Most Read Posts of September 2007

Most Read Posts of September 2007 2 These were the most-read articles on JobMob during the month of September 2007 according to Google Analytics: 18620 Reads â€" 50 Funniest Short Job Descriptions Ever Over on the Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams gave his readers an assignment: “describe your own job in one sentence, preferably in a humorously derogatory way.” Here are the best replies from among the hundreds, with the top 10 at the end. 966 Reads â€" Funniest Strangest Job Titles Ever If all recruiters followed the solid, classic rules of job advertisement writing, you would only see the same job titles over and over when scanning job listings. Too often, hiring staff will only get creative when it comes to glossing over job description details that might otherwise repel candidates. However, there are times when the actual job name is remarkable enough on its own and clearly needs no embellishment.eval 361 Views â€" Top 10 Best Job Ads of the World You can probably think of a half-dozen ads that you’ll never forget. Like a terrific resume stays lodged in the mind of a recruiter, a great ad can make a company and its brand. Warning: you may want to close your door so that no one else hears you laughing out loud†¦eval 323 Reads â€" gotfriends? Increases the Payout SQLink Group's gotfriends? job referral program is growing in size and in shekels. After hitech openings, they have now branched into finance-oriented positions. GotFriends Finance is the name of the recruitment company managing this new program and they want to pay for your leads. 300 Reads â€" Top 10 Funniest Job Horror Stories Passover is the celebration of the Israelites’ deliverance from the hands of their ancient Egyptian taskmasters. Although Jacob Richman’s 2007 Salary Survey Results showed that 92% of Israeli hitech workers are satisfied with their jobs, many people elsewhere feel that they too could use an exodus of their own and if not that, perhaps a plague or ten for their bosses and cohorts. In the spirit of the holiday, here are the Top 10 Funniest Job Horror Stories.

How to Sell Yourself Effectively in an Interview

How to Sell Yourself Effectively in an Interview It is easy to have a casual attitude towards interviews, particularly if you have attended many in the past. However, you may find this isn’t working anymore. Why? The jobs market has changed drastically since the recession forcing recruitment to take a new form. Of course, CVs are still the backbone of any job application, but there are also ways in which to stand out amongst other candidates when it comes to your interview. First impressions count and you will get a very small window to show off what you can offer. This is why it’s important now more than ever to learn how to ‘sell yourself’ as effectively as you can. Think of it as if you were selling a product to a customer in a store. Remember to keep in mind what you are selling, who you are selling to, and what the unique selling point is. What are you selling? Remember that in this situation it is yourself that is the product up for grabs. You want to highlight your strengths to maximise the conversion rate, like you would do if you were selling an item on eBay. So, how do you make yourself look as good as possible? Firstly ensure that you have the correct qualifications needed for the position. It is true that more employers are looking for people with experience, but for many academic careers, a minimum educational level is a must. If you don’t have the formal qualifications to argue that you’re knowledgeable on a topic, why do you think you’d be good for this position? Make sure you have adequate experience to make up for this. Alternatively, turn to the internet. There is a wealth of free information online, so although you may not have the means to attend an education establishment, it doesn’t mean you can’t advance your knowledge. In terms of experience, get out there and get some! It’s important to bear in mind that employers will consider your past performances as an indication of your potential future accomplishments. Phil McCabe of the Forum of Private Business lobby group has stated that the education system doesn’t produce the right level of work-ready young people. More than one million 16-24 year olds are now unemployed in Britain and study after study has shown that employers would rather hire someone with some work experience under their belts, than a degree. If you’re new to the jobs market, try some unpaid work experience. The fact that you have sacrificed your time and money to advance your career prospects speaks volumes to an employer. They don’t always want the finished package. They want someone who will develop and grow within a company. If this is you, state it explicitly in an interview. The employer will be impressed at your straightforward approach and willingness to progress. What’s most important to a company is proven results. Whether you get this from a previous job or from an unpaid internship, it doesn’t matter. Better yourself, not just for the interview, but for you career in the long term. Who are you selling to? Make sure you research the market you are looking to enter. The majority of interviews fails due to a lack of preparation or because of nerves. Kill two birds with one stone here by over-preparing. If you are well researched, you will come across as more confident. Also think about how you match up against their criteria? Is it a small business? If so, they may want someone who can multi-task and take on more responsibilities from the beginning. If there is a minimum requirement for the position, then it would be necessary to make sure you pay attention. Recruiters prefer when their instructions are followed. Saying this, if you feel you have ways to make up for a lack of experience, for example, make this clear in your covering letter, and it’s worth a shot. One way to stand out in your interview is through questions. Look through the job description and other company literature to find relevant questions you could ask. This shows enthusiasm and confidence. If you ask about the company’s plans, it shows you are thinking about long term plans. Furthermore, asking questions in reference to their website, or business strategy, or press they have received, is evidence that you’ve done your home, and makes a fantastic first impression. You’d be amazed how many people don’t research prior to interviews. Make sure you’re not one of them. What’s the USP? Put yourself in the position of the interviewee. What is it that you offer that someone else can’t? They might see a large number of candidates in one day, so find a way to be memorable, whilst professional. When discussing experience, you don’t always have to reference an employment example. Perhaps an unusual hobby of yours has given you some desirable skills for the job. There are three Ps to think about when it comes to your USP: Performance (what have you achieved so far in your career?), Potential (what are you capable of in the future?), and Perseverance (enthusiasm can speak volumes). Go through these prior to the interview and think of evidence where you have shown these traits. If you have any documentation or a portfolio to back it up, always bring it with you. But most of all, relax and be yourself. Just because the situation is formal, doesn’t mean you can’t be cheerful. Most people are so nervous, showing your smiley bubbly side could be the easy solutions to stand out amongst the crowds. Guest post written by Bev James from www.the-coaching-academy.com.

How to Bluff Your Way Thru Social Media

How to Bluff Your Way Thru Social Media Why is social media really nothing new?  Why is Twitter king and LinkedIn boring? How do you deal with trolls on social media? What’s vaguebooking? To get some answers, I speak to Susie Boniface, journalist and author of The Bluffer’s Guide to Social Media. Have a listen to the interview on iTunes  and  Soundcloud or keep reading for a special summary. And dont forget to subscribe to the Employer Branding Podcast. Is social media  really something new? It’s simply communication. It’s not difficult. We’ve communicated by cave paintings, we’ve communicated by quill pen and ink, and we now communicate via Facebook and Instagram, and Snapchat. The thing to remember with all social media, whether you’re intimidated by it, trying to understand it or trying to make money out of it, is that it’s fundamentally human interaction, and that’s it. There’s no difference between someone painting a picture of the bison they killed on the cave wall and someone tweeting a picture of their lunch. It’s exactly the same thing. Is  Twitter the king of social networks? Twitter is… but not in terms of making money or amount of people that are involved in it. It is, probably at the moment, king in terms of the level of interaction and socialisation, and the fact that news tends to break on Twitter, and that’s where people do tend to get a lot of their immediate information about the world around them. But Facebook is the one that makes all the money. But it’s arguably the one that’s got the most adverts and it’s got slightly more conservative with the small c, say, reactions to things. For example, the difference between Twitter and Facebook is that on Twitter, you only see what people say, you don’t see all the responses from everybody else. What about the professional network, LinkedIn? LinkedIn, right, yes. LinkedIn’s difficult for me to talk about on the basis that I, long ago, spammed all the invitations to join it. Basically it’s an online Rolodex. It’s not interesting enough to be banned in China like most of the other social media forms are. It’s basically just a place to put your online CVs, and for marketing and recruitment professionals to go and find people and say that, “We will find you jobs. Upload your details to us. There’s a huge amount of users on it. It’s inexplicably popular in terms of just the sheer number of people  and  it does make some money it’s very successful, but it’s incredibly dull. You’re not going to be on there very much really just sort of chat or interact with people on a normal human basis. You might be looking for work or trying to find an employee, that kind of thing. Or if you do it very wrong, as was the case a little while ago with a female barrister and a male lawyer, you’re trying to chat someone up or give them a compliment on LinkedIn, it tends to backfire. https://twitter.com/Tanisha_Paskey/status/682315242303549444 How do you deal with trolls on social media? There are general rules for anybody on social media,  what I call the bus-stop rules.  This applies whether someone is lovely, whether someone is asking on date, whether someone’s a troll, whether anything else, normal human interaction, what would you do at the bus stop if this happened to you? Just because it happens on your computer immediately and in front of your face, and you can’t quite see the body language, and you can’t quite see whether someone is being sarcastic or not, or trying to make a bad joke, if this was said to you at a bus stop, would you call the police? Would you get this upset? Would you decide that this is the person you want to marry? And if you would do that at the bus stop, that’s the way you should behave. And if you wouldn’t, then, most cases, people like trolls, for example, if someone comes up to you at a bus stop and says, “I’m going to come in your house and blow you up at 10pm tonight,” would you actually call the police, or would you just move further away from the bus stop, or get the next one as it came along? Tell us about citizen journalism on social? Well, there’s no such thing. There are citizens and then there are journalists. Journalists have some training, normally. And part of that, when you are at a news event, is to see what everyone else has to say about it, try to get their photographs and their names spelt correctly, and it’s got nothing to do with you, as a journalist. You don’t put yourself in that story. Citizens, however, when they are at an event, they blog it or tweet it or Facebook it, or take pictures of it, video it and they go, “Look at me, I’m here, I’m in the middle of everything,” and that’s not journalism. The best example of why citizen journalism isn’t journalism, is coverage of the Sydney siege a few years ago. People were tweeting and blogging pictures of themselves, selfies, outside a siege where a  gunman had people held at gunpoint. Now that is not what journalists would do. Love a selfie but HOW is this OK? RT@nycjim:Bystanders taking selfies at scene of #SydneySiege http://t.co/1NP5qYfrF1 pic.twitter.com/9GLzF5nZ7M GemmaTognini (@GemmaTognini) December 15, 2014 Social media glossary FTW:  For the win. This means that you are promoting one particular thing as being the likely to win. So you might say, “Trump for the win, FTW,” or you might be using a more sarcastic fashion and saying, “Eighteen slices of chocolate gateau for the win.” Depends on the context. H/T:  That’s a hat tip. So particularly on Twitter if you are trying to share what someone else has tweeted, and you want to attribute what you’re tweeting to somebody else to say, “this isn’t me saying this but I’ve seen this somewhere else,” then you just, “hat tip to,” and include the other person’s handle. Vaguebooking: Vaguebooking is just updating your Facebook status in a vague way, perhaps in a way to try to encourage other people to ask you if you are all right, or, “what are you talking about?” kind of thing. Follow Susie on Twitter @FleetStreetFox  and  subscribe to the Employer Branding Podcast.

Money Makeover Series Wrapping Up Future Financial Leader

Money Makeover Series Wrapping Up Future Financial Leader It’s time for another Money Makeover Series wrap up! Today we’re finding out how our Future Financial Leader fared for the past three months. True to her plan of becoming a financial leader, she’s got some great financial advice and lessons learned to share with all of you! From the very beginning of my talks with Pamela, I was impressed with her fierce determination to kick consumer debt to the curb, so she could focus on her mortgage, student loans, andof coursea vacation! Pamela earns a nice living and is working her tail off for it, but the pressures of debt have made it difficult for her to do more than pay her bills and retirement fund. Now that’s all changing. Making the Hard Decisions The first thing Pamela realized after we created her budget was that she was going to need to make more money if she wanted to make progress on  paying off debt. Keep in mind that Pamela has a very demanding job that has her working upwards of 80 hours a week. Still, she isnt letting that deter her from her goals. She found out a bar down the block from her apartment was hiring and was working there within days. Now she’s maintaining a steady weekly shift, and it’s making a huge difference in her debt payoff! Never Veering off Course In the past few months, Pamela faced some changes that could have tanked her budget. For one, her roommate moved out, effectively doubling her mortgage payment. While this was a planned event, it could still have had disastrous effects on her finances. But thanks to her extra income, Pamela is staying on track. Also, as with all budgets, there are setbacks. Pamela realized that she’d been eating out more than she should have due to her sudden increase in work hours. But where she overspent on food, she found other places in her budget to borrow from. The most important way to stay on track is staying accountable to your budget. Pamela checked back on her spreadsheet frequently, and it not only reminded her of her priorities, but it also reminded her of smaller bills that she might otherwise have forgotten because they were being paid automatically. This is just more proof that a budget doesn’t have to feel like a restriction but instead a tool to keep you focused. Finding Creative Ways to Achieve Desires One of the most impressive results of Pamela’s makeover is the creativity she used that allowed her to stick to her budget while still getting what she wanted. Check it out: 1) Pamela loves sports and physical fitness and has a free gym membership that she uses during the harsh Chicago winters. But during the summer she prefers to work out outside. In order to stay on her football teamwhich cost $120 in feesshe made a few calls to local bars to see if they’d sponsor her team. After only ten minutes of phone calls, she got a yes. Now the whole team’s fees are paid for and they receive 20% off of food and drinks every time they go to that bar. That means she gets to play her sport and eat out for less! 2) Pamela recently tried out yoga at CorePower Yoga with free passes from a friend. When her passes ran out, she asked if there was a cheaper option than the $139 monthly fee. Well, not only did she find a way to attend class for cheaper, she found a way to attend for free! All she has to do is work for three hours every week cleaning off yoga mats and then she has unlimited access to classes and mat rentals. Plus, if she stays on for three consecutive months, she’ll get 20% off of their merchandise! 3) Between long work hours and her roommate leaving, Pamela’s apartment needed a deep clean, but she didn’t have the time to do it. Meanwhile, she’d already taken an item of her budget to apply more money to debt payoff. Then she realized she could use her first months’ savings to pay for a cleaning person one time and then go back to applying that money to debt. She saved both time and money by making this trade off. What did Pamela learn after all of this? JUST ASK. If you want something, you never know if there’s a way to achieve it for lessor free. And if not, then find a way to borrow from your budget in other ways so you can still get what you want! Lessons from a Future Financial Leader From day one Pamela said she wanted to both improve her finances and be a leader for other women. Here are some words of wisdom shes learned along the way: 1) It pays to be organized Keeping track of your budget allows you to be aware and accountable. Not only that, but understanding where your money is going is the best way to decide how to scale back if need be. 2) It pays to to give and take Just because your budget is written out, doesn’t mean its written in stone. Be willing to trade to achieve new desires. 3) Be mindful of your time Time is money so you should be aware of how to value yours. Pamela started off bartending multiple times per week to really kick up her debt payoff, but once her work hours nearly doubled at her day job, she had no choice but to cut back on bartending to one night  per week if she wanted to keep her sanity. Now she’s still getting the extra money she needs to stay on  track  and the rest she needs to keep going. Now its your turn to give some of these principles a try on your own! And dont forget to share your experiences in the comments below!

How to Train in Resume Writing - Tips For Creating a Killer Resume

How to Train in Resume Writing - Tips For Creating a Killer ResumeThere are many resume writing tips that will give you an edge when it comes to resume writing. The trick is to get your skills and experiences and put them together. And this means getting the most out of what you put on paper.To be clear, when you have the most training possible, you are seen as an expert. You have more credibility. When this happens you can make your resume stand out. You can also go to your college or company's HR department and ask them if they are looking for a candidate with a specific skill set and experience that fit what they need.Resume writing tips in general outline different types of resumes. A resume is a document that will be submitted to a company for consideration for a job. The purpose of a resume is to gather information and outline a candidate's qualifications for the position. Your resume must be tailored to the requirements of the hiring company. For example, if you are applying f or a job as a customer service representative you should customize your resume so that it includes key terms and will stand out among other applicants.How you describe yourself and your qualifications is extremely important. Even if you have not gone back to school, you can still come up with a great resume. The key is to narrow your focus. If you are looking for a job as a sales representative, you could provide a summary of your work history including why you believe you would be a good salesperson and what made you stand out. Many people prefer to use bullet points to describe their jobs, but if you want to appear like a professional you can write the same description but with less detail.Where you send your resume is also important. By all means send your resume out to a whole bunch of places, but just make sure that the most important companies are included. And don't forget to include your contact information as well.Another tip on how to train in resume writing is to be sure to follow the rules. Resumes are documents that should only be used by individuals who are eligible for the position. Individuals who are not eligible will not be considered. This is important because it prevents anyone from submitting a resume to an employer who does not deserve to be hired. This is true no matter where you are applying.Most people miss a golden opportunity because they either give too much or too little time. They only spend two to three hours preparing a resume that gets tossed into the garbage can. Instead, they spend three to four hours per page applying for a job that never even came up in the first place.This is why you need to devote the time to prepare properly. Make sure that your resume is complete with all of the important data that an employer is looking for. While you should always be completely honest in your application, do not be dishonest.

83 Rachel White - Virtual CFO - Jane Jackson Career

83 Rachel White - Virtual CFO - Jane Jackson Career Over the past 20 years, Rachel has worked in 4 countries, raised $20M+ in capital, funded 4 start-ups and mentored many business owners.She combines her commercial experience with her investor relationships to bring the right people in at the right time and bring an idea to life.   Rachel observes that we are moving into the world where every business will, in some form or other, be a technology business and this is where she focuses her expertise, helping business owners to fund and grow their technology businesses.Rachel also shares her career journey over the years and around the globe, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of overseas experience and how she developed the resilience to overcome a number of significant changes and challenges in her career. Listen to this fascinating journey of an amazing entrepreneur.  Where to find Rachel:Website:  www.rachelwhite.com.auTwitter:  @rachelwhiteIf you LOVE podcasts and audio books, get your FREE Audible ebook now! http://www.au dibletrial.com/janejacksoncareers

Nurture Your Network With These 11 Ideas

Nurture Your Network With These 11 Ideas Staying in contact with the people often falls to the bottom of everyones to-do lists. But, with a bit of  planning and dash of creativity, you can nurture  your network. If youre like me, you probably have a drawer full of business cards, hundreds of LinkedIn connections and email addresses.  Anyone of those contacts could hold the key to your next opportunity. But you don’t know which one. This means you  need to find ways to stay in contact with as many as possible. Here are eleven  twists to keep  in touch with people you know. 1. Not Your Ordinary Holiday  Wishes It seems everyone sends a holiday card in December. Don’t get lost in the crowd. Instead, send holiday greetings for off-holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving and Groundhog day. Or pick a more unusual celebration, such as National Gumdrop day or National Cat Day, as a trigger to send your holiday wishes. 2. Pay Attention to Birthdays Social medias prompting reminders have made it easier to remember to send birthday cheer. However, some of your contacts may not have shared this important date on a social profile, and so this important day slips through the cracks. Be sure to note birthdays on your personal calendar, and go a step above by sending birthday cards through the mail. It takes just that much more thought and effort. 3. Create Your Very Own E-Newsletter Why would you have a personal e-newsletter? Because the technology is easy, and its good personal branding. Your monthly or quarterly e-newsletter should be useful to your readers. For example, if many of your connections are in the tech industry, share current news about new gadgets or reviews of new technology from reputable sources. Don’t forget to include personal updates, such as major milestones, ongoing education or training, events you’ve attended or projects you are working on. You can send a simple email; just be sure you blind copy recipients to protect privacy. And never spam people by adding them to your mailing list without permission or the option to opt out. 4. Say Congratulations When your contacts are mentioned or published in the news, congratulate them on the good public relations. You can use Google Alerts or Social Mention to customize the news updates on people and companies in your network. 5. Send  a Token For extra-special people, you may want to send a book you know they’ll enjoy. If you are looking for less expensive alternatives, consider Starbucks “Tweet-a-coffee” feature, which sends a $5 dollar gift card to the U.S. Twitter recipient you designate. Or maybe give a gift card to a favorite lunch spot. There are also ideas that may seem a bit over-the-top but that might just work. If you share a mutual interest in gardening, send forget-me-not seeds along with a note about how you value the connection with the person. If you both love to travel, send a postcard from your next trip that says, Wish You Were Here. Or bring back some swag from a conference, and send it along with a message about your takeaways from the event. 6. Turn  Bad Into Good Remember that job you were a runner-up for? Or that potential client that didn’t come through? Don’t give up. One way to stay in front of them is to send your contact a follow-up email or letter about three months after the new hire started or after the deal went through. Sincerely express your hope that all is going well and that you  would always be open to future conversations. 7. Share Useful News Sending a message that says, “just checking in!” can feel like a waste of time for you and the person receiving it. Share a tidbit of useful and current news. Perhaps there are changes in regulations or policies with the industry; why not share these with those in your network who need to know? Keep up to date by using Feedly, LinkedIn or whatever your favorite source of news is. 8. Pick  Up The Phone Sometimes, just picking up the phone for a quick check-in can be a welcome surprise. Try calling first thing in the morning, at lunch or at the end of the day, when people are more likely to be near the phone and not in meetings. If you get voice mail, leave a short message with your name and phone number, and share a snip-it of  interesting information. 9. Write a Recommendation LinkedIn is the perfect platform to recommend a past colleague, service provider or client. When someone receives an unsolicited recommendation, it is a welcome surprise. 10. Connect People Do you know two people you think would benefit from meeting each other? Be a matchmaker and introduce them. Send one email to both people and explain why you think they would benefit from meeting. Provide enough information so each person can understand the potential in the relationship and know how to research and contact one another. 11. Invite Along The next time you receive an invitation to an event or fundraiser, consider inviting one of your contacts to join you.  Just be sure it is a cause you both support. Get Organized Create your database now. Add  important information  about your network contacts like birthdays, names of partners/spouses, children, college attended, organizations, interests, favorite food and so on. You can use a formal customer relationship management system, a simple Excel spreadsheet or the LinkedIn contact notes section. Carve Out Time Put reminders to send outreach and important dates on your calendar. Here are some suggestions: Weekly: Check LinkedIn and Facebook notifications for work anniversaries and birthdays. Monthly: Plan the outreach for the month- who do you need to touch base with and what will you do. Annually: Evaluate the strength of your network? Have you done enough to stay in touch? This post originally appeared on US News World Report On Careers