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The Interview – Critical and Seldom Practiced
The Job Interview is critical – its importance cannot be underestimated. It can be the reason you are offered a job, or not. It is also something we don’t practice much, a combination that almost guarantees nervousness. Just thinking about going through with an interview can cause anxiety. However, there are ways you can prepare for it, find ways to control your nervousness, and be the best you can be. I want to be clear that everyone is nervous during an interview. If you weren’t, you would not be human. But if you are too nervous you will...
read moreTen Don’ts on Your Next Cover Letter
Approaching a cover letter can be a difficult task, especially if you’ve burnt yourself out writing a resume. However, it doesn’t have to be a lengthy, grueling process if you keep these pieces of advice in mind. Here are ten do nots for your next cover letter: Don’t rehash your entire resume. The point of the cover letter is to act as a supplement to your resume, not to repeat it. Focus on the most relevant skills for the position, and explain why you would be an excellent fit. Don’t be generic. It’s easy to write a one-size-fits-all cover...
read moreThe Value of a Cover Letter
So you’ve found a job you would really like to have. You prepare your resume, format it nicely, and send it off to the company. A month later, and you still haven’t heard from them. Any number of things could have happened, but one possibility is this: you didn’t include a cover letter, so they didn’t read your resume. Cover letters are becoming an increasingly neglected part of the application process, which is unfortunate because cover letters can very much advocate for you when applying for a job. In his article “Job hunting: The real...
read moreKnock, knock…Who’s there? Your cover letter!
Do I really need a cover letter? YES! It is the “knock on the door” before being invited in. Cover letters are an introduction to skills, expertise, and background that your resume cannot convey. A resume is focused on you; a cover letter is focused on the company. Your cover letter allows you to emphasize specific examples in your career that relate to the job you are applying for. When writing your cover letter, be brief. Most hiring managers will only glance at your cover letter. Who are you and why are you here? Have a strong...
read moreWhy Resume Aesthetic is Important
When putting together a resume, the thing that often gets neglected is the resume’s aesthetic. Why worry about margins, fonts, or colors when you have to recall every volunteer experience for the past five years? Nevertheless, resume aesthetic is a surprisingly important part of creating the document. You want the resume to list all of your relevant experiences, but the chances of your resume standing out (especially when applying for a publicly advertised job) decrease if your resume isn’t at least somewhat eye-catching. When we put together...
read moreTen Quick Resume Tips
Let’s be honest: creating a resume is hard, especially if it’s been awhile. You are challenged to fit all your employment history, qualifications, education, certifications, interests, hobbies, and personal information onto a one–to-two page document. Oh, and it needs to look nice. Scared yet? Yeah, me too. But take a deep breath, because it’s actually not all that bad. Here for you I have provided ten quick tips to help your next resume dress to impress! Make some lists. Before you even begin your resume, create bullet-pointed lists of your...
read moreFive Myths About Having a Career
One of the big phrases in the working world these days is “pursuing your career.” Rather than just having a “job,” employees are encouraged to pursue a career which they will have for the rest of their lives. Now, having a career is not a bad thing, but being convinced of one the myths surrounding having a career can be damaging, both to your work life and your emotional life. Here are five untrue tales we tell about having, searching for, or attaining a career: There is one perfect career waiting for you. It is the only thing you will ever...
read moreJobs in 100 Years?
About a year ago, I was asked what I thought the world would look like in 100 years. Truth be told, I can no longer remember the answer I gave, though I’m almost certain it involved flying cars and Star Trek-like teleporting pads. But the question has stayed in my mind ever since, and it is (in part) the topic today. A study posted on Build the Enterprise in 2013 (find it here) examined job distribution from 1910 compared to now. Private household service workers, farmers, and laborers have all decreased dramatically, while jobs as managers,...
read moreToday’s Job Search Process
Almost everyone will do a job search at some point in the career. The reasons to change jobs are many, ranging from dissatisfaction to the need for a new challenge to the desire to make more money. Whatever the reason, the process of looking for a job is very similar. Most people focus on advertised jobs, but unfortunately that accounts for only 20% of jobs that exist. Every advertised job is flooded with applications, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, so the odds are not in your favor. Today most jobs are found through working your...
read moreTen Quick Tips on Social Media Job Searching
Last time I wrote, we talked about how valuable social media platforms can be in the job search process. Today, I would like to give you some tips on how to actually employ social media forums in your job search. Don’t neglect your LinkedIn. Many people create a LinkedIn account with the best of intentions, only to forget about it a few weeks later. This is a mistake. Arduous as the task may seem, it is in your best interest to stay abreast of happenings on LinkedIn: update your photo, update your jobs, create more connections. LinkedIn is...
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