Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Five ways to get a job



Job searching is a lot like putting an easy to assemble item together. You need all the pieces in order for the finished product to resemble the diagram. Miss a piece or a step in the directions and the anticipated outcome may not be achieved. Identifying the missing piece or pieces may not be easy, however.  This video explains more: 



Additional Resources:

Jul 23, 2012
How to job search: putting the pieces together. Job searching is a lot like putting an easy to assemble item together. You need all the pieces if you want the finished product to resemble the diagram. Miss a piece or step in the ...
Mar 22, 2013
Many job seekers and even professiona... Monday Mission July 23, 2012 ». How to job search: putting the pieces together. Job searching is a lot like putting an easy to assemble item together. You need all the pieces if you ...
Sep 10, 2013
When you are job searching and preparing for interviews, it can be helpful to secure Letters of Reference from prior employers. If possible, obtain one from each supervisor. If not, one can be a coworker, preferably in a higher .
Jul 29, 2013
Job searching - are you varying your sources and approaches? Follow up - are you doing your research and following up on your applications? Interviewing - are you practicing? Preparing questions to ask? Sending thank ...
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Mary is a CAREER AND OCCUPATIONAL CONSULTANT who is masters - prepared and certified. She has nearly 20 years experience in Management, Career Assessment & Counseling and in writing Career Articles and Educational Materials. Besides several blogs, Mary also writes career related articles for Examiner.com and Careerealism.com.

Her professional experience includes working as a CORPORATE MANAGER, hiring, firing and managing a staff of professionals with a multi-million dollar budget. She enjoys WRITING AND EDITING and has many years developing Marketing Materials and Presentations, Writing Proposals and Plans, and Conducting Staff Development Sessions in addition to working as a vocational consultant. Learn more about her and her services: www.Life-Works.Info

Monday, February 10, 2014

50 Body Language Secrets You Need To Succeed In Your Career, Business and Life


By: MyOnlineCareerSpace.com
50 Body Language Secrets You Need To Succeed In Your Career, Business and Life
A professor from UCLA performed a study that indicates 55% of communication comes from body language and only 7% from the words we use. In light of this study, it makes sense for anyone, whether a student just starting out in life or a seasoned business professional, to pay attention to what their body language is telling others as well as learning to read non-verbal cues from others.
The following 50 body language secrets will provide you with tips you can use in job interviews, boosting your career, enhancing your social life, learning how to read other people’s body language, and what you should not do when it comes to body language.
Job Interview
  • Pay attention to your body language using these tips to ensure you are giving the best impression during a job interview.
  • Handshake. Everyone knows that a handshake is an important element of first impressions. Offer a firm handshake that shows confidence in yourself.
  • Don’t cross arms and legs. Crossing your arms or legs is seen as a defensive position and is not what you want to present to your prospective employer.
  • Sit or stand with legs slightly apart. When you sit or stand with your legs slightly apart, this gives the impression that you are self-confident.
  • Keep your hands and legs still. Fidgeting exudes nervousness. Instead, keep your hands relaxed in your lap and be aware of what your legs are doing.
  • Chair movement. If you are sitting in a chair that swivels, be sure you aren’t accidentally turning back and forth as it can be distracting and also makes you appear nervous.
  • Voice tone. Be aware of your voice tone qualities. Don’t be monotonous, yet don’t let your voice tone vary to such extremes that you sound excited or nervous. One helpful tip is to take a deep breath before speaking.
  • Be aware of the interviewer’s body language. Pay attention to what the person interviewing you is saying through her body language. Not only can you determine if she is interested in what you have to offer, you can also match your body language to the level of formality.
  • Palms up. Use hand gestures that keep your palms up, which indicate you are open and friendly. Gestures with palms down tell the interviewer that you may be dominant or aggressive.
  • Keep eyes focused. Shifty eyes moving all around the room will give your prospective employer the feeling that you are being dishonest, or at best, uncomfortable.
  • Active listening. Be an active listener during the interview. Make eye contact, nod your head while others are speaking, and interject a few verbal acknowledgements such as “yes” or “I see.”
Business and Career
  • What you say with your body language can convey as much to your business colleagues as your words. Learn how to manage your body language in a business setting to help promote your career.
  • Relax your shoulders. When many people feel tension, they pull up their shoulders. Be conscious of this and relax your shoulders. Not only will this help prevent neck and back pain, it makes you appear less stressed, too.
  • Be mindful of your head position. Holding your head level both vertically and horizontally indicates confidence and asks others to take you seriously. If you want to show that you are listening and open to the other person, tilt your head slightly to one side.
  • Use your hands. Hanging your hands down by your side during a presentation indicates depression. Instead, keep your hands active and use gestures to show involvement and energy.
  • Remove the opportunity for eye contact in conflict. If negotiations have turned sour or co-workers are disagreeing, moving them to a different form of communication that does not involve eye contact, such as email or IM, may diffuse the situation and allow for a better flow of communication.
  • Keep your hands out of your pockets. Standing with your hands in your pockets may send several signals to those around you, probably none of them what you intend. Unless you are trying to look less confident, as if you are holding yourself back, you are bored, or you are hiding something, then take your hands out of your pockets.
  • Women, learn the “business gaze”. For women, a key element to being taken seriously is the “business gaze” or holding your line of sight on the area from the eyes to the mid-forehead. A gaze held lower indicates a more “social gaze.”
  • Make eye contact with everyone. If you are in a meeting or giving a presentation, make it a point to make eye contact with each one of the people involved (unless it’s a packed house and physically impossible to do).
  • Watch your stance. Standing in a commando stance, with legs spread and hands on hips, tells others you are feeling disapproving, superior or are arrogant.
  • Keep your hands from behind your head. Sitting back with your hands clasped behind your head is another position that communicates arrogance or superiority.
  • Interruptions. If you are in the middle of a conversation with a superior or in a meeting that has been interrupted, it is best to look away from the person dealing with the interruption in an effort to give them privacy and to indicate you have disengaged yourself from something that is not your business.
Relationships and Dating
  • Whether you want to improve your love life or your social life, study these body language techniques so you are sure you set the right tone in any social setting.
  • Make eye contact, but not too much. This one may feel a bit tricky, but it is important to make eye contact, yet you don’t want to go overboard on it. Not making eye contact appears weak, but staring too long makes others feel uncomfortable.
  • Smile. Smiling while in conversation with others shows you are welcoming, relaxed, and interested in what they have to say.
  • Give personal space. Don’t stand or sit too close to others. Personal space is important, and when you breech that invisible boundary, others feel incredibly uncomfortable. How much space you give depends on the situation, how well you know the person, and cultural expectations. In the US, good friends should be about 1.5 to 4 feet away and acquaintances, 4 to 12 feet.
  • Good posture. This is another body language with a fine balance. You want to stand or sit up straight to give off that look of confidence, but standing or sitting ramrod straight just looks odd.
  • Lean in or away. While talking with someone, lean in to them to indicate you are interested in what they have to say. Leaning a bit back shows self confidence.
  • Mirroring. Mirroring is an unconscious act that people do when they have a connection with each other. Pay attention the next time you are sitting down with a good friend or close family member. Do you see how when one of you leans in, the other does too, or when one of you picks up your drink, the other will also? This is mirroring and is an indication to the other person that you share a connection.
  • Face the other person. Whether sitting or standing, face the person squarely to indicate you are engaged and paying attention to them. Turning your body away or looking away for long periods indicates you are not interested in them.
  • Learn signs of flirting. Flirting body language may include casual touches, leaning in toward you, and women touching or playing with their hair.
  • Start a conversation. Use body language to start a conversation. Something as simple as a smile or the expression in your eyes can start a conversation as easily as words.
  • Facial expressions. Your emotions are easily communicated via your facial expressions. If you are trying to communicate happiness, surprise, fear, anger, or any other emotion, learn what the face looks like while experiencing these emotions.
Reading Body Language
  • Understanding the body language you observe in others is as important as managing your own body language. Brush up on these secrets to learn what others are saying.
  • Going from open to closed. If someone starts out in a conversation with you in an open way–with arms relaxed, leaning forward slightly, and nodding in agreement–to a more closed presence that may include folded arms, leaning away, and steepling fingers, then you have lost your audience.
  • Scrunching forehead. If you see someone sitting still and scrunching his forehead, he is probably deep in thought or concentrating hard on something.
  • Hand over mouth. If someone is covering their mouth, they are either feeling insecure or may be lying.
  • Lying. Learn a few simple ways to recognize when someone is lying, such as avoiding eye contact, scratching their nose or behind their ear, gestures and expressions don’t match, and stiff arm and hand motions.
  • Palm position. If someone offers you a handshake with their palm down, they are demonstrating their sense of dominance or authority. Likewise, a handshake or a significant-other’s hand-hold with the palm facing up indicates they are open and more submissive.
  • Take it in context. One single element of body language may not tell the whole story, so be sure to take into consideration several different non-verbal cues, the social situation, and any cultural differences that may affect body language.
  • Precision grip. When someone is speaking to you and uses a precision grip, or the thumb and forefinger touching with the other fingers closed on the palm, they are trying to relate something to you that they want you to understand.
  • Body turned away. If someone turns their body away from you while you are talking, they are telling you that they want to leave and are finished talking to you. Ignoring this signal means you will irritate them further if you continue to talk.
  • Walking away while talking. This is probably a sign that the person is in a hurry and is trying not to be rude. If you see this, let them go with an acknowledgement that you can catch up later.
  • Embodied cognition. The idea of embodied cognition is that the body reacts to what the brain is thinking in a literal way. If someone is thinking about the past, they may lean back slightly as opposed to leaning forward when thinking about the future. Also, someone holding a warm mug of tea may react differently to the same situation as someone holding a glass of iced tea.
What Not to Do
  • In order to make the best impression in any circumstance, stay away from these actions that may impart a negative image of yourself.
  • Lean way back. Leaning too far back while engaged in conversation puts off a negative signal, saying you are too confident in yourself.
  • Touch your face. Touching your face appears insecure and can also be distracting to those talking to you.
  • Cover your heart. Don’t hold a drink or anything else right in front of your heart as this indicates a guardedness that you probably don’t intend to project to others.
  • Blank stare. If you have stopped listening to someone and have let your thoughts take you away, it will show as a blank stare, indicating you are no longer listening. If you feel yourself drifting away, at least try to keep your face animated in an attempt to indicate you are still listening.
  • Tap your feet. Tapping your feet indicates boredom, so unless you are trying to drop a not-so-subtle hint, then make sure to keep your feet still.
  • Clench you fist. Fist clenching is an overt sign that you are angry, frustrated, or holding back your opinions.
  • Slouch. Slouching down in your chair tells others that you are not interested in what is going on. Whether sitting in a business meeting or listening to someone talk, sit up straight to show you are paying attention and engaged.
  • Drumming fingers. Nothing shows boredom like drumming your fingers on a table or desk. Well, except maybe rubbing the back of your neck or pointing your body or feet toward the door.
  • Bright red lipstick. Ladies, if you want to make a professional impression in business, save your bright red lipstick for your night on the town and opt for a more muted shade instead.
  • Coughing or yawning. While it may be difficult to suppress these physical reactions, they usually indicate restlessness or boredom.

Monday, January 27, 2014

FREE RESUME REVIEW

Job seekers if you are looking for work it is important that you understand that the way you look for work and speak to employers has probably changed since the last time you were unemployed. Trust me...

YOU DO NEED A RESUME.

You probably also need to learn how to look for work in today's job market; please take advantage of the free resources I offer here.

Don't forget, I ALWAYS OFFER FREE RESUME REVIEWS and will give you an estimate for creating or reformatting yours based on your individual situation!

For those local to Lewes:  Look for a MeetUp FREE Job Search Group I am planning for the near future.

Keep positive and keep searching - there are jobs out there!

Email me at lifeworks@mail.com
Call me at 302.644.1827

Let me know how I can help, Mary

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Winning Resume - Thumbtack Spotlight

by Ashley | September 4, 2013 at 12:20 pm

ix
Something is lacking, [though] they may not know what! Always, they are very surprised at what I come up with for them!
Read More:  Winning Resume – Thumbtack Spotlight

View my Profile on Thumbtack.com

Or, request help with your LinkedIn, Resume or Cover letter or Other Career Concern

Share a comment, thought or question or just email me your resume for a free and confidential review.

Take care and make it a great day!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

THE WORKS - Career and Job Search News

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

How to gather your references

References should not be provided without being asked for them UNLESS you have several that you can count on to be savvy enough to present the appropriate skills to the appropriate employers consistently.

It is preferable to be able to notify your references that they will be called (many people do not answer calls from unknown callers), the position for which you are applying, and the skills that you would like them to highlight.  

If you only provide references when asked, you will also know when an employer is checking with your references and be able to ensure your references will answer the phone!

Prepare and carry with you a Reference Page with three to five references listed below your name and contact information.  (via http://www.effective-résumé -writing.com/résumé -reference-sample-page.html)


Sample Reference List
John B. Harding
Jbharding@gmail.com
123 Washington Avenue
Homewood, Illinois 12345
(123) 456-7890

Jan Miles, Operations Manager
Jan.miles@gmail.com
Shorewood Manufacturing, Inc.
123 East Muncie Avenue
Shorewood, Illinois 12345
(123) 456-7890
Carl J. Walker, Director of Human Resources
cwalker@gmail.com
Ace Hospital Supplies, Inc.
789 Tanaka Circle
Freeport, Illinois 12345
(111) 111-3333

William T. Gannon, Shop Supervisor
gannon@gmail.com
Rail Cars Express
900 Smithton Street
Seaside, California 12345
(111) 111-4444


If you don’t have good references or your references are no longer available then you need to be prepared to address that and to discuss it if necessary.  If possible use someone at the employer.  For example if your supervisor is deceased, use a coworker or HR other supervisor if possible.  Develop some current references by volunteering.  I have often served as a reference for clients in a pinch.  

Another thing to consider is verifying your employment information with past employers.
Please comment below or email me with any other career questions or concerns! 
Sep 11, 2012
When you are job searching and preparing for interviews, it can be helpful to secure Letters of Reference from prior employers. If possible, obtain one from each supervisor. If not, one can be a coworker, preferably in a higher ...

Sep 19, 2012
I recently published a Job Search Tip: Ask for a letter of reference. There are some excellent reasons to take this extra step and to go one step further and write a template for your references to follow. Click on the link above to ...
Aug 08, 2012
Contact all your references periodically to keep them apprised of you progress in finding a job and any changes in focus that you may make. Update any changes in their contact information immediately. Consider asking some ...
Jun 19, 2012
Employers will check your employment references and may even do a background check – you SHOULD NEVER LIE on an application or in an interview! That having been said, you definitely want to present yourself in the ...

OTHER ARTICLES THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST:
Sep 11, 2012
When you are job searching and preparing for interviews, it can be helpful to secure Letters of Reference from prior employers. If possible, obtain one from each supervisor. If not, one can be a coworker, preferably in a higher ...

Sep 19, 2012
I recently published a Job Search Tip: Ask for a letter of reference. There are some excellent reasons to take this extra step and to go one step further and write a template for your references to follow. Click on the link above to ...
Aug 08, 2012
Contact all your references periodically to keep them apprised of you progress in finding a job and any changes in focus that you may make. Update any changes in their contact information immediately. Consider asking some ...
Jun 19, 2012
Employers will check your employment references and may even do a background check – you SHOULD NEVER LIE on an application or in an interview! That having been said, you definitely want to present yourself in the ...

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

How to get promoted

http://www.morguefile.com/creative/DarrenHester
I just had a question from a gentleman who got a job offer and would like some guidance on how to position himself for a
promotion to a specific position of interest in his company. I wish more workers were thinking along this line - it would open up a lot more jobs for those looking for work!

Here are a few quick tips I provided him to make sure he is in competition for the position of his dreams:

  • Research the job for which you would like to apply or strive toward 
  • Get a detailed job description 
  • Schedule an informational interview with someone doing this job to find out more how to prepare 
  • Research any training programs and interview other attendees or read reviews 
  • Evaluate what you need to compete for the job(s) Plan out what you need to do to achieve these skills, qualifications or abilities 
  • Map out time frames to complete the small goals 
  •  Actually write down all of these goals and review weekly or monthly to see where you are in working toward your goals! 
More information is available on my blog, these article might be of interest: 
Jul 31, 2012
In addition to reading something about your industry I also recommend that you read about job searching or career planning. If you are unemployed, set aside an hour a day for reading career planning or industry related ...
Sep 14, 2012
The approach I have been taking it to post "Job Tips" which has really worked out great. The site has really fleshed out and there is some good, helpful content to help guide you in your job search and career planning efforts.
Feb 04, 2013
REQUEST A FREE CAREER PLANNING TOOL. The definition of success is as unique as you are. Think of your success definition as a destination. Typically we don't get in the car and drive around (unless that is the goal).
Dec 08, 2012
Each article will highlight a meaningful ideal that I feel can be related to either the Celebration of Hanukkah or career planning and job search. I will kindle one light on the menorah by sharing the titles of each article theme or ...
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