To celebrate this promotion, LinkedIn is giving our members the opportunity to congratulate the new King of the Netherlands and offer him some tips for new job success, just as you do when a connection in your LinkedIn network makes a career move. Like all jobs, it’s not the title that matters most, it’s what you do with it. Here are some tips for members on how to start a new job on the right foot:

1. Go beyond your job title
A promotion is something we all look forward to at some point in our careers. However, as flattering and satisfying as it is to have a new, and perhaps well-deserved, job title, there is much more to your promotion than the title itself. In a recent televised interview with Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, the Princess were quite explicit with her thoughts on the promotion: “it is not about the title, it is about what we represent”. This applies to us all – royalty or not. Your job title is just one of the many ingredients representing your responsibilities and expertise to the outside world. Therefore, it is crucial to showcase all the important elements that contribute to your role.

2. Be specific about what you do
Provide thorough, accurate information by updating your LinkedIn profile with precise details. If you’re a King, for instance, be specific about the value you add to the country by highlighting your achievements and the skills you’ve acquired in the years leading up to your promotion. And most of all, clearly express what you’re passionate about. King of the Netherlands is one thing, but being a symbol of continuity and unity says something more.

3. Let others sing your praises
LinkedIn is a social network after all. Tap into its full power by asking your valuable connections to speak for you. Endorsements and recommendations from your trusted colleagues add an extra layer of value and credibility to your career profile that a new job title may not.

Just as His Majesty should be connected to the people and have his actions (not his title) represent him and the country, so should you represent yourself with your skills and accomplishments, taking your title only as the starting point.

All that said, becoming King is a big deal. Please join me in congratulating the new king on this momentous occasion. And Prince Willem-Alexander, heir apparent and soon-to-be His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, if you ever need career advice, you know where to find me!

In our search for happiness we tend to think that “having it all” is the panacea for all of life’s challenges and will magically bring us eternal happiness. This places our focus on external factors that can bring us happiness when happiness is a state of mind and internal.

It turns out that the “secret” to happiness and “having it all” lies in effective management of emotions and expectations. So here are some tips for establishing and maintaining emotional balance:

Establish and maintain internal congruence

A lot of our frustrations and stress are the result of conflict between our emotions, expressions, and actions. So, realign what you say and do with what you feel. It may sound difficult at first, but you can begin at home and extend this to your social relationships and work. This doesn’t mean being confrontational or abrupt, it simply means recognising your ‘self’, individual needs, and emotions and expressing them in a gentle non-offensive manner.

Realign your goals and objectives

Aiming for the impossible is not an act of courage, it simply sets you up for failure and frustration. So re-examine your goals and restate them so they are compatible with your personality and individual needs and preferences as well as your circumstances and resources. Remember you can get to the top of the ladder by climbing one step at a time.

Practice positivity

Good and bad mood are contagious and self-reinforcing so you can influence your environment and your workgroup. Therefore, establish positive patterns of behaviour to generate positive emotions. You can easily develop many simple habits to surround yourself with positivity and to lighten up your day/mood. For instance, take 2 minutes a day to send an email to share a positive thought or to praise a colleague or someone in your team/organisation, and make it a habit to smile, it is contagious.

Practice mindfulness and meditate

In the rush of everyday life, we often juggle multiple demands and have to adapt and multitask. However, research suggests that a multitasking brain has a harder time falling asleep, and has less energy, and experiences more stress. So take time to relax your mind as often as you can, by refocusing on a single thing. For instance, take 2 minutes to practice deep breathing and focus on your breathing as you inhale and exhale. This slows your heartbeat, relaxes your brain, and reduces anxiety.

Expand your social capital and healthy relationships

Social capital and healthy relationships are a source of happiness and longevity. Therefore, strengthen your social network and build positive relationships. Networks such as LinkedIn can help develop and maintain your professional relationships and help enhance your social capital and career success.

Although, a focus on “success” may not bring us happiness, happiness can lead to success via positive emotions.

Here are some more suggestions from the chat:

College basketball fans are a dedicated bunch, so we came up with a “dedication score” based on their LinkedIn Profiles to select who we think will be the winner. Here’s the formula:

For each school in the tournament, we calculated

(# of current students and alumni with the word “basketball” in their profile) / (total # of current students and alumni) = Dedication Score

The school with the higher “dedication score” wins their game and advances in the bracket.

And the winner is…

[Click to zoom in]

Gonzaga University!

Gonzaga has over 15,700 students and alumni on LinkedIn, and nearly 2.5% of those members reference “basketball” somewhere in their profile. These are folks who volunteer as coaches for youth basketball leagues, work as parking attendants for basketball games, or simply state that they love the game in their profile.

No bracket is complete without Cinderella teams, and ours has many – of which the most Cinderella-y is Valparaiso. With around 14,000 students and alumni on LinkedIn and a “dedication score” of 1.8%, the Crusaders will shock Michigan State, Duke, and Louisville to get into the Final Four.

Now, I know some of you may be thinking “What does this have to do with the basketball team’s performance on the court?” Team Spirit! We believe in the power of willing your team to win. Your chances of picking a bracket 100% correctly are infinitesimally small, regardless of method, so we think the power of willing your team to win is what it will take. So, you could fill out your bracket based on favorite school colors OR you could use our “dedication score.”

College basketball is just one of many ways we choose to stay connected to our schools. To stay connected on LinkedIn, check out our Alumni tool, which allows you to find and connect with graduates of your alma mater.

PS: If you’re like me and can’t get enough basketball data, check out Ken Pomeroy’s basketball statistics site. If you’re also like me, in the sense that you’re lazy and you want math to just tell you who’s going to win it all, check out the work of these four Georgia Tech professors.

While some stark differences emerged by country, we uncovered some key global trends. Today, almost two thirds of working women say that success is about achieving the right work-life balance. This is a major shift from 5 to 10 years ago when ‘salary’ topped that list along with an ‘interesting job’ and ‘responsibility’. Interestingly, work-life balance wasn’t really on the radar then.

These findings emerged from our ‘What Women Want @ Work’ study, released today in celebration and support of International Women’s Day on March 8th.

So what’s changed? The upheaval of the global economy has meant fewer staff and resources so we all have to do more with less. The other major factor has been the growth and reliance on technology. We increasingly operate in an ‘always on’ work environment where many of us can’t resist starting and ending our days on our smartphones. The line between work and home life has blurred as technology has become systematically ingrained in our lives. All of this seems to have contributed to women taking stock and reassessing what’s really important to them.

Not surprisingly, our study tells us that working women the world over are looking for one thing above others – greater flexibility. As a working mum of two little boys, I know only too well what a juggling act it can sometimes be. Two out of three of working mums we surveyed agree and ‘would like more flexible work conditions’. Furthermore, there is a strong belief that for the next generation of professional women greater flexibility will be crucial for their success – a whopping  4 out 5 agree with that sentiment.

Other big issues that the study surfaced included concerns over lack of investment in professional development and lack of a clear career path. Encouragingly and despite all this, there is a great deal of confidence and optimism about careers and future opportunities – with 3 out of 4 women believing they can ‘have it all’. Perhaps that’s what women really want.

So where can professional women turn for support? As the world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn is a great place to start.

1. Get career inspiration. Choose someone you admire at your company, check out their LinkedIn profiles and take a look at the steps they took in their careers to be successful.
2. Seek out women mentors. Join LinkedIn Groups for professional women in your industry or region. Make new connections and learn from others.
3. Ask, and you shall receive. If flexibility is an issue where you work, connect with other women on LinkedIn via your own network and utilise LinkedIn Groups to gain advice on how to ask for flexible work conditions. Then, set a plan to present to your manager. You can also research positions similar to your own on LinkedIn to understand the skills required so you can have regular informed conversations about your position.

So what do YOU want at work? Let us know on our LinkedIn Company Page or tweet us @LinkedIn.

Since Valentine’s Day is all about love, passion and dreams, I looked at English-speaking professionals around the globe to see how many included “love”, “passion” and “dream job” in their LinkedIn profiles. This is what I found.

Now that you’ve seen the rankings, if you’re thinking about moving to a new city to find a job you love, here are some tips for launching a successful job search in a new city.

If you love what you do now, share the love on our LinkedIn Company Page or on Twitter @LinkedIn with hashtag #ilovemyjob.