A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well. – Jeff Bezos

It is no longer the Age of Aquarius.

It is, quite frankly, the Age of Zuckerberg.

Social media and associated online platforms can make or break your brand in a heartbeat; so in order to both protect and grow your own business, you need to understand your brand.

Branding is one of the most critical parts of building your business – and it’s more than a logo and some funky business cards. You don’t often have a second chance at it either, so it is a case of getting it right from the beginning. That isn’t to say you can’t evolve your brand; but the basics must be in place from the start.

Firstly; I am not going to go into the dry details of legalese here, but whatever you do, make sure you invest in some advice from an IP lawyer before getting too carried away with imaginary ad campaigns and gorgeous websites. This can potentially save you a fortune in the long term with respect to protecting your brand from copyright infringement (either on your part or someone else’s – it can happen by accident quite easily). Believe me, I have seen brands be developed and be shut down at the eleventh hour due to copyright infringement, and the owner left in bewildered tears because they had absolutely no idea that they had done anything wrong.

It always amazes me how people get inordinately excited about the minutia of what they believe a brand to be – which in a large percentage of cases is a logo. Developing a brand is far more holistic than a logo. A logo should be like the cover of a book, with the content of the book being the equivalent of your brand.  Yes, a great cover image is eye-catching and snappy – but it is the content which makes you pass it on and tell others it is a must-read. And yet, still it happens – the early stages are all about the logo for so many people going into their own businesses. And unsurprisingly, they don’t make it past the first six months.

Secondly – it’s all about customer research and having as much pre-knowledge and understanding as possible.

Who is your core/target customer? What do they look like? What – and how – do they talk about things? Where do they play and chat? And most essentially – what do they need and want?

Then it comes to the clincher. Because when it comes down to the wire, you are your brand. So – what is so different about you? What makes you authentic in your business space?

What are your values?

You need to be prepared to stand in your own spotlight and own your space. You have to believe. What does your brand look like, feel like, smell like, sound like, taste like?

And understand; this takes time. This is not a case of Shallow Hal; this is about delving deep and really finding out what you stand for and what you are prepared to do in the name of your brand. It is about where your business ethics lie.

Finally – focus, focus, focus. And consistency. As much as the bright shiny things are tempting and exciting, the road to success is about hard work, and slog and keeping your eyes on the prize – yes, that sounds boring, but think about it. The best brands in the world – think Google, Apple, Virgin – are consistent in everything they do. You know what you are going to get, because they are on brand, all the time, in every product and every message, and every employee.

Branding. There is a reason why it is burnt into hides on animals.

For you, as an entrepreneur – it needs to be burnt into your brain.

You are your brand.

And your brand is you.

But it is also something we can learn to use differently and better.

We can’t control what happens around us, but we can control the way we respond to it by developing our mind and our ability to be more patient.

How do we go with the flow sometimes and diffuse frustration other times? Here’s how:

IF YOU ARE ‘OUT OF THE MOMENT’:

FRUSTRA-TAX OR COMPAINT-AX:

Give up being frustrated or complaining about something or someone for a set period of time ie a week. If you do arc up, put $5 into a jar. At the end of the period donate this to a charity of your choice, preferably one where there are people much worse off than you.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF:

Using an alternative perspective, ask yourself: What’s the lesson in this? Is this an opportunity for something else to occur? Is there something else we/I could do that we haven’t thought of yet?

GO WITH THE FLOW:

Take a risk and trust. What is the worst that can happen?
IF YOU ARE ‘IN THE MOMENT’:

NOTICE:

Notice when you are feeling annoyed and where it is happening.

Is it happening because of people, speed, energy or repetition? Is it happening in the same environment or with the same teams or people?

There will be a trend and once you can spot your trigger you are halfway there.

BREATHE:

Before you respond to anything, stop. Take 10 deep breaths and fill your lungs.

Ok ok , take at least 5 deep breaths.

Deep breaths not shallow breaths. Think.

PLAN:

Ask yourself: “Why am I experiencing this? Why am I so annoyed? What is my purpose for being upset? What else could be done here?”

MOVE FORWARD:

Once calmer, plan your response. Act or don’t act? If I act, how will I respond?

Perform at your best, any role, any time.

What do you already do to regain your patience?

Sounds simple but how can we wind down, decompress and bring more enjoyment into our lives? Enjoyment or finding ‘something’ to enjoy comes easy to some of us and is harder for others. For some, there are many something’s and for others, few or none.

It is not meant to be someone else’s something. It is your something. The something is an activity that gives you a buzz or satisfies you and that you do for no other reason than you enjoy it. It could be something for your mind, soul, body or heart.

If you can’t think of something you find enjoyable, think of the things you liked to do when you were younger. For instance, I loved bike riding and now I enjoy cycling. Chances are the things you liked then, are still the thing’s you’d enjoy now.

If you are still struggling to find your ‘something’ these suggestions may ignite you:

SOMETHING FOR YOUR MIND

Do something that you enjoy and focus entirely on it.

Watch a doco

See a movie

Read a book

Study an online course

Attend an event, a meetup.com, a Google hangout or an industry event

Knit, sew or even darn

Play on the Wi

Listen to a lecture

Watch Ted Talks or something ‘useful’ on You Tube

Listen to talk back or a serial on the radio

Develop a website, an app or a Facebook page

Write a white-paper on your area of expertise, a short story or some poetry

SOMETHING FOR YOUR SOUL

Experience an activity that you simply look forward to doing.

Go to an open home inspection

Eat the cuisine you love the most

Listen to your favourite music loudly

Cook your signature dish

Rummage through an op-shop

Watch a game or play a board game that you like

Go to a Jazz Club or a Recital Hall

Have a drink with your colleagues

Try fly-fishing. A lot of fun can be had at a hatchery!

SOMETHING FOR YOUR BODY

Experience an activity that makes your body feel stimulated and tingly afterwards.

Go for a stroll or swim or cycle or paddle

Get your groove on at boxing, Zumba or amongst a Flash Mob

Introduce yourself to rock-climbing

Go to a waterpark or theme park and catapult yourself down a slide or up a ride

Enjoy a massage, manicure of pedicure

Go to a Japanese bathhouse, or spa or have a long bath

Throw yourself out of a plane

Have red hot sex. Red hot!

SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE

Would you rather spend more time doing things with and for other?

Host a dinner party

Create something for someone you like

Play with your kids

Teach someone at work how to use that new ….. or how to improve their ….. skills

Babysit or entertain someone else’s kids

Do something generous ie donate your money, clothes or time to something worthwhile

Chat to your elderly neighbour

Help someone else network

Be the best version of you.

GENERAL REVIEW

What’s your something?

What are you going to do today?

Have you set goals on New Years Eve because you felt you should and then duly forgot about them on New Years Day?

Have you set goals but lost your ‘oomph’ along the way?

Have you set a big goal, which was so massive ‘it was never going to happen’?

If you answered yes, you could be suffering from “SLOAG”.

Cripes. What is SLOAG? Look at it. Yes, it is GOALS spelt backwards. Say it aloud. S-L-O-A-G. Yip. It sounds like ‘slog’. And when you said it, did you say it slowly? Did it make you feel sluggish?

SLOAG is a negative bi-product of ‘goal setting’.  It is based on our previous experiences of poor goal setting. This includes the environment in which we set them, the effort required unstick the things that keep us stuck, the strength required to reorganise our lives to achieve what we desired and whether we actually really wanted the goal in the first place.

What can you do about SLOAG? Simply reframe it back to GOALS by reminding yourself:

1. GOALS are the means of turning your desires into your reality.
2. GOALS concentrate your efforts to get what you want.
3. Better GOALS are not set. Better GOALS are programmed and actioned.

So how do you reprogram yourself to achieve better goals?

1. Write and publish your Commandments ie what are the rules and values you choose to live your life by? Start with ‘I choose to….’. For example “I chose to simplify, innovate, challenge, support and celebrate”.
2. Write and publish your Manifesto ie what is your why? What are your aspirations and motivators, compelling you toward achieving your goals? For example my manifesto includes “All the world is waiting for you and the power you posses” from Wonder Woman!
3. Write and publish outcome-based goals. These aredesirable, compelling, positively framed, holistic outcome based goals for you. If you desire your goal, have passion for your goal, relish your goal and make it incredibly meaningful and compelling for you, you will do it.

Answer ‘what do I desire’, ‘where am I now’, ‘where do I want to be,’ ‘what steps do I need to take to get there’ and ‘what help do I need to get me there’.

Organise your steps into realistic actions with dates.

Seal each goal by visualising yourself 15 minutes out from the completion of it.

1. Consistently action. Consistency is key. Review your goals weekly. Action your tasks daily. Celebrate the successes from the week that was and plan for the tasks in the week ahead. Action only the steps that will help move you toward your goal. If the task you are doing doesn’t move you forward, then delegate or delete it to refocus. What keeps you on track? What helps you regain momentum? These things are called ‘anchors’ and include your Commandments and Manifesto. Use them when you need them. What if you are stuck or keep getting stuck? A good coach can help unstick you.
2. Be accountable. Accountability for your goals should first be with yourself. Accountability can be strengthened when you are accountable ‘to’ someone.  Find someone who is unbiased, invested in your success and can partner with you to motivate you. Choose wisely, as many in our support network sabotage our success as a result of their own shortcomings.

The great Edmund Hillary once said “You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.”

Reprogram yourself and achieve better goals now! 

Were you suffering from SLOAG?

What actions will you take in the next 30 days to reprogram yourself to achieve the goals you desire?

As a woman of child-bearing age, I expected that the hardest conversation I’d need to have with my boss would be the one that would come when I could no longer fit into my suit pants without raising eyebrows. As it turns out, I was wrong by a long shot.

After two years of heart-wrench and frustration, my husband and I are staring down the barrel of in vitro fertilisation. I always assumed that babies would just happen when I wanted them to. Sure, I understood that we’d probably need to put in some dedicated practice – and my husband was well up for the challenge – but, I never expected to be confronted with the scariest of words, infertility.

In my naivety, I had no idea about how tumultuous and medically complex the process of IVF is. The more I Googled, the more I started to panic. I have the kind of job where I travel a lot, including overseas to some relatively inhospitable countries. Treatment that requires daily injections, ongoing medical appointments and military precision in terms of timing was just not going to work. All that before I, hopefully, fell pregnant.

It was clear I could no longer keep up my work travel schedule, but I had no idea how to broach the subject at work. My first strategy was to hope blindly that we simply wouldn’t win any more overseas work that I’d need to manage. But that didn’t happen. Instead, on the first day back at work after the holidays, I found myself on the phone to my boss with an incredibly dry throat and thick tongue, muttering my ‘excitement’ about a new job we’d won in the Pacific Islands. It was clearly now or never.

I started timidly, by explaining my doctor’s advice was that I couldn’t do in-country fieldwork for health reasons. Silence. And so on I blathered, explaining that I couldn’t take the vaccinations required. But, as my boss pointed out, I’d had them just last year for previous overseas trips, so I wouldn’t need them again. (Well, that wasn’t strictly true. I’d only had the ones I absolutely needed to and skipped the rest.) I realised I’d have to come completely clean, and so out it came. The first time, I realised, I’d said it out loud to anyone other than my family. ‘My husband and I are starting fertility treatment in March and that is the reason I can’t travel.’ I breathed a sigh of relief. The truth was out there, Mulder.

But the torment wasn’t over yet. My boss wondered why I needed to be home in Australia. Couldn’t I do the treatment while I was overseas? Something flipped in my stomach. And I thought having my obstetrician ask how often I was having sex was the height of embarrassment. Now I was going to have to explain artificial insemination to a sixty-year-old man who wasn’t my father. This was beyond surreal and beyond humiliating. I muttered something about the procedure needing my husband and I to undergo it together. Another long silence. Followed by, ‘Right, so even a few days travel is out of the question?’ Clearly my explanation had flopped.

Humiliation aside, I was petrified about the implication of my announcement. A work function several weeks after we married is burnt into my brain. In front of a table full of people – no doubt emboldened by the bottle of pinot – my boss asked a barrage of intense questions about when I planned to have children. My fury was evident and it wasn’t until a few months ago that another colleague took the opportunity to talk with me about the substantial impact that women taking maternity leave would have on our company. (The conversation was punctuated with meaningful looks and raised eyebrows for emphasis.) It’s safe to say I was left with the impression that my desire to have children might be a deal-breaking decision.

But, so far, there is no evidence of fallout from the news. My boss has held true to his word that our conversation was confidential. Or at least, I haven’t heard any whispers around the water cooler. To his credit, he has also found a way for me to stay involved in the new project without having to travel. And I’m being offered opportunities to manage new work that doesn’t require me to travel. Perhaps the fear of retribution was all in my head. But, I’m hopeful that his wife has had a quiet word and reminded him that his own daughters may one day face the challenging decision to tell or not to tell.

Ok, I said it.

Since leaving corporate world over a year ago and venturing out on my own, I must say, I am pretty proud of what I have got done. I am a doer. When I put my mind to it, I do it.  But there has been one thing hanging over my head the entire year and that was my “accounts”……. Erghhh I shudder at the thought.

See, when I was in corporate world, it was simple. Tax return once a year, expenses were simple and there were plenty of people to ask for help.

Then I left the comfort of corporate world to run my own business….

Time and time again I would get a letter from the ATO reminding me that my BAS statement was overdue, time and time again, I would read it and put it in my top drawer, hoping that magically it might go away.

No such luck.

Every week I had good intentions. It would go on my TO DO LIST, but other priorities (client priorities) seemed to get in the way so each day it got moved to the following day.

Then I got to the end of the year and I realized I still had this monkey on my back, but it was getting fatter by the day. One day, I stopped and asked myself “why are you procrastinating over doing this Blythe?”

There were a few reasons:

1. I don’t enjoy it,
2. I was scared that I would owe lots of money to the ATO (crazy given I risked a fine by not doing it);  but the real answer was
3. I didn’t know where to start.

My history with accountants was not that frequent or enjoyable for that matter. Often they made me feel quite “dumb” asking questions, and I never seemed to get straight answers. So to be frank, I didn’t know what I could claim and couldn’t – so I just did nothing.

Finally, I was out one night at a Little Black Dress Dinner and I met the most fabulous lady by the name of Melissa. Mel is an accountant and tax extraordinaire but she was more than that, she spoke in my language. “More money for shoes” is the title of her new book and that spoke to my heart. Here is a girl I need to talk to. That night, I made a commitment to meet up with her to kick me into action.

It was this one little step that led to me then having the confidence to get stuck into a backlog of invoices, receipts and over due BAS statements.

After one day of sorting and another day inputting data, I am proud to say that the monkey is well and truly off my back.

The reason I share this story is that time and time again, we procrastinate on important things simply because we are unsure of what to do (the right strategy) or more often, because we focus on how we feel (scared, nervous, unsure, intimidated).

“Ohhh I don’t want to ring that person, they might be rude!”

“ I hate public speaking, I am hopeless at it”

“ But what will they say about me if I say what I really think?”

“ I don’t want to tell the customer that we don’t have it in stock, maybe he will just forget I told him I would call him back”

So instead….. we do nothing.

More often than not, we would prefer the ramifications of doing nothing  (ie risk a fine from the ATO),  rather than facing our fear of doing something.

This “accounting experience of 2012” has taught me some important lessons we can all learn from when procrastinating over any situation:

1. Give yourself some leverage (either pain or pleasure) so that you have an incentive to get it done. I bought myself a special present when they were all submitted and I also realized if I did not complete the accounts before I got busy into 2013, I was going to be in a lot of strife. Stack the pain and pleasure.
2. Shift your focus from what you are feeling to what outcome you want and the feeling associated when you achieve your outcome.
3. When in doubt – ask. Find someone who can help you and ask for help.
4. Just start…do something, anything. Avoiding taking action just makes you feel heavier and more incompetent. It was amazing how good I felt even after my initial meeting with my new found awesome accountant.
5. Learn for future. I have now realized it really was quite simple. I actually don’t even understand now why I didn’t take the first step over a year ago. Now I have put in structures and systems in place to make my accounting for the future ‘easy’ and dare I say it…’fun’.

No more monkeys going to get comfortable and fat on this back in 2013!!

What have you been procrastinating over?

What’s the next best thing you can do to get you heading in the right direction?

Regardless of what is going on around you, there are some simple things you can do:

Challenge Your Mind:

Sometimes we have high expectations of others because we ourselves have become stagnant. Challenge your own mind quickly and address the issue from different perspectives.

Instead of thinking ‘X has always been done this way’ ask yourself: Why does it need to be done that way? What alternatives can be brainstormed, to give us a better outcome?

Instead of thinking ‘He is always delivering work late, ask yourself: Why does he deliver his work late? Does he need some help or support?

Be the leader that you are.

Manage Yourself:

If your deadline keeps shifting, instead of waiting to be managed by the ‘owner’, why don’t you proactively manage your stakeholders instead?

How? Advise the owner that you are on track to deliver X by Y. Pre-emptively ask if the delivery date is still Y. If the date isn’t Y, enquire as to why the change, reprioritise your tasks and work to the new date.

Manage your time better.

Accept Annoyances:

Changing your expectations or accepting that ‘things are the way they are’ can be extremely liberating.

I am not saying this should be applied to everything (especially if your role is in change management!) but some late or poor quality things/tasks/activities are the result of someone else overcommitting. They are irritants and annoyances. Depending on the priorities of other matters, they may always be irritants.

Accept, move on and don’t waste your energy. Focus now on something better.

Leaders work well with ambiguity.

Raise Expectations Of Yourself and Lower Them In Others:

Are the expectations you impose on others higher than what you would impose on yourself? If yes, switch this – now. Always work to your best and better than your best. Allow your colleagues to model their behaviour from you ie don’t ‘tell’ them but ‘show’ them.

With regards to those who have annoyed you or let you down, turn your mind to focus on their positive traits and strengths. Go on. Do it. What do you now notice?

Be the person you want to meet.

Learn:

Seeking universal approval is time consuming and energy draining. Accepting that not everyone will like you, that you can live and work just as easily without their approval and that you can’t control what someone thinks of you is liberating, especially when you let it go.

Forgive them. Forgive yourself. Move on. Learn more.

Let go and learn.

Maintain Focus:

Keep your eye on your prize and maintain your focus on your longer-term goal.

Where are you going? How much does this ‘glitch’ impact you – really? How can this annoyance actually assist your goal? What has this opportunity allowed you to learn about yourself, others and processes? Who and/or what can now be improved?

Character matters.

Cultivate Positive Support

Family, friends and colleagues are a great source of support in a crisis. Yet be weary about the ‘crimes against me’ cycle that can sometimes happen when sharing ie ‘my story is worse that yours’.

Look at the positives of the situation, have fun and identify new perspectives.

If you need to, find someone who can be unbiased, invested in your success to partner with you to motivate you. Choose wisely as many in our immediate support network can sabotage rather than support success due to their own insecurities. A good coach can get you where you need to be.

Choose wisely.

Finally, remember this great quote: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference”

How do you deal with your frustration at work or at home?
What will you do differently today?

Kellie Rigg, Operations Director of HR Consulting at Randstad, gives some advice:

• If possible, prepare: If retrenchment is an issue or concern in your workplace, prepare yourself for the possibility you may be personally affected at some future point in time. Update your resume, keep an eye on the current job market and discuss opportunities with recruitment consultants, as this will help you place yourself one step ahead.
• Don’t take it personally: Remember that it’s the position being made redundant – not you. Although it’s hard, try not to take it to heart, and understand that it is natural to feel shocked, disheartened and stressed.
• Know your rights: When you’re told about the decision, ask as many questions as you can in order to understand the rights you have under the contract, the redundancy package you are entitled to and what services are on offer to help you get back on your feet.
• Milk it: While you may feel angry and betrayed, you should make the most of the advice and support given to you by your organisation. If an outplacement service is on offer, make use of it and any other tools available. By drawing on the expert advice of interim management and career transition coaches, you can quickly place yourself in a position to begin planning your career and secure your next job.
• Stay positive: It may seem an impossible task, but when leaving the meeting try and stay motivated, maintain an open mind and take positive steps to get back onto the path of employment. It’s also important to look after your health and fitness during this time.
• Be proactive: Sitting around and pondering your situation won’t get you anywhere – you need to be proactive in your job hunt. Many positions are not advertised so making direct applications to organisations may also open important doors. The hidden job market is where a lot people find their dream role.
• Glass half full: Being retrenched may present you with the opportunity to make a positive career change. Look into opportunities within industries you’ve always wanted to work in but never had the time to try.

Have you recently gone through a redundancy? What coping mechanisms did you use?  How did you go about sourcing another job? Sharing your experience will help others in the same situation.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a pretty comprehensive overview of job search avenues. If you are currently in job search mode, read and take note!

Unless you have found your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow early on in life, it is more than likely you will be required to fund your own existence. This is usually achieved through the attainment of legitimate paid employment unless of course you have decided to emulate the life of Bonnie and Clyde.

We may find ourselves looking for work, actively job seeking or back on the market at various times throughout our lives as our experience, skills, situations and priorities change, along with the economy and trends within our chosen industries. So with many of us describing their search for work as daunting, frustrating, time-consuming and overwhelming, what are the best ways to find your next job and where does one start?

Internet

Today, unless you reside under a rock, most of us will default to the World Wide Web to research and find available jobs. SEEK, Mycareer and CareerOne are the big players when it comes to online job boards however there are literally squillions of these catering for almost every unique jobseeker. Job boards enable you to search for positions based on title, industry, location and salary and with a click or two of the mouse you can upload your resume and submit an application. Tools and technology like this simplify the job-search process and create more time to spend on other methods that will ultimately land you that dream role.

Newspapers

Whilst not the preference for many Gen Y’s, prioritising a regular Saturday morning date with the Careers or Employment Section of your weekend paper is still valuable. Many businesses favour broadsheet advertising so equip yourself with a coffee and highlighter and scroll through the many opportunities on offer each week. Please note that it is often difficult to salvage a job ad when you have to fish the newspaper out of the bottom of your garbage bin.

Recruitment Agencies

There are literally thousands of recruitment agencies operating across the country with many of these exclusively listing and managing positions. Agencies act as the middle-man between the business and the candidate and are often very influential and skilled in connecting people to opportunities. A good Recruitment Consultant should be able to provide information on the current market, initiate recommendations in regards to suitable career opportunities, offer feedback on your resume and generally support you through your job-seeking journey.

Registering with a recruitment agency can provide you with an invaluable partnership where a Consultant will call you to present you with roles they feel you could be a good match for, market you into employers of choice and basically do a lot of the groundwork on your behalf.  Depending on the position you are after it is sometimes best to leave your career in the hands of the experts and best of all their service is for free.

Get Connected

Don’t underestimate your own network and don’t limit your job-search to your inner circle. Reach out and let everybody know that you are looking for work: tell the parents at school pick up, the guy that makes your latte every morning or the sweaty bods after your gym class. The way we connect with one another and share information is easily discounted as a natural part of the way we go about life, however you never know who you are connecting or sharing information with either directly or indirectly.

I do grapple with the amount of sharing these days on social media however I am so in favour of putting it out there for the cause. So that said, log on and update your status to advertise that you are looking for work and at the very least I am confident that readers will find this of more interest than what others’ ate for lunch.

Linkedin is a wonderful medium to connect with the professional world, follow company vacancies and publicly advertise your skill-set and availability so if you have not yet created a Linkedin profile you are falling behind the game. Linkedin is a big playing ground for recruiters too so get online and be prepared to be headhunted.

Make a Phone Call

They call it ‘job-hunting” for a reason so why not hunt the job down! Ask yourself, Who do you wish to work for? Who is known for offering the best salaries? Which company could progress your career? Whose business and cultural values are in line with yours? Which organisations are within walking distance from home? Who best supports return to work mothers?

Whatever your motives and aspirations, I am sure you can name a company that you have considered working for. Hunt down the name of the most senior person and call them. Yes, you heard correctly, just pick up the phone and dial. I did this once, placed a call that was more icy than cold and called a Managing Director. He had no prior knowledge of my existence, I outlined my desire to work for his company and put my case forward. He agreed to meet me and this eventuated in him creating a job for me and me having a wonderful role within their business for a number of years.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and even if it doesn’t end in a result like mine, you can be guaranteed you made an impression as a confident and motivated individual.

Focus

Finally, try to relax and remain positive. If you are reading this and are currently out of work and watching a stack of bills grow before your eyes this may not be an easy feat however I am a big believer in reaping what you sow. And in ending with another cliché, “when one door closes another opens” so embrace the job search experience and appreciate the opportunities available to us  – I am sure whoever opens that door will be lucky to have met you.