CTL Brainstorming Day 2013

CTL Brainstorming Day 2013 On November 1, 2013, more than 150 career professionals from 6 countries met for the annual Career Thought Leaders’ Global Career Brainstorming Day to discuss best practices, innovations, trends, and other factors currently impacting global job search and career management. I am pleased to write about their findings, just as I have for the last 3 years! Resumes are not dead! Even if you get your foot in the door with LinkedIn or an Executive Bio, your resume will still be a key part of your job search process. You absolutely must show a recruiter, in no uncertain terms, how you will solve their client companies’ problems. And you’ll need to make your great impression in not 15 or 20 seconds, but six (6)!! Here are the top 10 takeaways I’d like to share for resumes in 2014: Focus on your most current position. Many people reading resumes do not even look past that first position, so capture their attention right away! Remember that many recruiters are reading resumes on their phones, so make them mobile-friendly (there are applications available to create mobile-friendly resumes). Go for succinctness and clarity of direction, especially in your personal branding. Less is more. That means no 5-6-line summary paragraphs! Include quotes/testimonials on your resume – these tidbits are even easier to collect now that LinkedIn recommendations are so commonly given. Create multiple versions of your resume – for email, mobile, social media profiles, and yes, one on paper for networking and interviews. In most cases, keep your resume to 1-2 pages. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. In Europe, you may still include a photo, birth date and information about your familial relationships on your resume (Do NOT do this in the U.S., the U.K. or Australia). Generally, the U.S.-style â€Å"multinational† resume is becoming the norm. Be sure to have an ATS-friendly resume available for on-line applications. You might want one resume that works for both humans and ATS systems, or you might choose a format that works for both. Consider creating an infographic resume, which is a rising trend. Twitter resumes, video clips and other multi-media presentations will also make you stand out from the competition. Snail mailing a resume can make a good impression! Do it in addition to emailing and submitting on line! Don’t be afraid to include hyperlinks on your resume. This is a great way to keep things concise while offering a portal into the depth of your experience. More and more, resumes are becoming an aggregation of social media, with less content in the resume itself. Wondering about LinkedIn? LinkedIn profiles are a complement to your resume, not a carbon copy. LinkedIn provides an opportunity to be more personal and engaging. As recommended in my e-book, How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, create a robust LinkedIn profile complete with multimedia presentations, projects and videos. And use your LinkedIn Summary to project your â€Å"motivation, passion and individuality.† For more detail about trends in a range of job search categories, please go to the full article, Findings of 2013 Global Career Brainstorming Day:   Trends for the Now, the New the Next in Careers. For last year’s report, see my article, Are You Up on the Top Resume Cover Letter Trends of 2012-2013? Were you surprised by any of the findings?   What did you learn?   Please share in the comments below.

10 Potassium Facts (K or Atomic Number 19)

10 Potassium Facts (K or Atomic Number 19) Potassium is a light metallic element that forms many important compounds and is essential for human nutrition. Here are 10 fun and interesting potassium facts. You can get more details about potassium on the potassium facts page. Fast Facts: Potassium Element Name: PotassiumElement Symbol: KAtomic Number: 19Atomic Weight: 39.0983Classification: Alkali MetalAppearance: Potassium is a solid, silvery-gray metal at room temperature.Electron Configuration:  [Ar] 4s1 Potassium is element number 19. This means the atomic number of potassium is 19 and each potassium atom has 19 protons.Potassium is one of the alkali metals, which means it is a highly reactive metal with a valence of 1.Because of its high reactivity, potassium is not found free in nature. It is formed by supernovas via the R-process and occurs on Earth dissolved in seawater and in ionic salts.Pure potassium is a lightweight silvery metal that is soft enough to cut with a knife.  Although the metal appears silver when its fresh, it tarnishes so quickly that it normally appears dull gray.Pure potassium usually is stored under oil or kerosene because it oxidizes so readily in air and reacts in water to evolve hydrogen, which may be ignited from the heat of the reaction.The potassium ion is important for all living cells. Animals use sodium ions and potassium ions to generate electric potentials. This is vital for many cellular processes and is the basis for the conduction of nerve im pulses and stabilization of blood pressure. When not enough potassium is available in the body, a potentially fatal condition called hypokalemia can occur. Symptoms of hypokalemia include muscle cramps and irregular heartbeat. An overabundance of potassium causes hypercalemia, which produces similar symptoms.  Plants require potassium for many processes, so this element is a nutrient that is readily depleted by crops and must be replenished by fertilizers. Potassium was first purified in 1807 by Cornish chemist Humphry Davy (1778–1829) from caustic potash (KOH) via electrolysis. Potassium was the first metal to be isolated using electrolysis.Potassium compounds emit a lilac or violet flame color when burned.  It burns in water, just like sodium. The difference is that sodium burns with a yellow flame and is more likely to shatter and explode!  When potassium burns in water, the reaction releases hydrogen gas. The heat of the reaction can ignite the hydrogen.Potassium is used as a heat transfer medium. Its salts are used as a fertilizer, oxidizer, colorant, to form strong bases, as a salt substitute, and for many other applications.  Potassium cobalt nitrite is a yellow pigment known as Cobalt Yellow or Aureolin.The name for potassium comes from the English word for potash. The symbol for potassium is K, which is derived from the Latin kalium and Arabic qali for alkali. Potash and alkali are two of the potassium compounds k nown to man since ancient times. More Potassium Facts Potassium is the 7th most abundant element in the Earths crust, accounting for about 2.5% of its mass.Element number 19 is the 8th most abundant element in the human body, accounting for between 0.20% and 0.35% of body mass.Potassium is the second lightest (least dense) metal after lithium.Three isotopes of potassium occur naturally on Earth, although at least 29 isotopes have been identified. The most abundant isotope is K-39, which accounts for 93.3% of the element.The atomic weight of potassium is 39.0983.Potassium metal has a density of 0.89 grams per cubic centimeter.The melting point of potassium is  63.4  oC or  336.5 K and its boiling point is  765.6  oC or  1038.7 K. This means potassium is a solid at room temperature.Humans can taste potassium in aqueous solution. Dilute potassium solutions taste. Increasing the concentration leads to a bitter or alkaline flavor. Concentrated solutions taste salty.One lesser-known use of potassium is as a portable oxygen source. Potassium superoxide (KO2), is an orange solid used to release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide in respiration system for submarines, spacecraft, and mines. Sources Haynes, William M., ed. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (92nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Marx, Robert F. (1990). The history of underwater exploration. Courier Dover Publications. p. 93.Shallenberger, R. S. (1993). Taste chemistry. Springer.