch. I wondered, Could we build certain elements in the culture? Could we prevent a number of these problems down the road if we addressed them upfront and wove the solutions into the cultural fabric?I cant say weve solved for each and every issue- or even tried to- but we seem to have made our own unique dent.This is our list. See if they have any benefit for you.1. People Dont Talk To Each OtherIt never ceases to amaze me that for all the technology and open-plan offices, it can still be so difficult to get people to talk to each other. Different departments can feel like entirely different communities, even though they only operate 40 feet away from each other.Were so used to sticking with our group that we often get in the habit of ignoring the people we dont normally interact with.At my previous company, the commercial team was only probably 50 yards away on the other side of the elevators. One week, the coffee machine in the executive section of the office broke, so I had to walk that 50 yards to the next closest coffee machine. I ended up saying Hi to people I literally had not seen in six m onths.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreAt Morphic, I tried to head this off by bringing everyone together once a week and giving each partie 90 seconds to talk about what theyre working on and what problems they have. Its not about solving the problems then and there, but making sure everyone has a good idea of what other people are working on so they can help, if possible.As our team continues to grow, were once again being tested to come up with new processes.2. Too Much EmailCompanies that rely on emaille for communication quickly reach a point where inboxes fill up faster than they can be checked. Inefficiency reigns. People cc team members on email threads with reckless abandon and constantly check on urgent messages, which can begin to take up significant amounts of daylight.Thats why I knew our team needed a different system. We decided to use Slack instead, and its clear ly the better path. Yes, people still use email in some situations, but the majority of internal communication is done on Slack channels. Plus, the format increases transparency and is much more user-friendly and easy to follow than an email chain. It is possible to reduce email traffic to a virtual standstill.3. Too Many MeetingsIm not necessarily anti-meeting, in the way some people are- I dont see them as a total waste of time. In multi-disciplinary situations, a productive meeting is synonymous with work. You bring diverse people together, and they figure things out.The problem with most meetings is that theyre dominated by presentations. Bullet points on a slide simply arent the best way to get information across, yet a slideshow often takes up the majority of the meeting, leaving people with little time to ask questions and discuss the topic.Its much better to write out information in a document form, providing all the clarity and context your team needs to understand whats go ing on. People can read the document beforehand and come to the meeting ready to have productive discussions. This practice can change your culture completely.4. Not Enough TransparencyA team can usually handle unpopular decisions, as long as they understand the rationale behind them. If theyre kept in the dark, and it looks as though each decision is arbitrary, thats when theyll begin to lose faith in leadership.For now, our leadership errs on the side of transparency. By making things as transparent as possible, we let people figure things out on their own. Rules and policies cant account for all situations.By making information available, you let everyone write their own narrative.Transparency can be a double-edged sword, however. Younger employees who arent as familiar with the cycle of ups and downs in any company may end up feeling like theyre on an emotional roller coaster if theyre always looped in on whats happening. This may cause you to lose people.Still, if you can decid e as a management team that youre all in this roller coaster together, then the benefits of keeping people in the know outweigh any emotional cycles.5. Supporting SmugnessOne of the unfortunate side-effects of success is that it often leads to overconfidence, even arrogance. Over time, someone who is continually successful will begin to think thats just the natural state of things. It becomes increasingly difficult for them to believe they were lucky, rather than smart. Or even that luck played some role in their success.If your team falls into that trap, youre leaving yourself open to being blindsided at any moment. Theres not much to be gained by being overconfident, but its an inevitable part of success that youll experience at some point.The only thing you can do is continue to stay humble, build effective governing processes, and reflect on the process that got you this far- which brings me to our next problem.6. Not Understanding A ProcessOftentimes, people tend to focus on ou tcomes, rather than process. If an outcome was bad, then the decision-making process must have been bad. And if the outcome was good, well, that must have been a great decision.The problem is, you may have just been lucky. A bad process can still lead to a good outcome. And unfortunately, that means if you continue following that process, its highly unlikely youll get another good outcome.Its always better to focus on the process rather than the outcome. One way to do this is by documenting your assumptions before you make a decision. That way, you have a record of whether you were thinking clearly, or you just lucked out. You cant look back and say, I knew it all along, when your words show that you had no idea what would happen.7. Designing Processes For The 1% Bad Apples, Rather Than The MassesAs companies grow, they often begin putting rules and regulations in distribution policy in an effort to prevent mistakes from happening.For instance, fraud in expense accounts is a common concern. Preventing that from happening will certainly save the company some money, but you have to realize youre really designing that process for the 1% of people who may be dishonest and take advantage of the system. And it often comes at a huge cost for 99% of people who dont need that regulation but are now burdened with it.This starts to get unwieldy very quickly.The more you can build trust within your organization, the better. Bad things are going to happen, and you should have processes in place to stop catastrophic events. But you should also be cognizant of what rules and regulations youre placing on people who never needed them in the first place.8. Dont Get Corrupted By The PitchWhether youre looking for customers, investors, or even talented employees, youre always pitching something. Usually, the pitch boils down to one simple fact you can solve something that others cant.You need to be very careful that your pitch matches your teams abilities. You still have to be ho nest about what you can and cant do.Its easy to fall into a trap of promising things to people, assuming youll be able to accomplish them when in reality, you dont know that for sure. This is essentially the story ofTheranos and Elizabeth Holmes. Once you convince yourself what youre doing is for a good cause, it becomes easy to press ahead and ignore the warning signs. At some point, youre no longer able to distinguish absatzwirtschaft from reality.9. Reacting To Fear Disproportionately To OpportunityAfter a while, most companies begin to focus on preserving what they have. Success is something to be maintained rather than built upon, or, as history shows, cannibalized by another product.Although there are exceptions, like Apples iPhone draining the market for iPods, companies generally avoid that type of revamp to their product line. Most of the time, theyll only begin to change as a reaction to fear, not opportunity. They wont act until a competitor starts doing something that ea ts into their market share.In other words Dont fear like Blockbuster innovate like Netflix.10. Forecasting Is Heavy On The Internal ViewTheres always an internal and external view.If you want to get the external view of how much product youll sell, then begin looking at the sales numbers of another similar product. And build from that baseline.The internal view starts at a different place. It uses a bottom-up analysis. In many cases, it assumes rosy outcomes and ignores the history of other products or companies. The market is X. If we own 2% of the market, then our sales will be Y.Those number may add up, but that doesnt mean they reflect reality or can predict what will actually happen. You still have to take into account the external view and see how those gel.11. Preferring The Dumbed Down Version Of ThingsInformation tends to get dumbed down as it moves up the chain of command. Theres often a perception that everything has to be simplified for management. The reality is that yo u dont have to simplify information- you just need to clarify it.That might mean actually adding more context to what youre sending. For instance, if I sent you step-by-step instructions on how to get from your house to mine, you may be able to follow it. But if you were able to see a map of the entire neighborhood along with those instructions, youd have a much better idea of the route.Instead of dumbing things down, think about them carefully and then describe them in a way that provides the necessary context and clarity for good decision-making.12. Heavy Approval ProcessWhen a company is small, the decision-making processes are very beweglich. Its fairly simple to change direction or get approval when you need it. As companies grow, they almost always operate more slowly.A good portion of our team came to us from large pharmaceutical companies, and were doing drug discovery in a similar way to what a large company might. Yet our timelines are much shorter.Its the same people, sam e equipment, same approach- but as a smaller company, we arent held back by convoluted processes. Decisions get made in a much more fluid process.13. Being Afraid To Give FeedbackPeople are generally very afraid to speak up and give feedback at work, especially when they have to say something negative.Its not easy to be the person who raises an issue, and the anxiety only increases if theres even a small chance you might be blamed for it. No one wants to be associated with a major problem. Of course, that reluctance to give feedback is a problem in itself.Issues have to be raised quickly so they can be corrected. Otherwise, theyll linger and cause greater damage later on.14. Only Celebrating People Who Put Out FiresThe thing about consistent high performance is that it tends to look somewhat boring after awhile. Its actually easier than youd think to overlook someone who is quietly doing a good job week after week.Instead, promotions and recognition often go to people who storm arou nd putting out fires. Staying late into the night every day for two weeks in order to fix something may look heroic, but that shouldnt necessarily be celebrated at the expense of the people who dont have to put out fires because they never let one start in the first place.15. Prioritization Of Processes Over PeopleAs companies grow and hone in on their core product, they tend to become more and more efficient at focusing on that one offering. They build processes to streamline their approach and concentrate heavily on making it better and better.Unfortunately, the world is complicated and changes very rapidly. If you look at the SP 500 from 1900 to the present, GE is the only company still on it. And even that legendary company has been struggling lately.Companies are not robust. People are. If you want to be capable of adapting to change, you have to hire the right people and let them drive the approach. The last thing you want to do is hire smart people and dumb them down to fit y our process. Steve Jobs probably said it bestIt doesnt make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.16. Mistaking Confidence For CompetenceThe people who rise within a company tend to be confident. Theyre loud, they present well, they speak directly. They have the look of a leader.Oddly enough, the more confident someone is in themselves, the less knowledge they usually share. People who are actually experts come off as unassuming and less assertive, mostly because they recognize the nuance involved in the decisions they make.Businesses often end up hiring and promoting the most confident employees, even though their confidence may be misguided.17. Having A Work Self And A Home SelfWhen your team is at work, you want them to be incredibly focused on the job. And when theyre at home, you dont want them worrying about work.Yet Id hesitate to use the term work-life balance. That implies your work and the rest of your life are separate spaces that never overlap. In reality, everyone benefits when people bring their unique talents and interests to their job. Theres no reason to check emotions at the door when you walk into work.18. Dont Bring Me A Problem, Bring Me A Solution.That sentence is the common wisdom I hear over and over in the business world- and it drives me crazy.Why is the person who notices a problem automatically the best person to have a solution to it? Sure, maybe they can find a solution, but maybe its going to take the rest of the team to figure it out. Maybe someone else has the necessary expertise.As a CEO, even if Im not being presented with a solution, I would much rather learn about a problem than not hear about. Telling someone to bring you solutions is actually an incentive for them not to bring problems to your attention.Why would they if they dont have a solution for it?19. Consensus Decision-MakingIn a big company, doing anything often requires getting a lot of different p eople to say, yes. All it takes is one person saying, no, and your idea is done.The problem with that is when you need consensus, you tend to revert to the mean. If you need ten different people to sign off on a hire, the person you choose has to be acceptable to everyone. Which means there may be nothing wrong with them, but there may also be nothing right with them either.You see this watering down happen all the time in big companies because in order for an idea to work its way through the system, it has to be stripped of all its interesting- yet potentially objectionable- elements.20. Establishing A Non-Rigorous Promotion ProcessThe system for promotion in any company makes a strong statement about what the leadership team values. If someone who has known the boss for a long time gets promoted on that bias, that tells everyone else something. Namely, knowing the boss is the key to getting promoted.Companies ought to be promoting based on skills. You want people to believe theyre working in a meritocracy where their skills and their efforts will be rewarded. You can talk all day about culture and happy hours and company parties, but none of that will matter at all if youre promoting the wrong people.Promotions are essentially a keystone skill. So much of your success will flow from getting them right, that you literally cant afford to get them wrong.This article first appeared on Quora.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