New Product Launch! Is Your CV Doing You Justice?

Are you:

* someone who has emailed your CV to many recruiters, only to have heard nothing back?

* aware your CV needs to stand out and be a sales tool, but you don't know how?

* keen to leverage LinkedIn too, but don't know which buzzwords to avoid?

* unsure how to position yourself as an expert in your CV?

* starting to realise that your job prospects and future salary will both be limited unless you have an engaging and competitive CV that opens doors?

...then you're not alone!

So many of my clients ask me for help with their CVs.

And despite them being both highly-talented and highly-employable individuals, their CVs simply don't reflect this reality.

And it saddens me enormously because I know these clients have been missing out on opportunities. And often opportunities that they really, really want.

Well, the great news is there is a way to craft a CV and LinkedIn profile that effectively demonstrates the depth of your offering and helps you get those crucial interviews.

I'm pleased to announce the launch of my brand new product:


'Complete CV Building System' 
67 Strategies to Successfully Promote Your Value & Expertise to Land Your Dream Job!'




What you will learn:

Module 1: Content

Module 2: Formatting and Layout

Module 3: The Marketing Module! Sell Yourself Effectively

And there's a BONUS LinkedIn module too to ensure you position yourself effectively online as well.

Read more about this step by step CV building product here!

Rebecca

Sharing My Birth Experience With You!

It's now Boxing Day and I can't believe how quickly December has gone! Three weeks ago I encountered an entirely new experience: a natural, drug-free hypnobirthing birth. The result: our gorgeous little girl, Elise was born!

Here's a pic of her at 2 weeks old:



Elise was 8 days 'late' but, despite talk from our midwives that they wanted to book me in for an artificial induction to 'get things moving', I was adamant that I wanted our baby to come spontaneously - when she was ready. After all, I had been lucky enough to have a straight forward pregnancy and Elise's heart beat was healthy and strong.

At 4am on 5th December I woke up with my first contractions. Having never been a mum before I wasn't sure what contractions would feel like. All I knew was that this was a different sort of feeling. I was so ready to have my baby that I was ecstatic to be feeling these pangs. I woke Ross to let him know that something was happening -and then, knowing all we could do was wait, we went back to bed.

In the morning, the spasms were still coming so I started listening to my hypnobirthing CDs, doing the specific breathing techniques through each contraction and staying as focused as possible on remaining calm and oxygenating my body.

By 10am it was time to go to hospital: the contractions were 5 minutes apart and strengthening. We left, got half way to hospital and I remembered I'd left a candle burning in the living room. There was no way I could relax and stay focused knowing our house could burn down at any minute (!) so we drove back home to blow it out! Back to hospital again... :)

Our delivery room was much more welcoming than I expected it would be. This would be our 'home' for the next few hours!

I was still comfortable enough chatting with Laura (our midwife) and as I didn't seem distressed she suggested we went home for another couple of hours. To be truthful I didn't fancy the car journey home twice again and anyway, my instinct told me to stay put.

I was linked me up to a machine to monitor the contractions (or 'surges' if you want to use hypnobirthing speak) and the baby's heartbeat.

Within ten minutes the waves of contractions started to come more quickly and harder. They sort of punched down from my mid-stomach and across my lower abdomen.

I was glad I'd listened to my intuition and stayed put. An internal exam revealed that I was already 6cm dilated (you need to be 10cm to birth your baby). I think Laura was surprised I was so far along and still calm!

Throughout my pregnancy I had seen my acupuncturist, Olivia Shurdova (who is exceptionally gifted). Amongst other things Olivia had shown Ross and I key acupressure points on my legs, hands and shoulders that, when pressed, would offer natural pain relief. It was time to apply what we'd learnt! Ross began to apply pressure to these points each time a contraction washed across my belly and it made a significant difference.

By about 1pm the contractions had sort of taken over my body. Every 1 to 2 minutes this tightening would surge across my lower abdomen - from the hips into the centre of my belly. Some women describe it as a strong period pain. My experience was quite localised to the lower part of my belly. From my hypnobirthing classes I knew this was the horizontal muscles at the base of my uterus being pulled open and up as a result of the vertical muscles contracting upwards.

I remembered the advice from our tutor: to imagine these muscles as ribbons (or anything flowing, limp and light... like running water or fabric blowing in the wind).

Any of my clients will know that I am a huge advocate of visualisation and mental preparation - I firmly believe in the power of the mind-body connect. Knowing how my body was naturally working to birth my baby, coupled with these visualisations, enabled me to stay totally focused and manage the situation more easily.

At this stage of labour some women like to stand, others to lie down. Many prefer to work through it hunched over an exercise ball. Quite frankly no position for me was comfortable at this point. The best option was standing with my hands on the end of the bed.

By 2pm I asked for the bath to be filled. "I think you've got another half hour before we do that," Laura said. "Nup," I said, "I need to get in the water!" I wanted the warm water around me to soothe the contractions.

Here's a picture of what a birthing bath looks like:



The warmth of the bath water was delicious. Not only did it ease the ache from each surge, it also helped me to feel weightless. Ross was an absolute godsend too at this point. He had also attended the hypno classes with me and knew what to say and when to say it.

In a hypno birth, the role of your birthing partner is vital. Well let's face it, in any birth it helps to have a birthing partner who is aware of your birthing preferences and to encourage you throughout!

Ross' voice became my main focus and enabled me to filter out all other voices and noise. He reminded me to breathe deeply to a count of ten and out for ten - not only did this saturate my body and uterus with oxygen (thereby keeping the muscles maleable as possible) it also brought calmness to my mind.

Every wave, he reminded me too that we were one more contraction closer to meeting our daughter.

Our baby was well and truly down in my birth canal when Laura suggested I stand up. Although gravity is a natural aid to birthing, standing up was the last thing I fancied attempting!

One of my friends had used 'active birthing' techniques, where you walk and stand as much as possible. It seemed logical - and it worked - as soon as I stood up, our baby started to be visible. Hooray - it was time!

In hypnobirthing terms, this is the point where you switch to 'J' curve breathing. This is where you inhale quickly and deeply and then exhale down hard whilst imagining baby is moving out in a sort of 'j' shape.

For me, this was a technique that went totally out of the window as my body's natural instincts took hold. All I wanted to do was push! I could feel the baby surging forwards each time, only to be sucked back in again! After that occuring twice, I twigged that I needed to make more of a concerted effort whilst still allowing time for my skin to stretch.

Within 20 minutes the baby's head was out. Her shoulders were soon to follow. It was only then that I really heard Laura's voice. "Mum you can reach down and pull baby out if you want." What? I thought. I hadn't imagined I would be able to do that! How amazing!

I opened my eyes, looked down and saw this little head and body in the water. Our baby was almost born! I reached down and clasped her little body. It was truly magical. With the next contraction I delivered our baby girl and lifted her out of the water and onto my chest. I think I was in shock - she was finally here and was absolutely perfect.

Here's another pic just after she was born:




Birthing Elise in a natural way was, as I say, a truly magical experience. It is true that I would have been desperately disappointed if I hadn't been able to bring Elise into the world drug free (I believe the combination of water and hypno birthing without drugs or intervention has resulted in an exceptionally calm and healthy baby).

But I was a very lucky mum and had no complications. So now she is here... the true challenge begins!

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about my experience. I would love to hear other parents' birth stories - feel free to post your comments below!

- Rebecca

Rebecca's Column in emPOWER Magazine Spring 2011 Issue: Raise Your Profile Without Stepping on Toes

Rebecca is a columnist in emPOWER magazine's Spring 2011 issue.

The topic? "Raise Your Profile at Work Without Stepping on Any Toes."

Here's a snippet, just for you!

"What is it about the topic of 'raising your profile' that makes so many people visibly squirm? In my experience it's fear: fear of being different; fear of what other people might think; fear of being isolated by those around you.

This fear can be so overwhelming it can cripple many people from even dipping their toe in the abundance of opportunity that is out there.

And let's face it, maintaining anonymity and hiding in the shadows feels safe, warm and familiar; there are no surprises. The downside of this however is stagnation. Playing it safe means you don't move forwards, sideways, or well... anywhere really.

You stay where you are, possibly in the vain hope that someone somewhere will eventually recognise your value and contribution and reward it handsomely. In reality, that day never comes.

To get anywhere in your career, you need to stick your neck out, be brave and bold.

The irony of taking this kind of action is the more you stand up for what you believe in -your values, your mission and your personal and professional objectives - and push for the outcomes you want, the more you will engage and draw people towards you..."

Read the whole article (pg42) and download the entire magazine here!

I'd love to hear your views on self promotion in the workplace!

-RW

What My Pregnancy Is Teaching Me About Personal Branding

I am now 26 weeks pregnant. And it's a very funny thing.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about it - those who are mothers; those who never want to be mothers; and those who, for anatomical reasons, will never be mothers. :)

What I find most interesting is how so many of the people I come across - both personally and professionally - want to share their own fears of pregnancy and childbirth; or recount their wives' horrific 20-hour labour stories; or even laugh as they relay a particularly gruesome episode of ER with me...

What really throws them, is when I talk about the preparation I am making for a natural, drug-free, Hypnobirthing birth. If you don't know what Hypnobirthing is all about, essentially it is a calm method of birthing using specific breathing and visualisation techniques to enable your body to do what it was built to do naturally.

People scoff. People's eyes widen with fear. What? You're just going to breathe the baby out?! No pain relief? No going purple from pushing for half a day?

What this truly exciting period in my life is teaching me (amongst a whole lot of other things) is the importance of standing up for what you believe in and not allowing other peoples' fears to sway my decisions or to put doubt in my mind.

Building a strong personal brand is really no different: it's all about being true to yourself and standing up for your own convictions.

- RW

Rebecca speaks at PWC - Managing Difficult Conversations

I gave a presentation to over 120 employees at PriceWaterhouseCoopers yesterday, all about 'managing difficult conversations'.

'Miscommunication' is such a common issue and the cause of many a disagreement. We all have a tendency to mind-read how other people might be thinking; we make assumptions; and often exude sweeping generalisations as to how things appear to us.

This is an enormous topic so I thought I'd pull out 4 key thoughts to share with you here :

1. Use specifics whenever possible. Instead of making (sometimes absurd) generalisations, offer specific examples to make your point. The more specific you are, the better.

2. Never assume that your definition of any word is the same definition that your counterpart would apply. For instance: I might view 'openness' as 'giving you a snapshot of my weekend', whilst you may see 'openness' as 'spending 40 minutes discussing every last detail of the weekend, what you had to eat, who you met, and who you fell in love with...'

3. If criticising anyone make sure you do this at the level of 'behaviour' and not 'identity'. For example: "When you forgot to put the bin out, it annoyed me" is a world apart from simply, "You are hopeless!"

4. Respect others' views; they may genuinely 'see' things differently to you.

If you want to share any comments or experiences, please do! - RW

The Launch of Rise Then Shine!

Wow! We had such a fantastic time on Wednesday! It was fabulous to be part of the activity and energy at our launch 'Rise Then Shine' event!

We're really excited to see the 'Ask Rebecca How...' community growing already and are looking forward to bringing even greater focus, personal fulfilment and success to your life!



There was such a buzz around the place - and a real energy from all the ladies who got stuck in and began to discuss their challenges!

We had all sorts of goals being set and explored. Some were around our optional theme, 'building stronger relationships' including 'opening communication channels with my sister' and 'developing a stronger relationship with our suppliers' whilst others focused on working smarter: 'becoming habitual about planning my week ahead'.

We're so looking forward to celebrating members' successes on 19th May at the next 'Rise Then Shine'! And remember to hold your buddy accountable between now and then!

Want to connect with us? Join our facebook group. If you prefer 'tweeting' we're out there on twitter too as well as posting challenges for your comments on LinkedIn. Whatever your preferred social media platform, we're there!

We would love to see you at the next 'Rise Then Shine' event on 19th May. There are fabulous launch discounts currently available on both casual tickets and memberships. Better yet, bring a friend - we've some special deals available for groups of 2+ and 5+!

Visit our site for more info: www.AskRebeccaHow.com

RW