It’s summer and job hunting season is here! Most recruiters spend under a minute reviewing a resume. Check out these tips to make sure you’re not making these simple but costly mistakes.
Continue reading Top 5 Reasons Recruiters Reject Your Resume
Recently, a mentee of mine came to me with this problem:
“My boss is usually pretty cool, but he seems to be over-analyzing my every move and I feel like I can’t do anything without being scrutinized. I know it’s probably because she cares a lot, but it’s become annoying and I don’t know what to do. Why is she doing this?”
“Let’s aim for a win-win deal here. We only want what’s fair.”
If you ever hear these two sentences, chances are you’re dealing with an experienced negotiator.
You might be thinking to yourself:
“What’s wrong with win-win, Azfan? And fair is amazing. That’s what I want too!”
I think a story will best illustrate this point. Continue reading Negotiation Philosophy – Stop Losing Out and Start Winning
I’ve written on negotiation before [Click Here] and a few people reached out and asked for more detail. They said “These ideas are great, but how can I go about implementing this in my life?”
This led me to reflect and experiment with the idea of negotiation. Using myself as a human guinea pig, I extracted a 3 step process that can work in many negotiation situations. In this article, I’m going to share this simple framework which you can adopt and use to help you structure your negotiations.
Imagine this scenario:
It’s starting to become a hot summer and you decide to buy an airconditioner. You find an ad on craigslist that has a used one listed for $50. You think to yourself, “wow, $50! what a great deal!”. After meeting with the seller, you pay them $50 and go home, happy with your new airconditioner.
Why didn’t you negotiate?
Continue reading How I Negotiated $230 of Free Internet Services
The books listed below are great resources to learn more about negotiation. I found them insightful and detailed in their explanations. The authors cover different aspects of negotiation from tactical emotional intelligence to being comfortable with saying “No” in a respectful manner. Reading these books alone will not make you a master of negotiation until you start putting the ideas in the books into practice. Continue reading Negotiation Books
Have you ever felt you could do much better in work and life if someone could guide you? When you’re faced with big decisions, would it be useful if there was someone who has lived it before and can provide you the pros and cons of the options before you?
If you’ve answered yes to the questions above, then you could benefit from mentorship. Continue reading How mentorship can increase your effectiveness
Would you be okay with losing out on $200,000 at the end of your career?
According to a recent study, researchers found that new hires who negotiated their starting salaries gained about $5,000 over those who didn’t.
$5,000 might not seem like much, but over a 40 year period, at the very least, amounts to roughly $200,000 in lost income!
Negotiations are challenging, and salary negotiations in particular might seem especially daunting. In this article, you’ll learn how you can negotiate effectively to get what you want while making sure the other side feels it is in their best interest to help you. We will be focusing on salary negotiations in particular for the remainder of this article. Continue reading How to negotiate effectively
“Could you give me feedback on how I performed on the client management aspect of project?
What went well, what could be improved, and what should i stop doing.”
Asking for feedback is a standard in my professional tool belt. At the end of most projects, I ask my colleagues, managers and clients for feedback. Continue reading How to elicit effective feedback
Have you ever asked someone a question that they misinterpreted? You meant to ask about one thing, but they thought you were asking about something else, and the situation quickly got out of hand? In this article I’ll explain 7 tips that will help you ask better questions and as a result, get better answers. Additionally, I’ll introduce a simple framework you can apply to help you start asking effective questions. Continue reading The art of asking effective questions
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who makes you feel inferior to them, but in an indirect manner? You understand the conversation based on the words being exchanged, but there seems to be something underneath the surface of the conversation that makes you feel as if there’s more to the conversation than just what’s being said. In this article, I will introduce you to an advanced communication skill that only a few people know well, and even fewer people know how to apply. Continue reading The secret to mastering communication