What is Ethical Hacking - and how do I get started

What is Ethical Hacking - and how do I get started by Michael Cheary Hacking doesn’t have to be a dirty word…With the rise of high profile cyber security attacks seemingly never out of the headlines, you could be forgiven for thinking that online crime is practically unstoppable. But businesses around the world put millions into increasing the security of their sites â€" which is where ethical hacking comes in.Not sure whether it’s right for you? We spoke to Daisy Wallace of the Learning People, one of the UK’s biggest providers of ethical hacking qualifications, to find out more:What is Ethical Hacking?Ethical Hackers (also known as ‘white hat’ hackers, or penetration testers) are employed by companies to intentionally try and carry out attacks on their networks â€" and help minimise the risk of outside threats.Why is Ethical Hacking important?  With the number of devices we depend on growing on an almost daily basis, opportunities for hacking have never been greater.Businesses employ Ethical Hackers to find wea knesses throughout their networks, allowing them to be dealt with before they’re discovered by the wrong people.And with the amount of data we store online at an all-time high, the work they do could save companies billions of pounds every single year.How to become a HackerYou won’t necessarily need a degree to get into ethical hacking.There are a number of courses and hacking tutorials out there for anyone looking to learn to hack, and getting certified is the perfect way to get your foot in the door â€" not to mention add to your skillset and CV.At the very least, you’ll build extensive experience working with online networks and systems, not to mention a good knowledge of some of the most common computer hacking tools.See also: instantly start standing out to recruiters.Cyber security â€" become an Ethical HackerWhy work in Ethical Hacking?Sound like something you’d be interested in? Here are four great reasons to learn to hack: To earn more moneyOK, so money isn’t ever ything â€" but it does help.Careers in ethical hacking can pay upwards of £60k, with roles at the top companies offering six figure salaries for more experienced staff.You get to earn more money, and help protect peoples’ private data, all at the same time. When it comes to careers, it’s pretty much win-win. To be in demand Ethical Hackers are in high demand across a range of different industries.And with cyber attacks on the rise, some of the world’s biggest brands include ethical hacking as a big part of their online security strategies â€" and plenty of smaller companies are following suit.Essentially, the more we become dependent on our devices, the bigger the threat of hacks will get. And, as the threats grow â€" so will the number of hacking jobs.So if you’re looking for a growth industry, this is it. To build on your soft skillsWhen it comes to getting into hacking, it doesn’t have to be hard.Soft skills such as thinking outside the box, remaining calm under pressu re and good problem solving skills can be just as vital as your technical experienceâ€" and prove you have the right mindset to progress in the position.We’re not saying you have to put ‘I love puzzles’ on the front page of your CV, or explain how you can crack a Rubik’s cube in less than 60 seconds, but the industry is calling out for these kind of thinkers.Prove your ability to take a different approach, and you can start putting your skills to good use. To do something shady â€" without the criminal recordThe job of an ethical hacker isn’t so far from what an actual hacker does. OK, it’s pretty much exactly the same…But the good news is, what you’re doing is actually legal. And by finding answers to questions like ‘what would an attacker want to do?’ and ‘how could they do it?’, and trying to replicate a real hack, you can come up with some solid countermeasures to try to seal vulnerabilities.In other words, you get to do something shady â€" and get paid f or it.Whoever said there was no such thing as the perfect crime?Interested in Hacking? Talk to the Learning People today.The Learning People are one of the UK’s leading eLearning providers, specialising in world-class certifications in project management, IT and digital marketing.  Find a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the

Nine Essential Apps for Freelancers

Nine Essential Apps for Freelancers According to Forbes, more than one third of US workers are freelancers now. That’s 53 million Americans, some of which freelance exclusively, with others moonlighting in freelance jobs. Freelancing is, in itself, more respected nowadays as a career path, with 65% of respondents to a Freelancers Union survey. But keeping up with your freelancing business can certainly be challenging, which is why you need the right tools and apps. Whether youre looking to kill some time or setting everything up for your next business trip, these apps are sure to help you get everything squared away from the comfort of your smartphone or tablet while you wait to board your flight, are stuck in the middle of traffic or while you wait for your next appointment. Here are some of the useful and entertaining ones for most of your needs. 9 Essential Apps for Freelancers Take 21st Century Notes: Evernote Evernote is a cross platform, freemium app that pretty much constitutes the twenty first century version of a notepad and pencil. If you need to constantly  write down memos and other reminders, then this is the app for you. You also have the option of having a day planner and even adding image, audio and handwritten notes to your agenda. Evernote also lets you attach articles and photographs found online. The biggest attraction of this California-created application is its cross-platform nature. There are clients for Android, BlackBerry, iOS, OS X, Windows and Windows mobile, and of course the web. Therefore, anything you need to know is at the tip of your fingertips regardless of which device you are using.  Never be Late: Uber Anyone who lives in a big city can attest to the fact that when you are in a hurry to get somewhere, all taxi cabs in the city seem to either disappear or are already busy. Uber promises to make that a thing of the past, as you just load up this app, order a ride and youll be on your way in no time flat. You dont even need to carry around cash, because you can load up you credit (or debit) card number and the company will automatically deduct the fare for the ride. You even have your own choice of different cars that can pick you up. Youll receive a text message  when your car is on the way, plus a phone call once your ride is there for you. Uber was founded in 2009 as UberCab and gradually rose to become a worldwide success, especially after it expanded in 2011. It certainly allows you to stop worring about having cash for your cab or even wasting money on renting a car to drive yourself.  Know Where you’re Going: Waze Waze, which is conveniently pronounced “ways,” is one of the most popular GPS-type apps available right now. Since its users can upload traffic information, such as traffic accidents, jams and even blocked routes to its database, it always gives up-to-date information so you can plan your route without running into any problems. Waze can also give you time estimates and shortest possible routes so you can get anywhere you need to get to quickly. The community-driven app works by using your smartphones built in GPS tracker and your mobile carriers signal to transmit all the information in real time. You can also choose different icons to represent your position on the map.  The app won the Best Overall Mobile App award in 2013, beating famous contenders like Flipboard and Dropbox. Yes, it’s that handy.  Communicate Effortlessly: WhatsApp This app became an overnight hit because of its ease of use and easy integration with your phones contacts. WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook, Inc in 2014 for $19.3 billion and now is estimated to have a user base of one billion, according to Wired magazine. Using your mobile connection you can send texts, images and voice messages to people all over the world, provided that you already have their phone number. From the United to States to Sri Lanka, from  Costa Rica  to Malta to London and back, you can send messages and have people receive them in a matter of seconds so you can have real-time conversations. The best part is that you only get charged for used bandwidth by your service carrier, as opposed to the per message sent charges that carriers usually do, which can save you a lot money, especially if you have business contacts abroad. It is very useful for business types who have to be in constant communication and available for all mobile operating systems, from Symbians to i Phones.  Wind Down and Exercise your Brain: PokerStars Face it, you probably wont dedicate 100% of your time to your work, not only because itll burn you out, but because realistically speaking, nobody does it. Even the most hardcore workaholic needs to wind down.  Unwind with a little online poker, Words With Friends, Candy Crush, or whatever.   Especially if you spend a lot of time commuting or visiting clients, it’s important to have some entertainment at hand. PokerStars mobile is the smartphone version of the popular poker brand’s desktop offering, providing sophisticated poker games against real opponents. Poker is a recognized mind sport which exercises your observational, mathematical and social skills, so there are also benefits to choosing it over other past-times. With thousands of users worldwide, you can log in at any time of the day and find other  card enthusiasts  to play with.  Get Paid On the Go: PayPal Getting paid from freelance work and keeping track of finances is certainly important and challenging, especially to new freelancers. There’s a variety of apps to help you with that, but perhaps the most essential to get paid by people from all over the world is PayPal.  Paypal is one of the quintessential internet success stories, and for good reason: Established in 1998, it rose to become the world’s largest internet payment company, with  over 179 million active accounts in 100 currencies and across 203 markets, processing more than 9 million payments annually.  In fact, according to the company’s own reports, PayPal processes 30% of the total eCommerce transactions in the US. All it takes is signing up for an account and verifying your identity. As a PayPal user, you can both send and receive money from anyone else with a PayPal account.  Find a Table in a Jiff: OpenTable Out of town, hungry and you dont where to find a good place to eat? It can happen, especially to contractors who need to travel a lot. Do you have a big business meeting and your client wants to grab a bite while you talk? With this app you can check what your local restaurant options are and even make dinner reservations. Open Table has a database of over 27000 restaurants, so in theory you could get a table at a different restaurant every night without ever repeating.  Its US restaurants catalog is impressive, but it also features restaurants abroad. As a mobile app, OpenTable is available for Android, iOS and Windows phones, but you can also use their website.  Show, Don’t Tell: Paper (by Fifty Three) If your trade calls for lots of presentations, or if you simply like to present your ideas in graphic form to your customers, Paper (by Fifty Three) will let you sketch it out so you can show off on your tablet  anywhere, anytime even remotely. It includes a good variety of different brushes, pencils and colors as well as more elaborate tools so you can give free reign to your imagination. Its also a fun time waster if youre bored but dont actually want to invest any brain power into playing an actual game.  Don’t Be Afraid to Work the Cloud: DropBox DropBox is like having a little virtual hard drive with you at all times. It’s cloud-based storage optimized for synchronization, sharing and collaboration. You can sync up various devices so you can have easy access to your files even when you dont your computer or smartphone on you. There are also desktop and mobile clients that will automatically backup each file they find in a specific folder on your device, and always keep it up to date with the latest version, no matter where and on which device you last edited it. It’s also handy for when you want to move files around, but theyre too big to just send as email attachments. The free version offers 2 gigabytes but you can earn more storage, up to 16 gigabytes. They should be enough for all your needs during a business trip. If it works for you, try their paid upgrades, available both for groups and individuals. With the abundance of apps out there in today’s market, all of these have a lot of imitators and competitors, but they remain some of the best, if not the absolute top, of their category. Depending on each freelancer’s line of work, habits and needs, they may find additional apps useful as well â€" we’ve tried to keep this list to a tried-and-tested format, to help keep you organized, communicate and move around effortlessly. And why not? Have a little fun.

Shift Leader Job Description - Algrim.co

Shift Leader Job Description - Algrim.co Shift Leader Job Description Template Download our job description template in Word or PDF format. Instant download. No email required. Download Template Using Your Template Follow these instructions to use your new job description template Step one: Fill out all details in your job description template using the provided sample on this page. Step two: Customize your requirements or duties to anything special to your workplace. Be sure to speak with team members and managers to gauge what's required of the position. Step three: When the census of the team has agreed on the description of the work, add in a Equal Employment Opportunity statement to the bottom of your job description. Step four: Check with your legal department, management team, and other team members to ensure the job description looks correct before creating a job advertisement. Choose a job board that's specific to your needs.

Time to Adjust Your Internal Soundtrack - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Time to Adjust Your Internal Soundtrack - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Whether or not we’re even fully aware of it, most of us have an “internal soundtrack” that plays over and over on a constant loop, day in and day out. Normally, that “soundtrack” is referred to as one’s mindset or overall attitude. Call it what you may, but one thing seems certain: It can and quite often does have a profound influence and effect on how well we do in life, and that’s particularly true when it comes to our professional lives. A positive mindset/attitude, for example, might be one like this: “Today offers both opportunities and challenges, but, since I have lot to offer, I am definitely up to the task.” Conversely, a negative mindset usually goes something like this: “Today may offer  some people opportunities, but, since the deck is stacked against me, I don’t expect much for myself.” Quite understandably, during the Great Recession, when literally millions of jobs evaporated into thin air, it became extremely difficult to maintain a positive attitude and mindset. Nonetheless, those who managed to do so at least to some extent were more often than not the ones who also managed to keep some type of employmentâ€"despite the awful state of the worldwide job market and economy. Even though in recent years we have seenâ€"and continue to seeâ€"significant improvements in both the job market and the economy, there are still those who insist upon continuing to see the glass as being half empty instead of being half full.Or, to put it another way, they have yet to update/adjust their internal soundtrack, their individual mindset and overall attitude to fully take into consideration current conditions. Just recently I ran across a classic example of what I’m talking about here. NEGATIVE ATTITUDE/EXPECTATIONS=NEGATIVE RESULTS About a month ago, my wife (and just coincidentally, also my business partner), Pam, and I went to dinner at a local, national chain, family oriented restaurant. Our waitress was a woman I estimated to be about 45- to 50-years-old. It would not be exaggerating to say that she appeared to be carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her posture was slumped, her gait slow, her tone of voice flat and definitely lacking in enthusiasm. Her entire attitude and personal image was one of a person who has largely given up on the world and all the people in it. It seemed to be all she could do to simply engage us as fellow human beings and take our order. To be sure, not an auspicious beginning to our dining experience! Once the waitress left, we looked at each other, rolled our eyes, sighed and remained determined to enjoy our anticipated meal, first impressions of our waitress notwithstanding. Maybe she was just having a really bad day, we reasoned.   And then we waited, and waited, and waited some more. After about twenty minutes or so, during which time we had received absolutely none of our order, I flagged down our waitress and asked her what the problem was. Here is how she responded: “I have absolutely no idea, really. I placed your order immediately, but those guys in the kitchen think they can take their own sweet time. And if I say something I get chewed out by the manager. “Seven years ago I was laid off from a really good job, and despite having two graduate degrees, this (referring to her current position as a waitress) is what I have to end up doing!” With that comment, she turned around and trudged off toward the kitchen, presumably to check on the status of our order. Pam turned to me, slyly smiling, and gave me one of her best “Don’t even think about it, Skip” looks. Still, she knew I couldn’t resist the temptation to further engage the waitress, and of course she was right! Once the waitress returned with the our soft drinks and silverware (but not any portion of our dinner order!), I casually asked her what graduate degrees she had earned and from what university. Turns out she had a master’s degree in finance and an MBA, both from a top university in the Atlanta, GA, Metro Area. Now, while I certainly  believe that there is dignity in any and all honest labor, I couldn’t resist further exploration. Why, I asked the woman, are you working as a waitress with your qualifications? Her response: “There still aren’t any jobs out there. I don’t care what they say. The government is lying when they say things are getting better. Plus, look at my age. No one is going to give me a decent job at my age!” At this point I divulged that I was a professional “headhunter” and could provide her overwhelming evidence that her impressions and beliefs about today’s job market simply were not at all accurate. (No, I was NOT attempting to recruit her as a candidate because that’s not how a true “headhunter” goes about that process!) “Well, can you get me a better job then?!” she challenged. No, I told her, but added that I could show her how she could get a better one for herself, merely by following the advice in Career Stalled? How to Get Your Career Back in HIGH Gear and Land the Job You Deserveâ€"Your DREAM Job!, my latest job-hunting book. I even offered to send her a free copy of the book if she would give me her mailing address. She profusely thanked me and seemed visibly pleased by the offer. After finishing our dinner (finally!) and preparing to leave the restaurant, our waitress ran up smiling and handed me a folded napkin, which  I just assumed contained her mailing address where I was to send the book. I said I would put the book in the mail first thing the next morning when I got to our business office. A HAPPY ENDING? WELL, NOT QUITE . . . When I returned to our office the next day, I grabbed a copy of Career Stalled?, put it in a book mailer and then located the folded napkin the waitress had given me to learn where I should send the book. Lo and behold, though, the address the waitress had written on the napkin was not her physical mailing addressâ€"it was her  email address! Not to be dissuaded, however, and still intent on keeping my word to send her a copy of my book, I shot the woman an email at the address written on the napkin she had given me. I thanked her for giving me her email address, but further advised her that I would need an actual physical mailing address, in order to send her the book. Long story short: It’s been well over a month since I sent the email to the beleaguered waitress. (And I verified the validity of the email address and that the email was sent and received!) I am still awaiting a response, but at this point I don’t honestly expect to receive one, either. I will just assume that she (like quite a few others today, actually) prefers to continue seeing the glass as being half empty, not as being half full. And her being a waitress, she certainly should be able to tell the difference and take appropriate action! _____________________________ Would you like to receive a FREE PDF version of  Career Stalled? via email?  Shoot an email to my editor and co-author, Michael Garee, at mlgaree@headhunterhiringsecrets.com. All we ask in return is that, once you have had an opportunity to review the book, you go on Amazon.com and write an honest  review of itâ€"good, bad or indifferent. Thank you! _____________________________ Going on a job interview soon? Know someone who is? Download Skip’s FREE “How to ACE the Job Interview!” publication by clicking HERE. Learn how to interview the way Superstars do!

10 Basic Steps to Create a Personal Branding Strategy

10 Basic Steps to Create a Personal Branding Strategy Do you think that it is possible to have a strong presence in the market without creating a brand for your business? The odds are not in the favor. Read on to find out how to formulate a strong personal branding strategy!Branding is not just about having a cool logo or a well-placed advertisement rather, it is defined as the overall perception of your business by your customers.evalThere is immense competition in the market and for smaller businesses, it is nearly impossible to match the stature of the giants in the industry.One of the most valuable assets which your company holds includes a loved and recognizable brand identity for itself.Personal branding is a process and doesn’t happen overnight. There is a lot of effort which is required to establish strong relationships with your clientele resulting in increased sales, more projects, and successful word of mouth referrals.Here are some of the simplified steps explained for you to build a successful personal branding strategy:1 . Determine Your AudienceDefining a target audience forms the foundation for building a brand so this is the foremost thing which you must be focusing on. It is not possible to be everything to everyone so you need to figure out a segment of the audience that your company will be focusing on.You would need to tailor your mission and message to meet the needs of the target audience. With the passage of time, the brand loyalty increases as the reach of the company expand.2. Define a Branding Mission StatementAdding value to your business is integral to building a strong brand for the audience. It basically emulates the soul reason behind the existence of your business and will facilitate other aspects of brand building.evalOn the basis of this mission, you will be creating an identity for your brand and defining a marketing strategy for it. If all this doesn’t conform to your mission, it won’t be fruitful.3. Outline Your Key Qualities and BenefitsYou need to dig deeper into your p otentials and find out what are you offering which others aren’t. There are numerous brands in the industry with some of them having a stronger presence and more resources and money as compared to you. They can easily command the market but you need to find out the way to outdo them.It could be anything including providing a better customer service or making the product/service more affordable for the people. Give a very strong reason to the target audience so that they can choose your brand over the rest.4. Research Your CompetitorsNever even think of imitating the other brands in the industry but always be aware of what they are up to. Study how all your main competitors or the biggies in the market are building their brand.evalFind out their strengths and weaknesses so that you can devise your own personal branding strategy accordingly. Follow the reviews of their customers to find out what are they liking or disliking about them.5. Come up with a Great Brand Logo and TaglineTh is holds immense importance as the piece of writing and graphic will appear on each and everything which relates to your business one way or the other. This is the visual recognition of your business so make sure that you come up with something which is unique and represents your business and its mission in the best possible way.Invest your time and money on something worthwhile because this is going to be the ultimate identity of your brand.6. Show YourselfIt is the desire of the people to connect with other people and not just brands so show yourself more often. Presenting a photo of yourself or letting others know about you through social media or other platforms will help in building credibility and establishing trust.Capture yourself and your team in action so that people feel connected to the brand as they are exposed to all the behind the scene efforts.7. Build a Circle of InfluencersThere are a number of “popular people” in the crowd who seem to garner more attention fro m the masses as compared to others. There is simply no harm in shaking hands with such people coming from different walks of life and letting them help you promote your brand.These can be journalists, bloggers, motivational speakers or anyone else who is excelling in his respective field and will help in creating a strong influence for you.8. Have a Strong Online PresenceWe are in the twenty-first century and if you want to be there for the people, you need to be available online. Maintaining an online identity is essential for your business given that it is the medium with the widest reach in today’s world.evalYou can have social media accounts and build a website for yourself so that there are multiple domains where people can find you.Another important thing is to keep updating yourself with the changing times so that your presence conforms to the present principles and doesn’t appear to be out of context.9. Stay True to Your BrandAs cliché as it may sound but consistency is the absolute key to success. If you keep changing your branding strategy, you are most likely to confuse your customers. This doesn’t mean that you cannot improvise yourself to increase your appeal to the masses.The essence is not to deviate from your true path that will make it impossible for the loyal customers to connect with you.10. Remain a Student of Your IndustryYou might think that you have known it all but still, it is not enough. Trends keep changing and people keep putting forward newer innovations.evalThus, the process of learning never becomes obsolete making it absolutely necessary for anyone to keep discovering the industry and improving their personal branding strategy as they move forward with their business.Through a strong personal branding strategy, you can actually make yourself a lot more appealing to your audiences. This is one sure shot way of winning more customers and increasing your reach.

Top 10 Job Search Articles You Dont Want To Miss

Top 10 Job Search Articles You Dont Want To Miss Theres a lot of information out there about job search. These are the top 10 from 2018 you dont want to miss! Before you check out for the holidays, I wanted to highlight these articles to help you prepare for your upcoming job search. January has historically been the month most people hit the job boards. So before you start, make sure youre ready! (Psst: Monster is no longer the place to go to find a job.) I hope you enjoy these! Top Job Search Articles From 2018 9 Questions To Ask Before Launching Your Job Search Before you begin updating your resume, there are some questions youll want to ask and answer. Your search for a new job requires a strategy and by answering these questions you will launch a targeted, more productive job search. Recruiting and Interviewing Trends To Watch In 2018 Companies have to work harder to find talent now that most people are working.   Using candidate data and artificial intelligence is mixed into the process companies use to source and vet candidates. And once theyve found candidates, they are interviewing them differently.   These trends started in 2018 and are expected to continue through 2019. Social Media Used To Evaluate Job Seekers 2018 Based on CareerBuilders annual study, I break down the key findings to help you understand the good and bad of social media. The short answer is, whatever you put out there is a reflection of you and can be used to help or hurt your shot at being a candidate for a job. Use Every Source Available To Uncover Job Opportunities Where do you go to look for jobs? Its probably based on your past experience. If you dont diversify where you look for new jobs, you may be missing out on that perfect job opportunity. How To Use Instagram for Job Search Instagram, really? Yes. If you are active on Instagram, these are tips to help you make the most of your time on the platform to help with your job search (and online reputation). 12 Easy Digital Housekeeping Steps Even if you dont plan on actively looking for a new job, you should do a little digital housekeeping. Walk through this list to make sure your online visibility is clean and on target. Its up to you to manage your online personal reputation. 8 Things To Evaluate Before You Say Yes To A Job Theres nothing more exciting than receiving a job offer. But before you say YES, make sure you have evaluated these 8 things related to the job, the company, its leadership and people you’ll be working with. Pre-Interview Prep You want to come across confidently qualified during the job interview and that takes practice and time. Youll find the top job interview questions to prepare for and the best way to formulate your answers! Start prepping now! New LinkedIn Features You Should Know About LinkedIn is always making updates and adding new features. Sadly, they dont do a very good job notifying their users of these changes. These are 10 features introduced in 2018. Fix Your LinkedIn Headline Today Your LinkedIn headline  is one of the best opportunities to highlight your unique value. You have 120 characters to use to sell yourself! Newsflash, your job title and company isnt going to be enough to help you stand out! And there you have it. If you are looking for more help, please, subscribe to my newsletter and get fast, fresh, fun articles delivered right to your inbox!

Inspirational Quote The Rock in the Stream - Hallie Crawford

Inspirational Quote The Rock in the Stream Ive been reading Learn to Relax by Mike George at night before I go to bed. This paragraph hit home with me the other day since I can be such a do-er, sometimes doing so much that I realize Im forcing things. Page 32 Many people in modern times believe that the quickest route is best: the faster we can complete one task, the sooner we can begin the next. We resemble not calmly flowing rivers but swirling rapids, sending up angry white foam whenever we meet an obstacle. By the time we reach our goal, we are stale and spent, because we have striven so hard for success. Daoists believe that humankinds attempted imposition of order on earth is a case of intellectual vanity at war with nature. The result is stress. According to the natural order of things, a river, and anything the river carries, will flow toward the sea. To achieve relaxation, we must accept lifes natural flow (we are that flow) and allow ourselves to be borne along not try to fight the current by swimming upstream, or willing the flow to move faster. If we surrender to the flow of the river, life will carry us where we want to go. This could take a little longer than we might have expected and the experience may feel strange at first. Yet in time by trusting the flow of the river, we will learn the art of acceptance. If we cease to struggle against the odds, our potential for growth is enlarged. Ive been reading this every morning as I prep for the day to remind me to surrender to the flow. How can you do that this week for yourself? Notice what happens when you do. Happy Monday, Hallie Related links: Ignite your intuition Listening to intuition