How to Calm Pre-Interview Jitters

If you are like most people, you get nervous before a job interview. Interviews can be very intimidating but with these helpful tips, you can conquer pre-interview anxiety!

The best way to get rid of nervousness is to be prepared. Practice interview questions with a friend or to yourself in the mirror. Hearing yourself speak aloud will help you form more confident answers when you’re in the real interview.
 

Get a good night of sleep. Rest will help your mind think clearly and rationally. Try a warm bath to relax, and then get in bed early.

The day of the interview, don’t spend more than hour researching or preparing, this will only heighten your nerves. Make sure you allow yourself enough time to look your best, this will help you feel more confident. Also, leave early and make sure you know how to get to your destination. Take deep breaths and don’t forget to smile!

How To Write A Cover Letter

Writing a cover letter might be the hardest part when it comes to applying for a new job. Here are tips to help you create a standout cover letter!

1. Begin your letter with which position you are applying for and the company’s name. Also, if you have a mutual contact or were referred by someone, include that person’s name in the first sentence.

2. If you can, try to tell a short story of how this position relates to your life. Summarize your career and your work experience in a couple sentences.

3. List your work-related achievements starting with your biggest accomplishments. Give examples of how your previous experience will help the company you are applying to.

4. End your cover letter by saying when and how you will get in touch.

5. One last tip—try to keep your cover letter to one page or less or about four short paragraphs!

How to Choose a Career That’s Best for You

Are you having trouble finding the right career for your skill set? It’s important to find a career that utilizes your talents and fits your lifestyle. Here are some questions to ask yourself that will help narrow your job search!

What are your natural talents?
When we use our natural talents, time moves fast and we tend to live up to our highest potential.

What’s your work style?
Each of us has a preferred work style. It is helpful to choose a career that will allow you to work in your preferred style. For example, a flexible work environment might allow you to deliver projects on various dates, while a structured environment would require specific deadlines and strict guidelines.

How social are you?
Would you rather deliver value behind the scenes or do you thrive on human interaction? Know your social needs so you can choose a career that matches them.

How To Stay Motivated

Everyone can fall into a mental rut from time to time, especially in during the winter months. Here are some tips on how to stay on task and accomplish your goals!

Stay positive – have an optimistic mindset and surround yourself with others who keep you on-task.

Have a goal – write down a goal and plan steps to how you will achieve that goal. Track your progress so you can see your hard work paying off!

Reward yourself – when you reach a big goal, treat yourself to something you enjoy! Be careful not to make rewards a habit though, otherwise it will hurt your self-motivation.

Focus – in order to accomplish anything, you need to get rid of distractions. Focus on your tasks to get them done faster. This will help motivate you to move on to the next goal!

4 Skills That Will Get You Hired In 2013

Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Complex Problem Solving
Identifying problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Judgment and Decision-Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to make decisions that will lead to success.

Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate and not interrupting.

How to Respond to “Tell me about yourself”

Often times, the most puzzling part of an interview is the broad icebreaker: “Tell me about yourself.” When employers say “tell me about yourself”, they really mean what can you do for this business. Prepare yourself before an interview using these helpful tips as guidance.

1. Make a list of your top qualities that apply to the position you are being interviewed for. Practice a dialogue in the mirror of what you will say about yourself during the interview.

2. Be confident. Don’t be afraid to talk about your accomplishments and traits that you are proud of. The interviewer wants to know why you make a better fit to the position than other candidates.

3. Begin with your most impressive accomplishments and try to relate them to how these experiences will help you in your future career.

Practice, practice, practice! And don’t forget to make eye contact!

New Year’s Resolutions

As 2012 is coming to a close, it’s time to begin thinking of your New Year’s Resolution. Whether you have many plans for 2013 or none at all, here are some ideas to think about.

Take things one-step at a time – Goals are much easier to accomplish if you take your time and do not rush them. You don’t have to

Think realistically – Pick resolutions that are long-term and something you can work at all year. Be careful not to set yourself up for failure by choosing a goal that is not manageable.

Remind yourself why you made this resolution – Write down your resolution and the reasons why you chose this goal. Put this somewhere you will see it often so you are reminded why it’s important.

Managing your reputation...online

In the age of the Internet, it’s important to understand how social media can affect the outcome of future job opportunities. Here’s some advice on how to build a brand for yourself and manage your online reputation.

1. You don’t control your own reputation – others do based on their values and the signals you send them.

2. Perception = reality. What others perceive is your reputation, whether you like it or not.

3. Trust is everything – the perceptions you create open some doors and close others. Make sure they’re the ones you intend.

4. Social media is forever – 79% of employers check applicants’ online/social networks and 70% say they rejected candidates based on what they found.

5. Nothing is private – information that is online can be viewed by anyone. Check your digital footprint by Googling yourself and see what you find.

6. Build your digital footprint – use social networks to build content that will cast you in a positive light.

Make Your Resume a Success

Your resume often serves as your first impression with potential employers. Be sure that you are sending the right message in a clear and concise way. Here are some tips for making a successful first impression with your resume:

Focus on originality – Highlight individual achievements on your resume instead of listing your day-to-day tasks at past jobs.

Get to the point – Writing in a short, concise manner. In today’s job market, a recruiter may file through hundreds of resumes for a single position. Write clearly so your achievements stand out when your resume is given a 10-second look over.

Be relevant – Keep the content of your resume to the last four years of background information. Your high school accomplishments are not going to impress a recruiter. Make sure you are aiming your resume at your target audience!

How to Prepare for a Job Interview

 

1. Get to know the employer.
It only takes 15-20 minutes to learn enough about the employer to be able to speak more intelligently about them than much of your competition.

-Use the employer’s website –at a minimum read “about us” section.

-Get familiar with their clients, work and general approach.

Make sure you can answer these questions: What does this organization do? What are they all about? What makes them different from their competition?

2. Learn the job description like it was your own.
The best way to use the job description to prepare is to go through it line by line. Think about how your experience and skills fit with each line. Write this down for each one, making sure to include examples from your past as supporting evidence that you’d excel at this job.

Now, picture yourself doing the job. What are the likely challenges? What ideas would you bring to the table? If you think through these questions now, you can weave those thoughts into the conversation at the interview.

3. Practice, and then practice some more.
Write down at least 10 interview questions that you’re likely to be asked and write out your answers to them. Cover these basics: Why are you thinking about leaving your current job? What interests you about this opening? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What experience do you have doing ___? (Fill in each of the major responsibilities of the job.)

Now, practice your answers out loud. Practice saying them out loud over and over and over, until your answers fly off your tongue automatically.

4. Come up with questions of your own.
Come up with several questions of your own, because at the end of the interview you’ll be asked what questions you have. Good questions at this stage are clarifying questions about the role itself and open-ended questions about the office culture. You’ll also want to ask about their next steps and their timeline for getting back to you.

Adapted from Alison Green via http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2011/02/07/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview

How To Be A Team Player

Too often people get comfortable at work by falling into a routine. Get to work, complete your share of tasks for the day and head home. Learn how to enhance your work environment by becoming a team player.

Help out – It’s easy to get in the habit of completing your list of duties for the day and considering your work done. Don’t hesitate to take on extra tasks for the week if you know you can handle it. Your extra effort won’t be forgotten the next time you need assistance.

Share – Contribute to your team by sharing your expertise. Show your new coworker the ropes. Compliment others on their work. Give credit where credit is due. Others will feel more comfortable sharing what they know in return.

Engage – Immerse yourself in your workplace. Get out of your comfort zone and start speaking up in meetings. Come prepared and don’t be afraid to pitch in a little extra effort.

Contribute to your office, without participation there is no team!

Things To Do Before You Graduate

If you’re approaching the end of your program, there are a few things to think about before you move on to life’s next chapter. Here’s 4 must-do’s before you graduate:

Get letters of recommendation – While you’re still a memorable face to your teachers, get a letter of recommendation so you will be prepared to start applying for jobs right after graduation. Although all of our instructors at Career Quest will continue to help you with your job search after graduation, we think its best to ask for recommendations while you’re still having regular interaction.

Get connected on LinkedIn – If you are not on LinkedIn yet, get signed up today. LinkedIn keeps you connected with professors, past employers or other professionals you may lose contact with when moving on to the career world. It’s important to stay in touch with these contacts for future references or possible job opportunities.

Clean-up and update your online image – It’s time to make sure you present yourself as a professional; this means both in person and online. With today’s competitive job market, every detail counts to set you apart from other job applicants. Many employers check social networking websites to screen candidates. Make sure your online image reflects the image you want your future employer to see.

Practice your interview skills – Interviews can be nerve-wracking, but a little practice goes a long way. Draft a list of questions a potential employer might ask in an interview and begin preparing answers to them. This will help to gather your thoughts and prepare you for any tricky questions that could catch you off-guard in an interview. Don’t memorize your answers too much though; you still want to be personable!

5 Reasons You Need to Be on LinkedIn Even When You Have a Job

1. You need to have a large network so you can use it later
Imagine you just got laid off. And you have 10 people in your LinkedIn network. You suddenly realize that you should have invested more in getting to know people. It's better to add connections while you're working with them and the same goes for asking for recommendations. So don’t wait until you need it. Build a strong network on LinkedIn now. Be active. Provide value. Stay in touch.

2. Opportunities come to you; recruiters look for passive candidates
When a company hires a contract recruiter to fill a job requisition, that company isn’t looking for someone unemployed.  There are enough unemployed people to fill every single job vacancy in the country. What the organization needs is someone who is not actively looking, called a passive candidate. Someone who is already employed by a competitor might be the perfect candidate.
If you aren’t on LinkedIn, you are reducing your chances of being discovered and having the opportunity to make more money.

3. Industry groups can offer you value and connection
If you find the right groups in which to participate, the value to your network — and the knowledge you'll gain — is huge. Not only will you be exposed to news, and new ideas, but you’ll have a chance to demonstrate your expertise through commenting and discussion.

4. Keep your resume up to date just in case
A resume is a static thing. You write it once when you are actively looking for work. You get your job. Then you forget about it. LinkedIn profiles tend to stay up to date with greater accuracy than any other online profile. Recruiters know this. They know that your profile will be more accurate than your five-year-old resume.


5. Read the news feed for your industry
LinkedIn delivers you customized news delivered daily. Based on your industry, the types of articles you share, and who is in your network, your daily news feed is likely going to inform you of things you should know about your job.

A version of this post was originally posted on Ladders.com by Joshua Waldman.

Why It’s Never “Just A Job”

It’s important to never approach any position as “just a job.” Even the smallest job could be stepping stone to something else.

Besides increasing your skill set, jobs are a fantastic way to build a network. Though your current job might not be in your desired career field, that doesn’t mean you can’t begin assembling contacts.

The people that you meet at work could help connect you to your dream position. Having a large network of people that believe in your abilities will make it a lot easier to take the first steps toward your future career.

Every supervisor that you impress could lead to a strong letter of recommendation. Having a reference list full of past employers that praise your skills will be valuable when you start your career search.



More at Monster Thinking.

Take Ownership of Your Career Path

Are you where you want to be? Here are 3 tips for taking control of your career path.


1. Have a destination in mind.

Know what type of work you want to be doing in a few years and where you’d like to be in five more years. Your goals will guide you along your decision making process as you take ownership of your career path.


2. Network with others along the way.
Now that you have a general idea of which direction you would like to go, it is time to meet some fellow travelers that are headed down that same path. It’s not just how much you know, it’s who you know. Go to conferences, industry events, or lectures. Shake hands and come back again. And again. You’ll slowly develop a group of professional contacts that you can start to grow closer with.


3. Provide value to your network.

Proper networking has a key word in it: work. Being a strong member of your own network requires work. It requires reaching out and follow up! The best networkers are those that meet people, learn about them, and let the other person talk. Then the networker helps that person in the network connect to another or simply provides some guidance on an issue. Just like you shouldn’t wait until you are laid off to update your resume, you shouldn’t build your network the moment you need it.

Job Interviews: The Wow Factor

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3 impressive qualities of job candidates and how to prove your have them:

1. Results – Have concrete examples of how you’ve delivered on a project. The more detail, the better.

2. Preparation – Have questions ready for the interviewer that demonstrate you’ve researched the company.

3. Passion – Don’t just give the answer you think they want to hear. Show that you have a true interest in their business.

How Many Resumes Do You Need?

To catch a recruiters eye and hold their attention, job-seekers need to tailor a resume to each position. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Create a Master Resume. To help you draft multiple resumes, start with one resume that will act as your master. This document should include all of the jobs you’ve had and everything you accomplished at those jobs. Once you’ve listed everything you can think of, you can look at your resume from different perspectives.

Tracking. Create an Excel spreadsheet to track all of your resumes. Spreadsheets allow you to record jobs you’ve applied for, record which resumes you sent, and track responses and interviews you have scheduled.

Tailored Objective Statement. Your resume objective should change with each job. You want to be specific and tell a potential employer exactly what you’re looking for and why they should hire you by explaining your long-term work goals.

Switch Up Your Skills. The skills section in your resume should cover everything in the job advertisement. If the company is looking for a self-starter and a team player, make sure those are both skills listed on your resume. Don’t misrepresent yourself or lie, but cover the elements that the company is looking for.


Read more here.

Be More Productive

Whether in your job or school, it’s important to get things done! Follow these simple steps to increase your personal productivity and job performance.

Jumpstart Your Career Change

Tips for jumpstarting a career change:

How to Start Off on the Right Foot at a New Job

Follow these tips to impress your new co-workers and boss.