Attended Startup Riot today at the Fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta, and I was amazed at the entrepreneurial spirit present at the event.  It reminded me that even during down times, there are still tons of people out there trying to create and develop new technologies and companies.  Really encouraging!

The keynote speaker was Bo Peabody, General Partner at Village Ventures.  He had a few memorable quotes including, “every successful investment i’ve ever made was at one point on life support…” and “an entrepreneur is someone whose passion for an idea inspires passion in others…”

But, what I liked best about the event was the entrepreneurial spirit alive in the room.  Even if you are not interested in starting you own business, there is plenty to be learned from those willing to take that risk.  Many of the characteristics that make certain entrepreneurs successful can translate to making anyone successful, and I believe the most important to be simply this:  having passion for what you are doing.

Related articles that may be of interest…

• Entrepreneurs Dare to Stick Their Neck Out (startupprofessionals.com)
• Launch of Mentoring Competition for Social Entrepreneurs (thenextwomen.com)
• Guest Post: The Biggest Myth in Entrepreneurship Dispelled (Part 1 of 3) (thriveal.com)
• Entrepreneur: have you got what it takes? (careermoves.cjwriting.com)
• James Caan opens Entrepreneurs’ Business Academy (telegraph.co.uk)

So, now that you have landed your dream job (or even just the right job for right now), what steps can you take to make sure you keep it?

Applicants.com has a new article detailing some of the steps you can take to avoid being on the “layoff list“, but we will add a few of our own:

1) Avoid negativity – experience suggests those that have a negative attitude towards the company, a boss or coworker tend to be moved to the top of the list if a reduction in force is needed.

2) Go above and beyond – it seems that fulfillment and enjoyment go hand in hand with hard work and dedication.  The employee that is always late, watching the clock to be first out the door at 5pm and extending breaks at every chance is often the employee left behind.  On the other hand, challenging yourself to give your best effort and looking for opportunity to perform above expectations can not only get you noticed in the crowd, but can also give you a true sense of accomplishment and increase your sense of fulfillment on the job.

3) Stay organized to avoid stress and increase productivity – our earlier post on Inbox Zero gives an example of steps you can take to manage your time more efficiently.  Other more call center specific steps include entering notes during a customer call instead of after a call to keep things moving or maintaining clear to-do lists of follow-up calls and emails to make sure nothing is lost in the shuffle.

4) Understand the goal of each call before starting the call – as for a call center industry specific item, before entering any call, you need to make sure you understand the goal of the call.  Are you seeking information, a payment or sale, or communicating a message?  Each of these particular objectives require specific steps to ensure you reach the goal.  Make sure you know what you are seeking to accomplish before any call is routed your way or you make that first outbound call.

For more resources, check out our resources page.

Related articles that may be of interest…

• Choosing to Better Your Career (youngmoney.com)
• Hired! Show the employer who’s boss (money.cnn.com)

If you want your call center to be competitive, your agents need to fully understand the mission they are being asked to undertake. For call center leadership, this means clearly stating why their unit exists, what it contributes to the larger business, and what appropriate measures will be used to assess its success.

- Ellis & Hawk. “Improving Call Center Performance.” Call Center Agent Motivation and Compensation

When it comes to the job search, just getting going can be the most difficult part.  From the Wall Street Journal: The most difficult part of making a career change is starting it, especially with only your desire to propel you.

David Allen, the author of “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity“, says:

You have to be able to take action in your life without being bumped around like a victim..It helps to recognize that being a self-starter is a set of behaviors that you can adopt.

If you’re having trouble thinking of a project to get you moving in the right direction, start with the basics:

Your first project could be something as simple as making a career-opportunities folder, in which you put interesting articles you cut out of magazines or read online…It could be setting up a time each week to reflect on the bigger picture of your life. It’s not a bad thing to hold off on the biggest decisions until your thinking has matured.

For more, check out our career advice resources or our job listings.

Related articles that may be of interest…

• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen (bluearchipelagoreviews.com)
• Early-Bird Discount on “Back to Basics Productivity” Ebook Expires Today – Order NOW! (lifehack.org)
• Nexty Is a GTD-Focused, Web-Based To-Do List [Getting Things Done] (lifehacker.com)
• David Allen on Getting It All Done (ducttapemarketing.com)
• You: Focus Your To-Do List with a “Skydiving List” [Productivity] (lifehacker.com)

In his book, Bottom-Line Call Center Management, David Butler points out,

Most people dislike a long commute to work; some actually despise it…Even though people do commute and realize this is just a cost associated with “doing business,” there is a threshold distance where they will choose not to commute – an invisible line where a location is too far to commute to given the particular job and pay.

This being true, when opening a new call center, the call center operator must take into consideration the three most important things in real estate – location, location, location.  When recruiting agents, the labor shed (that is, the potential pool of labor from which any particular agency can recruit) will be limited by geographic location and pay rate.  The higher the pay rate, the larger the potential labor shed.  In fact, consider the following:

Job 1 – $8/hour and 30-mile commute

Cost of travel: 30 cents/mile, 30 miles each way, 6 days/week=$108 per week in travel costs

Pay: 40 hours/week x $8/hour=$320/week

Take home: $320/week-travel cost ($108/week)=$212 per week

Job 2 – $7.50/hour and 20-mile commute

Cost of travel: 30 cents/mile, 20 miles each way, 6 days/week=$72 per week in travel costs

Pay: 40 hours/week x $7.50/hour=$300/week

Take home: $300/week-travel cost ($72/week)=$228 per week

So – when locating a new call center, be sure to consider location, your labor shed, and the costs your employees will foot in commuting to your location.  And, when recruiting, be sure to consider your pay rate vs. your location in determining your competitive salary range.

Great advice from the Resume Writing Blog. And 1 more tip, contact our recruiters for a second set of eyes on your resume after working through these steps!

Tip 1: Check spacing and make sure your page margins are set to at least a .07 all around. This will not only ensure that your resume is inviting but that it meets universal printing standards (abating printing issues).

Tip 2: Bold your name and enlarge the font to 16 pt. or 18 pt. Also, centering your name is a great way to make immediate impact.

Tip 3: Separate your personal contact information with a bullet or divider, providing great visual appeal and easy email and phone number identification.

Tip 4: Add your target Job Title to introduce your Summary or Profile instead of the more common labels such as “Qualifications Profile or Summary.” This will help you add a great resume keyword right at the top and will lend to your expert image/ brand.

Tip 5: Edit your Summary or Profile, ensuring sentences end quickly; combine ideas and try to limit this introductory paragraph to five to six lines. This will help create a nice crisp look and you will deliver your marketing message more clearly.

Tip 6: Go through the rest of your resume and remove all orphan words (words left on a line by themselves). This just causes an unorganized look and it really isn’t necessary.

Tip 7: Bold resume sections (Employment, Education, etc.) and enlarge the font size to 14 pt. This will nicely separate the areas of your resume and guide readers through.

Tip 8: Group job accountabilities together in a paragraph form, separating from achievements. Keep the number of sentences to no more than six. People lose interest when paragraphs are long-winded. Plus, long sentences and paragraphs makes it easier for your message to become convoluted.

Tip 9: Separate your achievements (how you actually performed and the results you generated) from the job description. Bullet them; no more than five to six bullets. Any more than that will look too busy and unwelcoming to the reader.

Tip 10: Ensure you have begun all bulleted sentences with action verbs. Here: Download Resume-Writing-Academy-Verb-List provided by the Resume Writing Academy.

Tip 11: Make sure all your bullets line up and match! Inconsistency screams sloppiness and conveys unprofessionalism.

Tip 12: Eliminate any hobbies or personal information (picture, marital status, age, religious associations). These do not belong on your resume.

Tip 13: Read the entire resume aloud to catch awkward phrases end errors. As you read aloud, analyze if what you have just read is relevant to your new career target, if not–remove it!

Tip 14: Check if you have created a second page that is at least a third full. There is no excuse for a second page with just a few lines on it.

Tip 15: Remove the phrase, References Available Upon Request, this is very antiquated and unnecessary.

Related articles that may be of interest…

• Polishing Your Résumé Part II (halliecrawford.typepad.com)
• 10 Tips to a Kick Ass Resume (bargaineering.com)
• The 10 Commandments of Cover Letter Writing (timesunion.com)
• Ten Resume Mistakes You Must Avoid (bargaineering.com)