Five Questions To Ask Yourself While On The Job Hunt

Joel Garfinkle put out a blog post not to long ago that puts some poignant questions to those that that are looking to change careers and go after their dream job.  While the article is geared towards those that are looking to find greater purpose in their lives through their work, the questions can still apply to those just looking for a job.  With over 300,000 people giving up finding a job last month alone, we need some guideposts to help us keep in the game and keep moving towards the goal of gainful employment.  Below I have kept the five questions he asked and tailored the adjoining thoughts to fit anyone looking for a job.  You can follow the link on career change to see the original article. 1. Can you invest hours of your free time in learning something new?  If you are looking for a job, you may need to extend yourself beyond just what you did in the past.  Be willing to try something new, even if you have to intern to gain new skills while you continue to look for a ... Read the rest of entry »

How To Get A Job With These Key Moves

There have been so many times that I have bought what was cheap only to have it break on me in a few months. I am a miser, and admittedly so. I want my dollar to stretch. But I have learned that the best way to make my dollar stretch is to buy for quality, and not price point. If I buy something for five dollars and it lasts me five years as opposed to something that is two dollar and lasts one year, I have made the smart move. It is more up front, but it is an investment. How to get a job by investing in your future: The same theory goes with job advancement. Sometimes you have to shell out money in order to make more money. Today we will talk about two scenarios that will cost you money but will pay off in the end. the first is a job interview and the second is a possible promotion. The Interview: You are getting ready to go in and go after that job that you applied for. You have done your homework and have read up on the company. You calmed your nerves and you have your resume polished. Y ... Read the rest of entry »

Three Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd In A Job Search

In this job economy, finding any job, let alone the right job, can be more than a challenge.  With possibly hundreds of people applying for one job, it can be tough to get noticed.  That is why you need a few tips and tricks to help you get noticed and stand out from the crowd. Let's face it, if all you are doing is going online and submitting your resume to prospective employers, you are in for a rude awakening.  Millions of other people are already doing that.  So what you need is a unique approach that helps you to stand out from the crowd. Here are a few things you can do to point a big neon sign right at you so that you will be at the head of the line for the job that you want: The right resume.  The traditional resume is on the way out.  Just listing your employers, the dates you worked there, and your responsibilities are not enough.  The best thing you can do for yourself is to make your resume a brief timeline of the past accomplishments and projects yo ... Read the rest of entry »

The Easiest Way To Increase Work Productivity

and it is also the hardest way, by the way Stress, we all deal with it in one form or another.  And to be sure, stress can be a real killer if it is prolonged and sustained.  But there is one kind of stress that is especially debilitating for the mind: financial stress.  Over 21% of American employees reported “high” or “overwhelming” levels of financial stress in a recent poll.  Twenty-one percent. Psychologists say that when that level of stress is reached productivity goes way down.  And when productivity goes down, the loss of a job due to poor performance goes way up.  Thus causing more stress about finances.  And the effects do not stop there.  For many people they turn to other things to medicate their pain.  They will use things like food, cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs to try and drown out the stress.  And this will further lead to productivity loss on the job. So the easiest way to avoid the productivity loss is to decrease your stress of fin ... Read the rest of entry »

How To Survive A Group Interview

In this job market there are hundreds of applicants for one job opening in many cases.  More and more employers are opting to conduct group interviews in order to weed out the lesser qualified candidates.  So chances are you may find yourself in some type of group interview if you are in the fight for a while.  And if you are little shy and don't do well in group settings; this might be a little stressful for you. The good news is that group interviews are relatively easy to get through as long as you remember a few simple rules to follow. Here they are in no particular order: They are looking to see how you react and interact: Since a company's culture is created by the people it hires, they will be looking to see how you interact with the other prospects as well as their questions.  Take some time to mingle with the other prospects.  Get to know their names, make eye contact, and shake hands.  Remember to smile as you speak to them.  You want visible signals that yo ... Read the rest of entry »

How to Go After That Promotion in Three Steps

You are apart of a stable company and you want to move up.  You have a promotion in sight but getting noticed is a challenge.  How will they know you are the right pick?  This is the challenge of millions of Americans.  We all want to succeed, but many of us don't know how.  So below are three tried and true methods of getting noticed and getting that promotion.  Follow along and pretty soon you could be in an interview as one of the top picks. Show up to the Company Picnic Sounds kind of silly, I know.  But your bosses hold these things for a reason.  They want to see who is invested with the company.  And nothing says "commitment to the company" like putting in face time at company events. Of course, it does not have to be the annual picnic.  Any time the company has a social or corporate event, be there.  Make sure to interact with your co-workers.  And above all, interact with your superiors.  Just make sure that it is natural.  ... Read the rest of entry »

Three Tough Interview Questions and How To Ace Them

There is nothing worse than being faced with the generic boiler plate interview questions. They are so simple, and yet the make the strongest person break out in a sweat.  Why?  Because so much is riding on how we answer them.  After all, if we can fake a smile and keep our voice from cracking, we may just have a shot at being gainfully employed. The best way to ace these questions is to know them and practice your answer.  Any professional athlete will tell you that the reason why they can do anything effortlessly is because they practiced hard when no one was looking. So below are three of the most popular questions interviewers ask and how you can, with practice, give a polished answer. "Tell me a little about yourself?" I always wanted to start my answer with, "Well, I was born at a very early age…"  But the truth of the matter is that the person conducting the interview does not want to hear your complete life story. They are mainly concerned with a brief recap of your wor ... Read the rest of entry »