Want a Promotion? Find a Mentor…or Become One!

find a mentor
According to an internal HR study done by Sun Microsystems, their employees who were also mentees were 5 times more likely to be promoted. Mentors, on the other hand, were six times more likely to be promoted. It’s a win-win situation, with everyone benefiting from experience, outside perspective and problem-solving.

Even if you work for a small business – or yourself! – it makes sense to look to a mentor for their advice, especially if you can find one that’s “been there.” Keep reading for some tips on how to find a mentor, what to look for in a mentor, and a couple of dos and don’ts when reaching out!

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CUBED: Work smarter on your smartphone with “Documents to Go” app

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: entrepreneur Jodie Yule is constantly traveling and working from her smartphone, but needs a way to get even more done while on the go. Right now, she’s juggling an endless stream of office documents coming in, but she has to wait until she’s back at the office to work on anything. Since she has a smartphone on her all the time, wouldn’t it make more sense if she was able to squeeze some work in during all those little moments in-between deliveries of her product, a weekly newsletter delivered to restaurants and coffee shops called “Coffee News”?

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Get a Free Credit Score and Monitor Your Credit Report With Credit Sesame

credit sesame for free credit scores and free credit reportsThere are a lot of services out there that promise a free credit report, but are actually scams – remember all those free credit report TV and radio jingles? Everyone is entitled to a free credit report once a year through the website annualcreditreport.com, but if you want to know your actual credit score – the number that rates your credit-worthiness – you’re going to have to pay extra. Enter Credit Sesame, a new startup that will let you get both your credit report and credit score for free.

Credit Sesame has partnered with Experian to provide your credit score, so you won’t know what the other two major credit ratings agencies (Equifax and TransUnion) think, but it’s a good start. Credit Sesame will also offer you loan and credit card advice about the debt you already have, and can send you updates about changes to your credit report. If you’re actually in the market for a loan or credit card, they’ll send you offers from bank they think match your financial needs: if you choose to go with one of those offers, Credit Sesame makes a commission. That’s how they can provide their other services for free, but they promise that the offers will truly be helpful to consumers.

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Back to the Office: Make the Most of Your Vacation, Even Back at Work

Labor Day is almost here, and that means that summer is just about over. Hopefully you took some time to take a vacation, staycation, or whatever helps you relax and recharge. It’s important for our health, mentally and physically. Vacation helps reduce burnout, decreases our resentment of others, and actually helps us concentrate and make less mistakes once we’re back on the job.

So, all week we’ll be talking about “back to the office,” with tips and tricks to help you hit the ground running after your vacation. Perhaps the biggest (and best) thing you can do for yourself is to use the clarity that relaxation provides, before you get too bogged down in the details. A few things to think about, while you’re still feeling fresh and relaxed:

What are my realistic goals for the next six months? This can be both personal and professional – after all, it’s hard to separate these. Take this opportunity to reflect on what’s important to you, and think strategically about how you can get there. Write it down, and give yourself deadlines, not to give yourself a hard time, but to think about how you can (and will!) make progress.

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Celebrity traveler: Tech expert Mario Armstrong recharges in St. Thomas

As a technology commentator on NBC’s “Today” show, CNN and NPR, among others, Mario Armstrong knows how to effortlessly translate high-tech topics for low-tech audiences. Despite his expertise, when it comes to travel, Armstrong doesn’t exactly have a teleport. He still relies on the usual trains, planes and hotels. In a brief break from his perpetual parade of gigs, the tech expert chatted with us about where he goes to recharge and the portable devices he relies on to keep him plugged into today’s ever-evolving world.

Click here to read the full interview in the Baltimore Sun.