How Staying Busy Can Save Your Job Search [6 Reasons]

How Staying Busy Can Save Your Job Search [6 Reasons] A gap of employment on your resume can be frightening, but that doesn’t mean that your time between jobs has to be spent solely on hunting down your next position. It’s time for job seekers everywhere to embrace new opportunities during their time between jobs! The job search can wear on both your sanity and your finances, making it hard to want to regularly get out and connect with society. But in all reality, your search for a job could actually be more successful if you’re focused on keeping busy during the process. Don’t lose touch with your priorities, network, or skills during your search for a job. Here are six reasons why staying busy can save your job search: 1) It’s A Chance To Meet New People The job search can turn even the most extroverted job seeker into a hermit, but it’s important to focus your unemployment on keeping up with connections, as well as making new ones. Getting out and meeting new people, even in small ways, can have a positive effect on your job search because you’re expanding who you know. Additionally, while the job search can often feel like a full-time job, it’s important to set aside time on your calendar for reconnecting with your network and looking for ways to meet new people. This can be as simple as attending a networking event for your industry, or taking a cooking class you never know who you could potentially be in contact with. 2) You Can Utilize Your Skills Unemployment can sometimes lead to the stagnation of the skills you’re most praised for. To stay busy during your time between job, consider looking for an outlet to utilize their skills. Many job seekers, and even people who are employed, take their numerous professional qualifications and use them to benefit their community or a greater cause. Look into how to get involved by volunteering at a charity or non-profit organization. While you should focus on picking up or creating tasks that utilize your skills, dabbling in things like communications or social media can put you closer to a job and also look great on your resume. 3) You’ll Learn Something New During the time you’re employed, it might be hard to find the time to develop a new skill or build on the ones you already have. The job search might be the perfect opportunity to get out there and learn something new. Many job seekers stay busy by taking classes during their period of unemployment. Your continued education during unemployment doesn’t necessarily have to be through taking a class from an accredited college there are many seminars and online classes that can benefit your skills. Employers are continually looking for candidates with advanced knowledge of technology, so gaining extra skills may be your opportunity to stand out from the competition. 4) An Opportunity To Make Money The search for a new job can often lead to financial issues, which many combat by taking on a temporary part-time or full-time position. While this is never the favored route of a job seeker, it’s important to realize that holding a temporary position is a great way to benefit your search: after all, you’re earning some cash and also getting fresh references! If temporary work isn’t your style, consider making some money and building your portfolio by freelancing. While freelancing isn’t always the best option for all career fields, many individuals who are both employed and unemployed find that freelancing is beneficial to their career. 5) You Can Focus On Building Your Personal Brand Online Staying busy during unemployment doesn’t always mean leaving your home. Many job seekers find that developing their personal brand online can be valuable. This means completely revamping your current social platforms, as well as creating profiles on other platforms to set you apart from your competition. Individuals with strong online brands often position themselves to be thought-leaders in their industry. Boost your brand online by creating a frequent social posting schedule that includes keywords and hashtags related to your industry, interacting on industry forums, and creating and maintaining a relevant blog. 6) An Opportunity To Start Your Own Business While entrepreneurial endeavors certainly aren’t for the faint of heart, it’s becoming more common for job seekers to consider to start their own businesses upon their departure from their most recent positions. Starting your own business could be a chance to finally do things your way. The part-time endeavor you even be something you continue to do after finding full-time employment. Unemployment doesn’t have to be a time for stagnation smart job seekers will utilize their time off in a way to benefit their career path in a unique way. Utilize these tips to stay ahead of the competition and land a job fast! How else can candidates stay busy while looking for a new job? Let us know in the comments below! Amit De is the CEO and Co-founder of  Careerleaf, an all-in-one job search platform that cuts the time to apply in half. Connect with Amit and Careerleaf on  Twitter.

Finding an Online Federal Resumes Writing Class

Finding an Online Federal Resumes Writing ClassThose of you who are looking for an online Federal resume writing class will have to look at a couple of different options. First of all, you should always take the time to do some homework before you invest your money in an online class. You can look online and check out the reviews from students who have taken the course.The reviews are typically very positive, and most of the people who do have experienced in the field or have a lot of real life work experience with the government will give you some pretty good advice. Also, you can ask your local employment service to see if there are any student programs in your area.If you already know that you want to enroll in an online Federal resume writing class, you can then go about getting the necessary equipment to help you out. One of the first things you will want to consider is whether or not you want to go with the laptop, or you want to get the workstation (or desktop) that you would use in the real world. This decision will be determined by your budget and the level of comfort you find with one type over the other.Once you have decided on what type of Federal resume writing class you want to take, you will want to go out and get the necessary supplies that will allow you to attend. You can usually find those items online, though sometimes it may be a little more difficult than it would be from your local office supply store.If you decide to use an online Federal resume writing class, then you can be sure that you will get to choose exactly what you are going to be doing while you are there. Most students get the same workstation that they would in the real world, so this is going to be something that you have no trouble figuring out.If you decide to go to a classroom based Federal resume writing class, then you will have a little more difficulty in figuring out what you are going to be doing in advance of your first day. Usually, this is due to the fact that th e class has been planned around the ways that the students will be working together, so it will not be too difficult to find out what you will be doing.Generally, it will be the case that you will be able to find everything you need during the class, but this does not mean that you will be stuck without what you need once you get to the online Federal resume writing class. There are lots of online resources available that you can use to get the materials that you need to help you with your program.If you want to be successful at your Federal resume writing class, then you will want to make sure that you find the right learning materials. Make sure that you are doing everything in your power to make sure that you are able to find the materials that you need, and that you are not missing anything due to the resources that are available to you.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese The Key to Feeling Less Overwhelmed

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese The Key to Feeling Less Overwhelmed One of the solutions being touted more and more as a solution to the emotional and physical overload many of us experience is mindfulness. Butis mindfulness the answer? Or is it just the latest fad that you dont have the time or inclination to try? Scott Eblin, an executive coach and speaker, says he understands the skepticism many feel when theyre told they will be happier and less stressed if theyre more mindful in their lives. But as someone who has practiced mindfulness for 20 years and credits it with saving his life after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Eblin believes that mindfulness can help anyone improve their quality of life. Most people are very happy to learn that mindfulness is not nearly as complicated as they thought. You dont have to meditate all day or do yoga every day, he says. Eblin says the need for mindfulness is greater than ever, as the declining economy several years ago put more pressure on workers to take on more work and do it with lessresources. We still seem to be in that crisis mode, even though things have improved, Eblin says. And whatever boundaries weve had have been erased by the smartphone. Enough, already Lets say your day started with your daughter forgetting her science project for school, forcing you to turn around and go get it. This caused you to be late to work and an important meeting, ticking off the boss. By 10 a.m. you had 200 emails in your inbox and three more meetings to attend. If such a scenario sounds familiar, Eblin says the first thing you need to do is breathe. In his book, Overworked and Overwhelmed, Eblin points out that there is scientific evidence that breathing deep from your belly can alleviate your stress and help you become more focused. Thats why he calls breathing the killer appof mental routines. Focusing on your breathing, Eblin explains, is the simplest form of mindfulness. If a thought crosses your mind while focusing on your breathing (I have to answer 200 emails!) just acknowledge that thought and let it go while you again refocus on your breathing, he explains. Think of it like doing reps at a gym, he explains. Within reason, the more you do, the stronger you get.Mindfulbreathing is like a workout for your brain. In the book, Eblin offers several ways that you can use mental routines to overcome various sources of stress andbecome more productivewith your thinking. He suggests you: Focus on learning.Dont let your thought processes get caught up in remorse or regret formistakes youve made, or things you could have done differently. No one is perfect, and you will make mistakes and have regrets. Instead, ask yourself questions about what was supposed to happen, what actually happened and (read more here)

Interviewing Fake It Till You Can Make It! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Interviewing ‘Fake It’ Till You Can ‘Make It’! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Even if your personal brand is one of a highly confident, self-assured, enthusiastic professional, let’s face it, there simply are times when you don’t feel, act, or project these characteristics. If you tend to be shy, retiring and/or kind of “stand-offish,” well, you certainly won’t project these characteristics. And under many circumstances, neither this temporary lapse nor the total absence of a confident, self-assured, enthusiastic image would cost you all that much. Not so when it comes to a face-to-face job interview! To coin a phrase, then: If you can’t quite “make it,” i.e., project an image of self-confidence, self-assuredness and enthusiasm during a face-to-face job interview, then you had better learn how to “fake it”! (No, I am not talking about trying to be deceptive, dishonest or trying to be something or someone you’re not. What I am talking about here is the absolute necessity for you to learn how to project genuine interest, self-confidence and a high degree of enthusiasm when it truly counts, such as during a job interviewâ€"whether or not you feel like it, and whether or not it is the “real” you.) The interview No matter how qualified you may be “on paper,” if you don’t come across in the first 60 seconds of a face-to-face job interview as being confident, self-assured and enthusiastic, the odds are overwhelming that you will immediately be eliminated from further consideration, at least in the hiring authority’s mind. Did I say 60 seconds?! Yes, I did, because that’s about how long it takes the typical hiring authority to form a “yea” or “nay” opinion about any given job candidate, based upon his or her initial impression of the candidate. (Then they spend the next 59 minutes justifying that 60-second impression.) Don’t believe it? Think I’m over-stating the importance of this issue? Let me relate a recent, real-life example of how important it is for a job candidateâ€"any job candidateâ€"to project confidence, self-assuredness and enthusiasm when interviewing for a job today. Just last month, I presented the résumé of a candidate with the perfect credentials and just the right background, experience and skill sets to a Fortune 500 client of mine for a position they wanted to fill. After seeing the candidate’s résumé, the hiring manager immediately called me and wanted to schedule a face-to-face interview with the candidate. That’s how excited he became once seeing the candidate’s résumé. After the interview the hiring manager called me up to provide feedback, and of course I was expecting to hear only good things. Wrong! “Skip, there is no doubt that he can do the job,” the hiring manager told me. “However, he did not exude confidence when I came down to the lobby to meet him. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even look me in the eye. His shoulders were slumped and he appeared tired.” The hiring manager went on to tell me that it was certainly his job to screen for skills and ability, but he also needed to focus on the overall image projected by a candidate. “When I send a candidate I’ve interviewed to my boss for her to interview, she expects me to send her a candidate who will literally ‘light up the room’ when they enter it, a person whom others will want to interact with on the job.” Obviously, our candidate, despite his incredibly impressive credentials, didn’t meet this hiring manager’s minimum standard. An unusual situation? Not at all, actually. Today, I am seeing more and more companies taking precisely this same approach, using essentially the same “yardstick,” as this hiring manager. Ace it! So, how can you learn to project self-confidence, enthusiasm and self-assuredness during a face-to-face interview? Here are some suggestions: Pay particularly close attention to your posture. Remember when your parents used to admonish you to “stand up straight!”? There actually was a good reason for that! Few things brand you as a potential “winner” (or a clear “loser”) more quickly or more thoroughly than your posture. When you stand up straight, with your shoulders back, your head held high and look people directly in the eye, your posture literally shouts, “self-confident,” “self-assured,” “enthusiastic,” and a whole bunch more positive adjectives! Conversely, of course, a person who continually slouches around, won’t make eye contact, and projects an overall image of secretiveness, deception, etc., well . . . I’m sure you get the idea! Watch the Comedy Channel.  Learn to laugh, or at least to smile! What’s the usual reaction from people when you smile at them? They almost always smile back at you, don’t they? And when you smile your body radiates a strong, nonverbal message of self-confidence, self-assuredness and enthusiasm. But, you may be saying to yourself, what if I don’t feel like smiling? Wouldn’t I come across as a “phony”? Not if you’ve learned how to be a good “actor,” and that’s what you had better learn to be if you want to be successful in your job search in today’s job market! Remember, the people interviewing you are quite likely harried, stressed out and very, very busy themselves. Oftentimes, interviewing you (or anybody else!) may be the last thing they want to be doing at that moment. If you can make them smile, they are far more likely to be drawn to you, to want to learn more about you. If necessary, fake enthusiasm!  In any interview cycle this question (or one very similar to it) virtually always comes up: “Why would you consider leaving (or why did you leave) your current (or previous) position?” All too often people use this question as an opportunity to “spew venom,” i.e., to say negative things about a current (or previous) boss and/or company. The savvy candidate uses the question as an opportunity to express enthusiasm about the career opportunity at hand, by saying something like this: “One of the things I really enjoy about my current work environment is the way my boss challenges me to new heights. Thus, I feel like Im ready to take on new responsibilities with a company such as yours, and that opportunity is not afforded me where I currently work.” Sound fake? Maybe to you, but probably not at all to the person interviewing youâ€"IF you can deliver the statement with a high degree of sincerity and enthusiasm! Include POWER words in your vocabulary.  Power words increase the probability that you will come across as highly confident and very self-assured and qualified. Such words imply ACTION! and AUTHORITY! For example, “created” is more powerful than “made,” don’t you think? Here are some other power words for you to consider incorporating into your vocabulary: Penetrated, formulated, instituted, out-maneuvered, overcame, accelerated, turbo-charged, aggressively analyzed, anchored, etc. Analyze your everyday speech, then empower your vocabulary by replacing some of the “lame” words you now use with POWER words. Trust me, with practice, it will become quite natural, i.e., you can “fake it” till you can “make it”! Keep in mind: We humans are social creatures (or at least most of us are!). Today’s work environment is harried and stressful enough as it is. No hiring manager wants to add people who are glum, unenthusiastic or otherwise project some sort of “downer” personality. And you can be assured that most will not add such people (or people they even perceive to possess such negative characteristics) to the payroll. It’s difficult enough to even get a job interview today. Don’t give the hiring manager any reason to suspect that you are not the enthusiastic, confident, self-assured person he or she is looking to hire! Author: Skip Freeman  is the author of “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever!  and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of  The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and RD professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

Make Free Resume to Make Your Resume Better

Make Free Resume to Make Your Resume BetterToday, the market has many paid services to help you to make free resume. This service is the most reliable service to find your own style and the right resume, online. But you have to be careful when choosing the service provider and consider some things before hiring them.The first thing you must do is to check their claims, they must tell you how long the resume is going to be before it is approved by your resume writer. If they are not able to explain the timeframe for the time when your resume will be submitted. You must get more information and work with them for a time frame. If the company cannot promise this, you should know that the services offered are not legitimate.If the company is not aware of any charges to make free resume. You must check with your credit card or PayPal account. Most often, companies allow you to pay only once. And, you are not charged again when you need another. Also, you can change your resume as often as you want and you will not be charged again.Check also for feedback and comments from past clients, whether they like their free resume. If they do not find their customized resume interesting and useful, they must remove them from the site. It will be possible that the service is a scam and they will charge you for their services.Check also if the company gives you a free resume template. Free templates usually offer basic templates, but you have to determine which template suits you best. If you find some free templates are not unique and do not really fit your needs, you can pay for templates to get customized ones.Moreover, the company must offer you more than one free resume templates, so you can choose the best one. This is important, especially if you plan to hire them and rely on their service. You can use these free templates on your own as well.Check also if the free resume template you are given is updated regularly. Always check if there are any changes in their format a nd information. A good resume writer should keep his position up to date with the latest terms and rules.Lastly, make sure you know how to make use of free resume templates. A professional writer should be able to suggest and guide you while using free templates. You can go through the internet and see if there are other quality free resume templates which is similar to your professional resume.

5 Tips to Make a Faster Career Change as a Professional or Executive

5 Tips to Make a Faster Career Change as a Professional or Executive 5 Tips to Make a Faster Career Change as a Professional or Executive 5 Tips to Make a Faster Career Change as a Professional or Executive July 9, 2010 by Career Coach Sherri Thomas 1 Comment Prefer to listen to the podcast version of this post? Powered by Podbean.com You can also subscribe to our Career Coaching 360 podcast RSS feed. Career Coaching 360 podcasts are also available on iTunes. Have you been thinking about making a career change? Avoid the attitude that you will do it tomorrow, next week, next month, when your bonus arrives, etc. Be aware that not now soon becomes never. Here are my 5 tips to make a faster career change as a professional or executive. Power up your confidence. Managers hire those who are passionate about their job, and confident theyll perform it successfully. If you dont have confidence in yourself, hiring managers wont either. Let go of any career setbacks. Take pride in all of your strengths, talents and career successes and go after those jobs that you know you can do well! (Confidence is a must, but arrogance is a showstopper!) Think up, down and sideways. A lot of people get stuck in a rut looking for the same job title as their last job. But you can double your options by looking at smaller and larger companies. The smaller company may have the same job role listed but with a bigger title (like a Director of VP-level), and the larger company may have a smaller title (like a manager or specialist) but its the same major responsibilities.Also, apply for jobs outside of your industry. There are a lot of job roles that you can do in just about any industry. For example, if youre in a marketing role, or finance role, or sales they need these types of employees across all industries!So start reading trade publications and the Business Journal to learn which industries are hiring, what the hot jobs are, and where you can fit in. Leverage your transferable skills. If youre finding that there are very few job openings for the kind of job role you want, then expand your scope. You can switch into a different job role by leveraging your transferable skills (those are skills that transfer from job role to job role.) For example, managing clients, managing teams, managing projects a lot of these skills can transfer into different roles.So start reading job descriptions for a variety of jobs and determine which roles are a good fit for you! This is a terrific way to get your foot in the door at a new company and make a start fresh in your career! Create a job search plan. So many people post their resume up on Monster.com, or they register with a headhunter and then sit back and wait for the phone to ring! It doesnt happen that way! With this tight job market, you need to have a plan that includes: Your wish list of companies that you want to work for and check out their website every week. A list of on-line job boards like CareerBuilder.com and Career Journal.com that you check every week. A lot of these job boards have different niches that they serve best (such as a specific job industry, or salary level.) So you want to do some research and google, the job role, industry and location that you want, such as Radio Sales in Phoenix. Then, search through the first three or four pages of results and bookmark those job boards that meet your criteria. Those are the job boards that youll want to check back with every week for job openings. LinkedIn.com joining different industry groups so that you can keep current on hot topics, network with influencers in those groups, and learn about job openings. 2-3 Networking events that you attend every week. Those could be industry conferences, association meetings, training seminars, and business networking events. These are events you go to meet people in the same industry, or they type of company where you want to work. Statistics show that 70% of jobs are going to people who have referrals within an organization so networking with other professionals and executives is critical to changing your career. Stay away from job fairs they tend to target lower end jobs and have too much competition. If youre stuck get professional help! You never want your career to be sitting on shelf longer than it has to it means thousands of dollars every month in missed income that you should be making! So if youre not getting results, then invest in some professional advice wherever you need it A Professional resume writer, or An interview coach, or Or a career coach These are professionals who can accelerate your career change and help you get into a new job faster!

How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Resume Writing - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Resume Writing As the name implies, Artificial Intelligence is the name given to the intellect of anything that is created by man â€" machines mainly. From Sofia to flying cars, this technology is inspiring awe and adulation in the mankind. And now it has come to an intelligent resume builder. Any machine that has this technology can take decisions by itself without the need of an operator in the front-end. Of course, it would need someone to input data in the back-end since the stage in which it is right now it begs for a coder who codes different responses of a particular machine. There have been many revolutions in this world with the advent of this technology, and it is said that by 2025, auto-drive cars could be seen dominating the roads. Also, when it comes to the hiring industry, the AI has brought about a change that has reformed the resume creation, job hunts, and applicant matches. Thus, owing to this change, the old-school methods of creating a resumewhich involve numerous hair splitting problemsand of job huntswhere possibly applications are rejected by the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)â€"are slowly beginning to be rejected. We talked about the change that AI has brought about in the resume writing. Let us see further how it has been done. It Has Decreased the Time of Resume Creation Your resume is an essential part of the strategies through which you can make a job opening your own. However, creation of the perfect resume with the right information can be seriously time-consuming since you’d have to make sure that the hiring faculties are attracted by it in the first few seconds of viewing. This can involve focusing on the placement of the fields, the design of the overall resume, and of the length of the presentation of information in it. While you can sit and contemplate the possible outcomes of various combinations of the above-mentioned features of a resume, or you can simply use a website that has the AI to do that for you in few minutes. 2) It Has Given the Scrupulous Precision to the Job Hunting The AI used in resume creation centers upon the use of the keywords in the description. As all of the searches on the internet are a game of keywords, by allowing you to use the right ones in your resume, the technology can offer you the right matches of the job opening corresponding to them. Therefore, a perfect resume with the industry related keywords can target a suitable job, and likewise, hiring managers of different companies can search for the right candidate based on them. 3) It can save a Candidate like You from Being Rejected by the ATS This system too works on the basis of the keywords and it is one of the reasons many candidates are rejected because their resumes do not have the right set of keywords in their description. To counter this filter, the resumes created with the help of an AI can ultimately have just the information that can never be rejected by any filter of the hiring company. Artificial Intelligence is a game changer in almost every industry; you can make use Glever.com, the AI-based free resume builder, to write your resumes. In the hiring industry, it has offered benefits for both the recruiters and the job seekers through the creation of an intelligent resume.