Job Seeking Tips

The art of interviewing

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:46:19 +0000

Now that I completed my internship at Millennium Personnel, I have updated all my online resumes. This resume, along with a cover letter and recommendation is the result of 3 months of voluntary work. I have actually been getting calls from other agencies that found me through Career Builder because of my updated resume. In a way, the tables have turned. Instead of calling the agency up to find work, they are calling me up as a possible applicant.
One of these agencies has just set me up with an interview appointment with them. Since it’s an interview, I need to dress professionally. It also means I need to practice my 30 second commercial. My 30-second commercial is basically telling an employer why they should hire me. It will also include my brand. I plan to speak about my technical and interpersonal skills to show that I have a flexible personality. Then I will share my brand, which is the well-rounded skill set. My well-rounded skill set allows me to adapt to any position that I am given or have to temporarily fill in.
Aside from how I look and what I’m going to say, I need to have a smile on my face. It’s part of impressing them. If I smile, it shows I have a personality. I don’t want to come off as someone boring. I also need to pace myself when speaking. Everything needs to be clear and concise. With that, I also need to give the employer time to speak.
Aside from my active actions, I’ll need to think about my passive actions. The way I sit in a chair can make or break and interview. If I slouch, I’ll look kind of lazy. I’ll have to sit up right like I have a backbone. The amount of eye contact can be too little to down right awkward. If there is too little eye contact, the employer may think that I am or shy or worse, scared of a confrontation. If I make too much eye contact, I’ll come off as trying too hard. It could even become awkward in moments where eye contact is not necessary.
At the end of the interview, it’s courteous to thank the employer for the interview. They will ask if I have questions. The best questions to ask if you have nothing to ask is “Is there anything that I can clarify for you?” Aside from that some commons ones are asking when the employer will get back in touch and if it is all right to call in every now and then.
It actually won’t hurt to check in with them. That way, they will get used to hearing your name and they will remember who you are. This helps when they have positions to fill and your name will be in mind.
The whole point of doing all this is to get a job offer from an employer, even if it’s an agency. Once a job offer is made, the ball is in my court. From there, I can accept or decline. It’s up to me to make whatever I want of it.

The Corporate Glass Ceiling…..Does it Really Exist?

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:20:55 +0000

The term glass ceiling refers to “the unseen, yet unbreakable, barrier that keeps women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.” To this day we still see evidence of this stereotype, though not as pubic as it once was. With social pressure so strong, employers are very careful about discrimination.

Personally I believe the “Glass Ceiling” will soon disappear from the corporate world entirely. There is a multitude of women thriving in the corporate world, not to mention politics. As a people, we’ve come to realize not only can women do the same jobs that men can do, but sometimes they are even better at it. The idea that women can thrive in the corporate world has been in my opinion. To this day powerful machines (luxury cars, yacht….etc.) have always had female names. There is no doubt in the male mind that women are extremely capable.

We still have a few shards left but for the most part, the glass ceiling has been breached. Women are getting bigger and better jobs everyday. In today’s world you can not only tell your son….but your daughter that they might be president one day.

So much to learn

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:08:30 +0000

How do I like the internship, the employers I work with and what I want to learn from this internship?
By doing an internship there is much to learn and to accomplish. The internship I am working on right now had to do with office support such as receptionist, administrative assistant and executive assistant. I got interested in volunteering for this internship for the reason that I want to learn more and get more experience in the job field. I would love to work in a front desk/receptionist position. The employers I work with are very kind, friendly, and very understanding. In this internship I expect to learn how to better my communication skills, what type of jobs are done in a front desk and how to multi-task in the office depending on the company.

Bad resumes and why it won’t get you a job

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:23:31 +0000

We all know that a good resume is crucial to landing a job. We’ve all been told what we makes a good resume. But we’re often not told what makes your resume “bad”. I’m going to tell you exactly what makes a “bad” resume bad.
Lets start from the very top, the Heading. If your resume has no name, no contact information and no address, your resume is going in the trash. The same applies if the information is outdated. If there is no name, the employer won’t know who you are. This may sound like a joke to many of you, but you have no idea how many resumes we receive on a daily basis with no contact information. You will not get status updates about positions if your contact information is not on your resume. If the address is outdated, don’t expect the employer to come find you.
If any of this information is outdated or not on the resume altogether, it shows that you lack attention to detail. With no Heading, you won’t get a job- no matter what position you apply for. When putting your email on your resume, never use an inappropriate email address. If your email address is hottestgirlever@ blank.com, don’t expect a call back! Having an inappropriate E-mail will show your lack of professionalism. The best professional E-mail is to use your name as the E-mail. If it’s a long name, keep it short and simple.
Gaps in your resume are never good. It shows you have been out of work during that period. In some cases, this cannot be avoided. The best thing to do is to address these gaps in a cover letter. Giving an employer a resume with unexplained gaps show that you were unable to proactively address a concern or problem ahead of time. Not only will this show that you are not a problem solver but you will also show that you may have reliability and commitment issues to the position you are applying for.
Always remember to put down your education no matter what the highest level completed may be. This may be a bachelor’s degree or a GED. If you don’t put down your education, the employer will think you are trying to hide something.
Your computer skills should be up-to-date. If you have Word Perfect or Microsoft Works as skills on your resume, many employers will pass you over because they will be uncomfortable, thinking you do not keep up with the times. Companies change with new technology and if you want a position with those companies, they expect you to be familiar with the current technology and software. They will only consider hiring you only if you know how to work the technology that they have.
Lastly, the presentation of your resume is as important as the resume itself. Coming in with a folded, photocopied and/or stained resume will only grant you a short and brief interview, then your resume will be trashed the moment you walk away. No employer wants to see a resume in that state. A resume should be presented the same way you would present yourself, neat and professional looking. To sum it up, never go into an interview with a sloppy resume. Make sure it’s up to date with your latest information. Put it in a folder or book to keep it flat and neat. Triple check everything on your resume such as spelling, grammar and that everything is aligned properly. Lastly, keep everything short, simple so that it gets to the point you’re trying to make. Remember, a resume is part of the first impression, so make it a good one.

Humble Leader

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:25:10 +0000

My blog is primarily about being a humble leader. How about being a great leader? What does it take to be a great leader? I believe to be a great leader you would
have to be humble and meek. It also has to do with projecting less pride because that can lead to shame. A humble leader can win the hearts of their supporters by being honest and less boastful. When an individual is more boastful it can lead to controversy and much confrontation. Who know’s how many people like to brag? There are so many boastful people out there that it can make you sick, but that’s the type of world we are living in. When a person accomplishes something that is of great importance it is hard not to feel the pride well up inside and make you want to show off in front of others. That is not humble at all and it of course will make people jealous especially if they know what you are showing off about.
People who are more humble and down to earth make a relationship go much easier than those who want to be boastful and full of pride. Those people who exercise
mainly showing off to put others down don’t even realize that they are putting it right back on thier head. I always try to be humble because it can come back to me if I am
treating others right. “A humble heart prevents a stumble but a boastful one is more like a rumble.”

WORKING ON SELF-IMAGE

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:07:55 +0000

Most people want to be described as technically competent, socially skilled, of strong character, and committed to their work, their team, and their company. Research shows that the most favorably regarded traits are trust, humility, and capability.
Asking myself the question: What do I want my key co-workers to say about me when I’m not in the room? Or, I might ask myself the question: What do my co-workers think of me professionally? The answer to this question represents your undesired professional image.
You can never know exactly what all of your key co-workers think about you, or how they would describe you when you aren’t in the room. You can, however draw clues about your current professional image based on your interactions with key co-workers. People often give you direct feedback about your personality that tells you what they think about your level of competence, character, and commitment. Other times, you may receive indirect signals about your image, through job assignments or referrals and recommendations. Taken together, these direct and indirect signals shape your perceived professional image, your best guess of how you think your key associates analyze you.
In order to create a positive professional image, impression management must effectively accomplish two tasks: build integrity and maintain authenticity. When you present yourself in a manner that is both true to self, valued and believed by others, impression management can yield a host of favorable results. These results can benefit you, your co-workers and the company you work for. On the other hand, when you present yourself in a poor manner, you will yield equally poor results and this can hurt you, your co-workers and the company’s image.

In this job market, you have to be more than just a resume!

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:18:21 +0000

When you go on an interview, you will encounter different types of employers. One type of employer only cares about what’s on your resume. The another type of employer wants to know you as a person. They want to know what you can do outside of your resume. Your resume will only tell the employer so much about yourself. Your job as the interviewee is to show that there is more to you than just a resume. There are a few aspects that you need to show in order to stand out from the rest.
One thing you can do is to show that you are a “people person”. When we say people person I don’t mean someone who talks all the time and does no work. A “people person” in a professional setting is someone who can communicate ideas and opinions to others. An interviewer does not want a shut-in who stares at the computer all day and interacts with no one. Another aspect that you, as an interviewee, need to show is that you can handle stress. Interviewers love it if you can show that you can take an unexpected and stressful situation and turn it around to benefit their company.
Another aspect is having integrity and ethics. You should be able to show that you do quality work all the time and that you are not the type of employee to check personal emails or generally slack off by hanging around the water coolers. You should also show that you have charisma. Having charisma and having a sense of humor, but not too much that it gets in the way of work, is essential. As part of having charisma, you should also be able to laugh off minor inconveniences that aren’t a big deal. Basically, it helps the work environment if you can keep a good and happy mood. Part of being charismatic is also being positive.
Another aspect is to be able to show leadership skills and to have an ambition. A good employee is an employee who takes charge. You don’t need any hand holding along the way and you show the employer that. While you do that, you should also show that you plan to achieve something big in their company. This will show that you have ambitions.
Remember, part of impressing the employer is to be able to back up everything on your resume. The other part is to demonstrate skills that would otherwise not show up on a resume. The best thing to do is to be approachable, friendly and to be yourself, but at the same time, do keep in mind that it is an interview so don’t get too loose!

The do’s and don’ts of motivation

admin — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:37:17 +0000

When you’re a manager or supervisor of lets say, a dozen employees, its part of your job to keep them motivated. There are two major kinds of motivation. There is positive motivation and negative motivation. The quality of work an employee puts into their projects depends on how these two motivations are used.
Giving positive motivation will almost always give excellent results. I say almost always because there will always be one person who will never be motivated enough. Aside from that, there are many ways to positively motivate your employees. One way is through contest with prizes and awards. First off, the contest itself will make the employees compete against each other. This is not a bad thing. This will cause the employees to create better results than the others. Since there are prizes and awards, this creates an incentive. Employees like to show their accomplishments and prizes and awards represents those accomplishments. An even better idea is to have employees work in groups during the contest. This will not only generate better results but it may create better and ingenious ideas for your company.
Another way to motivate is to have an “Employee of the year” awards. This will make an employee feel valued and respected. This employee of the year will also serve as a model employee for the others.
Then there is the negative motivation. These kinds of motivation will not generate any kind of special result. When used on an employee, they will only focus on finishing the work on time instead of focusing on the quality of work. Usually negative motivation is no motivation. It’s when an employee is allowed to be lazy or consistently late with turning in projects. In some cases, these late projects don’t even look great. The reason why they don’t look great is because they were only focused on getting it done. They didn’t have a reason to care for its quality. Another kind of negative motivation is a disgruntled employee. If one employee isn’t happy, he/she will bring down everyone’s mood. A negative motivation also means a lack of motivation. If there is a lack of motivation, it means there is no incentive. Employees like to have incentive. In general, we all like to win something in any type of setting.
I had to deal with trying to motivate kids at my former tutoring job. One of the other tutors used candy as a positive motivation. Only the kids who finished their homework got a piece of candy. If they behaved, they got two. This motivation worked on the younger kids. I however was forced to use negative motivation. I had to work with older kids who were more defiant. They didn’t care for candy. If they wanted candy, they would have just taken it from me. If one of my kids started to act up, I would put them at a table by themselves with their back towards everyone. Their problem is that they get distracted easily because their friends are right next to them.
If they don’t get candy, its nothing lost, nothing gained on their part. This is why I’m forced to use negative motivation. Since they didn’t care about gaining anything, I made sure there was something to loose. This wasn’t anything personal. It was just business. Parents paid for their kids to be tutored.

The Art of Screening Calls

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:25:05 +0000

In the business world screening calls for a Manager is an art. The office assistant has to have essential skills in order to screen calls effectively. Screening calls helps your manager because not all calls are going to be important. Some of these calls can be a waste of time to him or her and in the business world time is money. The office assistant needs to know what calls to transfer to the manager, when to tell the caller to leave a message or try calling at a later time.

The ability to get detailed messages is one essential skill needed to screen calls. When a person calls, the office assistant needs to determine the type of call it is. If the call is important the assistant then gets the person’s name, phone number in case you get disconnected, the name of their company if any and what the call is about. Once you get this information you put the caller on hold and call your manager. Given the information you give to your manager, he or she will decide whether to take the call or instruct you to have the caller try back later.

Having good judgment in screening calls is another important skill an office assistant should have. There will be times when the assistant receives a call from a solicitor. For instance, if you know your manager doesn’t take soliciting calls and a solicitor is one the other line, politely tell the caller that the manager doesn’t take soliciting calls and say good-bye. But there are situations when the caller will not tell you what the call is about would like to speak to the manager. You, as the assistant, must tell them that you need to know what the call is in regard to in order to get them to the right person. There is also the case where the solicitor will mislead you and say that they do business with your manager and would like to speak to them. It is your right as an office assistant to ask “Are we subscribed to you?” and even if they say yes, get more information. Once you get their name, number, company name and what the call is about, put them on hold and call your manager. If the manager says they don’t know that person, tell the caller “We are not interested in buying whatever you’re selling at this moment, thank you” and hang up.

I am familiar with these kinds of situations because I am currently an office assistant. I know that it’s my job to make my manager’s life easier by transferring only the relevant calls to her. If I was giving every call I get to my manager then there would be no need for me as an assistant. The art of screening calls is skill that should not be taken for granted!

How to “RIGHT” Your Resume…

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:04:34 +0000

The process of writing and editing your own resume is hard work. You may not know that there are two major types of resumes. One type is called a functional resume. A functional resume is used to highlight your skills and accomplishments. The second type is a chronological resume. A chronological resume is one that lists your jobs from the most recent to the oldest. But which one is best suited for you?
A functional resume is best used for recent graduates with little to no work experience or for those who are looking for a career change. A chronological is best for highlighting your experiences for a specific career with very few gaps in employment. I remember going through at least a dozen revisions for my own resume before figuring this out. The first resume that I wrote didn’t look good or even have the most important skills and experiences. I asked for help at an office that I formerly worked at and currently volunteer at. My resume had such poor quality that I had to remake it from the ground up. For each job that I had, I put under it my strongest skills and experiences.
Revisions weren’t my only problem. I made this new resume on a Windows XP computer and transferred it to my iMac computer. The transfer went through but the format of my resume was altered. Everything was perfectly aligned on the Windows version but not on the iMac. The dates and job titles were not aligned properly. I attempted to fix this issue but I seem to only make it worse. This may be due to the different computer platforms. I thought to myself that this wouldn’t be such a big deal. I found out that employers don’t like to see a resume with alignment issues. It shows signs of carelessness and disorganization. I started to make a revision of my resume from the ground up. I decided to just manually space the information out. That way I had more control over the alignment. I also had to alter the size to fit everything. It was best to keep everything on one page if possible. I finally had a neat and orderly resume.
I learned that it takes more than just a neat looking resume to get a job. Sometimes the resume needs to be customized towards that job. You need to highlight skills and/or experiences that can be used for that job. Ask yourself this: Does your resume match the job that you are seeking? A good resume takes time and research to make. If you have trouble making a resume, call a resume professional, such as Millennium Personnel Corp.