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Why You Shouldn't Conform Your Resume
Tweet Share on Facebook April 30, 2012 CommentA recent study by the job-matching agency TheLadders used an "eye tracking" method to follow recruiters' eyes as they reviewed resumes. Among the study's many conclusions, three stood out:
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How to Answer "Tell Me About Yourself" in a Job Interview
Tweet Share on Facebook April 30, 2012 Comment (15)"Tell me about yourself" is one of the most common openers to a job interview, yet job-seekers are often unsure what employers really want to hear in response. Should your answer include personal information? Should it focus on selling yourself, or just give the facts? What is the employer really asking?
Let's translate it: "Tell me about yourself" in a job interview means "give me an overview of who you are, professionally speaking." There's a reason this is asked at the very beginning of an interview; it's a way of saying, "Give me some broad background before we dive into specifics."
You should be ready with a one-minute answer that summarizes where you are in your career, generally with an emphasis on your most recent job and the strengths of your approach.
For instance, here's an example of a good response:
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7 Questions a High-Level Executive Should Ask on a Job Hunt
Tweet Share on Facebook April 26, 2012 Comment (1)If you're at the executive level at your company and looking for a new opportunity, searching job boards may not be your best bet. You have a very specific skill set and are at a higher pay grade, so the jobs you're best suited for might not be advertised publicly.
1. Should you work with a recruiter?
It's not necessary to work with a recruiter in your executive job search, but it may open the door to new opportunities. Many companies hand executive-level candidate searches over to an executive recruiting firm. Those suited for the job wouldn't hear about such opportunities when looking elsewhere.
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How Athletic Principles Help You Grow a Business
Tweet Share on Facebook April 26, 2012 Comment (1)What works on the field also works in the office. Entrepreneurs who think like athletes gain perspective, set bigger goals, and see more wins than those who fly solo.
If you've ever played sports, you're a natural entrepreneur. The skills cultivated on any playing field will continue to serve you professionally, well beyond competitive sports. Entrepreneurs can benefit from tapping into their experience, working with a team, applying lessons from a coach, working toward common goals, and utilizing a healthy competitive spirit.
Additionally, entrepreneurs can also learn from successful athletes and train, using these three principles of organized sports to achieve results at the next level:
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3 Ways to Boost Your Work Resilience
Tweet Share on Facebook April 26, 2012 Comment (2)Everyone has tough times—but some people seem to handle those times better than others. One co-worker might be a ball of anxiety, frustrated at every change. Another seems to figure out her next step easily and move on. What makes the difference? Resilience.
Resilience isn't the absence of stress, bad news, or difficult decisions. It's the ability to find new strength and bounce back—an essential skill for career success in today's topsy-turvy world.
If you aren't resilient, you will struggle in fast-paced, difficult, and ambiguous situations. If you're stressed, you won't perform your best—and your health will suffer as well.
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When Should You Go Over Your Boss' Head?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 25, 2012 Comment (9)In a disagreement with your boss, is it ever acceptable to go over your boss' head to his or her own supervisor? While in most cases, your employer will instruct you to work things out directly with your manager, there are times when it makes sense to bring the issue to someone higher up.
Figuring out what you should and shouldn't do can be tricky, but there are two situations where you shouldn't hesitate to go over your manager's head:
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5 Painless Steps to Controlling Your Online Rep
Tweet Share on Facebook April 25, 2012 Comment (3)Many job-seekers underestimate how important it is to have an online presence—a digital footprint to help convince potential hiring managers that they are right for the job. There is no question a person's online reputation makes a big difference for job-search success. But ironically, the worst outcome of having a recruiter search for you on the Web would be if he or she found nothing at all.
In a digital age, having nothing listed in Google is the equivalent of wearing an invisibility cloak; that may work for Harry Potter, but it doesn't do anything to help a job-seeker whose main priority is being found.
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8 Handy Sites for Finding Networking Events
Tweet Share on Facebook April 24, 2012 Comment (6)When career experts talk about job searching, the term "networking" is guaranteed to make an appearance in the conversation. Experts love to drill this into your head: The more you put yourself out there, the better chance you'll have of connecting with the right person who can help advance your career.
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5 Steps for Finding the Perfect Part-Time Gig
Tweet Share on Facebook April 24, 2012 Comment (3)Whether you need a second job for extra income or you're unemployed and open to working part-time to bring in cash flow, part-time work is available if you know where to look for it. And before you assume that your only options are outside your field, you should know that most part-time jobs aren't advertised. What you see on job boards isn't all that you could get.
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6 Tactics for Climbing Out Of A Workplace Rut
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2012 Comment (9)When you were a child and an adult asked you, "So, what do you want to be when you grow up?" It's likely you didn't respond, "I want to spend 10 hours a day in a mind-numbing environment that causes my health to deteriorate until my will to live ceases to get me out of bed each morning."
If your job lately has felt more like the example given above than what you were hoping for, it may be time to reboot. Discovering ways to make your work life more rewarding and less of a grind might simply mean adopting a new perspective. Whether you're selling widgets, entering data, or are the chief executive of Megalacorp Inc., it can be easy to fall into a rut where boredom sets in and angst abounds.
Here are six suggestions to turn things around:
