Time Honored Ways to Enhance Your Job Search

Sitting in an enclosed space for nine hours a day filling out applications, revising cover letters, and explaining what makes you different in a hundred and fifty characters or less is not only painstakingly mind-numbing, it also only gets you so far in a job hunt.  So what can you do when you have filled out an application for every job on every website you know of?

It may seem like a strange notion to all but the oldest folks in the work force, but there was a time when people looked for jobs without the aid of the Internet.  There were no online applications, email contacts, or social networking websites.  Job seekers used nothing more than a hard copy of their resume and some good old fashioned grit to find a job.  While using the Internet is still one of the best sources for finding a job, there are some time honored techniques that can prove useful in helping you obtain that elusive position you have been working so hard to land. Read more…

Odd Interview Questions Decoded

As part of a recent trend, companies are beginning to use odd questions in their interview process, throwing job seekers for a loop. Now, you can decode the secrets behind these questions before you ever have the chance to get caught off guard.

During an interview, when you are blindsided with a baffling question (i.e. Which Beatle would you be? or How many stacked up MoonPies would it take to reach the moon?), your interviewer may not be experiencing a lapse in sanity. Big companies like Google, Amazon, and JetBlue are adding seemingly nonsensical questions to their standard interview questions with a method to their madness.

Peculiar questions can help break a job seeker’s well-crafted composure, revealing the core values, creativity, & psychology behind the prospective employee’s professional façade. Though preparing exact answers for these questions may be akin to predicting the next move of the Mad Hatter, you can at least prepare yourself to answer the subtext behind these types of questions. Read more…

What Google Glass Can Do for IT

Google Glass could drastically change the way consumers interact with their surroundings but what potential does this technology hold for the professional IT world?

Google X Labs, the experimental division of the ubiquitous search giant, is walking a fine line between mere novelty and watershed technology with the forthcoming release of Google Glass. Until the device sees widespread release, we can only speculate on the complete impact that augmented reality technology will have on business & IT. However, some speculate that if the device conquers the consumer market, the paradigms of both would see a major shift. Like the iPhone & iPad before it, Google Glass can change the world in unpredictable ways. Before pondering that, let’s look at the basics. Read more…

Proofread Your Resume: How to Win the Application Game

Proofreading your resume & cover letter are key to the success of your application. To keep them looking sharp, here are a few tips to use as you revise and improve these critical documents.

No one enjoys writing resumes or cover letters. There are no avid resume recreationalists who get their kicks by condensing down their work history into a one to two page highlights reel. As a job seeker, you write resumes & cover letters for a strictly functional purpose and, when you bring your first drafts to a close, you may be tempted to ship them off across the information super highway without so much as a second thought. Gratifying as that may be, your hard work & effort can end up as worthwhile as a freshly minted wooden nickel if you fail to proofread first.

Though not every hiring manager is going to be a stickler for English grammar rules, you never know how nitpicky he or she will be. Some may forgive an error or two. Others may practice the “one & done” method, discarding a resume at the single sign of an error in grammar, spelling, or word choice. So, keep your eye out for what sticks out – relying on your early years hunting down a fugitive Waldo – and follow these proofreading tips. Read more…

How to Boost Your Job Search through Personal Projects

Looking for ways to boost your job search? Start up your own career-oriented personal project! It can do wonders for your search.

When in the midst of negotiating a slow-going job search, you may consider banishing your personal projects until you set your feet down on the terra firma of a new job. Ignore that inclination. Career-related personal projects – when given time, focus, and the full complement of your creativity – may do more to help you escape from a dead end career or a stint of unemployment than you would otherwise expect. Regardless of whether your work is for a cause, supplementary income, or just to boost your prestige among your industry peers, the benefits to your career can be enormous. Read more…

What to Ask Before Accepting a Job Offer

When you receive a job offer with a hefty salary, don’t jump the gun and accept the job before giving some serious thought to the big picture. Ask the following questions and make sure that you will be satisfied with the end result.

When your long, exhausting job search brings you through countless applications, interviews, games of phone tag, and polite rejection letters, you may be tempted to jump at the first opportunity offered without giving it a second thought. Avoid that temptation. Accepting a job offer should not be a decision made on a whim. Even though the salary might be right, you need to ponder over the big picture, analyzing both the pros & cons as you build toward your final decision. To make sure you maximize your time throughout the hiring process, you need to find the answers to these questions before the offer is ever presented. Read more…

3 Ways to Make Verbs Work in Your Resume

Verbs are important to the power packed within your resume, so follow these tips & you will grab the attention of numerous hiring managers.

Though they may never read like a blockbuster action film, your resume & cover letter should still engage the interest of hiring managers through your shrewd use of evocative verbs. One of the main goals of these application documents, in addition to highlighting your talents, is to infer that you are an active employee who can bring great change to the hiring manager’s team. That requires smart, strategic verb usage. So, to amplify the power of your overall application, here are a few tips that will give your writing that extra pop.

1.) Stick to simple verb tenses. In the application format, verbs are most effective when they are simple & concise. That is why you should strictly stick to the simple past tense when you describe previous jobs & the simple present tense when you describe your current job. Read more…

5 tips to working with a recruiter

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When you decide to work with a recruiter, there are a few tips that will help you to make the most of your partnership. Read below to find out!

Whether a recruiter fortuitously calls you out of the blue or you proactively connect with one, your job seeker/recruiter relationship should never be one sided. Though your recruiter may take the lead, you need to follow suit with every movement he or she makes. So, to add extra power to your job search results, follow these tips to stay synched up with your professional partner.

Have a Good Idea of Your Needs: Before you begin your collaboration with any recruiter, sit down (independently or with a loved one) and consider which conditions you can adjust to and which conditions are outright deal-breakers. Determine how long you are willing to commute to & travel for any job, whether you’d relocate, and which benefits are pivotal to you accepting an offer. Once you establish your criteria, you’ll be able to address your needs in a straightforward way from the start, giving your recruiter a rubric to guide the search for that ideal position. Read more…

6 Unbeatable Video Interview Tips!

Video conference interviews have their own set of rules and traps awaiting first time users. So, if you are new to the tech powered interview process, follow these 6 tips to come out on top!

Gone are the days when a face-to-face interview automatically guaranteed that your interviewer occupied the same room, city, or state as you; the advent of accessible teleconferencing tools (Skype, iChat, Jitsi, etc.) has extended us beyond that. Now, job seekers anywhere can connect with employers and make their case without ever crossing their threshold into the outside world. With this convenience comes a whole new etiquette that any job seeker looking to survive beyond pixel to pixel introductions needs to acknowledge. Read more…

Why You Should Learn about Cloud Computing Now!

Get your head in cloud computing and open up a whole new world of exciting possibilities!

Cloud computing is not just a passing technological trend that will disappear with the next strong wind; it’s the next evolution in an established IT paradigm. Competitive companies are aware of that fact and are latching on to virtual servers to help them transcend into faster, stronger, more efficient business operations. According to a Microsoft sponsored white paper report, cloud ready professionals will increase in demand by 26 percent each year through 2015. At that point, open cloud computing positions will number up to 7 million yet many of them may remain unfilled. Read more…