Job Interview Dressing Tips

Posted on September 6th, 2008

It’s time to head for the interview and you have one question. What is the job interview dressing code? Yes. Everyone has that same doubt. Should you be too formal? Should you just be yourself? Should you portray yourself as a happy-go-lucky character and dress as you please? Ear rings, nose rings, tattoos and other stuff that has been your style statement ?should they come off? Would you make more of an impression if you stood out from the rest of the crowd? Yes. These are some questions that plague many people. Dressing for the interview is a big issue and many get stuck at this critical area.

The answer is actually quite simple. The job interview being a formal meeting between people who are assessing each other’s capability and fit to work together in a professional environment, the dress code must obviously tilt to the formal. Prepare for it with all the seriousness it requires because you need to create an impression on the employers that you are a serious, responsible and resourceful kind of a person. Now that means that the casual look or the worn out look is out. It means that the conservative look is what you need to work at. Even if you were going for an interview as an odd job man or a part time summer job, it will surely make a difference if you go to the interview dressed formally. One rule that most human resource people advocate is that one must dress as if one is going to the interview of a job one notch higher than what one actually is.

The point of packaging yourself well is to leave behind an impression of your personality. Nothing does as much as the clothes you wear, the perfume you wear and the colors you wear. With conservative colors and clothes you are in the safe zone with most people whereas a daring fashionable look could just disqualify you for too much attitude of the wrong kind. Some of the things that are to be avoided are too much jewellery, bright colored clothes, nail polish, bad nails, skirts that are too short and clothes that are too tight, accessories that are too colorful or floral, inappropriate shoes, bare legs, collarless shirts etc. They just go to prove that you do not really care about the job and all you are worried is about your attitude, which may not be a great advertisement for someone who is looking for a congenial colleague.

Now what is it that you must wear? Colors that score in conservatism are the traditional blue and gray. Blacks and browns are fine as well but score lower than blue and gray. Whatever the job is remember organizations do want disciplined, professional, responsible people in their jobs and it is best that you reflect that in your attire and attitude. Sober colored collared shirts, tie and jacket (if dress code is casual you could ignore the tie).

If you are still unsure, it does make sense to call and ask beforehand what the dress code is and then dress appropriately. Good luck and make a good impression!

Yulin Peng is a recruiting researcher and the owner of http://www.job-employment-guide.com. Please visit his site for more free employment tips.

Tags: dressing for interview., interview dress, job intervew tips, job interview dressing
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How To Get A Job If You Are An Excon

Posted on September 5th, 2008

If you had just gotten out of prison and you are looking for a job there are many places you can go to get a high paying for rewarding job. If you are still in a halfway house you can get a job at a local car wash. Hopefully in prison you learned a little bit of conversational Spanish because most of the people working at the car wash for illegal aliens. Most car wash owners in my opinion having been in the industry for 27 years are unscrupulous and are looking for people to exploit.

Since you are and Ex-con you will find that car wash owners are so happy to meet you and hire you immediately. They also know that if you are in a halfway house you cannot quit so you will be reliable and show up every day even if all the illegal aliens decide to go on strike at the local car wash.

If you’re not in a halfway house and you are annexed con and you need to get a job quickly I recommend getting a job as a truck driver because there is a shortage of 180,000 truck drivers in United States of America today and many trucking companies are hiring over the road truck drivers who are former criminals. This will give you a chance to be on the open road and see all that you have been missing, as well as travel around the country.

So it appears that both car wash owners and trucking companies are willing to hire you to drive profits for their business. Many of the companies in these industry sectors do not pay as much his and other types of companies but you are insured you will be able to get a job. Isn’t it great to know that you get a second chance at life to be exploited by people who do not give a crap about you? I am sorry I will not hire you in my company because I don’t trust you because you are a criminal. But these other companies will still consider that in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Tags: an Ex-con, How to Get a Job
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Strategies For An Effective Job Search To Get You The Job Or Career You Want

Posted on September 4th, 2008

At this point you have posted your resume online and even applies for a few of the positions you have seen listed. You are also scouring the online classifieds postings as well as the newspaper classified ads. You have of course been sending off cover letters and resumes by email, fax and snail mail for the entire job opening that seem appropriate for you.

Is there anything else that you can do to look for that job you wish? You bet! In fact, the more diverse and wide spread your job hunting strategies, the more effective it is likely to be.

First you should contact the professional organizations in your chosen field or wide scope of employment area.

National. Regional and local professional organizations exist in a great part to help their members with career development as well as employment search. Many of these organizations include field specific job listings on their web sites or in their printed publications. Check out the career contact and alumni network which is composed of alumni, employers, students as well as friends and patrons of the organization who have offered to share their career experiences with alumni and students.

Next Visit Company and organization web sites.

Many companies and organizations post their job openings right on their websites. Often it is the Employment or Career Opportunities Links. If it doubt check the site map. Or as another resort actually contact the webmaster of the site.

A more direct tack is to apply directly to the organizations that actually interest you. What a compliment it is for a firm for an applicant to be able to appreciate their hard work and focus. You can send a well written cover letter directly to the human resources department or even the direct person who is most likely to initiate hiring decisions. Your research skills may be necessary to find that vital information. The entire better to demonstrate your research skills which are actually hard to come by and very valued by many current employers.

Networking is key to effective job hunting strategies.

It is often said that close to 85 % of jobs are filled through networking. Talk to your contacts. Always remember when one door closes often another opens. You never know where even a failed interview will lead.

The one contact you make there or in your research travels can easily lead to another contact. Sometimes even name dropping can have great results so says Layton Mancin an expert in the field.

Make a list of contacts you know in the field.

You most likely know lots of people or know people who do.

Sit down with them. Take them for lunch coffee or a donut. But do it sincerely not like an aggressive insurance salesman.

If there is a professional organization in your field, join it and start participating in its meetings and other events so that you can get to know people in your area of interest ? Work with a career counselor at your college or school to both tap his or her contacts and learn of alumni who might be willing and able to lend you a hand. Do not forget your supervisors or instructors connections as well.

You can consider using either a placement agency or recruitment agent now often called a headhunter. It is often very expensive for companies to conduct hiring.

Companies incur not unsubstancial costs as well as time to research, screen, conduct initial interviews as well as travel and hosting costs. As well they may not want to make to known that they are hiring either to their industry or employees including the one that they are planning on replacing. For these reasons as well as the fact that the management of the firms may already be short of time many progressive firms will employ the services of headhunters.

You can avail yourself of the services of these headhunters or placement organizations.

You can do an initial search in your local phonebook. Follow this up with contacts in your networks and at professional organizations. It is amazing how helpful people can be with a simple phone call with well prepared specific questions. As well as the posting that are prominent in local, national and industry newspapers and publications.

Note that most of the firms are paid by the employers. They are generally paid a percentage of your projected earnings. Basically they are paid on a commission basi sothat they have a vested interest in placing you. Often these firms are even paid a percentage of projected future bonuses or in the case of sales projected commissions However be very wary headhunting firms that try to charge you fees or send you on courses supplied by their very firm or a sister company. As said many good employers use reputable head hunters and consider the money they spend as very good value and an ultimate saving of both money and time

Lastly consider a temporary or fill in job and the firm of your choice. You will make valuable contacts. Perhaps even the firm will consider you such a valuable addition to their organization that they will determine it is best to continue to have you around as you are an asset to their organization.

Remember the more diverse and planned your job hunting methods are the more opportunities and ultimately the greater the chances you will have of landing that job and that career you really want.

William Piker
Senior Job Placement and Employment Advisor.
Experience in the financial field.
Ace Employment Agency
http://www.winnipegjobshark.com http://www.aceemploymentservices.net

Tags: , career, employment, headhunter, job, job hunting, job search, resume, search
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10 Habits Assuring Career SelfSabotage

Posted on September 3rd, 2008

Youre fired! This succinct phrase strikes more fear into the heart of the working man than any other. Why is it, then, that many well-intentioned and reasonably astute professionals hear these words chronically throughout their career despite all best efforts? Below are the top 10 self-destructive workplace habits sure to endanger ones longevity on the job.

Even with this small amount of insight, many aspiring professionals can learn how to maintain their good standing in the workplace and actually excel on the job rather than self-destruct. Employee turnover hurts not only those receiving their walking papers, but employers as well since this is a costly, through avoidable, expense.

With this in mind, serial Labor Losers can benefit by knowing these 10 key ways to get your self canned:

1.Failing to have a life plan All very successful people have a clear life plan, whether memorized or actually written down. They create it, massage it, and refer to it often.

2.Not keeping your skill set current The business landscape is ever-changing and there is more demand for jobs than supply. Not staying on par with colleagues and those vying for your job will be a deathnell.

3.Failing to deliver results Winners in business know that its all about accountability. Those who harbor a sense of entitlement for simply having put forth effort, irrespective of the results of those efforts, are guaranteed to fall by the wayside.

4.Confusing efficiency with effectiveness Those who think that communicating via e-mail replaces the need to actually talk with people around them fail to recognize the importance of personally connecting with others in todays highly automated and technological environment. Communicating in person whenever possible is imperative for success-seekers.

5.Believing that you are irreplaceable There is no room for divas in the workplace. As soon as you convince yourself that you and only you can do the job right, your star will surely start to fall.

6.Knowing all the answers The old adage remains true: knowledge is power. Professing to know it all can readily stagnate a career. Winners remain unceasingly interested in learning new ideas and approaches.

7.Surrounding your self with brown-nosers Losers like having people tell them how smart they are, whether or not its true, while successful managers and other professionals accept and encourage intelligence and creativity in others.

8.Forgetting to give credit to others Losers inappropriately take full credit for positive events despite the help or input received by others, while Winners give credit where credit is due. Losers inevitably reap what they sow.

9.Failing to self promote Bragging is one thing, but letting colleagues throughout your industry know of your success through case studies, promotion bulletins, or other such tools is quite another. Losers often fail to recognize the importance of letting others know about their successes, or go about it in entirely the wrong way.

10.Losing perspective Intuitive business people recognize that, despite their best attempts to do everything right, sometimes they approach roadblocks and seek the advice and perspective of a respected friend, colleague or even a business coach. Those who fail to recognize their shortcomings are destined for the unemployment line.

Tags: Business, career, employment, job, management, manager, success
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10 Habits Assuring Career SelfSabotage

Posted on September 2nd, 2008

Youre fired! This succinct phrase strikes more fear into the heart of the working man than any other. Why is it, then, that many well-intentioned and reasonably astute professionals hear these words chronically throughout their career despite all best efforts? Below are the top 10 self-destructive workplace habits sure to endanger ones longevity on the job.

Even with this small amount of insight, many aspiring professionals can learn how to maintain their good standing in the workplace and actually excel on the job rather than self-destruct. Employee turnover hurts not only those receiving their walking papers, but employers as well since this is a costly, through avoidable, expense.

With this in mind, serial Labor Losers can benefit by knowing these 10 key ways to get your self canned:

1.Failing to have a life plan All very successful people have a clear life plan, whether memorized or actually written down. They create it, massage it, and refer to it often.

2.Not keeping your skill set current The business landscape is ever-changing and there is more demand for jobs than supply. Not staying on par with colleagues and those vying for your job will be a deathnell.

3.Failing to deliver results Winners in business know that its all about accountability. Those who harbor a sense of entitlement for simply having put forth effort, irrespective of the results of those efforts, are guaranteed to fall by the wayside.

4.Confusing efficiency with effectiveness Those who think that communicating via e-mail replaces the need to actually talk with people around them fail to recognize the importance of personally connecting with others in todays highly automated and technological environment. Communicating in person whenever possible is imperative for success-seekers.

5.Believing that you are irreplaceable There is no room for divas in the workplace. As soon as you convince yourself that you and only you can do the job right, your star will surely start to fall.

6.Knowing all the answers The old adage remains true: knowledge is power. Professing to know it all can readily stagnate a career. Winners remain unceasingly interested in learning new ideas and approaches.

7.Surrounding your self with brown-nosers Losers like having people tell them how smart they are, whether or not its true, while successful managers and other professionals accept and encourage intelligence and creativity in others.

8.Forgetting to give credit to others Losers inappropriately take full credit for positive events despite the help or input received by others, while Winners give credit where credit is due. Losers inevitably reap what they sow.

9.Failing to self promote Bragging is one thing, but letting colleagues throughout your industry know of your success through case studies, promotion bulletins, or other such tools is quite another. Losers often fail to recognize the importance of letting others know about their successes, or go about it in entirely the wrong way.

10.Losing perspective Intuitive business people recognize that, despite their best attempts to do everything right, sometimes they approach roadblocks and seek the advice and perspective of a respected friend, colleague or even a business coach. Those who fail to recognize their shortcomings are destined for the unemployment line.

Tags: Business, career, employment, job, management, manager, success
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How To Be Successful At Work

Posted on September 1st, 2008

What to do, if on the previous job you havent learned what is required from you on this one? The bitter truth of a life consists that amazing successes and greater talents often remain unnoticeable. That is why you should take care of yourself.

You get in two percent of the most successful applicants on the market, if: - Youre in the top ten graduates of your university; - You are a former well known sportsman or the known public person in the past; - If you are fantastically beautiful and tall; - You are a graduate of prestigious university, or you have a natural talent to sell yourself. Reality: Most likely, you are in the other 98 % of candidates, to whom are not that easy to find a good job and need to work very hard to build up your career. But what to do, if on the previous job you havent learned what is required from you on your new one? Use your general academic knowledge - knowledge which can be used on any thousand jobs and solve any thousand problems. To list the major academic knowledges, and to demand on what steadily grows, we can do it for a long time. Lets review some of them and if you find that you good even in three-four of them, consider that your future saves.

1. Bookkeeping. People who are able to operate with finances, make necessary financial decisions, and analyze financial information are always valuable and can find a decent job.

2. Skill to supervise. People who are able to cooperate with subordinates, managers and other supervisors can give orders and instructions, listen closely, show respect and understanding, can safely apply to any middle management position.

3. Communication skill. People that are capable to harmoniously speak and write, will see that they will be welcome in many companies.

4. Properly manage time. People that can complete work in time, conquer stress, and be creative at work are highly appreciated. Companies are constantly looking for those kind of people.

5. Negotiation skills. People that are capable of objectively and tactfully resolving problems dont need extra advertising.

6. Speech skills. People that are capable to convince individuals or groups of the listeners, always ready to listen and sympathize, and clearly express thoughts not only are very important to a company, but also have excellent chances for promotion.

7. Writing skills. People that are capable to create a nice report, memorandum, letter in simple and accessible language are always in great demand.

8. Organizing abilities. People that are capable to precisely define a problem and offer multiple ways of its solving, and choose from them the best one, they are not easy to find and they have a big chance to get a job.

9. Negotiation skills. People that are capable of analyzing information and defining solutions are very important for any company. The ability to ask the right questions and critically examine the answers will make a good impression on any employer.

10. Teaching skills. People that are capable of getting data into somebodys heads develops interest and gently force other people to learn, are welcome in the majority of the companies.

Ability works with people and skills above all. If you like to communicate, help others, and work in teams, the opportunity to find a good job is wide open to you.

To learn more how to be successful and build your career visit http://www.welcome-to-self-improvement.com/blog/

Willie Krut is the core provider of a selection of self help products that truly help people to improve their life, health and career. Subscribe to the free Willie’s Newsletter, visit the http://www.welcome-to-self-improvement.com site.

Tags: Business, career, employment, job, knowledge, market, Profession, success
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Online Resume Not Generating Any Calls?

Posted on August 31st, 2008

Want to get your online resum noticed and have employers picking up the phone and calling you? Then forget how pretty your resum is. What really matters is how your resum scores on a search. Most resums today go straight to a computer tracking system that saves online resums in the company database allowing for later searches. A computer will score your resum by the number of keywords or buzzwords that the employer will find most relevant to their needs. If you don’t account for this, you’ll just sit waiting by the phone for the call that never comes.

Keywords, Keywords, and More Keywords

The magic is in the keywords and how and where you can use them. Focus on the keywords most likely to be used by a human resources person or recruiter doing the resum search for a particular job requirement. The greater the number of relevant keywords, the higher relevancy score your online resum will receive.

Let’s look at the four major keyword areas you need to account for in an online resum that will get an employer to pick up the phone and call you:

1. Keywords Competencies:

A.) List this section at the beginning of your resum to introduce your skill sets from an interviewing standpoint.

B.) Include no more than 75 keywords. List as many relevant, searchable keywords that describe your potential job title, technical skills, management or organizational skills, relevant software and/or mechanical abilities and expertise as you can. Include anything that might be important to the particular job.

For example, if you were a Java Programmer, your Keyword Competencies section might look like this:

Java, Visual C , perl, ticl, application development, visual basic, Windows NT/XP, programming, GUI, html, project management, layer 2, BSEE, etc.

2. Job Description: Include every title that may pertain to your duties and function. For example, if your official title is Member of Technical Staff, other companies may call that a Software Engineer, Software Developer, or even a Programmer. Take this into account when you write your resum for online use. The computer doesn’t care as long as you have all your bases covered for whatever human-based search may arise.

3. Objective: Once again, keep it limited to specific keywords when you identify your present and/or aspiring job title with an added major skill or function (such as project management, mergers and acquisitions, electronic design, product verification, quality control, etc).

4. Past Experience: Many searches are performed in the interest of finding people who have worked for or with certain companies. This can mean not only working as an employee, but also having worked with their products or with them as a client or vendor. Be sure to list all the major companies with whom you have had connection. This includes experience with their tools or products or your roles as either a vendor or a customer.

Summary

The bottom line is not how pretty your resum looks. The most important element is to cover all the possible keywords that an employer will be searching for. There’s potential gold in your background and you want to make certain that it is brought to the surface. Keywords are truly powerful for this.

Joe Turner, the Job Search Guy, makes it easy to quickly land that next job. Click here for your Free 6-part Recruiter Secrets Minicourse.

Tags: job search
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How You Can Find Freelance Writing Employment

Posted on August 29th, 2008

How can you find writing jobs? Do you have proven skills that can propel you in the right direction? If so, then why are you looking for fresh vacancies? The best tool to those who have employment histories is to look to the companies that you have already worked for. There, they can help provide you with more work, or point you in the right direction.

There are many careers in which you need a good education to do well. This one is no different. Employment, freelance or with a company, is available to those who have a proven track record. For those that do not, though, they will have to prove themselves in other ways. It may be necessary to take on a proofreading career in order to get your foot in the freelance door. Or, you may find that editing is not helping you and therefore look for opportunities in other related fields. If you want to be a published author, you may have to start by doing copy for websites first. You must build your experience, then you will have the opportunities that you didnt have before.

Vacancies in this field are rarely easy to get. You may be able to write an article or two that gets published, but it is not easy to get regular writing employment. You will need to establish yourself first. With a solid education and a solid set of experienced references, you will find it easier to find the jobs that you have been looking for. Without this though, you will have to take whatever openings are available until you find your way past that sealed door. However, as soon as you crack it you are likely to find a range of suitable jobs. Then, all the lowly work will be well worth it.

Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Freelance Proofreading Jobs.

Copyright FreelanceWritingResource.com. All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact.

Tags: copywriting, freelance, home business, jobs, work at home, writing
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Weird Jobs Ten More

Posted on August 28th, 2008

I know about weird jobs, having been a skip-tracer (one who tracks people down - in this case to serve subpoenas), a repo man, and a newspaper ad-inserter. I have even had a few unusual business endeavors, including selling stuffed animals in jars (Canned Critters - they never did catch on), and earrings made form fish scales (those did better). Here are some weird ways to make money that I haven’t tried - and hopefully never will.

Elephant Tender

This job involves taking care of the elephants for a circus or zoo. Mostly that means a whole lot of shoveling of large piles of - well, you get the point. Apart from being a dirty job, it can be dangerous too.

Political Writing Business

Did you think politicians write their own pamphlets and other campaign materials? Come on - they hardly think their own thoughts. One writer says she charged $25 to $35 per hour for writing for politicians.

Hot Walker

A hot walker is the person that walks the racehorses around after a race. This is important, because if a horse doesn’t cool down before returning to the stall, the overheating can cause kidney damage.

Weird Restoration Business

Old merry-go-rounds need to be restored if they are not thrown away. Someone has to do it, and undoubtedly gets paid fairly for this specialized field.

Translator Of Technical Manuals

What do you do when you want to translate that technical manual or users guide for the VCR from Japanese to English? Call someone who does this work. Tedious, but the pay is okay.

Bird Poop Jewelry

No, I’m not making this up. There really was (is?) a man who had a business selling bird-poop jewelry. He encased the various types in acrylic, and made them into pendants and earrings.

An Awful And Weird Job

I recently read about a woman who worked as an assembler of hypodermic needles. Her job was to attach the needles to the syringes. She was paid by the piece, and made less than $6 one shift, due to all the time spent tending to her wounds.

Maybe you don’t want to ever be a sumo-wrestler’s assistant, or for that matter a proctologist, or have any of the weird jobs listed here. But they are fun to read about.

Copyright Steve Gillman. To learn more unusual ways to make and save money, and to get free e-courses and e-books, visit his website: Unusual Ways To Make Money http://www.UnusualWaysToMakeMoney.com

Tags: Business, money, unusual, weird, weird jobs
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Hotel Job Descriptions

Posted on August 27th, 2008

In certain places where there is a high volume of visitors, especially tourist destinations like Cancun, Mexico, it can be expected that a large number of hotels and other forms of accommodations are located there. A person who wishes to work in the hotel industry would do well to start in these places, as the hotels can give them the best training and experience in the industry. Before a person starts applying, however, he must first know what to expect with regard to the job descriptions of different hotel personnel so that he is properly guided in his application.

General job description

Among all hotel personnel, a general job description is to ensure that rooms are comfortable, good food is served and excellent service is provided to guests. These are some of the most important aspects of the hotel industry. Specific job titles come with specific responsibilities; this is especially true among managers.

Specific job descriptions

Lodging managers are responsible for making sure that the guests in the hotel have a pleasant stay by providing them with the comforts of home, which include cable TV, voice mail, fitness equipment, and other services such as spa facilities. For business travelers, these managers make sure that a businessman is provided with the right communications equipment and other facilities such as conference rooms.

General managers of hotels have an overall responsibility for the operations of the whole hotel. Some of the tasks include setting hotel rates, allocating budgets for each department, approving expenditures, and ensuring that the standards of service of the hotel are maintained. In addition to this, general managers may also be asked to reorganize the staff of a newly built or purchased hotel. For bigger establishments, hotels also hire resident managers, who are tasked to help the general manager in the execution of his duties. Most of the time, at least one hotel manager is on call 24 hours a day to resolve any problems or emergencies that may occur during the day.

Being a manager in a hotel carries a lot of responsibilities, which is why people who want to enter the hotel industry as manager should be aware of the job descriptions of the different types of managers in a hotel. Having this knowledge can help them prepare for the responsibilities ahead so they can become effective managers.

Job Descriptions provides detailed information on job descriptions, accounting job descriptions, free resume-writing tips, how to write a resume and more. Job Descriptions is affiliated with Executive Job Search.

Tags: accounting job descriptions, free resume-writing tips, how to write a resume, job descriptions
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