Five personal attributes valued by employers

Five personal attributes valued by employers by Amber Rolfe Struggling to stand out? It might be time to take it personally…Although it can seem like work experience, knowledge, and qualifications are the only factors a prospective employer is interested in â€" your personality also plays a big part in your suitability. And even if you match the job specifications perfectly, not drawing attention to your essential attributes could be holding you back.To make sure you’re highlighting your attributes as well as your skills, here are five personal attributes most valued by employers:  Confidence Having the right skills and experience for a role is essential â€" but it isn’t always enough.Employers also want someone who can prove their abilities, know their worth, and actually follow through with their claims. After all, if you’re not sure of yourself, how can they be sure of you?So when it comes to an interview, always exert confidence in your expertise â€" whether it’s by providing unique examples to prove your skills, maintaining eye contact and a firm handshake, or putting your abilities into practice in roleplays or tests.And remember: it’s not just about what you say, it’s also about how you say it.So prepare your answers in advance, and think before you speak. After all, nothing says uncertainty like repetitive ‘umming’ and ‘ahhing’.  ProactivityDo you wait to be told what to do, or do you lead by example?If you veer towards the latter, you’re probably the proactive worker that most employers are looking for. After all, they don’t always have the time to monitor their employees 24/7, so a team of quick thinkers with a high level of initiative is key to a smooth-running workplace.Luckily, there are a few ways to demonstrate proactivity in an interview.Firstly, talk about previous instances that prove you can use your initiative to get things done â€" whether it’s taking the lead on a project, noticing a mistake and fixing it, or prioritising tasks effectively.Secondly â€" show an active interest in the role.Asking about the kind of work you’ll be doing and referring back to the job description wherever possible is a great way to demonstrate proactivity. It’ll also show you’ve thoroughly prepared, and are passionate about what the job involves.  Resilience No matter what the job is, roadblocks will always come up.This means that employers need someone who’s able to deal with them in an optimistic, non-defeatist manner. Not only should they be able to solve problems, they should also be able to learn and grow from failure.Without employees like this, a business will undoubtedly crumble at the first sign of trouble.So how can you demonstrate resilience to an employer? Aside from talking about any hurdles you’ve overcome in the past, it’s also key to draw attention to your determination and dedication to doing well.After all, if you’re passionate about your goals, you’re more likely to do what it takes to get there.  Adaptability Cha nge is a natural part of business.Not only will employers be looking for someone who’s open to that, they’ll also want someone who can be flexible and adaptable in their work.Whether this means you help out in different departments (for example, in retail), prioritise your workloads according to the most up and coming projects, or take on extra duties â€" adaptability is vital in almost every workplace.This doesn’t mean you have to be totally against routine and familiarity. It just means you need to show you’re open to new things and willing to expand on your knowledge.  Positivity Let’s face it, your attitude matters.Even if you’re fully qualified for a job, a negative approach to work can put you at the bottom of the candidate list. Not only will you come across unenthusiastic, you could also imply that you’d rather focus on the bad than the good.And even if you don’t think you’re being negative â€" anything from the way you talk about previous mistakes or probl ems to how you answer competency questions can imply a pessimistic attitude.So be careful with your wording, and make sure you focus on the positives in every situation â€" even if the outcome wasn’t easy to obtain.  Honourable mentions: Accountability, Ambition, Empathy, Reliability, Creativity, Decisiveness  Need more CV advice?It takes an employer just seven seconds to save or reject a job applicant’s CV. This means creating a succinct CV is absolutely vital if you want to land that all-important interview. To find out how to make your CV stand out from the crowd, buy James Reed’s new book: The 7 Second CV: How to Land the Interview. Still searching for your perfect position? View all available jobs nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the How to start looking for work

The Top Job Interview Blunders on Twitter

The Top Job Interview Blunders on Twitter Everyones got an embarrassing interview tale to tell and hearing about other peoples job interview blunders is guaranteed to make us  feel ever so slightly better about our own awkward interview experiences. Luckily for us, the Twittersphere is full of peoples contributions of funny and downright unfortunate interview anecdotes and scenarios. We have selected some of the best interview tales, pointers, and quotes on Twitter, so if you think your interview went bad, heres a little reminder that it could always be worse! There are the wise words of advice: Job interview tip: Tell them youre not an applicant, youre an appliCAN. Lick your finger, hold it against buttock. Make sizzling noise. Michael Spicer (@MrMichaelSpicer) October 1, 2013 Happy Friday #interviewfail or #win ?????? pic.twitter.com/137c2lIpkS Ellie K (@elliekosto) October 8, 2015 #InterviewMistake: The parking lot is still fair territory. So, dont smoke, curse, litter, spit, or masturbate. Yes, I said litter. Van Damage (@vdemske) January 5, 2010 The face-palm moments: Karma the guy who pushed past me on the tube and then suggested I go F myself just arrived for his interviewwith me Matt Buckland (@ElSatanico) February 16, 2015 https://twitter.com/LegitConrad/status/557053749949399040 The words that are probably best left unsaid: We are hiring and interviewing like crazy @blue_latitude so this tickled me. #interviewfail #pharma #marketingjobs pic.twitter.com/XFjWIM16bx Mark Walmsley (@MarkWalmsley) May 21, 2014 https://twitter.com/ivanforondajr/status/517269474605797376 Not that Id say this in an interview, but thats my kind of long-term plan @onlymarketing #interviewfail pic.twitter.com/0AEbVhzd8T Natasha Preocanin (@NatashaPreo) September 12, 2016 Anyway, they dropped the charges. #FiveWordsToRuinAJobInterview Ross Teddy Craig (@RossTeddyCraig) January 19, 2015

The Perfect Day - Free Resume Template for Word

The Perfect Day - Free Resume Template for Word The Perfect Day Free Resume Template for Word Is there a better day than a crisp fall day? We don’t think so. That’s why we used hearty colors reminiscent of autumn. This color scheme is warm and inviting, helping your resume stand out from the crowd. While other applicants are using the same boring black and white resumes, yours will solicit more attention. What a great partner for a well-written cover letter! If you are looking for something truly different, go ahead and give this free resume template a try. Why do you need to use a professional resume template? It’s a simple, free tool to make sure your resume leaves a long-lasting impression with an HR. Even better, templates help you get done with resume writing faster as you start with a predefined layout, not a black canvas.So how about giving this template a try today? You can download it one click using the link below. Next, you can customize this resume as you like. Just use Word to fill in the gaps. File size: 408 KB Format: .docx Downloaded 4,348 times Licen se: Free, personal use only. Please read the license terms for resources. Download previous article 6 Essential Questions To Ask The Interviewer Before You Leave next article How to Ask Your Boss for a Personal Reference Letter you might also likeCadmium Yellow: Simple, Yet Elegant Resume Template

Your Role Sucks and Thats Why Recruiters Cant Fill it

Your Role Sucks and Thats Why Recruiters Cant Fill it The  work of agency recruiters never stops. They  are the ultimate plate spinners who could always be doing more. While they constantly strive to bring more work in, nurturing relationships with candidates and clients, some roles are honestly more pain to work on than theyre really worth. Having an  impossible-to-fill role on their  books is a  real drainer. It doesnt matter how great the client is or how chunky that salary is; if recruiters cant place someone happily in the role, its moot point. As a salesperson in the talent space, its a really difficult position to be in. Conscious of keeping all parties happy, recruiters feel compelled to brave the storm and try again, and again, and again even though they know the role is clearly doomed.  No matter what they do, the process keeps  bursting into flames; candidates dropping like flies. Are you a hiring manager with a role  your external recruiters cant seem to fill for you?  Before you start blaming your third party consultant, you should probably check your own backyard, because you might just find the real reasons are right there Its  not an interesting position Take a look at the job description. Would you want to do that job? Sure, recruiters will find ways to draw out the positives and sell that to suitable candidates, but if the role is genuinely not a desirable position, youre already starting the process on the back foot. Your expectations are unrealistic Not only is the job super boring-sounding, you are holding completely outlandish expectations regarding the type of candidate you want. How many of the essential applicant critera is actually truly essential, and how much of it is simply ideal or a nice to have? Knocking back perfectly capable candidates because they didnt go to one of your favourite universities is clearly not going to help with filling this position. The interview process is horrendous Even when recruiters  find candidates who are interested and ready to go in for an interview, you completely turn them off by staging a poorly organised interview. You make them feel like they are one of a million applicants you had to begrudgingly make time for, and then spend an hour grilling them. They leave feeling incredibly tired and deflated, and dont even want to join your company. You  delay everything On top of all this, you drag your heels at any opportunity to do so. You take weeks to review CVs, days to answer simple emails, way too long to book in interviews and the whole things is almost at a standstill. Recruiters find you candidates, who end up getting other jobs offered to them  before youve even looked at their CV. When it comes to hiring good people, time is of the essence! You arent paying enough money Some roles come with more challenges than others, and workers need to be compensated for their troubles. You are offering a salary thats below market rate and candidates know they can join a competitor and earn  considerably more. Youve done nothing to show them  the benefits of working for your company (at such a low salary) and for the candidates, its a huge no-brainer to go somewhere else. Your employer brand is  terrible One search on Glassdoor shows that people within your organisation are unhappy. Not only is your pay sub-par, but so are your working conditions. Your staff retention rate is extremely low, and the office space is dank. Your company website is in need of a makeover and has no human touch or warmth of any kind. Most candidates run Google searches on an organisation before applying for a role what do the results of the WWW have to say about your workplace? And there you have it. The cold hard truth. This is why recruiters cant fill that role of yours. They might not tell you so bluntly, because they dont want to offend you. But if you want to fill that role, you might want to consider a little revisit! **Obviously, this piece is a massive generalisation to get hiring managers thinking about their hard-to-fill roles a little differently ??

Resume Writing and Job Search Workshop

Resume Writing and Job Search WorkshopThere are many things to consider when it comes to choosing a resume writing and job search workshop, especially if you're currently unemployed yourself. What will be the focus of the workshops? Will you be required to attend one on one mentoring sessions with other unemployed workers?Your choice of workshops also depends on whether or not you are participating as a business professional, student, or simply looking for an education. Other factors include personal preferences - whether it's working with an emphasis on personal projects or ones that address career issues. If you're interested in attending a career seminar or simply a workshop, here are some things to keep in mind.* Such workshops are important because they are conducted by people who are also in your situation. By learning from experienced mentors, you'll be able to see the bigger picture, what not to do, what to do, and why certain things are done differently. Working with other u nemployed workers will give you the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and find out what could have been done differently. This in turn will allow you to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.* They will provide you with valuable information, but you should know that it is all free. This is why it is so important to think carefully about the cost of such a workshop before enrolling in one. If the cost is a bit high, it is going to cost you time and money, which could have been better spent at home.* You should try to find the right mentor who can guide you toward your goal. The most well-known career seminars come from those who have already been through this process, often times, mentors who have already achieved their goal. These individuals offer you with useful advice to help you get there. Look for such mentors by looking for their achievements in the field - what kind of numbers they'reached, where they've worked, etc.* Student seminars are beneficial because the f ocus is on those who are still a student, but are trying to make it as professionals. Students are not discouraged about their failing grades and believe that they are better off than students who were not. It's also beneficial to those who are attending a workshop to learn how to increase their earning potential.* Getting back to the goal - such seminars to help those who are still students in college or those who are out of school seeking a career change. Think about this - if you are currently unemployed and are considering looking for work, attending such a workshop could be very helpful in guiding you toward the career you want. With many seminars and workshops of different types, you should be able to find a workshop that would suit your needs and personality.So that was my tips on choosing a resume writing and job search workshop. I'm sure there are more tips I don't even know about. I'd love to hear about them.

Top 5 Tips for a Beginner Guitarist

Top 5 Tips for a Beginner Guitarist A beginner guitarist normally prefers an acoustic guitar before moving on to an electric guitar. An acoustic guitar is much easier to handle and is portable. For a beginner, there are certain guidelines that need to be followed. You cannot just dive into full-fledged playing without arming yourself with guitar learning tips and tricks. Below are 5 useful tips for a guitarist beginner. Learn at your own pace Learn the guitar at your own pace and time. Do not stress yourself out to learn the perfect tune overnight. Keep a list of your targets. Mark your achievements every time you learn a new tune or a new strumming technique. You should cross out your targets once achieved, and give yourself a pat on the back. When you first take the guitar in your hand, do not expect yourself to strum out a tune immediately. Learning about guitar basics itself needs a lot of dedicated practice along with a lot of patience. You should always allocate a certain amount of time for practicing. You should stick to this daily routine devotedly. One hour a day is more than enough to dedicate your time playing and practicing the guitar. Any guitar instructor will first teach you to how to catch the guitar, how to place your finger on a particular string and how much force each string endures. Once you are comfortable, your next steps should be learning how to catch the guitar pick and move your fingers on the fretboard. Learning basics does take a lot of time. It also depends on how soon the person is able to pick up these pointers. Basics in music are very important. They should never be forgotten nor taken for granted. Focus and concentration is a must for every beginner practicing any musical instrument. Dedicated Practice Patience and practice go hand in hand while playing the guitar. Guitar chords are a set of notes played on the guitar. You can play them together or simultaneously. You should allocate a certain amount of time every day to play and practice your chords. My advice is to first learn to play your favorite song. This way it makes learning fun. You should play the song with a slow tempo. With gradual practice, you can pick up the rhythm. Do not get attracted only to the catchy parts of any song. It is always best to learn an entire song than rather learning things in bits and pieces. It can get really confusing in the long run. It is advised to try and learn a simple new technique from online video tutorials for beginners. If you are really serious about guitar playing, practice frequently. If you stop practicing, you will not only become lazy but also unwilling to take the guitar and go through your basics. This, in turn, will hamper all the efforts you took from the beginning. The songs or techniques you have learned from the start should be practiced without fail. At first, you might not be able to catch up with your guitar lessons, you might find it difficult to learn. All this leads up to frustration. This is normal for any beginner. Guitar legends like Jimi Hendrix did not become legends overnight. With a lot of perseverance and hard work, he rose to fame. Practice Theory And Practical Before you start playing the guitar, you should practice simple chords, scales and rhythm exercises. Once done, you can start playing any song. You can download online guitar notes for any song you prefer playing, and also follow a video tutorial simultaneously. YouTube also features videos where the instructors are sometimes even famous guitarists who play and teach you different sweep techniques, riffs, and guitar playing tricks. The theory part is basically learning in depth about your guitar, analyzing how the fretboard functions, etc. Practical learning is basically going through your finger exercises, how you can change your chords etc. Learn about your guitar Before you learn to play your chords and riffs, it is important to first practice catching the pick. While playing, the way you place your fingers on the guitar and how much pressure you apply matters a lot. Your thumb is supposed to rest on the neck of the guitar. The rest of the fingers will be on the fretboard. Correct placement of fingers is very important for playing the guitar accurately. You should learn new playing techniques and enjoy the experience of trying a new riff or sweep. You should enjoy playing the guitar rather than making it seem like a task. You can check Oscar Schmidt Guitars. They are pretty good. Nowadays you have a lot of guitar learning apps for beginners available in your software play stores like Microsoft, Google. So even when you are traveling, you can log in to the app via your smartphone and check out new tips, techniques online. Be innovative, not rigid You should close your eyes and let the tunes wash over you. As a beginner, we are trained from day one to follow scales, chords to perfection while playing. but sometimes you need to be innovative. Do not be rigid while playing. You should always balance your basic skills and techniques alongside creativity. While playing, it is always best to record oneself. Later you can hear yourself and accordingly make the corrections needed. Whenever you hear your old recordings it will help you realize how much you have grown as a guitarist and how your skills have developed over time. Conclusion It is always best to learn from other musicians, go to concerts, watch online tutorials to develop your playing techniques. You should listen to all kinds of genres. You will be amazed by different techniques used, various rhythms, riffs, sweeps, beats incorporated in the music. This helps you to increase your creativity while playing your own music. You can also start composing your own tunes down the line.

The Beginners Guide to Linkedin

The Beginners Guide to Linkedin 276 Flares 276 Flares Im about to unleash the greatest Beginners Guide to Linkedin EVER created!   The holidays are over, so consider this your late present from Cornz. There is a ton of information here, so set aside some time, read the guide, and then fire me any questions you may have. Why use Linkedin? I really could answer this with one critical bullet point, but here are a few: 85% of recruiters go to Linkedin before anywhere else to find talent. Build, organize, and manage your online recommendations from folks youve had professional relationships with. Easily connect with industry professionals that have careers of interest to you or goals similar to yours. Connections = Jobs Cant stress how insane that first bullet point is.  Even if a recruiter doesnt find you on Linkedin, when youre in the running for a position, theyll search you out on Linkedin and be very upset if youre absent.  Whats your excuse?  Sorry, My Dog ate my Linkedin just wont work. Profile Creation The initial profile creation is incredibly easy.  For the most part, youll want your Linkedin profile to match your resume.  With that said, have you ever felt constricted to preconceived page requirements on a resume?  Yeah, well on Linkedin feel free to stretch it a bit.  This doesnt mean to toss any old bullshit on your profile, but DEFINITELY add in all of your college activities and leadership opportunities, instead of the one or two you put on the resume. As you go through and complete the profile, youll see  a percentage amount that shows how complete your profile is. Work hard to get to 100%.  Once you are there, youll be found a ton more by recruiters and your profile will look much more professional. Picture Think professional.  Think headshot.  Crop one of your Facebook profile images to just include from your shoulders up to your head.  Keep your friends, animals, and loved ones out of it.  Just you.  Just smiling and happy you. Headline When a recruiter conducts a search on Linkedin, theyll see a  list of names, including a professional headline for each person. This is a short sentence with key words that gives the recruiter a reason to click and read further.  Your professional headline could look like this: Marketing Intern at COMPANY.  Graduating in 2011 from SCHOOL with a Degree in Marketing It can be much more dynamic than that.  Heres mine: How to Connect With Someone (the right and wrong way) When connecting with someone on Linkedin, it asks you to pick out how you know this person.  The options are  Colleague, Classmate, Weve done business together, Friend, and other.  Once you identify how you know them, youll then see an automated message come up that will be sentunless you change it! Now this part is important. Never! Never! Never! Never keep this automated message.  Change it up, add some spice, add some character and give them a reason to want to connect.  If you really dont know the person, but you realize they are influential for you, then intrigue them a bit and theyll want to add you to their network. This is what the awful automated message looks like: Thats the wrong way to send a connection request.  Ew.  Albert isnt going to want to connect with you and I dont blame him. As I mentioned previously, add some spice to your connect request.  Tell them exactly where you met or how you know them or why you want to connect.  So many people send me amazing connection messages about #JobHuntChat or Corn on the Job.  I may not know them personally, but they just complimented me and showed me why they are interested in connecting.   I always accept their request and make it a point to send them a message back.  Most people will react the same way. Heres an example of a perfect way to connect with someone! Groups Groups are a fantastic way to make KEY connections with influential people.  Join local and national groups that are related to your target industry or exact profession.  Groups offer news articles, blog posts, related discussions, and also jobs.  Yep, thats right.  Many groups now have jobs posted for that specific field of interest. If thats not enough, you can easily connect with any member of the group and add them to your professional connections.  Contact these folks and feel free to ask them questions about their job or company, and possibly even offer to take them out for lunch or coffee to learn more about what they do.  It may be time consuming to go through and add a ton of group members to your connections list, but think about it.  If you add just 10 a week, youll have 80 influential connections in just 2 months.  Do it! How many groups can you join?  50.  So go ahead, join 50! Recommendations Recommendations are a great addition to your profile.  Just like a resume, they shouldnt just be forced information.  When youve done something that you feel was really kick ass, ask the person or people you were working with to leave you a short recommendation on Linkedin.  Who should leave recommendations? Supervisors Co-workers Clients College Professors Classmates youve worked on projects with Anyone youve had a professional relationship with Your recommendations should paint a picture and help you make it to where you want to be.  For instance, lets say youre really looking interested in moving into a PR role, but most of your experience has been as a Marketing Coordinator.  Some of your projects may have touched on PR, so you obviously worked with PR professionals on those projects.   Ask for recommendations from PR folks you worked with, and use these recommendations to your advantage when looking for your PR job.  Feel free to even toss them on the resume! Follow Interesting Companies Following companies on Linkedin is a stalkers dream come true.  Seriously guysholy shit.  This is just some of the information youll get when you follow a company: Company employees in your network.  Yes, it instantly shows who from your network works at that company now. New hires at the company.  Do you understand the power here?  Look at the type of people they are hiring, and mimic their style a bit.  Connect with these guys and gals and ask them what their experience has been like as a new hire. All company employees.  Yep, if an employee of that company has Linkedin, then they will be listed here. Latest Tweets. Recent blog posts. Recently posted jobs.  Bingo! Recent company activity. Its all there.  Just about everything you need. Search Jobs on Linkedin I know what youre thinking.  Youre wondering why I didnt toss this one up a little earlier in the guide.  My reason is simple.  You cant look for jobs on Linkedin until your profile is looking spiffy.  Once youre ready to show off your profile, then its time to rock and start searching job postings right on Linkedin.  Remember, a poor profile could possibly hurt you, so make sure its looking slick before you search jobs. Right up top youll see that you can click on Jobs.  Hover over it and click on Find Jobs.  Now, the cool thing is that right away Linkedin will highlight jobs that you might be interested.  They search your profile for keywords and send you some suggestions.  Thats a great way to start, or you can go right in and search keywords and specific locations for jobs. Alright, so heres the cool part.  Once you click on a job description that seems interesting, youll find a ton of helpful tools.  Along with a job description, youll also see who posted it, who from your network is somehow connected to the person that posted the job, and who from your network works there.  This is the bomb.  Just  Its the bomb. Update Status Often Maybe not as often as Twitter or Facebook, but try to update your status on Linkedin a couple times a day.  The more you update, the more likelihood that your status will appear in email updates out to your network.  Keep your updates professional, with actual updates to your professional career.  Linkedin can get very social, and youll be surprised to see how a simple update can bring some good back to you. COTJs Final Words Linkedin may seem a little overwhelming at first, but its like any other social media channel.  Once you get used to it and start to grow a network, it will spiral out of control and youll become addicted.  Twenty connections will lead to fifty, and one hundred will lead to two hundred.  These connections will be invaluable to your career now, and even more valuable to you in the future.