Ignore This Common and Awful Career Advice

Ignore This Common and Awful Career AdviceIgnore This Common and Awful Career AdviceNot all career advice is created equal. In fact, some can actually hurt a job search or career. Here are seven pieces of terrible career advice that you should ignore1. Going to grad school will make you more marketable. Grad school will make you more marketable if youre in a field that requires or rewards graduate degrees, but if youre in one of the many fields that doesnt, employers may find the degree irrelevant.Whats worse is that grad school can even make it harder for you to get hired in many cases, since if youre applying to jobs that dont require the degree, employers may think that their work isnt what you really want to do.2. Treat your job search like a full-time job if you want to be successful. The amount of time a job search takes varies dramatically from field to field and from person to person. If youre junior in your career and applying to a wide range of positions, its possible t hat writing titel letters, tailoring your rsum and networking could take up a significant portion of your time (although it still might not reach 40 hours a week, and thats fine).However, if youre more senior or simply in a field without a lot of openings, youre probably not going to need to spend (or be able to spend) 40 hours a week on your search. And besides, for fruchtwein people, when it comes to applying to jobs, quality matters far more than quantity.3. It no longer matters how long yourrsumis. Its true that the old one-pagersumrule has relaxed for everyone but very recent graduates, butrsumlength still matters.Rsums that are three pagesorlongerend up diluting the impact of their contents and will make you come across as someone who cant edit and doesnt understand what information matters most.Plus, the strongest candidates limit theirrsums to two pages, so when an experienced hiring manager sees a longrsum, theyre instantly primed to expect a weaker candidate.4. Offer to wo rk for a week for free to prove yourself to an employer. In most cases, this is illegal, because it violates minimum wage laws. With a few limited exceptions (like some nonprofits and government agencies), employers are required to pay people who work for them. But even if it werent illegal, most employers wouldnt sign on for this anyway, because it takes an enormous amount of time to train new hires. The first week is nearly always a loss for the employer.5. If an interviewer asks about your weaknesses, answer with something positive. If youve picked up any guide to job searching in the past decade, youve probably seen the advice to claim that your biggest weakness is that you work too hard or youre a perfectionist. But so have most interviewers, and at this point, those answers sound clich and disingenuous. Whats more, they make you sound like you either dont have much self-awareness or youre unwilling to have an honest discussion about your fit for the role youre applying for.Goo d interviewers dont want to talk about weaknesses so they can play gotcha, but because they want to make sure they wont put in a job where youll struggle.6. Following up with an employer after you apply for a job shows persistence and enthusiasm. This advice is still a staple of many career centers, but these days, persistent follow-up mostly shows you dont respect hiring managers time and that youre not clear on how the hiring process works. After all, the employer knows that youre interested your application demonstrated that. Now the ball is in their court to decide whether theyre interested in speaking further with you or not. Most employers arent interested in fielding follow-up calls at this stage.7. Track down the hiring managers name so that you can address your cover letter to the right person. This is unnecessary, and most hiring managers dont even notice whether you did or not and far fewer care. If the hiring managers name is easily available, of course its fine to go a head and use it. But you dont need to call to track it down or do other detective work to find it. Hiring managers care about the content of your application, not whether you spent 20 minutes trying to find out their names.Alison Greenwrites the popularAsk a Manager blog, where she dispenses advice on career, job search and management issues. Shes the author of How to Get a Job Secrets of a Hiring Manager, co-author of Managing to Change the World The Nonprofit Managers Guide to Getting Results and the former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization, where she oversaw day-to-day staff management.

Should You Hire a Career Coach

Should You Hire a Career CoachShould You Hire a Career CoachInvest in a career coach to propel your career forward. In the cutthroat job market, its important that prof essionals find their competitive edge. Sometimes an outside opinion can guide you in times of uncertainty or moments for motivation.A career coach can work directly with a job seeker, handling everything from resume consulting to job interview training. If you choose the right coach, not only will you land a great job, but youll ensure its the right fit, giving you the long-term success you need. Here are some things a career coach can do for you.Expert Career AdviceBefore you launch your next job search, you should make sure youre going in the right direction. A career coach first acts as an advisor, determining your skillset and long-term goals. Once ansicht components have been established, a career coach will help you come up with a strategy to help achieve your goals.A career coach can also recommend courses of a ction you never even thought of. An experts advice could lead you to pursue a position that may match your long-term goals in a better angle.Resume ReviewAlthough career coaches wont write your resume for you, theyll review your existing one and provide technical tips on how to improve it. They can also review your LinkedIn profile and check to see if you are hitting the right notes.These professionals are equipped with a multitude of far-reaching connections and will introduce you to the right ones. These newly formed alliances will thus help improve your chances of achieving your dream career.Networking TipsOne of the best ways to gain an edge over the competition is to directly connect with hiring managers and business leaders. Candidates who are seeking these connections will often search through social networks with limited success.On the other hand, a career coach can introduce you to a variety of networking opportunities that can help you get ahead, such as local events and m eetings. Youll also learn invaluable ways to use existing connections to get an introduction to the people who can help you in your job search. Your coach may even know recruiters and professionals who are looking for someone with your very skill-set.Job Interview TrainingPreparing for a job interview can be a stressful experience, especially if you do not know how to answer difficult questions like, What are your salary expectations ?.A career coach can roleplay with you and help formulate responses to match your personal branding. Youll also have a very clear outline of your career path, so you will naturally be able to formulate better answers to questions such as, Tell me a little bit about yourself ?Advancement OpportunitiesCareer advice isnt limited to the job search process, either. Even after youve landed a great job, you can benefit from advice on everything from dealing with office politics to asking for a raise.If you find the right coach, consider keeping that person o n speed dial. You may find that the advice you receive from your advisor as versatile and well-rounded.***The job market is competitive, but professionals can leise find the perfect job. By working with a career coach, job seekers can set themselves in the right direction, landing a job that will do far more rewarding than just pay the bills.

3 Real Estate Tips That Will Get You Hired

3 Real Estate Tips That Will Get You Hired3 Tips to Get You Hired3 Real Estate Tips That Will Get You HiredGetting a job is a lot like selling your house. You have to make a powerful first impression (curb appeal), you have to give off a fairly normal vibe (hide the weird stuff), and you have to make sure the employers knows theres something special about you (the wow factor). But in the end, it may just be gut instinct that matters most.1) Curb AppealPeople will make a snap decision about you at first glance. Appealing? Or not? So, only beautiful people can get jobs, right? Wrong Take a moment to picture your employed friends, family, and coworkers. Not a universally good-looking bunch, are they? Good curb appeal for a job candidate simply means arriving on time looking clean, well-dressed, and prepared.2) Hide the Weird Stuff For every potential house buyer who loves metallic 70s wallpaper or a room-sized collection of turtle figurines, 100 will be turned off by it. True, people sh ould just overlook the weird-but-irrelevant stuff. But we dont live in pretty, pretty Perfectland. Hiring managers are more likely to fixate on the weird stuff and ignore your credentials. In both real estate and job hunting, youre trying to appeal to the greatest number of people to maximize your chances. If you want to get hired, neutralize the weird.3) The Wow FactorFigure out what is it about you thats truly unique and valuable to the employer, then make sure you get that message across. Maybe youre already a Windows 7 whiz and can help train the staff when they upgrade. Maybe you have a true knack for calming down irate customers, or you can spot typos from across the room. Try to find that factor that will make them go, Wow and communicate it clearly in your resume, cover letter, and interview. Make it the icing on the cake.In the end, hiring decisions, like house-buying decisions, usually come down to a gut feeling. With houses, we ask ourselves, Can I see myself living here? Likewise, hiring managers ask themselves, Can I see myself (and my team) working with this person effectively? They have to feel comfortable that you can do the job and mesh with the companys work culture. The way you stage yourself is a big part of how they answer that question.What other house-hunting and job-hunting parallels can you think of? Leave a comment below.

8 Job Interviews That Went Completely Wrong

8 Job Interviews That Went Completely Wrong8 Job Interviews That Went Completely Wrong8 Stories of Job Interviews Gone WrongMistakes can be valuable life lessons, and its entirely possible to learn from mistakes that arent necessarily your own.Sometimes people ace their interview and sometimes they mess up so badly that it needs to be shared on the Internet. We searched the front page of the Internet, Reddit, and found eight of the best job interview gone wrong stories from all types of hiring managers, in the hopes that youll benefit from the bad interview signs and snafus.Parental GuidanceWe all lean on our parents for support, but please dont bring parental plus-ones to your job interviews. For parents, we know it can be hard sometimes elend to lend an overly helping hand and maintain appropriate boundaries, which is why weve written the definitive guide on how not to snowplow your childrens interviews.At my old job, a dude came in for an interview and he brought his mom with him to meet the people he welches interviewing with. He said he didnt have a car, so his mom had to give him a ride, which is understandable. But none of us could figure out why he would bring her into the interview room with him. /u/ServerGeekBig mistakeSometimes, mistakes happen. In this case, both the interviewer and the candidate were happy to cut things short when it welches clear their chat welchesnt going to plan.Interviewed a candidate that was sent to me by a headhunter. It became pretty obvious within about 2 minutes of asking questions that she had pretty much no experience, education, or qualification for the job role.For interviews, I predefine a series of questions with a scorecard, so that I can objectively compare each candidate, and have documentation in case my selections were ever questioned.In this case, after about 5 minutes, I stopped the interview, as we had already gone through half of the questions with her receiving the lowest possible score and said that I th ink she might have been sent to the wrong interview.She agreed and said she knew she was in trouble as soon as I had finished describing the role at the beginning of the interview, but didnt know what to do. She was actually very happy that I had stopped the interview rather than pushing on through the whole thing.We wished each other well and I sent her on her way. I later confirmed that the headhunter indeed did screw up and sent her to the wrong interview. /u/Lokabf3Getting sickIts smart to skip a face-to-face conversation if you are feeling sick. Any company where you would want to work should be understanding that illness happens, and a serious sickness is a valid excuse for asking to reschedule. Our guide to canceling a job interview will help ensure you dont burn your candidacy, too.I interviewed a woman for an IT position. A few minutes in she started rubbing one of her eyes. Within a few minutes, it was all red and started to swell.She kept rubbing at it and rubbing at it.B y the end of the interview, she couldnt see out of the eye at all and a huge whitehead had formed on her eyelid, but the whole time she never acknowledged the problem even though I asked if she was ok.When the interview wrapped up she tried to shake my hand with the same hand she had been rubbing all over her disease infested eyeball from hell.I politely declined. She didnt get the job.u/tizodFamily affairIf you are lucky enough to have a relative or personal connection at the company where youre interviewing, amazing Youve got a leg up but nepotism is not a guarantee for any position or role. You still have to do your homework and come prepared to knock the hiring managers socks off. Was hiring for a data-entry position. Candidate was the man-child son of one of our executives, but had a resume that consisted entirely of bartending jobs. While the position was entry-level and no extensive experience was necessary, the fact that he answered every single one of my questions with som e variation of I just think Id really like this job and Im ready for something other than working in bars in New Orleans did not bode well for him. At no point did he ever ask about what the position entailed or anything else that might have been important for him to know. I suppose he assumed he was a shoe-in because of his dad. He was incorrect. u/Louisville327Dress upHiring managers and interviewers are human too, and sometimes they get caught in unexpected situations just like anyone else. Try and keep your cool, even if something seems amiss.My boss asked me to interview somebody on Halloween. I said, Im dressed like a ninja cant we do this any other day? Was told, Nope, do it now.So I did. Poor nervous dude kept twitching like he thought I was going to hurl a shuriken at him. But he had nothing resembling the qualifications for the job. u/d00d1234The multitaskerJob interviews are a formal setting, not a casual chat with a friend. Eating, drinking, and putting on makeup while t alking about yourself in an interview setting are not appropriate ways to demonstrate your ability to juggle multiple responsibilities.Not a recruiter, but I am a restaurant manager. We were opening a new location and doing interviews. Woman comes in for a management position. During the interview, she reaches into her purse and pulls out a bag from Wendys and starts eating. The other manager tells her to put it away and she tells him it is okay, she can multitask. u/KarapanDont overshareTo the point that job interviews are formal and professional settings Illegal behavior of any kind, or alluding to illegal behavior of any kind, at a job interview can destroy an amazing first impression. This is the story of how one man ruined his chances of employment by asking the wrong question when the hiring manager asked, Do you have any questions?.I was hiring for a sales position at my company. The guy I was interviewing was going great and he was really good and knew his stuff. I mentally had a plan to call him the next day to offer him a job. As standard procedure, the last question I ask is Did you have any questions? to gain insight and also to obviously answer questions. The guy says If I offer you a block of hash, will that give me a foot in the door? The company has a strict no-tolerance drug policy, so I said no thanks and tossed his resume and interview. u/mrsheikhExtra helpWe know that the Do you have any questions for us? prompt can be one of the most difficult things to tackle in any job interview. Preparing a few questions in advance is unquestionably helpful, but we recommend acting in discretion or memorizing your questions prior to your meeting, rather than what this interviewer did. If you struggle with the right questions to ask when you get this prompt in interviews, coaches can help.Not an HR Recruiter but done some interviewing. Best one was when we got to the have you got any questions for us portion, candidate said oh yeah then pulled out a book called answering interview questions for dummies, leafed through and went ooo, heres a good one and asked that. Cant even remember what question candidate asked u/VanillaVelvetYou cant guarantee everything in life will go right 100% of the time, but you can take all the steps necessary to put your best foot forward in every interview. Our sister site, TopInterview, gives you access to professional coaches who will help you upgrade your interview game.Editors Note This article was originally published on our sister site, TopInterview.Recommended ReadingCant Get a Job Interview? How to Improve Your Resumes Success Rate6 Ways to Stay Calm During a Stress Interview With a Hostile InterviewerDid the Job Search Leave You Discouraged This Year? Weve Got You CoveredRelated Articles

Get Healthier to Improve Your Job Search

Get Healthier to Improve Your Job SearchGet Healthier to Improve Your Job Search3If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. When youre unhealthy- say youre eating poorly or not exercising enough- your stress levels increase.That stress can subsequently lead to you not getting the sleep you need to stay sharp and can affect your job search negatively, especially when youre trying to write a knock-em-dead cover letter or submit a complicated job application online. So, to improve your job search, it is important to focus on your health.A few years ago, Working Mother magazine featured a slideshow filled with seven health books to help jump-start the new year. Each book features a different health issue that you might be facing, and the book that can help you cure it. By focusing on your particular health needs and wishes, you can focus on getting healthier and receive the excellent benefit of improving your job search.For example, if you have a slight addiction to sugar (and frankl y, who doesnt?), The 21-Day Sugar Detox by Diane Sanfilippo can help you retrain your brain into ditching your unhealthy habits and swapping in some healthier alternatives. This book helps you to balance your bodys sugar levels and lose weight at the same time.If youre feeling overwhelmed and like youre always about to catch a cold, then you should read The Immune System Recovery Plan. Written by Susan Blum, MD, the book offers a four-step program to viewing foods as medicine and curing the issues that ail you through eating better. It also offers fitness tips to keep you in tip-top shape. Being in good physical shape is an excellent way to improve your job search.Being healthy mentally and physically will keep you primed and ready to improve your job search in 2014. By investing in yourself physically, youll ensure that youll be in the best overall shape possible when youre finally offered the job youve been waiting for.

Who Else Wants to Learn About Resume Skill List?

Who Else Wants to Learn About Resume Skill List? Review their About Us page and see whether your soft abilities or attributes are aligned with the organizations core values. Using resume skills examples isnt an uncommon thing. There are three kinds of resumes, each with its own benefits and pitfalls. Dependent on the recommendation of our expert sources, here are a number of broad sorts of skills your resume could include, together with unique approaches to express them. The Foolproof Resume Skill List Strategy Write resume skills with precision and make expert CV. Take a look at the free Ultimate Guide to the excellent Resume for everything you must know, including templates Things You Should Know About Resume Skill List Soft skills are a little more vague and open to interpretation. In addition to the practical demand for developers in just about any company, programming skills demonstrate advanced harte nuss solving skills that may give rise to a well-rounded profession al. It is possible to find below a list of the greatest skills you may put on your resume based on the sort of job that you are applying for. Then make a list of your matching skills that it is possible to incorporate in your resume. There are some diverse varieties of skill sections and formatting alternatives that you need to think about when crafting your resume. Your skills section stipulates a window into how much capability you may bring to the corporation. Typically do not produce precisely what youd love in job. You might need to generate your resume highly pertinent to just about every single job. Your work is definitely to learn just what needs youre still. It is always to learn exactly what needs there are. Also, you will likely wish to prevent any jobs that need you to devote a whole lot of time using your burn out skills. Wherever you choose to place your skills on your resume, be certain to tailor your list of skills to the specific job. Hard skills are qua ntifiable and frequently learned from school or at work. Thus when writing down your job skills take some time to strategize and find out the very best approach to organize them in your resume. Resume Skill List at a Glance Soft abilities, on the flip side, arent simple to quantify. Key skills are work-related skills that you want to do a job. 3 First, you must select the best skills for your resume. Professional skills are extremely important additionally to include on your resume. What to Expect From Resume Skill List? Instead, you ought to showcase your soft skills by producing an achievement-oriented expert experience section. Dont forget you want to promote yourself, your practical experience and another participation you must supply you the organization. If you would like to display your organization skills, obtaining a tightly structured resume certainly helps. Functional resumes are excellent for highlighting transferable skills which are applicable to your new f ield of work. Since many job seekers may list skills in a different section of their resume, additionally, it is important to weave them into descriptions under every one of your prior positions. Job hunting might be extremely tough and resume producing is among the activities that must get done when on the watch for employment. Your skills are an overview of what you could do for the prospective employer if you were offered the work at this time. Qualifications might incorporate any certifications you have. Every work applicant knows the way to compose a resume. Listing your skills provides a chance to showcase your abilities and experiences to prime employers for the remainder of your resume.

Putting together your showreel

Putting together your showreel Putting together your showreelPosted October 13, 2011, by Darryn King For jobs in digital media and the visual realm, like film, television, animation and games development, you will probably be asked to submit a showreel as part of your application. Your resume can be bursting with impressive qualifications and work experience, but its your showreel that will really make you stand out from the crowd. Compiling a showcase of your work can be a little tricky so heres some advice on putting it together. Sell yourself If youre interested in working in the multimedia industry, you probably already know that people dont have unlimited attention spans and this applies to potential employers. You need to keep the length of your showreel to about two minutes. Theres no time for mucking around. You need to hit them with your best shot. Work out what your strengths are and flaunt them shamelessly, while also showing your range and adaptability. Use the web to sell your work These days, putting your showreel up on YouTube is a bare necessity but if you really want to get noticed in the industry, youll need your own website. A website provides the perfect space to host your showreel. The web also allows potential employers to view your work without blocking up their schmelzglas or messing around with DVDs, which can be misplaced or broken and generally require a more effort on the part of the potential employer. If youre going to set up your own website, remember that you will seem infinitely more professional with your own domain name. Should someone enter your name in a search engine, your site ought to be the first result. Just make sure that your presence on the web doesnt do more harm than good. Mediocre design and bad HTML will obviously reflect badly on you as a visual artist. If you havent got the know-how, find a professional who can help you make the most of this important schlussverkauf medium. You can also have your work feat ured for a fee on a creative network like Showreelfinder. At Showreelfinder, in fact, you can not only upload your showreel, but upload other short clips and samples of your work too. Check out these showreels that are already uploaded on YouTube LOBO Chris Burns TVC Keep a record In this hectic, mile-a-minute world, its often difficult to take the time to stop and reflect. In this industry, though, youll benefit from keeping a record of your past works in an organised system, so that you can revisit or reproduce them at the drop of a hat. This will make compiling your showreel much easier therell be no scrounging around the hidden recesses of your hard drive. Its also best to keep your showreel as up to date as possible, to show you and your skills at their absolute best. Work on your pacing and structure No matter how great your individual clips are, you cant just mash them together in any old way if you want to get into a visually oriented industry. How you choose to present t he clips will be as important as the clips themselves. There is no definitive way to structure a showreel, but there are a couple of different approaches you should think about. One is the fast-paced montage that flits rapidly between short snippets of all your best work another approach is to feature one project at a time at a more leisurely pace. In either case, youd do well to stick your most impressive image at the end to imprint itself on the mind of the viewer. You can also use the brde 10 seconds or so to give your name, website and contact details. If your chosen industry is games development or animation, you might also consider including some sequences that demonstrate your work process for example, progressive shots of building a character from scratch. It might be obvious, but keep it short and snappy. Try not to be too much longer than two minutes. A tight, well-edited showreel will keep boredom at bay, and is also the best way to show your versatility and range. Use an appropriate soundtrack Many of us feel strongly, even positively evangelical, about particular bands. But that doesnt mean that their music will be suitable as the soundtrack for your showreel. Dont risk alienating your viewer. Find a piece of music that suits the pace and tone of the visuals without stealing the show unless of course the music is the show. Get your showreel out there. You may have put together the most amazing showreel in the history of the universe but if no one sees it, its not going to get you that next great gig. When it comes to finding contacts at different companies, you could send a cold email (with no prior contact) with a link to your work, or your work attached. It is, however, usually better to give someone a heads-up. Even speaking to a receptionist or assistant will help. When it comes to the film and television industry, dont forget that it is almost entirely populated by people who are run off their feet. Put your showreel on CD or DVD While havi ng your work up on a website is important, some clients may ask you to send them your work on disc so youll need to have some copies on DVD handy. There are a few steps you can take to ensure that the product is impressive and professional. Whatever you do, dont be tempted to bang out a disc with your name scrawled over it in permanent marker, and a torn piece of paper as the cover. Take some time and effort on presentation, using a proper DVD label maker and a sturdy jewel case. It needs to look professional, even if that means you have to get it done by a company specialising in disk production and presentation. If youre sending a CD or DVD to a potential employer, make sure it is both PC and Mac compatible, and does not rely on fidgety plug-ins like Flash and dont expect to get it back. ResourcesMy first resumeCover letter for my first jobCareer Insider StoriesShelley Lask - Body Positive Health & FitnessInterested in becoming a?Human Resources OfficerGeneral ManagerBusiness Ma nagerAccountantOffice AdministratorPopular Career Searchesinexperienced veterinary assistant cover lettersit cover letters samplesgood resignation lettersgroup interview tipsskills to put on a resume for hospitality CoursesBachelor of Social WorkEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Health AdministrationEnquire Online Enquire OnlineBachelor of Criminal JusticeEnquire Online Enquire OnlineCertificate III in Allied Health AssistanceEnquire Online Enquire OnlineDarryn KingRelated ArticlesBrowse moreCareer counsellorHigh school5 Things I Wish Id Known When I Finished High SchoolThey say hindsight is 20/20. Jo reflects on some career pointers she wishes shed been able to give her 18-year-old self.Career progressionPop cultureSweet success 5 career lessons from Candy CrushWe can often find life advice in the most unconventional of places. Vivien goes digging around the jaw-breaking gaming phenomenon, Candy Crush, to find some hidden career lesson gems (hard rock candied gems, to be precise).CAREER ADVICEJob hunting tipsHow to Find the Right RecruiterGoing on a job-hunting journey using a recruiter can hopefully find you a job quicker, reducing the ups and downs of the job search process... but how do you find the right recruiter? We reveal all