Posts Tagged ‘career’

Advance Your Career by Selling Yourself

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Often when it comes to our career we are some of the worst salesman of our abilities and skills.  We sell ourselves short in our abilities come review time, or accept less than we are worth out of fear that they will find someone else.  Instead of building ourselves up and selling ourselves for maximum value we accept what is given to us and end up doing twice the work for half the pay.

One of the most important places you can ever sell yourself is during the interview process for a new job.  It is during this process that you should make an effort to build up yourself and sell your skills to the potential employer by making them feel that if they hire anyone else but you they are going to be losing out on an amazing talent.  Here are a few tips you can use during your next interview to make the interviewer think WOW!

Dress for success.  Clothes make the man (or woman) and you should dress as if you were interviewing for the CEO position.

Research the company and know the background of it.  During the interview show that you have done your homework by asking questions or making comments about a recent press release or company announcement.

Ask questions.  Most interviewees just answer the questions they are presented and never speak up.  Show the interviewer you are truly interested in the company and the job by asking questions relating to the company, your potential job and company culture.

Bring samples of your work.  Whether you are an artist or a computer programmer bring a sample portfolio of your past work and share it with the interviewer.  Remember, a picture (or document) can speak a million words.

Be ahead of schedule.  Remember the golden rule; it is better to be 3 hours early than 3 minutes late.  No one is going to hire someone who can’t make it to the interview on time.

Follow-up.  Don’t sit around waiting for a letter or a call.  Send a follow-up letter immediately expressing your interest in the job and if you haven’t heard back within a week pick up the phone and call.  What do you have to lose?

10 Tips For Online Job Applications: Tips 6-10

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Tip 6: Don’t assume that the person reading the application will be familiar with acronyms or even familiar with the position. They may be from HR and not wholly familiar with the post, so try to use easily read, clear English.

Tip 7: Always make your application read as if it has been written by someone who is very polite and not arrogant. Arrogance can really deter some employers: not everyone is looking for a wicked sales rep!

Tip 8: Whilst it is acceptable to elaborate on past successes, do not lie on your application form. Make sure that you simply are honest : many employers value honesty and trustworthiness above having 10 years experience.

Tip 9: Always check that your referees are aware that you are submitting their names for referees, before submitting the application form. Otherwise you may put them in a difficult position, especially if you have submitted their telephone details.

Tip 10: Don’t be tempted to think that the job is automatically yours, so you still need to use the application to sell yourself. Look at the skills, attributes and experience that they want and line up your skills, attributes etc against these: then demonstrate how you fulfil the criteria!

10 Tips For Online Job Applications: Tips 1-5

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Many people treat online job applications as if they were different from submitting hard copy applications. So they are much more relaxed about typing some details in, submitting it and then being surprised that they haven’t been shortlisted. But the truth is that online job applications should be viewed in the same way as any job application: so take them seriously and follow these tips to increase your chances.

Top Tip No 1 is that you should always check the application, to ensure that all the details are correct and that your spelling/grammar is up to speed.

Tip 2: Make sure that you spell-check the document, using an online grammar and spell-check facility.

Tip 3: Make your application stand out. Do you have interesting hobbies or pastimes that will make you ‘different’? If so list them.

Tip 4: Keep a copy of what you submit, so that if called to interview you are clear about what you have stipulated on the form.

Tip 5: Always try to inject a little of your personality into the application form, but no jokes, nothing crass or vulgar, just a little bit of who you are and why you stand out from the crowd.

Part 4: One Click Job Hunting

Thursday, January 1st, 2009

If you are searching for a job, you already realize just how much time it takes to make it happen.  There is no doubt that people can find the job that they are interested in, but they do have to work for it.  One thing that can be frustrating to many is just the time it takes to locate jobs, to respond to applications, to send off resumes and cover letters only to have to do this time and time again.  Time is not something many of us have extra of and for that reason there are some benefits to searching for your next job online.

Online job sites allow you to store your resume right there on them.  This allows you to do several things:

•    Saving your resume online allows you to easily have access to it for your job searches.  Within seconds, it is there for you to send off.
•    You can also take advantage of one click resume sending.  These services allow you to send your saved resume to employers just by clicking on the send resume icon on the job search.  You really do not even need to think twice about it.
•    Posting your resume online also allows employers to find you and therefore gives you that many more opportunities to get the job you are after.

Take the time to check out these services.  One click resume sending is a vital service that is provided to you.  You can really shorten the amount of time that it takes you to find your resume, to upload your resume, to attach the cover letter and find the right email address to send it all to.  You can be much more successfully by just using these services.  Then, you have time to search more often and accomplish more with each application you send.

 

Part 2: Setting Up An Account

Friday, December 26th, 2008

One of the first things that you should do when it comes to securing employment through an online job website is to invest time in setting up your account.  Most of these websites provide you with an account for several reasons.  First off, it will allow you to stay connected and to house all of your necessary information so that you do not need to input all of this every time that you find a job application that you would like to use.  An account allows for employers to contact you and get the process started.  In fact, there is no reason not to set up an account.

When it comes to finding the right opportunity for a online job website, you should invest some time in the process of storing your information.  Most online job sites would like you to invest some time in filling out questionnaires or providing extensive details.  This is not a bad thing.  Here’s why.

An employer is looking for someone that has XYZ in skills.  He does not want to have to sift through thousands of job applications that would come in if he posted this position on the web.  He may not have time to do so.  Instead, he heads to the online job site, punches in a few criteria in job skills that he is looking for, and gets back a handful of applicants that fit his position.  Guess what?  Those are the ones that get the phone call for the potential interview. 

Setting up an account is generally a free service to do.  Some online job sites do offer paid memberships and these are okay if you decide that the investment is right for your search.  Yet, do your homework and find out if you can get the same benefits elsewhere for free.