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5 Tips on Public Speaking for Beginners to Be Fearless Speakers

5 Tips on Public Speaking for Beginners to Be Fearless Speakers

by | Jan 21, 2016 | Career, Communication, Communication Skills, Managing Yourself, Office Etiquette, World of Work

Whoever said public speaking is only for politicians and leaders? In the World of Work, acquiring the art of public speaking is just as important a skill. Be it a farewell speech, an award acceptance speech or speaking at a board meeting or an international conference. In all these areas, your public speaking skills will be put to test. If that scares you to death, well you are not alone. Fear of public speaking is a widespread phenomenon – the average person ranks it even above fear of death. There is even a word for it – Glossophobia or speech anxiety is the fear of public speaking or of speaking in general. But let’s be more positive, public speaking is a skill that can be easily acquired through following some tried and tested techniques and avoiding some common pitfalls. If an audience is there to listen to you, you owe it to them to be well prepared in what you have to say and it is your responsibility to keep them interested and have their attention. We have put together these five tips on public speaking that will help any beginner to be a fearless speaker:

1. Tips on Public Speaking – Make Eye Contact

Making eye contact is the first and foremost step to be able to speak confidently in public. Avoiding eye contact will have your audience drift away and leave them uninterested. It also reflects nervousness on your behalf. Making eye contact with your audience is a sure way to make them feel involved and adds to your confidence when you are able to see that your audience is truly interested in what you have to say.

2. Tips on Public Speaking – Avoid Fillers

Make a conscious effort to avoid using syllables and words like “umm”, “like”, “basically”, “actually” which you use to help complete your sentences. They take away from the gravity of what you want to articulate and speak of your unpreparedness in addressing the public. Instead use silence and pauses. Rather than lose the listeners, a well-placed pause can give your audience a chance to process what you’ve already said and get them hooked on what you’ll say next. Tips on Public Speaking

3. Tips on Public Speaking – Carry a Memo of what you want to say

Make a small card with some of the main pointers of your speech so that you do not miss out on the important things you have to say. Use the card only for prompting yourself and at all cost avoiding “reading” out. Keep the memo handy only for the purpose of reference, all the while maintaining eye contact and interacting with your audience.

 4. Tips on Public Speaking – Emphasize on both What you say, as well as How you say it

A lot of people take pride in saying it matters little what you have to say, as long as you focus on how you are saying it. On the contrary, we would say that both are equally important – the content of your speech as well as your delivery of the same. The best way to sound like you know what you are talking about is to know what you are talking about :). And if you are unsure about the content and just HAVE to speak, then check out these tips from lifehacker on How to Sound Like You Know What You’re Talking About (Even When You Don’t).

 5. Tips on Public Speaking – Mind your Body Language

Very often, in order to compensate the confidence missing in our speech, we put that forcefulness into exaggerated body language. It could be actions like excessive movement of limbs to try and get across our point. Actions like fiddling with one’s hair, clothes, or accessories in an absent-minded fashion are signs of nervousness. None of us do this on purpose, it is at a subconscious level. However, recognizing it and trying to rectify the same will help you evolve into an articulate and confident speaker.

Be precise and structured when you stand up to speak. Understand that you have only a few minutes to put across your point, and you have to do so effectively. It is absolutely acceptable if you make mistakes while speaking, but do not let tiny glitches prevent you from completing what you have to say. Before your big day, practice in front of a mirror or a friend, record your speech and play it back to yourself and work on it till you are happy with the results. We all start somewhere, and we all learn with experience. So the next time you are asked to make a speech, don’t duck under the table – stand up and rock the speech!

Top Recruitment Quotes on How Recruiting Drives Business Success

Top Recruitment Quotes on How Recruiting Drives Business Success

by | Jan 18, 2016 | Business, Business Operations, Career, Recruitment, Startups, World of Work

The foundation of every organization is based on the nature of people that are hired to run it. We believe that most people don’t realise how important the job of a recruiter is and the value that a good recruiter brings to the table. Most recruiters themselves, lost in the busyness of day to day battles for finding the best talent on time for their companies, do tend to forget how much business depends on their success and how important what they do is to the business strategy. For all those who think being a candidate is tough, spend a day in the shoes of a recruiter and you’ll know how much pressure the person interviewing you might be in, and what it is like under the supposedly calm exterior of a recruiter.

We thought it would be a great idea to reinforce the importance of recruiting and recruiters in your minds by taking the help of some very smart and wise people over time whose words still ring true in the World of Work. Here are the top recruitment quotes that we believe best reflect the strategic importance of recruiting and why it is a business-critical function:

  1. “If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it, you almost don’t have to manage them.” Jack Welch

  1. “Some people can do one thing magnificently, like Michelangelo, and others make things like semiconductors or build 747 airplanes — that type of work requires legions of people. In order to do things well, that can’t be done by one person, you must find extraordinary people.” Steve Jobs

  1. “Since we do not take a man on his past history, we do not refuse him because of his past history. I never met a man who was thoroughly bad. There is always some good in him if he gets a chance.” Henry Ford

  1. “For no matter what we achieve, if we don’t spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect, we cannot possibly have a great life. But if we spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect – people we really enjoy being on the bus with and who will never disappoint us – then we will almost certainly have a great life, no matter where the bus goes. The people we interviewed from the good-to-great companies clearly loved what they did, largely because they loved who they did it with.” Jim Collins

  1. If you think hiring professionals is expensive, try hiring amateurs.” Anonymous

  1. “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” Chinese Proverb

  1. “If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won’t require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external.” Stephen Covey

  1. “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without [integrity], you really want them to be dumb and lazy.” Warren Buffet

  1. “Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.” Malcolm Forbes

  1. “When hiring key employees, there are only two qualities to look for: judgement and taste. Almost everything else can be bought by the yard.” John W Gardner

  1. “You can have the best strategy and the best building in the world, but if you don’t have the hearts and minds of the people who work with you, none of it comes to life.” Renee West

  1. “I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.” Lee Iacocca

  1. “You can’t teach employees to smile. They have to smile before you hire them.” Arte Nathan

  1. “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.” David Ogilvy

  1. “If you hire only those people you understand, the company will never get people better than you are. Always remember that you often find outstanding people among those you don’t particularly like.” Soichiro Honda

Recruitment is both an art and a science. And for all those who are in the recruitment profession, be very proud of what you do – you change people’s lives, you help build companies, and you keep the country’s economy running.  What can be a higher calling than this ? And for all those who are not into recruitment, we hope that this post will help increase your respect for recruiters and appreciate their work more. We encourage you to go thank a recruiter today 🙂

Which is your favorite among the top recruitment quotes of all time? We would love to hear from you! Write to us or comment below.

Five Pointers to Make Your Business Proposal Stand Out as the Best

Five Pointers to Make Your Business Proposal Stand Out as the Best

by | Jan 14, 2016 | Business, Career, Management, Performance, Productivity, Writing

A Business Proposal or Sales Proposal is often the first strong knock on the doors of a prospective client. Whether it is in the form of a word document or presentation, it has to be impressive and paint such a compelling picture that the customer just can’t wait to pick up the phone and schedule a face to face meeting with you. You get the entry that you need to pitch your product/service and abilities. Writing and reviewing hundreds of business proposals has made me realize one thing – there is a method to this madness and no proposal is too big or too complex – if you follow certain basic guidelines in the creation process:

Pointer #1: It is not about You – the goal of any proposal is to address the specific customer requirements and pain points. Put yourself in the shoes of the customer and structure the proposal in the best way that answers the customer’s stated or implicit questions. Persuade them that you know the questions and have the answers through your proposal. To do this, ensure that your proposal and every section in the proposal addresses five questions Who, What, How, When and So What:

  • Who – will do this?
  • What – needs to be done?
  • How – will you do it?
  • When – will all the milestones occur?
  • So What – will the customer benefit by having you do it?

Pointer #2: Format and Template – Usually the customer specifies the format and structure of the business proposal. Comply with this religiously. Any additional information that you think would be useful in nudging the customer decision in your favour should go into the appendix. If the customer hasn’t specified the response structure, then create the template keeping in mind the questions in Pointer #1. Your proposal should be easily readable and information easy to find. Use indexing and linking within the proposal. Use headings for your sections and labels for your diagrams to draw attention. For some large RFPs (Request For Proposal), especially in government and public sectors, different departments could be given different sections of the proposal to evaluate. So it is important that every section by itself has the context and the references to other sections that might be relevant. Don’t make your customer work too hard or spend a lot of time puzzling his way through your proposal.

Pointer #3 – Optimize against Evaluation Criteria – Most business proposal requests lay out how they will score the vendor for the response. If not, ask the customer about their key evaluation criteria. Compliance to all aspects of the bid is very critical to pass the first stage. So read the fine print carefully before you start putting your efforts to it. Check the submission date and create a timeline to ensure that you meet the deadline. Focus and give more time on those aspects that are most important to the customer and will give you the scoring edge.

Pointer #4 – You do need a Super Executive Summary – Your introduction in the form of the executive summary should actually be the “conclusion” of your proposal. The rest of the business proposal serves to provide the supporting points to add credibility to your introduction. Brainstorm on what the customer needs (as opposed to wants), how you are going to satisfy those needs and why they should do business with you and none else. Summarize the salient points of this into your executive summary first and then start with the rest of your proposal; again it should be more about the customer than about you.

Pointer #5 – Keep it Simple – Minimize buzz words, don’t overwhelm with information just because you have some great content ready, make it visually attractive – sometimes a picture does speak a thousand words. Give a day or two to proofread and review the proposal. Spelling and grammar are yes, important – you don’t want to project yourself as someone who does not care about the details enough.

First impression is everything in hunting and winning business. Use your business proposal to stand out in the crowd and make a lasting impact. I would love to hear your views on what challenges you face in responding to proposals and how you tackle them….

How to Improve your LinkedIn Profile and Impress the World

by | Jan 12, 2016 | Career, Managing Yourself, Resume, World of Work

In the World of Work today, your LinkedIn profile is just as important as (and perhaps, even more than) your resume. Consider this – where else can you potentially reach out to more than 400 million members in over 200 countries and territories? Your LinkedIn profile is your online business card, your personal marketing pitch and your online record of your career story and achievements. Whether you are in business or are employed, the first and easiest way to create a powerful personal brand for yourself is to have an all-star LinkedIn profile. Do you need more reasons to improve your LinkedIn profile? No, right? So pay attention to these tips and get started on building a kickass LinkedIn profile!

Pay attention to the details

Spend time in crafting out your profile, and pay attention to the details. Add a catchy headline, add an industry name – that way you will show up in all the potential opportunity searches which may be of interest to you. Use active keywords in your summary to help yourself be found in searches. It is also preferable to speak in the first person, while writing about yourself. Spend time in choosing the perfect profile picture, and remember that this is not Facebook. “A photo can go a long way to convey passion, energy, charisma, empathy, and other soft skills that are hard to write about.” [The Muse]. And make sure you customize your default LinkedIn public profile URL to one that has your name i.e. “http://linkedin.com/in/yourfullname”.

Personalize your Profile

“How do you want the world to see you professionally? What kinds of work do you enjoy doing? Why are you on LinkedIn? Those are the questions you should think about when creating your LinkedIn profile, so it’s aligned with your personal brand. While marketing-speak like ‘personal brand’ feels fake to many of us, we’re really just talking about setting the right tone for your profile and positioning yourself for the kinds of opportunities you’re interested in.”  ― Melanie Pinola, Author – LinkedIn In 30 Minutes. LinkedIn features allow you to add rich media like photographs, presentations and videos to your profile. Use these visual tools to enhance your profile. Add photographs of you in action, add relevant presentations and videos. Use these features to your advantage, to create your own personal brand, which sells!

Request Recommendations

Aim for at least one recommendation in a month (depends completely on your work exposure). If you’ve done great work for someone and want to showcase it on your LinkedIn profile, don’t hesitate to reach out and request for a recommendation. While requesting for a recommendation, be specific on what you would like your recommender to focus on, it makes things easier for him/her as well. A specific recommendation is much more useful than a generic one. However, if the recommendation you receive, isn’t the kind you had in mind (if it is far too generic or poorly written, and you don’t think it will serve you any purpose), you can always “hide” it, select Profile > Edit Profile and go to the position with which the recommendation is associated. Click Manage. Uncheck the box next to the recommendation that you want to hide, and click Save Changes.”

Be Active and Stay Engaged

Your efforts shouldn’t end simply after creating a profile. You need to establish your own identity in a world of 400 million (and counting as you read this) users. Create your own microcosm by joining groups and being active in them. Update your status regularly, not about how crazy last night was, but about your work projects and professional ideas. Publish/share/repost your own articles and those of your connections. You should review and refresh your profile at least once a quarter. You are more likely to show up in the LinkedIn updates if you regularly update your status and general profile.

Be Human, Be Generous

This beautiful Zulu proverb says it all: “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”- A human is only a human because of other humans. We’re all interconnected! Your Success on LinkedIn is assured and becomes more meaningful when you help others succeed. Don’t hesitate to reach out on LinkedIn – be of help and ASK for help. Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows. The more you give of yourself in anything, the more you get in return – especially when you give with no expectation of return. Too often, we build islands of ourselves cutting ourselves off from people who we can learn from, grow with and share life’s experiences. Do what you can for other people in your LinkedIn network – give recommendations and endorsements, hit like when you see someone post something you liked (it doesn’t cost you money), celebrate successes and milestones with your connections, encourage and go out of your way to help people looking for support. As Seth says – We long to connect, all of us. We long to be noticed, to be cared for, to matter. Generosity is the invisible salve on our wound of loneliness, one that benefits both sides, over and over again.

Note that if you are in the process of editing your profile, spare your connections every little detail of what you update. Turn off your activity broadcast temporarily, so that you can keep editing your profile silently. Once you are satisfied with your profile and will be editing it only occasionally in the future, you can turn on your activity broadcast, so that your connections are notified when there is a significant update on your profile.

In this highly competitive world that we live in, we have to ensure that we stay visible, leave a positive impression on as many people as we interact with and keep growing and improving the quality of our network. LinkedIn gives us the opportunity to do all this at one place but like anything else, LinkedIn is only as useful as you make it! So take the time to improve your LinkedIn profile every chance you get and impress the world!

Bonus Video: Check out these series of videos from Capella University on how to improve your LinkedIn profile in every section. There are some great tips, presented in a concise way, in here that you will thank us for.

Happy Viewing!

How to Write the Perfect Resume – Your Essential Guide!

How to Write the Perfect Resume – Your Essential Guide!

by | Jan 5, 2016 | Career, Infographics, Job Offers, Managing Yourself, Resume, World of Work

Anytime is a good time to write the perfect resume. The beginning of the year is an especially good time since it leaves you feeling hopeful for a year full of opportunities and possibilities in the World of Work! And helps you to recap all your achievements and accomplishments of the year gone past. We strongly believe that the resume is not just a document to be written or rewritten for applying to job opportunities. The resume is a faithful journal of your career trajectory – a record of all your successes and learnings at every stage of your working journey. A reminder of where you started, how far you have come and where you still need to go.  So whether you need to apply for a job right now or not, it is always a good time to perfect your resume. For all of you who’ve missed our previous posts on resumes, and for the rest of you who may have enjoyed reading them, here is our essential guide for everything you need to know about resumes and how to write them right.

Write the Perfect Resume – Decide the kind of resume that suits your profile the best

Spend some time deciding the flow that your resume should follow so that your experience and skills are displayed to their best advantage.

Chronological Resume – This format of resume is most popular and common, and is always sought after by the employer for its efficient timeline layout. The contents, i.e. your work experience, education and other details are listed in a reverse chronological order – the most recent being on top. Each position you list has to be supplemented by the qualifications you hold for the position and accomplishments achieved while in that position. Your education section is to have your latest degree first followed by any other degrees you may have acquired previously, and information about your schooling (up to 10 +2). Additionally a Skills section would help you to highlight any additional skills-centric workshop/certificate courses you may have participated in (again listed in reverse chronological order with the most recent one being on top).

Functional Resume – Going by the name, a ‘Functional’ resume is one which focusses more on an elaboration of your skills and experiences rather than a timeline format of positions held by you. Thus, if you have skills in the categories of Human Resources, Communication, Customer Service, and so on, your skills, experience and accomplishments pertaining to these categories are to be listed in bullet points under each heading. It has to be followed by a separate heading – ‘Employment’ in which you list your work order in reverse chronological order. This format gives more focus to skills than your work experience, however any kind of resume has to have a section in which your employment history is listed.

Combination Resume – This format lets you have the best of the Chronological Resume and the Functional Resume. It helps you highlight your skills as well as your progressive work experience in a timeline format.

For more on types of resumes, sample formats and how to tailor yours to suit your profile, have a look at our post, here.

Write the Perfect Resume – Get your Basics Right!

It does not matter whether you are writing your resume for the first time or brushing the dust off your long forgotten resume to make it perfect for today, keep these basics in mind.

Template for your resume : Start with a professionally designed template. There are a number of free templates on the internet, we recommend you check out the ones at Microsoft:  Unless you are in the creative fields, we recommend choosing a simple template that does not have a lot of graphics and unusual fonts/icons on it. Most companies use automated systems(Applicant Tracking Systems) to process your resumes and if you don’t stick to the standards, the system may not recognize parts or all of your resume.

Use Appropriate Headings: It organizes the content of your resume making it easy to read and drawing the attention of the reader to the most important parts (remember the short attention span of the recruiter while filtering through hundreds of resumes). Here are some great dos and don’ts for the resume headings that you must read.

Format of your resume: Use a PDF format, unless otherwise told. However, it is best to save three copies of your resume, one in PDF, one in rtf and another one in a word format, so that you can use whichever is required and don’t have to fumble around for it.

Sync your Resume with all your Online profiles: This is crucial because it makes you appear consistent as well as authentic. This will also have your back in case of a background check.

Invest in your stationery: While you would have sent out a soft copy of your resume already, you will still be required to carry a hard copy of it for face to face interviews at most places. Use the best possible paper and ink to print out your resume, believe us, subtle things like this do make a statement.

Don’t make it an autobiography: Draw the line between the personal and the professional in your resume. Things like your marital status, parents’ names, their professions, your height, weight, et all are of no consequence in your resume.

Write the Perfect Resume – Do’s and Don’ts while Writing

Once you have the content and template ready, keep in mind the following points while editing your resume:

Always keep the design of your resume simple and readable. Avoid any fancy frills, those are always distract the reader away from the substance of your resume. Use ample white spaces and always prefer putting the information in bullet points, rather than in paragraphs, it is much more readable that way. Use a font size of 11 or 12, not too small, not too big!

Curate your digital footprints. Update your LinkedIn profile, and your other social networking accounts, cleanse anything you may not want your employer to ‘stumble upon’!  (for more on why this is important, read the social media mistakes you need to avoid while job hunting).

Is your objective clearly stated? If not, make sure it is. Do not beat around the bush. This is one section that you can customize for the position and company that you are applying to.

Use ‘Action Words’ like ‘growth’, ‘build’, ‘driving force’, to make an impact on the reviewer.

Edit, edit and edit until you have done away with every redundant syllable! Keeping your resume as short and crisp as possible will always make it stand out!

Avoid typos at all costs. Take all the care to avoid any grammatical and spelling errors in your resume. It could be a real dampener!

Use a professional email id. If you are still using ronitdarockstarrr@iamuseless.com from your college days, switch over to a professional email id with your full name in it, and without any adjectives or other unnecessary words.

Always furnish genuine information. Remember in this digital age, your original credentials are just a click away. So it is best to be honest to the core while writing up your resume. You don’t want a background check to be contradicting the information you have shared with your prospective employer.

For more on Do’s and Don’ts while writing your resume and a great infographic on the topic, read here .

Write the Perfect Resume – Some cover letter basics before you Send your Resume!

In this digital age, the cover letter has been replaced by the cover email – but be it a letter or email, an introduction to your resume remains as important as ever.

Do your research on the organization/company you are applying to. Most of them have detailed instructions regarding what they expect you to write in your cover letter. If you know someone who works in the organization, get in touch with him and take his advice. If there is a referral system in place, see if you can get your resume submitted through it.

Address your email to the appropriate contact person. Find out the name of the person you are mailing your resume to. Even if the organization has a generic email to send resumes, they sometimes mention a contact person who handles all recruitment requests.

Your cover letter/email should convey succinctly your interest in the organization. Introduce yourself briefly and go on to mention why you are writing the email. Be sure to be explicit about how your skill set compliments the position you are applying to. Describe your skills and experiences, as required by the organization. Be careful not to copy as is from your resume: it shows you are lazy. Remember to write complete sentences and do a thorough spell check.

If asked by the organization, mention the name of your referees and how they are related to you. Give correct contact addresses for these people and make sure you notify them in advance regarding your application. Also include your own contact information at the end of the cover letter as well as in the resume so that the recruiters can easily get in touch with you.

A fine way to murder your job application is by making your cover letter generic. The reader should feel that you have read about their organization before mailing, and not simply sent a generic mail to all companies that you are applying to. Browse the organization website and get to know about their work culture, ethics and history. You should write how these qualities match your own beliefs, and how this would help you thrive in the organization. Customizing the cover letter according to the organization grabs the reader’s attention and gives you a definite edge over other applicants with generic letters.

For more on cover letter basics, read here.

Write the Perfect Resume – Apps that can make it easier

Did you know about these awesome free apps that can help you in building your resume?

Resume Now – If you are a rookie at resumes, this is the perfect app for you. The app has a simple interface which gives you step by step instructions on how to proceed with your resume. It has a range of templates you can pick from and allows you to save your resume in multiple formats. This app is the official resume building app for the site Live Career. You will first have to sign in (hassle free) and then you can even create cover letters, take free tests, save and download the resume you’ve worked on.

Pocket Resume – An easy to use app, with features that enable you to create, maintain, update and email your resume on your phone, on the go!

Career Igniter Resume Builder– A free android app you can use without even having to create an account. The app lets you export your resume in a word format, it also lets you save it and email it. However, their format is inflexible, meaning it is mandatory for you to fill in all the headings they have.

Resume Writing Secrets – A great app which gives you exposure to a lot of helpful tips and tricks for building a resume. Particularly handy when you have a lot of transit time!

Resume Genius – The USP of this app is that you can select from over fifty thousand professionally written resume phrases to incorporate seamlessly into your resume templates. Also, you don’t need to create an account, all you need to do is click “Create My Free Resume” and get started.

This article on techrepublic has a lot more interesting apps you could try out, have a look here.

We hope you enjoyed reading our exhaustive compilation on everything you need to know to write the perfect resume! Your resume and your cover letter are your marketing pitch to get your foot in the door. Remember that while you may have a kickass background, it may mean nothing unless you are able to communicate it effectively in the form of an articulate and well-structured resume. Craft a resume which inspires them to hire you, and we hope this article was full of the inspiration you needed to start cracking on the perfect resume!

Bonus Infographic from essaymama.com : We have included this smart checklist to help you assess your resume and make sure that you have got it all together. Check it out!

When You have a Bad Boss and Cannot Quit

When You have a Bad Boss and Cannot Quit

by | Dec 28, 2015 | Career, Management, Office Etiquette, World of Work

Having a bad boss at work can really mess up your mind. Not being able to just throw down your resignation and quit makes things even more of a nightmare. But take a deep breath, relax and take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. A report this year from market research firm. Gallup finds there’s still plenty of truth in that old cliché. The survey found that about half had left a job at some point “to get away from their manager.” Gallup has also found that sadly only three out of ten bosses have the natural or coachable talent to become great at managing people.

It can become next to impossible to perform well and be happy when you don’t get along with your boss. You lose all motivation and desire to perform well, and hate waking up and dragging yourself to work. You know your boss is making you miserable, at the same time simply cannot afford to quit the job or like the company too much to give it up without a try. For those of you who are yet to get to that point, reading this post will help you brace for that eventuality. For those of you who are already at that point, given how frustrated you feel, you may as well read our post on how you can deal with the bad boss situation better. Here are 5 ways of going about it that can make the going easier:

1. Strengthen your internal networking

If one thing can make things bearable at work when you already have a bad boss, it is having good company around you. Even if you are an introvert, go out of your way to socialize and network, however, be careful to not appear as desperate or attention seeking. By strengthening your network within the organization itself, you earn good friends and may also come across similar horror stories like yours [do not gossip about your condition, at any cost, it’s one of the worst mistakes you can make] or get support from unlikely quarters. Besides, it is a great way to earn reference for the next job you’ll be moving on to.

2. Don’t let yourself be pulled down

Yes, your boss is horrible, yes (s)he will do anything to pull you down, (s)he might even be getting sadistic pleasure in doing so. But remember, you get bullied only to the extent you allow yourself to be bullied. We are not asking you to get all rebellious, but practice being happy at work. Proactively engage yourself in things that make you happy, as much and as often as possible. Remember, work is just part of your life and not your whole life. So, make time for other areas in your life that can help you stay balanced. For example, indulge in some ‘me-time’, read often, listen to music, garden, get involved in doing meaningful volunteering work over the weekends. All this will make things at work tolerable.

3. It is okay to blow your own trumpet, specially at times like these

When your boss is going around dissing you, but you know you deserve much better, don’t be afraid to voice out your achievements. However, do it in a way which is diplomatic and it doesn’t appear as though you are bragging, else you might earn more enemies than friends. The point we are trying to make here is, if you deserve more credit than you are getting for your work, go get it. Be your own PR machine. Make sure that people other than your boss know and value your worth.

4. Don’t be afraid to seek help

Never be afraid to seek help, take advantage of your organisation’s wellness programs. If your organization doesn’t have them, reach out to close friends, family and even consider therapy if you are that miserable. If you at all end up considering therapy, which of course you would do when things get extreme, analyze if there is at all the option of you quitting. Remember nothing is the end of the world, moving on to a better job is the best thing you could do for yourself, that is, if you have that option. You may save your life. There is a huge health cost to having to deal with a bad boss day in and day out as Christine Porath points out in this NYT article. Robert M. Sapolsky, a Stanford professor and the author of “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” argues that when people experience intermittent stressors like incivility for too long or too often, their immune systems pay the price. We also may experience major health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and ulcers.

5. Plan your exit plan down to the last detail

Plan it meticulously, make contacts, do things to build your CV that will take you closer to your dream job and a better work environment. Read our two part checklist on the skills that you need to build on to always be kickass and ready for almost any job that comes your way. Spend a considerable amount of time preparing for the better things that are about to come. When you do so, you invoke the better days, and you have something amazing to look forward to, even on the worst Monday mornings!

Remember that such things are quite common out there in the ‘World of Work’, and while we do understand this is always easier said than done, this too shall pass! For some more pointers on how successful people overcome toxic bosses, read this post by Travis Bradberry on Inc. If you are a boss yourself, read our post on leadership or management styles that block progress and help no one – not the managers or leaders nor their teams and certainly not the organization. Also check out the bonus infographic from Officevibe below on some of the signs of a bad boss (nod your head and vent a bit ;))

We hope you find our advice helpful and are able to use it, starting now! Do tell us if these tactics bring about any positive change in your situation, we always love hearing from you!