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A Killer Secret To Get Your Cover Letter Read You're still reading?so I know my title grabbed your attention. Do I Have to Provide a Salary History? Often you see job postings with a request such as "Send resume with salary history to?" I don't know about you but the first thing that pops into my mind is what do they expect to pay? The next question I ponder is whether or not it's legal to request this information. Who will see my salary history when my resume and accompanying documents are received? Will it be the hiring manager, someone in the human resources department, or will it be a notoriously nosy employee whose job it is to open the mail? Will that individual broadcast my confidential information to other employees? Career Success: Take Charge of Your Career People react very differently to the waves of change that suddenly flood the work and marketplace. Some, who feel confused or unsettled struggle to keep their heads above water gasping for air. By contrast, others, who may not even like or agree with the changes, nevertheless accept them, get on with their lives and swim forcefully to their new destination. The following three tactics will help you mobilize your resources to take charge of their careers. How To Conduct A Successful Job Search Campaign 1.Define your objective: Know what kind of work you most enjoy and perform the best. This requires self-evaluation, spending time looking at your interests and abilities. Why Do You Want This Job? Why Do You Want This Job? Is it because any job will do, or is it because this is the job of your dreams? What do you do ? you send your winning resume, you carefully dress for the interview, you prepare to answer all of the questions about why you are the best candidate for the job. All of the literature tells you to do this. But is this the job for you? Most interview articles don't talk about when to walk away and not accept the job. Ebook Review: Winning a Job is Easier with Job Secrets Revealed Introduction Self-Knowledge: The Key To Finding The Right Career Direction Your career, like any journey, has a beginning, an end and a direction. For many people, the present direction of the career is probably not a result of entirely their own choices. If, for some reason, you are not happy with the direction of your career, there is a way out: Take charge of your career and change its direction. Is Your Resume Doing ITS Job? Is it opening doors to new opportunities? Does it compel the reader to think, "Hey! This applicant can ?put that one on top of the 'call in for an interview' pile!" Does it showcase what you have accomplished for past employers as well as what you can accomplish for the potential employer? The Computer-Friendly Resume The evolution of technology is changing the traditional methods for job searching and recruiting. More and more companies are now relying on computers to initiate the process of hiring and are filling their database with candidates with skills that are easily searchable. Traditionally, submitted resumes were first received and sorted by humans. What else, right? But now, for many firms, this step has been handed over to their computers. What Recruiters Hate About Resumes And Cover Letters Today, I'm going to share with you the awful truth about resumes and cover letters. Interview Thank-You Letters The number one etiquette tip for interviews is writing a thank-you letter. This is not a tool commonly used by job seekers right now. If you are looking for an advantage and a way to stick out above the other job applicants then follow up your interview by showing appreciation and courtesy. Fascinating Ways to Make a Living Doing What You Love May Be Closer Than You Think... You don't have to look very far to find fascinating ways to make a living. Opportunities are literally everywhere? if you're looking, that is. It seems I can't turn on the television or radio or open a magazine or newspaper without seeing at least one good business idea. Maybe that's why, as we were winding down a consulting session the other day, one of my clients said to me, "Boy, you sure have a lot of information in your head." I appreciated the compliment, but Julie was only half right. When you've been in the business of helping people change course for as long as I have, it's only natural I'd know a lot about creative income streams. But most of them aren't in my head ? they're in my Opportunity File.What's an Opportunity File? Basically anytime I happen upon an interesting story about someone who is making money doing what they love, I add it to a big file called Opportunities. If you don't yet have an Opportunity File, I encourage you to set one up. It's positively addicting!I thought it might be fun to just pull a couple of examples from the top of my Opportunity file and share them with you. Since they're on top, that means I've come across them in just the last week or so. Collecting is all the rage these days. As I looked more closely at my top of the pile examples, I realized that in one way or another, they all have something to do with collecting. Read on and you'll see what I mean.First there's antique Christmas decorations collector, Gerald Nixon (aka Mr. Pink? I'll explain in a moment). Gerald had so many antique Christmas decorations in his personal collection that he finally had to open a shop just so he could move about his apartment. Today he has over 10,000 ornaments as well as light reflectors, aluminum trees, rotating color wheels, rotating musical tree stands, vintage holiday cards, and wrapping paper. Okay, why is he called Mr. Pink? Well, it seems the guy owns a very fuzzy pink Santa suit that he happily dons every weekend in December. You can imagine how many tourists ask to have their picture taken with him! You can visit Gerald at his shop in Manhattan at 223 16th Street or online at MrPinkInc.com. If you hurry, you may even catch him in his furry pink suit!And speaking of winter? after his grandfather died and left him his old wooden skis, Mark Miller began collecting vintage skis. Soon neighbors in his small hometown in New Hampshire started dropping off their old skis. Then Mark began buying skis at auctions. Before long, he had over 100 pairs!In 1994, he decided to turn his hobby into a business and moved himself and his collection to Park City, Utah, where he became a ski instructor. Today Mark has the largest collection of antique winter sports equipment in the world. Two warehouses hold his collection of 3,000 pairs of skis, 2,000 pairs of snowshoes, 500 vintage sleds, and 400 pairs of wooden skates.Increasingly, Mark's collection comes from Europe where he managed to track down 500 pairs of American snow shoes used by the Army's 10th Mountain Division in World War II. The shoes were just sitting in an old barn in Turkey. Mark does all the refinishing work himself before selling his vintage finds through his web site at AntiqueSkis.com and through home décor shops in four western states. The next opportunity I found in an article in FSB magazine about hot franchises. I'm not usually very interested in franchises. I've got nothing against them mind you? it's just hard for me to picture someone who wakes up in the morning excited about opening their own Subway or Jiffy Lube shop. On the other hand, franchises can be the ideal solution for someone who basically wants to run his or her own business but doesn't want to build something from scratch.Anyway, it was my keen interest in recycling that peaked my curiosity about Canadian Brian Scudamore's franchise entirely geared around turning trash into cash. Brian got into the business of clearing out unwanted things from people's basements, garages, attics and the like when he was 19 and still in college. He bought an old truck for $700, and in an attempt to make his business sound bigger than it was, he named it Rubbish Boys. (Even though Brian was the only rubbish boy he thought big). His business was so successful, he ended up dropping out of school to haul junk full time.The junk hauling business itself is nothing new. But over time Brian got the bright idea of modernizing the business with uniformed drivers driving fancy trucks who show up when they say they will. So he decide to start a company called Got-Junk (think UPS but with junk pick up). Today this 33-year-old's Vancouver-based company is one of the fastest growing franchises in North America with 74 territories ? most in the U.S. Is there really that much money in junk? This year Got-Junk expects to post revenues system-wide of $12.6 million. To learn more, go to 1800GotJunk.com. A lot of people skip over articles or entire publications if they don't see an immediate application to their life. Not me. The more unrelated to my life, the more intrigued I am. Case in point was a supplement in my local paper that was dedicated to equestrians. I like horses and all, but am not even remotely connected to the horse world.While I scanned the articles, what I was really drawn to were the advertisements. Why? Ads reveal all kinds of interesting ways people with a particular interest have found a way to earn a living. Among the ads for such obvious businesses as tack shops and veterinarians was an ad for "quality equine laundry." Who knew?I quickly discovered that the company will "clean, refurbish, and return each blanket spotless, repaired, and wrapped with tissue in a zippered plastic case." They also promise to make Velcro stick again and to air-dry the blankets on a special rack to avoid shrinkage. This enterprising company will arrange for pick up anywhere in New England. This last one is not so much about collecting things as it is about collecting and using experience. A headline in my local paper featured a guy who recently bought a local trophy and engraving shop. I don't have a big need for trophies, but I know when it comes to entrepreneurs, there's always more to a story than the headline. I was right. It seems the new shop keeper, 51-year-old Russell Wilkinson, has had a pretty varied background. According to the article, Russell has worked in construction, been an electrician, owned his own shoe repair shop, been a security chief at a local park, delivered packages for UPS, owned a local restaurant, and trained to be a scuba diving instructor in Key West. People often ask Russell why he doesn't just get a regular job. His reply? "If I'd done that, it would have been the biggest waste of the most expensive education a person can have." Russell's story serves as a good reminder that despite all the pressure to find that one thing you're good at and then stick to it for the rest of your life, having a varied occupational life can make life a whole lot more interesting.It also reminds us that no experience is wasted. So many people went to school for things that have nothing to do with the work they do today? myself included. I never view past training, jobs, or even relationships as wasted time. All of our past experience adds up to who we are today.Do you want to work at something you truly love? Opportunities are all around you. Get a note pad and a file folder and start your own Opportunities File. Let it be a source of inspiration and ideas. Evaluating Job Offers -- Eleven Warning Signs You Must Watch Out For Moving into a new job always involves some degree of uncertainty. You should do your best to find out all you can about a prospective employer, starting right from the pre-interview stage. 5 Proven Steps To Easily Master The Art Of The Interview And Get The Bartending Job Of Your Dreams! Your mouth is dry, your palms are sweaty, your heart is beating so fast it feels like it is going to pop out of your chest! Knowing and Guessing The line between average and exceptional work performance is dotted with ordinary day-by-day behaviors. I was reminded of that line recently. My husband was explaining to a nurse how he'd inadvertently taken the last dose of the live typhoid virus on the wrong day and wondered if he needed to retake the sequence prior to our Africa trip. "No," she commented, "I think you'll be fine." We both knew she was guessing. Ideal Job and Handling Criticism How many times have you been asked, "What is your dream job?" Cleaning Houses for a Living Has Some Unexpected Benefits If you're looking for a way to earn a living or just to make some extra money on the side, cleaning houses for a living is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. Resume Tune Up Employers have fears, uncertainty and DOUBT (the FUD factor) over your ability to actually do what you claim you can do in your resume and cover letter. Rejection Got You Down in the Job Search? REJECTION IN THE JOB SEARCH Does Your Resume Lack Vision? You're just getting over the shock of having become unemployed. You know you need to begin a job search, but you may not know the best way to proceed, or where to start. |
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