Why Twitter Is Crucial

With all these social media sites these days its getting impossible to stay completely connected. On a daily basis I am liking, pinning, tweeting, inmailing and blogging but one of these mediums really stands out from the others for networking. Using Twitter properly can really bolster your network and it can help you reach out to people that are normally nearly impossible to reach. More so than that if you use Twitter properly your newsfeed can be a wealth of information designed specifically for your needs/wants. What is better than having a one stop site with all of the news you want that is constantly adding more and more information?

To start you are going to need to look at all of your followers and who you are following. If you are following all of the same people that you are friends with on Facebook that is your first mistake. Staying connected with friends and finding out what they are doing is what Facebook is for. No need to have two sites doing the same thing. What you should be doing on Twitter is following anyone who you think will provide you with useful information (especially for your career). This can include people in professions you are considering getting into, politicians, activists, media outlets or trailblazers. A few people I follow is Boris Revsin (CEO of CampusLIVE), Keith Ferrazzi (Author of “Never Eat Alone” and the best networker ever) and TechCrunch (Media outlet for everything relating to tech). Doing this will make your newsfeed the single most important outlet for all information relating to you.

Next you can attempt to establish a relationship with some of the people you are following. Odds are if you messaged someone like Keith Ferrazzi on Facebook you wouldn’t get a response. However , the magic of Twitter is you can follow anyone you want and reach out to anyone you want. You can retweet, favorite other peoples tweets and even tweet at them. Granted there is no guarantee of a response but doing this will put you on the persons radar and with a bit of persistence you may get a reply to one of your tweets. As of late of I have been able to reach out to some of the leaders in the marketing industry and get responses which has been great as I have been able to get my name out in the community.

My good friend Jay Acunzo also shed some light to me about how you can develop a solid base of followers and establish your niche talent on Twitter. Are you a fitness buff? Search fitness on the Twitter search bar and look at everything that pops up. Find out where you can give your opinion and if you are giving good advice people will follow you and begin to ask you questions.

The beauty of Twitter is you can be a silent spectator and take in all of the information or you can be an outspoken guru in your respective field. You can follow me at @Aghanomics212. Do you have any tips on how to properly use Twitter?

The Bostonian-Spaniard Experience

For those of you who do not know I have been in Madrid, Spain for the past month and will be studying here until May 26th. It is a beautiful city with an incredibly unique culture. It was a bit of shock when I first came over with my Bostonian roots but after living here for a month I finally do not look like as much of a tourist and am assimilating a bit. The biggest differences I have noticed between Boston and Madrid is

1.You cannot stretch in public. This is considered very rude for some reason.
2.You cannot yawn in public. Again this is considered rude and these 2 differences have been a struggle for me.
3.PDA (public displays of affections) is considered normal and it is an ordinary thing to be making out with your girlfriend right on the train. Stretching in public forget about it but shoving your tongue down your girlfriends throat in a packed area is just fine.
4.They eat dinner around 10 PM and generally eat a light breakfast, heavy lunch and light dinner. This is a cultural difference I am disregarding and I will continue to eat 3 massive meals a day.
5.Staring at people as you walk by or just in public is not considered rude. It is completely normal to be walking down the street and have numerous people stare at you. When I first got here I thought I perpetually had a stain on my first or face because of this.
6.Siestas. One of my favorite things about Spain. The city pretty much shuts down from 2-5 and everyone eats a bit and takes a nap. I can definitely get used to a mid day nap every day.
7.Fashion. Everyone wears a scarf and tight pants. In my attempt at assimilation I have bought a scarf but am holding out on the tight pants. They also NEVER wear sweats pants.
8.The portion size of food. The portions are NOWHERE close to the portions in Boston. At the same time I do not see many overweight people in Madrid.
9.Prices of goods. Pretty much everything is more expensive in Madrid except for the bread and wine. There is no dollar menu at Burger King and Mcdonalds and for example a single notebook will cost you roughly 3 euros which is about 4 dollars.
10.Nightlife. The clubs do not open until midnight and generally one show’s up to the club around 2 AM. On a typical night your back at your house by about 6. Now you see why Spaniards need their siestas!

So far these are the biggest differences I have noticed. I have absolutely loved my time in Madrid and as I continue to learn the language I am sure my time will only get better. I came into Madrid barely speaking any Spanish and in one short month I can actually converse with Spaniards which is awesome. If there is any questions you would like me to answer about Spain tweet me @aghanomics212.

In your travels abroad what are the biggest culture differences from America you have noticed?

Perfecting The First Impression

Making great first impressions are key to building meaningful relationships. It is said that in an interview your interviewer will know within 90 seconds as to whether or not he or she will hire you. So a vital factor to acing your interview then is to master the art of greeting someone and introducing yourself properly. Here are 10 tips you should follow when first walking into your interview.

1.Wear your best, most professional clothes. Make sure they are clean. The day before your interview get a haircut. Shave/shower the morning of your interview. Use the bathroom beforehand because the last thing you want is for nature to call just as you sit down for your interview. Statistics show that 55% of the impact when meeting a new person comes from the way you act, dress and walk in the door.
2.Know the ins and outs of the company. You should be prepared to answer any question about the company tossed your way. Spend the week before the interview reading as much as you possibly can about the company you are interviewing at.
3.As soon as you walk in establish eye contact.
4.Have a firm handshake but do not give a death grip.
5.If they do not ask how you are doing ask them how they are doing. When they ask respond with something very positive such as “great”.
6.Thank them for taking time out of their day to interview you.
7.When you take your seat sit up straight with perfect posture. A slouch portrays laziness.
8.Smile. Don’t be grinning your whole interview but a smile portrays a sense of warmth and care.
9.Be prepared to go over your resume. Be able to explain what you did at all of your previous jobs in depth and be able to portray your worth at those companies.
10.Relax. It is natural to be nervous and I would be lying if I told you if I was not nervous before all of my interviews. However, embrace the moment. You were chosen to be interviewed for a reason. Remember that you never leave an interview with nothing as worst comes to worst you have more experience interviewing and you have just created a new connection.

I have found that the 10 things above have helped me have success with my interviews. The way I see it is if right off the bat your interviewer thinks highly of you it will be hard to reverse their train of thought. Psychologists also agree that people for the most part only remember the beginning and the end of something. I bet if I asked you what happened in the beginning and end of a movie you could tell me with ease but if I ask you what happened right in the middle you would have trouble recalling what happened. I’m not saying the middle of your interview isn’t important but you should really focus on the first/last 5 minutes of your interview. If you can think of anything else that should be added to this list comment below or tweet me @aghanomics212.