JibberJobber Certification for Coaches (and other career professionals)

JibberJobber Certification for Coaches (and other career professionals) On Tuesday Im starting a six week program for career professionals to get certified on JibberJobber.  Ive priced this at $397, and discounted it to $97 for now. Heres an email that I sent out a week ago to my LinkedIn Group: The certification classes will be recorded in case you cant come. Youll have access to the recordings through our video library. Live classes are on Tuesday mornings, at 10am Mountain Time (9am PST, 11am CST, noon EST), for one hour. There will be six live classes to specifically help you master JibberJobber, and better understand job search organization and tracking. Classes start on Tuesday January 12 and finish February 17. You will have until the end of February to finish the certification tests. JibberJobber Certified Career Professionals should gain a better grasp of technology in general, and a more acute understanding of technology that job seekers (and professionals) need. This should increase the value that you bring to your clients. Career Directors International will give you one CEU credit for every hour of learning (you should get six credits by the time the course is done). Will you be a part of the first group of JibberJobber certified career professionals? Take advantage of the pricing, currently discounted to only $97 (from $397). Heres where you sign up:  https://www.jibberjobber.com/pay.php?amount=97 Questions? Let me know Jason@JibberJobber.com Heres a message I put on my LinkedIn Group a few weeks ago and part of why I really want to see coaches and career professionals certified. In case you work at a career center, and think Im talking about you, I am not. The person that did this back in 2006 is retired. In 2006 I went to a university career center that was only about 40 minute from my house. My hope was to talk to as many career professionals as I could, and I was excited to talk to the director of the career center at this large university. As I walked to the career center office I passed dozens of students, all on laptops and other devices. No one was talking to each other they were all consumed by technology. After a long wait in the waiting room, the director finally met with me. He first balked at the ridiculous name JibberJobber, saying that he couldnt recommend something with a name that didnt make any sense. He then asked why would anyone want to use a website to organize and track a job search he has been, and would continue to recommend just buying 46 cards and stay organized with those. I couldnt believe it. This director, who was probably not far away from retirement, would tell all of those kids, who were glued to technology, to manage a complex process with a loose paper system? I continue to see this today career professionals who recommend a printout form, or a spreadsheet, when there are better, high-tech, sophisticated, long-lasting and long-term solutions like JibberJobber. I can only imagine student after student eye-rolling at this directors advice. Giving outdated or unsound advice will discredit everything else you say. Youll have earned your reputation of being outdated, out of touch, etc. If you arent using JibberJobber, or if you dont really know what it does, lets make 2015 the time to crack this nut. Get on my user orientation webinars (JibberJobber.com/webinar), and lets take control of our career management. If you are a career professional (counselor, coach, resume writer, etc) check out the JibberJobber Certification. This will help you understand what your clients are dealing with, and how you can help them, and not risk having the same reputation that career center director had created for himself:http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2014/11/24/new-certified-jibberjobber-coach Would love to have you join us JibberJobber Certification for Coaches (and other career professionals) On Tuesday Im starting a six week program for career professionals to get certified on JibberJobber.  Ive priced this at $397, and discounted it to $97 for now. Heres an email that I sent out a week ago to my LinkedIn Group: The certification classes will be recorded in case you cant come. Youll have access to the recordings through our video library. Live classes are on Tuesday mornings, at 10am Mountain Time (9am PST, 11am CST, noon EST), for one hour. There will be six live classes to specifically help you master JibberJobber, and better understand job search organization and tracking. Classes start on Tuesday January 12 and finish February 17. You will have until the end of February to finish the certification tests. JibberJobber Certified Career Professionals should gain a better grasp of technology in general, and a more acute understanding of technology that job seekers (and professionals) need. This should increase the value that you bring to your clients. Career Directors International will give you one CEU credit for every hour of learning (you should get six credits by the time the course is done). Will you be a part of the first group of JibberJobber certified career professionals? Take advantage of the pricing, currently discounted to only $97 (from $397). Heres where you sign up:  https://www.jibberjobber.com/pay.php?amount=97 Questions? Let me know Jason@JibberJobber.com Heres a message I put on my LinkedIn Group a few weeks ago and part of why I really want to see coaches and career professionals certified. In case you work at a career center, and think Im talking about you, I am not. The person that did this back in 2006 is retired. In 2006 I went to a university career center that was only about 40 minute from my house. My hope was to talk to as many career professionals as I could, and I was excited to talk to the director of the career center at this large university. As I walked to the career center office I passed dozens of students, all on laptops and other devices. No one was talking to each other they were all consumed by technology. After a long wait in the waiting room, the director finally met with me. He first balked at the ridiculous name JibberJobber, saying that he couldnt recommend something with a name that didnt make any sense. He then asked why would anyone want to use a website to organize and track a job search he has been, and would continue to recommend just buying 46 cards and stay organized with those. I couldnt believe it. This director, who was probably not far away from retirement, would tell all of those kids, who were glued to technology, to manage a complex process with a loose paper system? I continue to see this today career professionals who recommend a printout form, or a spreadsheet, when there are better, high-tech, sophisticated, long-lasting and long-term solutions like JibberJobber. I can only imagine student after student eye-rolling at this directors advice. Giving outdated or unsound advice will discredit everything else you say. Youll have earned your reputation of being outdated, out of touch, etc. If you arent using JibberJobber, or if you dont really know what it does, lets make 2015 the time to crack this nut. Get on my user orientation webinars (JibberJobber.com/webinar), and lets take control of our career management. If you are a career professional (counselor, coach, resume writer, etc) check out the JibberJobber Certification. This will help you understand what your clients are dealing with, and how you can help them, and not risk having the same reputation that career center director had created for himself:http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2014/11/24/new-certified-jibberjobber-coach Would love to have you join us JibberJobber Certification for Coaches (and other career professionals) On Tuesday Im starting a six week program for career professionals to get certified on JibberJobber.  Ive priced this at $397, and discounted it to $97 for now. Heres an email that I sent out a week ago to my LinkedIn Group: The certification classes will be recorded in case you cant come. Youll have access to the recordings through our video library. Live classes are on Tuesday mornings, at 10am Mountain Time (9am PST, 11am CST, noon EST), for one hour. There will be six live classes to specifically help you master JibberJobber, and better understand job search organization and tracking. Classes start on Tuesday January 12 and finish February 17. You will have until the end of February to finish the certification tests. JibberJobber Certified Career Professionals should gain a better grasp of technology in general, and a more acute understanding of technology that job seekers (and professionals) need. This should increase the value that you bring to your clients. Career Directors International will give you one CEU credit for every hour of learning (you should get six credits by the time the course is done). Will you be a part of the first group of JibberJobber certified career professionals? Take advantage of the pricing, currently discounted to only $97 (from $397). Heres where you sign up:  https://www.jibberjobber.com/pay.php?amount=97 Questions? Let me know Jason@JibberJobber.com Heres a message I put on my LinkedIn Group a few weeks ago and part of why I really want to see coaches and career professionals certified. In case you work at a career center, and think Im talking about you, I am not. The person that did this back in 2006 is retired. In 2006 I went to a university career center that was only about 40 minute from my house. My hope was to talk to as many career professionals as I could, and I was excited to talk to the director of the career center at this large university. As I walked to the career center office I passed dozens of students, all on laptops and other devices. No one was talking to each other they were all consumed by technology. After a long wait in the waiting room, the director finally met with me. He first balked at the ridiculous name JibberJobber, saying that he couldnt recommend something with a name that didnt make any sense. He then asked why would anyone want to use a website to organize and track a job search he has been, and would continue to recommend just buying 46 cards and stay organized with those. I couldnt believe it. This director, who was probably not far away from retirement, would tell all of those kids, who were glued to technology, to manage a complex process with a loose paper system? I continue to see this today career professionals who recommend a printout form, or a spreadsheet, when there are better, high-tech, sophisticated, long-lasting and long-term solutions like JibberJobber. I can only imagine student after student eye-rolling at this directors advice. Giving outdated or unsound advice will discredit everything else you say. Youll have earned your reputation of being outdated, out of touch, etc. If you arent using JibberJobber, or if you dont really know what it does, lets make 2015 the time to crack this nut. Get on my user orientation webinars (JibberJobber.com/webinar), and lets take control of our career management. If you are a career professional (counselor, coach, resume writer, etc) check out the JibberJobber Certification. This will help you understand what your clients are dealing with, and how you can help them, and not risk having the same reputation that career center director had created for himself:http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2014/11/24/new-certified-jibberjobber-coach Would love to have you join us

How To Keep Your Online Business Secure - Classy Career Girl

How To Keep Your Online Business Secure The news that Yahoo is amongst the list of big organizations that have been hacked could hardly be scarier. After all, if Yahoo is vulnerable, then so is just about every other site you could think of: TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse, Sony, LinkedIn â€" you name it, no one is safe. This visualization at information is beautiful  shows the worlds biggest data breaches and gives us an easily digestible overview of just how destructive and widespread cyber hacks have become. You might think that it’s just those big headline-making hacks that we dont have to worry about, but the truth is that the internet is a much more frightening place than most of us  are even aware of. How to Keep Your Online Business Secure Small Business in The Spotlight Back in February, the British government’s Security Breaches Survey found that as many as 74% of small businesses in the UK had reported some form of a security breach in the previous twelve months. The attention-grabbing message was that smaller firms people like us are increasingly in the criminals’ sights. The scarier, read-between-the-lines message is that you need to be very careful indeed wherever and whenever you’re online. As The Guardian reported, all it takes is a careless click to open a single, innocent-looking email. Career Crunch Needless to say, if you’re running your own business any serious breach can be enough to put you out of business. But if you’re the staff member of a larger organization who somehow manages to let the bad guys in and it doesn’t always have to be by email you can just as easily find your career is suddenly unplugged. [RELATED: 5 Things You Need To Launch Your Own Business] The Safety Net The good news is that even though there are all sorts of bad guys out there, plotting to steal your data, your cash and even your identity, there is an ever-growing army of specialists dedicating themselves to the task of making the web a safer and more secure place. This is great news for those of us running an online business. Sorry to get technical, but the sneaky web-scraping bots that criminals set in motion to dig their way into your files like poisonous ants are very much in the sights of the security industry. They even talk in terms of headless browser bots, which sounds incredibly nasty apparently, these are especially good at mimicking the behavior of human users and so are all the more likely to sneak through conventional automated defenses. But not all of them. Doing Nothing is Not an Option Whatever your budget and whatever you use the web for, whether your web app or your brochure website, the more you can afford to sensibly invest in internet security, the safer you will be. And the more you can practice good habits (like updating your passwords regularly!) and the more you can familiarize yourself with the different threats out there, the less likely you will be to fall victim to an attack. A headless web-scraping bot may sound horrendous, but there is no reason why those nightmares should keep you awake at night. Just don’t make it easy for them.

5 Tips for the Executive Level Resume - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

5 Tips for the Executive Level Resume - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Theres a lot of misinformation when it comes to resume writing and, as a top executive, you cant afford mistakes. So how do you make sure your resume stands out without taking an unnecessary risk? The following guidelines will keep you on track to develop the perfect executive level resume. Quantify Your Work Wherever you mention anything that could possible include a number, make sure you include that number.   Did you guide a federation of associations through a series of hurdles or increase the profitable revenue of your company? Make sure you include how many or how much. Examples: Guided a federation of 7 associations through a series of industry changes Increased the overall profitable revenue over the course of 4 years by $10 million. Using numbers puts a value on your worth and adds an emphasis that many resumes leave out. The Glance Test Pick up your resume and give it a glance. How much information can easily be read within 10 seconds? Are there keywords that stick out? Are your talents immediately on display? While you cant risk shorting yourself by cutting back arbitrarily, your content must be easy to scan. That means bullet points are essential. Make sure the top quarter of your resume really highlights who you are as an executive. Remember, your resume is your own personal marketing tool to make sure you stand out from your peers. Dont forget to include a summary, personalized to the position that youre applying for, that highlights what you can do for the hiring company. Areas of Expertise What makes you a strong leader? If you dont already have it, add a section to your resume that discusses your specific areas of expertise. This isnt the section to talk about your incredible spreadsheet skills, save that for LinkedIn. Instead, discuss things like strategizing to meet goals and coordinating operational activities between organizations. Really showcase your top business skills so that a reviewer can quickly assess how beneficial you will be to their company. Mixed Media Resources There are more than a few rising resume trends causing disasters on the job market, like using graphics on your resume. But just because you shouldnt include a photo of yourself doesnt mean you shouldnt share your LinkedIn profile information. Why should you bother with LinkedIn? Because it provides you with a way to share more information about yourself that you might not have room for on your resume. The smaller details that really make you who you are make less sense on a resume but work well on this business-themed social platform. It’s also great to show if you’ve got lots of endorsements for your skills so the recruiter knows just how talented you are. Just make sure youve proofed your LinkedIn profile one last time before you submit your resume. The Ideal Length Executives have a lot of experience. You didnt get to run a company by being a follower, right?   The most misguided piece of free resume advice on the Internet for executives â€" stick to one page. It isnt possible to cram all that information on a single page, and you definitely cant leave it out. On the other hand, a ten page resume will end up in a shred pile just as fast. So whats the perfect length for a resume? As an executive, you should shoot for two pages, but no more than five. Remember, just because you have more space now doesnt mean you shouldnt be concise. Expert resume writers stick to four or five pages at the most for all-inclusive executive level resumes. They promise a high level of return via interviews, and theres good reason for that, so it’s probably best to mimic their approach. With the right balance and attention to detail, your resume will showcase your talent to the right reviewer. Make sure the top half of your resume is light, save the depths of your skills for the ending and youll be on your way to the next top stop on your resume.

Becoming An Entrepreneur An Interview With Ted Rollins

Becoming An Entrepreneur An Interview With Ted Rollins I was so excited to learn that I had a chance to interview with Ted Rollins.  Ted is  a successful entrepreneur recognized by the Inc. 500 as the founder of the number two fastest growing business in his division.  Hes also  a regular nominee and finalist for Ernst and Young entrepreneur of the year. Ted has founded a variety if businesses, including Campus Crest Communities. He started  Campus Crest with $14,000 and grew it to become the second largest student housing platform in the world.  Today, its  listed on the New York Stock exchange with assets in excess of $2.3 billion. Hes now on the eve of his latest venture, Valeo Groupe, a multinational vertically integrated niche housing platform.   We sat down to talk about his perspectives and  his story.  I was also anxious to learn a few things from the his experience growing businesses over the years. If you’re interested in starting your own business, listen up.  Ted Rollins has a few ideas you won’t want to miss. Q: What was the first business you founded? What drove you to start that company? The first business that I founded was RFP Group. It was a company based in Delaware that developed hotels. I started my career after graduate school at DUKE in New York as an  investment banker and we worked with many companies on transactions to finance them.   I was  also able to meet many entrepreneurs who had started their own businesses. One of them told me when I was young that I would do much better being the owner of a business that borrowed money, sold equity, invested the money and ran the business, than I would be if I was just the banker arranging the money. Q: So, how many businesses have you started since? Well, lets see, I have started probably 20 or so since then.  I’m a serial entrepreneur. You see,  the most interesting challenge to me is to navigate the start up of a business and see that idea turn into reality. Q: What are some of the biggest mistakes youve made over the years? Well, first of all, there are too many to list! Probably the biggest mistake is placing faith in the wrong people. It has been a tough lesson.  But there are people out there that talk such a good game and seem like someone that you might want to be associated with.  But they are really not the best people to work with or worse yet, they are black-hearted. Then there are those that are your friends and business associates in good times.  But then during bad times they change their tune. You really see the true colors of people during challenging times. And, believe me, if you are out there working hard growing your business, there are always challenges and harder times. These days we mostly work with people that we know or that one of our close associates know. And, if we have an inkling of a doubt about the three “I’s”â€"those are Integrity, Intellectual Capacity or Intensityâ€"we won’t work with them. People are just such a critical part of any business that it’s important to get it right. Even though this is one of my biggest mistakes, I still keep my faith in people and give them the benefit of the doubt.  I’m just much more cautious and check them out a bit more, that’s all. Q: What lessons are you able to pull from those mistakes that could help other budding entrepreneurs? Be careful who you get into business with and who you deal with. Also, find the best people you possibly can and help them flourish in your business. Put your team above all and they will take care of the customer One thing I learned as we grew from a start up to a New York Stock Exchange company is that some of the people that start with you, won’t make it all the way on the journey. If your business takes off and is successful, and they are having a hard time keeping up, treat them fairly, but replace them with someone that can really do the job quickly. This will ultimately be best for both of you. Q: Is there one mistake you think all entrepreneurs tend to make? If so, what is it and how can it be avoided? Being overly optimistic. I believe that entrepreneurs for the most part are hard-wired optimists. And they need to be! I would say that entrepreneurs need to surround themselves with a balance of the right people they can trust and listen to. It is so important to get varying perspectives. Now we use a very systematic planning process which includes an assessment of our various team member’s strengths and weaknesses. This process also allows each of their input as a plan is crafted and creates buy-in all the way around the team. As an entrepreneur, you are probably a “DOER!!!” . This process just helps you to put a little perspective and planning around all that action In general, it’s also important to make time for planning and follow your plan. You can adjust it as you learn, but follow it. When I have gotten in trouble most is not having a good team of complimentary members and a plan with buy-in. Q: If someone knows they want to work for themselves, but dont know where to start, what would you recommend the first step to be? There will be something out there that resonates with you. Something that you can be passionate about and wake up wanting to do. Look for these opportunities where your passion, experience and focus can be put to use. Stay focused and start NOW!!! Fifty percent of any endeavor is just getting started. It will never go the way you think it will, but persistence and adaptation as you go will help you survive those early days. Q: What about the second and third steps? Step 2: I would find a few people with complimentary skills to help you build your plan. Step 3 and on: Be laser focused and positive. Most importantly, have fun while you are working.  Don’t be too serious.  Enjoy everything even though at the time it may not seem enjoyable. In our businesses we have a simple motto: WORK HARD HAVE FUN HELP OTHERS You will see this plastered everywhere. This is our underlying message to all that we work with. Also, we have six non-negotiable rules of the road Be Accountableâ€"Own your outcomes Be Accessibleâ€"Always be easy to reach and quick to correspond Be Reliableâ€"Are you someone that people can trust and count on? Follow Through on all you doâ€"Without exception Be Financially Integratedâ€"Know your metrics and numbers Be Emotionally Stableâ€"Manage your emotions and stay focused Remember that obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off your goal. Good Luck!

6 Ideas on Handling Stress when Working in the Non-Profit Sector - CareerMetis.com

6 Ideas on Handling Stress when Working in the Non-Profit Sector Non-Profit, humanitarian aid, and other community services are aimed at helping needy and less fortunate people. For the same reason non-profit workers derive a great sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in doing so.However, much as the profession seems to be rewarding and motivating, it is also a significant source of stress and worries for workers.According to a study conducted sometime back by Hannah Law of YMCA In another surveyconducted through The Guardian’s professional networks, more than 3,700 people belonging to various non-profit domains like NHS, charity and NGOs took part. 93% of responded accepted that they are stressed at work either all, some, or a lot of the time.So what are the possible causes of these elevated levels of stress in non-profit workers?evalNon-profit sector workers are at risk of increased anxiety, burnout and stress given the demanding and care-driven nature of work they do. Subsequently, susceptible employees experience the cumulative effects of s tress over time.If charity organizations can’t reach their revenue goals through fundraising, they have to lay employees off and cut programs. Funding is increasingly becoming challenging in this sector with contributors tightening their budgets.Furthermore, non-profit sector workers often go an extra mile, as well, to launch an event or run a program. So these all issues can have a knock-on effect for staff within the sector.According to charitybackroom, the stress can also be caused when there is a mismatch between job requirements and the individual abilities; which are as follows:Demands:Workers get overloaded by the amount of work or type of workControl:Workers have no say over how and when they do their workSupport:Lack of support from various quartersRelationships:Poor work relationship issues lead to increased stressRole:Lack of understanding of role leads to employees’ increased anxietyChange: Poor change management leads to uncertainty and insecurity.If you are a non-p rofit employee and are finding it hard to get on with your work due to stress, we have some valuable tips and tricks to handle stress effectively.evalThus, based on the above observations and facts, we have composed the following techniques.1. Understand what is right for your physical and emotional healthBeing too much busy and immersed in work round the clock, you probably are not fully aware of what you need to do to manage your stress. Whether it is eating, exercising or sleeping; you have to basically restore your energy, motivation and momentum.Learn to understand that your health is more important, and then only you can take care of others.So whenever you feel like you are in a quicksand, overwhelmed or drowning; just know what is right for your physical and emotional well-being.2. Avoid working at homeevalJust try this one trick……Don’t work at home for one month. This is just to bring to your notice that blurring the line between your work and home life can have a heav y toll on you.These days â€" with the use of technology, mobile devices and social media, you are more likely to overburden and overtire yourself by working even when you are at home. Just keep asking yourself “do I really need to do this piece of work in my own time?” So if you are successful in doing this; you will notice the difference in your stress levels, and hopefully, you can keep it up for longer.3. Take regular breaksA rejuvenating and refreshing break from work can work wonders for you. Stress drains out most of your energy, time and efficiency; so going for hiking, travelling or a retreat will make you happier and refreshed.Sometimes you should go out and do things you enjoy doing the most, enjoy your time by eating healthy snacks and vegetables. Moreover, doing meditation and mind exercises in your spare time or break time can help you combat your stress.4. Have fun occasionallyFun and sports activities are the biggest stress-relievers. Many nonprofit leaders and wo rkers also effectively manage their stress during off hours by incorporating relaxing activity.Many studies have also provided evidence that having fun after stressful work environments, lifts a person’s mood. You should often socialize with your friends, attend family functions and keep talking to people in your networking relationships.You can organize small house partiesfor your close friends and use personalized wine labels that are most appropriate for the occasion.5. Get control on your worriesSometimes frustration increases when you see nothing really is working for you; in such a situation try to exert some control over whatever is causing the stress.evalAt the same time, you need to avoid your worry habits; otherwise it will increase your problem over and over.Before a small dilemma of yours could turn into a full scale anxiety episode, set aside some time, brainstorm possible solutions, get some more perspective and then deal with your life’s uncertainties.6. Formulate and review a self-care planDeveloping and following a self-care plan can go a long way in combating stress. With mild activities in the beginning, you can increase frequency and duration of implementation of your self-care plan, which will establish a baseline for these habits.As a result, you will be able to enhance your health and wellbeing, manage your stress and maintain professionalism as any type of worker. So, you can incorporate the following things in your plan:Develop a regular sleep routineAlways eat healthy dietGet some exercise before/after work regularlyIncrease relaxation and equanimityPursue your hobbiesConclusionBurnout and stress are the main pain points in charity sector, which can cause emotional and physical exhaustion to the charity workers.evalThe round the clock dedication by non-profit employees and volunteers in harsh conditions is taking a major toll on their health. Thus, if you are up to saving people’s lives, you need to take care of yourself first.T he above tips can be immensely helpful for you before you make the world a better place to live.

Your Job Search Cover Letter 5 Mistakes You are Probably Making and 8 Tricks to Avoid Them

Your Job Search Cover Letter â€" 5 Mistakes You are Probably Making and 8 Tricks to Avoid Them Today’s lesson: Job search cover letters. For starters, everybody is doing a cover letter, right? I hear too often that, “No hiring managers read cover letters.” or “My résumé says it all.” Really? How do you know? What is the downside? What if the hiring manager you’re applying to does value cover letters? And what if the other 249 candidates you’re up against do submit a cover letter? All you have is your résumé. And you think your résumé is that good? Think again! 8 Tricks for Cover Letter Magic: If someone referred the position youre applying for to you, put that in the first sentence of your cover letter. “Sally McCay at company referred this position to me because we worked together four years ago.” If you were not given the recipient’s name officially, then use the first sentence to explain how you found them. “I found you on LinkedIn and am hopeful that you can either assist me or direct this correspondence to the hiring manager.” If you don’t have a name, address it, “Dear Hiring Manager for Position XXXXXX” even if you know it’s going to Human Resources (HR). Keep the cover letter short and easy to read. Don’t make the reader scroll through a long email. Send it to yourself first and see if it shows on your PC screen as a single page. Bullet points are great for the body of the cover letter. Use the same font as your résumé. You can even use the same header that you use in your résumé with your name and contact information. Be sure your contact information is complete, either in the header or your signature block. Feel free to consider one or two additional sentences that enhance your message. For example: “What you won’t see on my résumé is my passion for sales in addition to marketing. The two need to work hand in hand.” Or “My analytical skills and attention to detail will enable me to help solve your challenging problems and insure a high-quality output.” Have a great subject head. And if you are soliciting a job that is not posted yet, use the subject line to state the type of role you are ideally seeking. “Sales Manager seeks Business Development position.” Use this “Cover Letter Checklist” on every cover letter before you press “send.” The contact name and company name are correct. The letter mentions the position you are applying for. Your personal information (name, address, home phone, cellphone, email) is all included and correct. If you have a contact at the company, you have mentioned him or her in the first sentence. The font you have used is 10, 11, or 12 point, easy to read (Calibri or Arial, for example), and matches the font in your résumé. There are no spelling, grammatical, or typographical errors. You have read it out loud to catch any errors. You have kept a copy for your records. 5 Top Cover Letter Mistakes You Should Never Make Mistake #1: Simply regurgitating your résumé. Nine out of 10 cover letters do this; it is uninspiring and adds zero value. Mistake #2: Starting almost every sentence with “I.” It is a huge turn-off for the reader and unnecessary. Circle the number of times you use “I,” “me,” or “my” and edit the letter to cut the number in half. Try to replace them with sentences that use “you” or “your.” Mistake #3: Using a generic cover letter. The recipient can tell immediately. Mistake #4: Being too wordy and then using a tiny font so it will fit on one page. Mistake #5: Forgetting the attachment. If you are sending a cover letter, you are obviously also sending a résumé or CV (CV is short for Curriculum Vitae, which is just another way of saying résumé) or an application form as an attachment. Many candidates forget the attachment and then have to send another email correcting this. We all make this error from time to time. Just try not to do it on the most important activity of your life… securing your next job. There are many more tricks and tips available on my written blog as well as in my 100+ YouTube videos, all designed to help you rise to the top of the YES pile, get an interview, and win that job! What questions do you have about your job search? I want to hear them here!

Career Corner Networking Tips continued from last week - Hallie Crawford

Career Corner Networking Tips continued from last week What opportunities for networking lie within your circle of family and friends Tip #3: Carry your card on you at all times. I hear this one all the time: people dont want to take up a ton of their friends or familys time discussing work. I understand that, family is family and we want to focus on spending quality time with them when were around them right? (At least some quality time, most people I know need to limit the time they spend with their families due to your typical family issues. But I digressThats a whole nother post.) This is where your business card can come in handy. When people ask what youve been up to, segue into a brief chat about your job, and then slip them the card just in case they know anybody. As I mentioned in a previous post about business cards, its a great idea to keep your card easily accessible. As the famous Disney theme park ride is called, its a small world after all. Even if the next door neighbor has no use for your photography services, she may have a brother whose wife owns an art gallery whos looking for photos to display in a show you never know. Be optimistic and remain positive and focused. Heres another quick career tip from an author and blog writer I highly recommend, the Brazen Careerist: To find your best next job, focus on the company not the job. Hallie,Career Services Related Links:Feel Better NowChoosing a More Fulfilling Career Path