The post 3 Reasons Having a Professional Website Will Land You Your Next Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

Unfortunately, a killer resume doesn’t always cut it. You’ve likely experienced this firsthand, having gone into interview after interview with little to show for it. But there’s nothing more you can do to make your resume shine short of printing it on pink scented paper (and Elle Woods already did that one).

At this point, it’s time to give yourself more of an edge in the job hunt. How do you do this? One way is to create a website. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

Not sure if creating a website is worth it? Here are some reasons why a website is a good idea even when you’re a traditional employee.

1. It serves as an online portfolio

It can be tough to show what you’re capable of in an interview or through a one to two page resume. With your website, you can do more to showcase your talents, and since it’s available publicly, you can reach more recruiters while giving them a convenient path to your portfolio.

Imagine this:

Instead of handing over a portfolio binder to the hiring manager, you give him access to your site by sharing your domain name. He’s stunned by your professionalism (and thankful he doesn’t have to worry about carrying around or misplacing your binder), and you don’t have to worry about getting your binder back before your next interview. Plus, you can incorporate digital content on a website, like an introduction video.

But this portfolio option only raises more questions. Why not just use LinkedIn or other platforms to showcase your expertise? Three reasons:

1. A website sets you apart from other candidates.
2. It gives you more freedom in the layout and upload options so your personality can shine through.
3. It helps you establish an emotional connection with your website’s visitors.

Another major question you probably have: What should I include in my portfolio? Try incorporating these elements:

• An about page that gives a brief overview of who you are, what your education and experience is, and what you can do or have done as an employee.
• A portfolio page showcasing your previous projects. Try to include pictures whenever possible.
• A testimonials page sharing recommendations from previous employers or coworkers.
• Contact details so people can get in touch.
• A professional headshot.

Consider these examples of professional portfolios in various industries for inspiration:

• Rebecca Taff, Hair Stylist & Makeup Artist
• Adelina Popescu, Architect
• Kelly Ann Cicalese, Meteorologist

2. Use it to attract job leads (without even trying)

Let’s say you set up a website. You’ll probably list it on your resume so hiring managers can learn more about you.

But your website can do so much more than that. Before you even see a job listing and apply to it, most hiring managers are already looking for you. Today, 80 percent of jobs are never listed, reports CNN.com. That means hiring managers are already on the search before you are.

How are they finding these qualified individuals? Many will tap into their networks and receive recommendations from people they already know, while others will go on the search themselves.

When recruiters look for qualified individuals, they might start with search engines, head to directories or go on a social media search. With a website, you can reel in those recruiters by having extra to offer. It’ll help you stand out from the crowd.

Even more than that, a website expands your visibility. If a recruiter uses a search engine, your website is more likely to show up than your LinkedIn profile. And if you have a blog, you could attract hiring managers to your site when they’re not even looking. They might like what they see and contact you.

How can you make your website more visible?

1. Include the URL in your signature on any professional platform, including LinkedIn, email and business cards.
2. Learn about and use SEO techniques.
3. Talk to and interact with people in your industry through online group forums. Share your URL on your profile.

3. Boost your credibility through blogging

Brazen has talked about how blogging can boost your credibility countless times. As you blog in your niche and market that content, you can create a social following.

If you could tell a hiring manager you have 10,000 email subscribers on your industry-related blog, you’d probably raise a few eyebrows. This alone can serve as proof of your expertise, giving you stats to measure your success by and show that people hold you in high esteem within the field.

Check out these great posts for more about using your blog to get a job:

• How Your Blog Can Land You a Job
• How to Create Kick-A$$ Blog Posts That’ll Get You Hired
• 7 Easy Tweaks to Turn Your Blog Into a Job-Search Tool

When does a website make sense?

While a website is certainly a great job-landing tool for some people, it doesn’t always make sense for every job seeker. Consider starting a website when:

• Other people in your industry have one.
• Your work is visual (such as photography, architecture or advertising).
• You already have a portfolio that you could turn digital.

Are you ready to boost your professional appearance and start seeing more results from your interviews? Start by digging into how to build a website with PCMag’s guide.

Alicia Rades (@aliciarades) is a freelance blogger and writer eager to create content on blogging, writing, and career topics. Learn more about her and her blogging services at aliciaradeswriter.com, where you can download her free Which Freelance Blogger Should I Hire? Worksheet.

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The post How to Write a Resume: A Totally New Approach That Will Get You Hired appeared first on Brazen Life.

I’m not talking about landing your dream job in the world of unicorns and rainbows, but in the real world — the one where you have bills to pay and maybe even mouths to feed. What if you could know what you love to do and get paid to do it? (Click here to tweet this question.)

How would that change things in your life?

If you’re starting to get excited, you’re not alone. Because there’s a powerful tool that will help you to define and land your dream job. It’s called The Reverse Resume.

This will help you approach the search for your dream job from a new perspective. So hold onto your heels. You’re about to be blown away.

The limitations of regular resumes

You are, undoubtedly, familiar with a regular resume.

It’s a method for trying to cram every positive detail about yourself and all your career accomplishments into a single page. The goal is to impress upon those who make hiring decisions that you might be a good fit for a particular job.

The regular resume is meant to sum up your entire range of experience on one sheet of paper. Then that piece of paper is usually shuffled, filed, lost or disregarded. Not a nice way to be treated.

Flipping the status quo with a Reverse Resume

The Reverse Resume, as you might expect, is exactly the opposite.

Instead of summing yourself up neatly on one sheet of paper for review and critique to see if you meet criteria for the job, you sum up criteria of the job to see if it meets your standards.

Instead of hiring managers asking, “Is this candidate worth our time to bring in?” You ask, “Is this job worth my time — perhaps years of my life?”

The Reverse Resume can help you answer that question in a way that’s in sync with your deepest desires — even if you don’t know what those are just yet.

Feelings, not functionality

There’s a reason your job isn’t working for you: You don’t like it.

At first glance, not liking your work comes from the “soft” world of feelings, right brains and other touchy-feely things. But the truth is, humans are emotional beings. Not liking your work is just as valid as any reason you might give for wanting a different job.

It’s hard for many people to accept that feelings prevent their job satisfaction. It may be easier to accept that you’re simply no good at your job, don’t have the right skills or don’t have the right training. Clients have said to me, “I can’t believe I’m going to give up this job that pays so well because I don’t like it. It feels so irresponsible.”

Generally, the less we like something, the worse we are at it, and the less inclined we are to want to engage in it or immerse ourselves in it deeply. There’s no good reason to endure life at a job you don’t like.

There’s so much work out there to be done — so much work that could benefit from the most vibrant and alive version of you. So don’t settle for an un-animated version of yourself.

When you look for your next job using The Reverse Resume, your goal should be to capture what you want your work to feel like. Instead of a description of the function of your job (what you’ll be doing) start with a description of what you’ll be feeling and what happens that makes you feel that way.

• Are you feeling invigorated by the conversation you get to have with brilliant coworkers?
• Are you feeling stimulated by the interesting problems you’re working to solve?
• Are you feeling like a superhero because you touched someone’s life?

Start with what you love to feel, what lights you up, what skills and talents you love to use, and the situations or environments you most love to be in or problems you love to solve. Ask yourself: Where and when do I thrive?

The environment where you thrive

Once you paint that picture of what you want to feel and where you thrive, work backwards from there. You can ask yourself, what kinds of jobs would be most suited to someone who needs to be solving interesting problems and be surrounded by brilliant coworkers? A police officer? A scientist?

Keep brainstorming ideas. When you run out of ideas, it’s time to narrow down your list.

The deeper you dig into your Reverse Resume, the more you’ll know about how your environment should feel. Should your work for a startup or a corporation? Is working a 9-to-5 a better fit for you, or do you want to become an entrepreneur?

Keep asking yourself where you’ll be happiest. This is the criteria that will help you narrow your list (otherwise, you’ll just end up in another job you don’t like.)

Remember though, there are lots of reasons not to like a job. If you’re starving to death because your job doesn’t pay a living wage, you might grow to hate your job. If you never live to work a day because you’re in school too long, you might never know if you like your job.

So you’ll have to balance many factors when you think about your happiness, not just how joyful the actual job might make you — though this does count a great deal. Only you get to decide how much weight to give each thing. It’s up to you and your individual circumstances, and what makes you… well, happy.

Try it yourself

Instead of searching for your dream job the old-fashioned way — looking at specific job titles and roles to see if they might fit — turn the whole process backwards with The Reverse Resume.

1. Think about who you are, how you want to feel and where you thrive.
2. Think about what jobs might feel like a good fit for you and make you happy.
3. Refine your list until you come up with a job that seems like the perfect happiness match.

You don’t have to grope in the dark any longer. Many people don’t know where to start when they try to figure out what their dream job is. But having structure makes the process so much easier. Finding that dream job is possible! I’d love to know if you have success using The Reverse Resume.

Jessica Sweet, LICSW is a career and life coach dedicated to helping 45-55 year olds find or create work they love. You can get a more complete version of The Reverse Resume and her entire suite of free tools in the Passion Portfolio at http://www.wishingwellcoach.com

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The post Job Hopping Millennials: Why Employers Accept this Trend appeared first on Brazen Life.

Well, a recent survey has found that job-hopping might not be deemed as taboo as before. CareerBuilder found that more than half (55%) of employers have hired a job-hopper and nearly one-third (32%) said they have come to expect workers to job-hop.

Read more at Black Enterprise…

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The post How Millennials Can Leverage Social Media Popularity for Career Wins appeared first on Brazen Life.

But some take it to the next level, elevating the importance of social media popularity and allowing it to be a boost to the ego among a virtual world of fansfriends. It almost becomes a competition as to who can get the most attention, the most shares and the most viral response, and some will spend hours trying to win the Mr. or Ms. Popular crown as if it will somehow directly enhance their life in the real world.

Research shows that Americans aged 18-64 spend an average of 3.2 hours per day using social networks. More specifically, there are 1.6 billion likes per day on Instagram and users post an average of 60 photos daily. In terms of Facebook, there are, on average, 350 million photos posted and the average daily overall likes stand at 4.5 billion.

Read more at Black Enterprise…

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The post How to Answer the Most Important Question in Your Job Interview appeared first on Brazen Life.

Why they’re asking: They want to make sure you are confident that you can do the job and prove that you are the right person to do the job.

Why it’s tricky: It’s a very open-ended interview question. It’s also sort of a bold question, one that is kind of meant to challenge you a bit and see how you respond to pressure.

How to answer: Explain why you’re great, what you’ve done that relates to the job opportunity, and be really, really confident.

Note: This is a pretty similar question to “Why are you suitable for this job?” so there will be some overlap with that post, but this question has a slightly different tone (and therefore a different answer). When someone asks “Why should we hire you?” it’s sort of like saying “Prove yourself,” and the answer should be a bit more powerful, more confident, and stronger than the answer to “Why are you suitable…”  It’s like someone telling you, “Okay, now close the sale.”

Let’s dive into how to answer this common interview question in the most impactful way possible: (Click here to tweet this list.)

1. Know the job description really, really well

That’s right. I know I always say this, but you absolutely need to know the job description like the back of your hand to ace this question (and any interview, for that matter). Study everything from the overview to the daily responsibilities to the qualifications. Truly understand what you are interviewing for and know what your interviewers are looking for. Think of the job description as a wish list that your future manager has written.

2. Know how to apply your past experiences to it

Read through the “responsibilities” or “tasks” and be able to talk about similar tasks you’ve done in the past. Look at the qualifications and desired qualities and be able discuss how you meet (if not exceed) them. This question is sort of about you… but it’s more about how your skills line up with what the company is looking for. You probably have many great accomplishments, but you should be focusing on the ones that most closely match the job you’re going after.

3. Talk results

Remember I said this answer should be a little “bold”? If you’re proving yourself to your interviewer, you’re going to want to talk about what you personally can bring to the table. Something along the lines of, “I see you’re looking for someone to manage X. I am confident I’d be able to execute on that by doing X, Y, and Z.” You don’t want to be just another candidate. You want to be seen as an asset who is ready to add value right away.

4. Make sure you come across as a “good fit”

You’ve already shown off your hard skills and qualifications in the first part of this answer, but I’ve seen even the most qualified candidates not get the job based on that pesky notion of “fit.” Doing well in a job isn’t just about what you do, but also how you go about doing it.

In a small or growing company, you might want to express that you’re willing to “get your hands dirty” or “pitch in wherever needed.” In a more structured company, you may want to talk about how focused and task-oriented you can be. Learn as much as you can about the company (and the company culture) before the interview and emphasize why you’d fit in there.

5. Close the sale and make it compelling!

Again, when this question is asked in this way, you should be going into sell mode, and every good sale has a great closing. Wrap up your answer in a way that is confident, concise, and enthusiastic. While you don’t want to go totally overboard, make it memorable too.

As you answer this question, it’s important to strike the right balance between being confident and being a total egomaniac. It’s always important to gauge the interviewer’s reaction and adjust your answer accordingly as you go. However, this question is someone basically forcing you to explain “why me,” so don’t be afraid to show off a bit.

Jaime Petkanics is the writer behind www.prepary.com, an online resource which provides advice on all aspects of the job search. A former recruiter, Jaime answers questions ranging from how to write a great resume, to how to answer interview questions, and everything in between.

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The post 3 Clever Interview Strategies to Help You Snag the Perfect Hire appeared first on Brazen Life.

That carefully curated one-pager freaks me out. Credentials really mean nothing.

For better or worse, the resume is still the main currency for getting a job. It’s a quick way to get a baseline overview of past experiences and relevant skills. But don’t fool yourself into thinking you can extract anything past that. This list of credentials fails to indicate fit and on-the-job performance, so don’t bet the house on it.

While I will look at resumes that are sent my way, I don’t require them. Here are three ways I get an in-depth understanding of candidates to ensure they’re a good fit for Kloudless’ values. (Click here to tweet this list.)

1. Project-based interviews

Regardless of whether candidates are interviewing for a non-technical or technical role, they will be given a mini project that asks them to solve a problem similar to one they would face at Kloudless. The length of the project interview can range from a couple hours (for engineers) to a couple weeks (for some non-technical roles like business development). The idea is to put the candidates in a situation and environment that mirrors our actual day-to-day work experience.

What I’m looking for: Problem-solving abilities, skills applicable to the actual position, and how they interface with relevant team members to get the job done. Do you have the competence to deliver on the job and contribute to the team? Oh, and doing the small things matters a lot.

2. A few of your favorite things

I ask candidates to explain to me something they’re passionate about as if I didn’t know anything about that subject. Then I follow up with questions. If you’re hired, you’ll need to explain Kloudless to partners or potential users, so I look for clear, concise explanations.

What I’m looking for: Communication skills. If you can’t clearly and concisely explain your favorite things in the world to me, how can I expect you to be good at communicating all things Kloudless? Unless Kloudless becomes your favorite thing in the world. In which case, touché. You win.

3. The “trick” question: favorite ice cream

It’s funny how most candidates think “This question’s too easy. Must be a trick,” and start giving an elaborate analysis of the pros and cons of various flavors.

This is my favorite question. Seriously. No tricks. All I want is your favorite ice cream flavor.

You can also replace this question with other seemingly random, non-work-related questions. At a startup, it’s important to connect on a level beyond business. Your new hires are the people you’ll be spending the majority of your waking moments with. They’re the people who have your back and help you claw against the odds toward startup success.

Every candidate we consider at Kloudless goes through at least one, 20-minute interview with each full-time employee. We give candidates we’re prepared to make an offer to the chance to hang out with the whole team over dinner. This is an opportunity for us to get to know the candidate’s personality and also a chance for the candidate to learn more about our unique culture.

What I’m looking for: Culture fit. At the end of the day, a startup salary is highly discounted from market rate. The odds of startup failure are greater than 95 percent. You better hire people you like working with and at least enjoy the ride.

If you’re in the recruiting seat, the shinier the resume, the more scared you should be. By avoiding credential awe and having a firm grasp on what qualities you value, the right interview questions can reveal whether you’ve struck solid gold or merely been fooled by a cheap veneer.

Eliot Sun is the CEO and Co-founder of Kloudless. Find more of his thoughts on Twitter.

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The post How to Get Awesome References That Will Make You an Irresistible Job Candidate appeared first on Brazen Life.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “What’s in it for me?” — Brian Tracy

Using social media can help you create a well-rounded professional image for potential employers. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Good references can do the same thing by fleshing out the details on your resume. But there are right and wrong ways to collect professional references. Let the tips below be your guide.

1. Choose wisely

People who know you well professionally are the key people to target. They don’t have to be your best friends, but they need to be people who know what you’ve done and can speak to your strengths. You don’t need to limit yourself to former supervisors. Business acquaintances of all kinds are appropriate references.

2. Don’t forget to ask

It doesn’t matter how great a reference he can be: If a potential employer calls him out of the blue, the reference he gives isn’t going to be great. Manners matter. Give him a call, ask him out for coffee, update him on what you’re doing and let him know you’d like him to provide a reference.

3. Stay connected

Make sure your references have an updated copy of your resume. No one can remember every detail, but if they have your resume in front of them when they answer the phone, they can be sure to give you an accurate referral.

Additionally, if they’re not already part of your virtual social circle, include them now. Add them on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.

4. Provide specifics

This is especially important for higher-level applicants. Sometimes potential employers will grill your references for specific details about you. If your reference says you’re a great people person, they may ask for proof. Make sure your reference has the information needed to present you in the best light. Think in terms of interview questions and provide them with detailed answers.

5. Use different references for different positions

A generalist resume will never win over one that’s specifically tailored to meet the needs of the job you’re applying for. References are no different. Certain people are going to be able to speak to certain skills. When choosing and listing references, keep this in mind.

Steve P. Brady is an executive resume writer who blogs on resume writing and career development. 

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The post 17 Hard Truths Every College Grad Must Understand appeared first on Brazen Life.

That’s the argument from graduating students at the University of South Florida. School officials at USF have asked grads to not snap selfies as they receive diplomas.

A quote from the Associated Press:

“I don’t have an anti-selfie bent,” said Michael Freeman, the USF dean who made the selfie rule. “I would just caution students to think there’s a time and place.”

A “time and place.” How true.

Graduation is one of the most formative times and places of our young adult lives. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Soon, you will dive into the chaotic job market and join the ranks of working adults.

This spring, forget about the pros and cons of selfies at the commencement ceremony. Look up from the camera, stick it in your pocket and understand once you cross the stage, life gets real.

Oh, and congrats on graduating.

17 Hard Truths Every College Grad Must Understand

1. A diploma does not guarantee an internship, job or career. It is merely a passport into the professional world. Now you’re in the jungle with the rest of us. May the best man 0r woman win.
2. To an employer, you look like every other recent grad who suddenly needs a full-time job. Unless, of course, your application promises to deliver exactly what the company needs —like this.

3. Your college coursework, difficult as it was, will never compete with someone’s real-world experience. You need skills ASAP even if they come from an internship or part-time situation. And never forget: a personal blog will make you instantly more marketable.

4. Expect to live frugally for a while. According to CNNMoney, average earnings for recent grads between the ages of 21 and 24 are around $16.99 or 8 percent lower than in 2007.

5. You finished four years of bloated, long-winded 12-page college essays. Unfortunately, the real world is busy and demands brevity. Remember: less is always more.

6. Your resume should be one page in length. Period. You don’t have enough experience to warrant two pages, much less three or four. Give employers the best one pager possible, and they will respect you for it.

7. There are three unemployed people for every job opening. It’s true. You’d better think creatively with your applications.

8. Order of importance on your resume: relevant skills, jobs/internships and then where you went to school. So stick education at the bottom and put “Skills” as close to the top as you can. Guarantee that’s the first place an employer looks.

9. “Your diploma is…permission to admit to yourself how much you still have yet to learn.” — Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson during the 2013 graduation at Rice University. Check out 15 more hard truths from last year’s commencement exercises.

10. Your first job won’t be your forever job. Don’t think too much about whether it’s the “perfect” situation. If your instincts say it’s a smart move, then go for it and don’t look back.

11. Google’s top HR person on job interviews: “What you want to do is say: ‘Here’s the attribute I’m going to demonstrate; here’s the story demonstrating it; here’s how that story demonstrated that attribute.’” TRUTH.

12. Forget texting. Forget Twitter. Forget email. Pick up the phone and call someone. That’s what adults do in the real world.

13. To land a job, you don’t need to live in one of America’s ten best cities for recent grads. You can create opportunity anywhere you set your two feet. Again, create opportunity. Don’t wait for good fortune to fall in your lap. It won’t.

14. According to USA TODAY, unemployment for 18 to 29 year olds is 15.8%, more than double the general rate. Want to stand out? Go beyond. After a job interview, send a hand-written thank-you note within 24 hours.

15. If you want people to take an interest in you, then you need to first take an interest in them — like this. [tweet the line]

16. With enough preparation, grit and confidence, you can land any entry-level position you want. Be proud of your degree, sure, but from here on out, success depends on you and not a piece of paper.

17. One more thing: “…trust me on the sunscreen.”

Danny Rubin is the creator and writer of News To Live By, a blog for Millennials that highlights the career advice and leadership lessons *hidden* in the day’s top stories. His columns have been featured on several blogs and news sites, including The New York Times and Business Insider.

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The post How to Use Google+ to Land Your Next Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

Unlike LinkedIn or Facebook, any recruiter or employer can find your profile and read what you’ve posted there. You don’t need to be connected with anyone for them to see your complete profile, so having a solid Google+ profile gives you a more powerful and complete online presence, especially since Google breaks up your about page into several boxes — or categories — of content about you.

Using your LinkedIn profile and resume content, expand on your greatness. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Here are four steps to do that.

1.  Complete the entire profile page

Google provides both the space and the ability to link to other web pages. Connect to your LinkedIn profile, Twitter account, blog, employer’s website or even your favorite posts on Brazen.

2.  Make your about page easy to read

The Google+ about page provides an amazing amount of virtual real estate. Writing in first person, create short but coherent paragraphs and short bulleted lists. These make your page easy for someone to skim as they look down their screen — particularly if the screen is on a smart phone.

Leverage the formatting tools Google+ provides. You can make text bold or italicized and include bulleted and numbered lists, too. Don’t just create a large paragraph that lists every keyword that could be applied to you. Keywords are important; lists of keywords are useless.

3.  Focus on your best keywords

This is Google, after all. Feed it keywords that’ll help your profile be found in Google searches. Recruiters usually know what they want, and they search using the keywords that’ll bring them the best results.

Job titles provide important keywords employers and recruiters use to search for people. Use the most appropriate job title for the job you have if you’re employed or for the job you want next if you’re unemployed. You can always change your mind and your profile later, but being vague or generalized won’t help.

Use whatever’s appropriate for your career goals. If you aren’t sure what to use, discover what’s best. Because the titles of the same job can differ from industry to industry and even employer to employer, search through Indeed.com’s collection of job postings to see what’s being used.

If more than one job title is used to describe the job you want, include the job titles you see most often. Plug the terms into Indeed’s Job Trends page to see which are used most often, and put the most frequently used terms in your tagline, like this: Investment sales assistant/sales associate.

Skills also provide useful keywords. Again, be as specific as you can. Focus on skills you have that employers seem to be searching for.

Match the language most employers use to describe a skill. For example, if “skill with Microsoft Office” is typically required in their job postings — and you have that skill — be sure to include the words “Microsoft Office” in your about page. Also include the names of the Microsoft products you can use, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. This ensures the right keywords are available.

Include appropriate acronyms and explain what they mean. An employer may search on either the acronym or the term. Explaining the acronym adds more information about you, particularly when the acronym could have more than one meaning. For example, AIDS could be the acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or Aircraft Integrated Data System — two very different things representing different skills, experiences and industries.

4.  Craft your Google+ tagline carefully

Pay close attention to the contents of your Google+ tagline at the top of the story box. That tagline is often included in a Google search result that links to your Google+ profile. Your tagline is also what Google shows people in the pop-up window when someone runs a mouse over your profile picture. It should create interest and encourage people to click through to see the rest of your profile.

Your Google+ tagline defines your personal brand. Don’t describe yourself with useless, generic terms like “experienced business professional” or “new college graduate.” General terms like those aren’t interesting or memorable and are seldom — if ever — used by a recruiter searching for qualified applicants. And those terms certainly aren’t distinctive personal brands.

Put Google+ to work for you, and you’ll have a stronger presence on the web that attracts recruiters and potential employers. You don’t have to chase the opportunities if they track you down first.

Susan P. Joyce is a visiting scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the chief technology writer, editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org and WorkCoachCafe.com. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Google+.

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The post Will Unpaid College Internships Soon Be a Thing of the Past? appeared first on Brazen Life.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, both employers and colleges are starting to rethink their internship policies.

In light of several high-profile lawsuits brought by former interns (including one against them), magazine publisher Condé Nast removed their internship program entirely. Many other companies are following suit: either ending their programs, or culling their offerings down to a few paid positions.

From the story:

A survey last year from the National Association of Colleges and Employers suggests unpaid internships don’t help students land full-time jobs. Alums of unpaid internships had full-time job offers at nearly the same rate as those who had no internships at all—about 37%, compared with 62% for those with paid internships.

Though cutting unpaid internships may lead to better pay and richer experiences for interns who land paid positions, it also means increased competition for everyone else.

On the other side of the table, colleges are also starting to crack down. Hoping to protect their students from what some think is unpaid labor, Columbia University is no longer offering credit for internships, while Hamilton College won’t post unpaid opportunities from companies that also offer paid positions.

How do you feel about unpaid internships? Do you think the system should change, or are they a valuable part of a student’s preparation for the career world?

Susan Shain is a travel blogger who loves helping people discover adventure through international travel or alternative careers.

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The post Job Interview Tips: Because a Strong Handshake is Just the Beginning appeared first on Brazen Life.

But fear rarely makes a strong impression. Instead of quaking and counting the seconds until your interview is over, take control of the process from the start by keeping these considerations in mind.

1. Grow up

Job interviews have a tendency to transport us back to childhood, a time when we strove to please our elders and stay out of trouble. But resist this tendency. You and your interviewer are two adults who’ve earned a place in the world and a seat at the table.

You’re going to have a simple conversation. You’re not here to be judged, scolded, punished, tested or cross examined. And if you’re treated this way, you don’t want that job.

2. Clarify, don’t guess

If you don’t understand your interviewer’s question, that’s his fault, not yours. Don’t fumble or mumble your way toward whatever you think he meant. Simply say, “I don’t understand the question. Can you rephrase?”

3. Honesty wins — always

If you have to choose between telling your story in your own words or telling your interviewer what you think she wants to hear, choose the first. At some point, you may be asked to describe your feelings, your plans or the lessons you learned from the past. Think about the question for a few seconds before you speak. Then speak from the heart.

4. You’re a specialist, not a jack-of-all trades

Young candidates often assume that the more they can do, the more they’ll impress their interviewers. They claim to be all-around superstars (hard workers, tech pros, brilliant writers, mathematicians and natural leaders) who turn everything they touch into gold.

Instead, focus on what you really do — the skills you have to offer that others don’t. Let the other things go.

5. You’re not a “social media expert” (unless you are)

You may have a Facebook account, and you may be a Millennial, but these alone don’t make you a social media expert or a social media marketing pro. These are real terms, and if you use them to describe yourself, you’ll need to back up that claim.

But here’s the good news: you don’t have to do this. Especially if this isn’t a social media marketing job. Focus on your degree in chemistry, your background in art history or your child development experience, and don’t let your interviewer put you on the defensive because you haven’t updated your Twitter feed in a while.

6. Manage your appearance and non-verbal cues

Whatever you decide to wear to your interview, look clean, neat, pressed and sharp. Your clothes should look new, especially your shoes. Your posture should be confident and relaxed. Keep the conversation flowing in two directions. Judge as much as you’re judged, and ask some questions instead of answering each one and passively waiting for the next.

Jenny Treanor is a career advisor and job search expert who provides consultation for staffing firms, hiring managers and job seekers across every industry. Her blogs and articles appear regularly on LiveCareer, home of America’s #1 Resume Builder.

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The post The Perfect Resume Starts With Avoiding These 7 Tired Cliches appeared first on Brazen Life.

A recruiter spends an average of six to 10 seconds per resume. Do you really want to waste even one of those precious milliseconds with a single word that doesn’t add to your credibility?

It goes without saying that you want your resume to stand out. You want a job, don’t you? It’s not hard to steer clear of common clichés and be more original. You just need to know which phrases to avoid.

Nix these seven clichés from your resume, and you’ll be well on your way to grabbing the recruiter’s attention — and staying out of the “no thanks” pile, once and for all.

1. Avoid meaningless adjectives

Your resume will read like a work of fiction when you use phrases like “seasoned manager” or “influential leader” without an accompanying explanation.

Drop the qualitative description and add years of experience, job-specific technical skills and quantifiable achievements instead. Better yet, add graphs and other visuals to show what you’ve accomplished in previous jobs.

Not many applicants use visuals, but these graphics do more than add aesthetic appeal to your resume — visuals can add an air of credibility to your claims, which helps the recruiter believe you.

2. Cut out “creative”

“Creative” might seem like the perfect word to describe your unique personality. Unfortunately, thousands of other applicants think the same thing. Recruiters have seen this word so much they will completely gloss over it.

Creative was the top buzzword for two years in LinkedIn’s annual survey of clichés. Many LinkedIn profiles use the word “creative” — even professionals not involved in creative fields.

Instead of telling the recruiter you’re creative, show them evidence of your creativity. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Write a compelling cover letter or create a video resume to narrate the highlights of your career. Add interesting (nice-to-know, but not-so-personal) tidbits about yourself, and you’ll have a show-stopping resume cum cover letter in one neat little package.

3. Remove “results oriented”

What exactly do you mean when you describe yourself as results oriented? Do you aim to hit the goals your employer sets out for you? That should be a given. Every employer wants employees who drive results.

So prove to the recruiter you’re that person with details, and nix the empty and nondescript “results oriented.” This description is subjective. Instead, highlight your skills and accomplishments by using the names of the projects or campaigns you worked on, then include the results for said projects.

4. Take out “passionate”

So what’s wrong with saying you’re passionate? It goes two ways: Recruiters might buy this (not likely) and think you’re passionate about what you do, or they might think you’re desperately looking for a job.

The verity of your enthusiasm can easily be checked through your social media profiles. If you really love what you do, your Facebook and Twitter accounts would show work-related status updates, reflecting how excited you are about what’s happening in your job.

Delete “passionate” and similar adjectives fit for romantic novels. Replace them with solid examples of how much you love what you do, such as details about personal projects related to your line of work. For instance, if you’re a programmer, include info about apps you’re developing for your own use or for fun.

5. Rid your resume of “responsible for”

Upon seeing this phrase, a recruiter pictures a mechanical employee doing what he’s paid to do — no more, no less. Change this phrase to “managed X,” “completed X tasks” or similar action verbs that embody leadership and initiative.

6. Get rid of “guru”

“Guru” sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Calling yourself a guru on your resume makes you sound like somebody trying hard to look smart. Stop proclaiming you’re a guru, ninja or expert. It’s fine if other people describe you that way, but not to describe yourself.

Replace these self-proclaimed titles. Demonstrate your expertise instead by listing published books or articles, interviews, past speaking engagements and other accomplishments that could establish your contribution in your field.

Remember, pretending to be someone you’re not will backfire on you during the interview.

7. Axe “excellent oral and written communication skills”

Although this is a must-have soft skill, recruiters don’t need to see it on your resume.

Why?

Because hiring managers can judge your communication skills in mere seconds! If your resume and cover letter fail to communicate why you should get an interview, then what’s the point of putting “excellent communication skills” on paper?

Proofread your resume for grammar slips instead. Remove fillers and redundant phrases.

Your resume is your stepping stone to getting a job, so invest an extra 30 minutes to make it attention-grabbing. Review your resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile for these seven clichés and buzzwords. Save a copy of the original files, then apply the tips above to revamp your profile. Compare before and after files and see the difference.

Share one of the changes you’ve made in the comments!

Michelle Riklan is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Employment Interview Consultant (CEIC). Her resumes get results, and she coaches her clients through all phases of the job search.

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The post Killer Cover Letter Tips for Your Job Search appeared first on Brazen Life.

Your cover letter has to be excellent to make a good impression. If you include these five elements in your letter, you’re almost guaranteed job-hunting success. Try it — play along as you read.

You need…

1. A compelling first line

Too many cover letters start with “I am pleased to submit my application for the marketing assistant job posted on your website,” which is a snooze-fest. Even “I’m excited to apply for your marketing assistant position” is about eight hundred times better because you sound like a human being.

If you want to go beyond “I’m excited to apply for…” you have a few options. Consider starting by dropping a name or with an anecdote (“If the Jell-O Wrestling Club’s latest match hadn’t ended with two injured contestants, it wouldn’t have been facing the biggest PR disaster of its short life. But now I had to fix it.”).

By the way, it’s helpful to include a name (as long as it’s spelled correctly — quadruple check this, please), but you don’t need one. “Dear hiring manager” is fine and preferable to “To whom it may concern” or “Dear sir or madam,” no matter what MS Office’s Clippy tells you.

2. A list (but not actually) of all you bring to the company

The meat of your cover letter should talk about your skills and accomplishments, but not in the same way as your resume. Your resume is a bulleted list; your cover letter should be written in sentences.

For example: “I thrive in fast-paced environments and love tight deadlines. At my previous position, I often filed reports finished long before they were due.” Or: “I’m a multitasker — I manage four social media accounts and have grown followers an average of 30 percent over each year I’ve had this job.” Or “My marketing strategy at XYZ company yielded purchase orders of over $2 million.”

Not “I have extensively researched your company and can contribute to your bottom line.” That’s meaningless.

3. A story: show it, don’t tell it

Ever since the first cavemen huddled around a fire and tried to explain the stars, human beings have been storytelling creatures. You can use your cover letter to tell the story of why you want to work at company X, how you became interested in field Y or why there’s a big gap on your resume. Nobody wants to hear your whole life story from birth onward, but consider this:

If it weren’t for my elementary school music teacher, I might never have become a writer who specializes in advocating for the arts. The only time my parents took me to Baltimore’s symphony hall, it was because they accidentally bought tickets for the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, thinking it was some sort of holiday variety show. But Mrs. Lindquist? She made sure I made it to the Meyerhoff three times each school year. I was fortunate to attend school in a well-funded district that valued music education, even if it wasn’t a high priority in my family. Not all kids are so lucky.

This is how a writer opened her cover letter to a nonprofit that brings music education to schools that don’t have it. It’s six brief sentences, but tells a full story. It’s also funny and insidery, with the references to a fairly obscure opera (for those not versed in the musical world) and the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. This letter got the writer an interview.

Think how different it would have been if she had instead said, “I am applying for your open position because I am passionate about music education and want to help children experience it for themselves.” Kinda blah, right? Think about how your experiences make a story and include details.

4. Some humility

“I know I am the perfect candidate for your job.” No, you don’t. “You owe it to yourself to invite me in for an interview.” Yikes. Don’t put yourself down, but keep in mind that you’re one candidate out of many, and you definitely don’t know that you’re the best (even if you feel that way and your mom agrees).

Besides, your cover letter is an opportunity to line up your skills with the company’s needs — not to talk about how great the job would be for you. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

Some experts recommend using twice as many “you”s in your cover letter as “I”s. That’s hard to do, but it’s a good goal to aim for, since it keeps you focused on the company’s needs. Consider the differences between these two examples:

“I’m really excited about this opportunity because working with children has been a lifelong dream of mine, and your company would give me the potential to grow. This is definitely my dream job, and I know I’m the perfect candidate for you.” (Six “I”s, “me”s or “my”s, two “you”s.)

“Your ad mentions you’re looking for someone who’s good with numbers. At my last job, I was nicknamed ‘human calculator’ for my skill with reports.” (Two “you”s, two “I”s — much closer.)

5. A great closing line

Here’s what is not a great closing line: “I’ll call you next week to set up an interview.” Maybe that worked in your parents’ generation, but these days, that’s far too pushy.

Instead, try:

“I’m excited to speak with you about the opportunity to join the team!”

Or “I’m eager to help ABC Co. continue to set itself apart from the competition.”

Or even just “My resume is attached, as requested, and I look forward to speaking with you further about this job.”

Ideally, you want to straddle the line between excited (good) and Overly Attached Girlfriend (bad). Then just add a “Sincerely, your name” and you’re done. Seriously, that’s it.

Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Rachel Kaufman is the author of Cover Letters for Creative People, an ebook about nailing the perfect cover letter in your job search. Get your own copy here.

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The post Shy? Hate Networking? Here's a New Approach That Won't Make You Want to Hide in a Corner appeared first on Brazen Life.

NETWORK! YOU NEED TO NETWORK!

And there’s good reason why people give you that advice. Experts estimate that anywhere from 60 to 80 percent of people find jobs through personal contacts.

But what if you don’t have a network with which to, well, network? Let’s start with the excuses reasons why you might not have a network to tap:

• You just graduated from college.
• You just moved to a new city and don’t know anyone yet.
• You’re changing industries.
• You don’t want the people you work with now to know you’re looking.
• You’re just not good at networking.

If you’re making any of these excuses, it’s time to get over it!

Take a new approach to networking

You’re a human being, right? You know other human beings, right? You have parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, old friends, new friends, current neighbors, past neighbors, former classmates, former teachers or professors, maybe a community or church group you belong to, the guys you play basketball (or softball or flag football) with, the girls in your book club, the people you chat with at the health club… And on and on.

And don’t even get me started on your social networks.

The average American knows about 600 people. And if those 600 people know another 600 each, that’s 360,000 people! If that’s not a big enough network for you to work with, you have too much time on your hands.

But sometimes people say, “Those people don’t know anyone in my industry. They can’t help me find a job.” The truth is, you have no idea who the people you know also know. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Or who they know who may also know someone else who could help you. That’s why “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” is such a fun game to play. But I digress.

In networking, the whole point is to cast your net broadly to see what leads, contacts and ideas you can reel in.

How to tap your “non-network” network

Here’s the real secret behind networking: The people in your network won’t find you a job. But what they can do is connect you to people who know other people. And those people may know just that person who has a job you’d be perfect for.

1. Make the biggest, broadest list of everybody you know

Your only two criteria for adding anyone to this list are:

• The person is breathing.
• The person will recognize either your name or the name of the person who connected you to them. (“We both lived on 3 Allen sophomore year,” or “I’m a friend of your sister Penelope.”)

2. Prioritize your list as follows:

• Extroverts who know a lot of people. (They’ll be “above-average” on  how many people they can connect you to.)
• People who “owe you one” because you’ve done them a favor or lent them assistance in the past. Now’s the time to collect on your debt.
• People who seem like they probably like helping people (or at least, would like to help you).

Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter whether they have any connection to the industry or job you’re interested in. If they do, that’s gravy. But it shouldn’t be your only reason for contacting someone in your network. Keep in mind you don’t know who else they know. Remember… 600 people.

3. Know what you need from them and how to ask for it

Now that you have your list categorized, it’s time to start reaching out. Here’s how the basic conversation should go: Start with, “I’m interested in (blank) job or industry.” Next, ask one or all of the following questions:

• Do you know anything about that industry or this type of position?
• Do you know anyone who works in it or a related one?
• Can you think of anyone you know who I should talk to? Would you connect me with them?

That’s it. Keep it simple. Remember, you’re not asking them to help you find a job. Honestly, that tends to make most people uncomfortable. You’re just trying to find out if they know anyone (or know someone who might know someone) who can give you some info or advice.

Some people say this approach to networking is like searching for a needle in a haystack. And sometimes it is. If you’ve got a big, robust professional network you’ve been building for years, then you don’t need this approach.

But if you don’t, you have a choice. You can either spend time searching for jobs online and sending your resume again and again to computers that won’t read it. Or you can find a few real, breathing human beings you already know — or someone who knows them — who can give you real info, advice and ultimately access to that perfect job.

So stop saying you don’t have a network. You do. Everybody has one. You just have to use it.

Sue Matson is partner with Executive Coaching firm rd&partners in Chicago, IL. Her clients enjoy her practical, straightforward advice and her ability to help them focus on what’s most important to their career success. Read more articles like this on her blog.

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The post Cover Letter Mistakes That Will Send Your Application Straight to the Trash appeared first on Brazen Life.

This is your opportunity to introduce yourself to an employer and make yourself stand out among a competitive applicant pool. Your cover letter lets the employer know you are a good match for both the company and the position — or not.

Avoid the following mistakes to get your application noticed — in a good way!

1. You didn’t follow instructions

What were the instructions in the job listing? Many employers will request a specific subject line, salary requirements or additional documents, such as a writing sample.

Not following instructions will immediately eliminate you from the applicant pool. Double check your cover letter against the job listing, and have a friend proofread before you submit.

This is your chance to show off your written communication skills, so avoid making costly mistakes. You shouldn’t have to explain in your letter that you’re detail-oriented; a good cover letter that follows the instructions will demonstrate that.

2. You used a canned message

You won’t get an interview if you submit the same generic cover letter with every application. Tailor your cover letter to the job you’re applying for to prove you’re not only a qualified candidate, but also serious about this job in particular.

A great cover letter will express enthusiasm for the company and demonstrate you have the relevant skills and experience the position requires. Your cover letter should directly relate to the role and industry you’re applying for; don’t discuss unrelated career goals or experiences.

Cheryl E. Palmer, M.Ed., CECC, CPRW and Career Development Expert, warns against using form letters: “Recruiters can spot a form letter a mile away. Form letters send the message to employers that the job seeker is not interested in the specific position that the employer has available, but rather that the job seeker is sending out resumes to everyone without giving any thought to what the employer is looking for.”

3. You regurgitated your resume

Your cover letter should enhance your resume, not repeat or summarize it. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Instead of rehashing the skills and experience listed in your resume, expand on why that experience makes you a great candidate for the job you want.

Keep your cover letter short (one page or less), but include details that aren’t provided in your resume. Offer specific, relevant examples from your previous experience to make your application shine.

4. You weren’t professional

Don’t include personal details unless the information directly relates to the position you are applying for. You need to keep your tone professional. Though most applications are submitted online, this isn’t an excuse to be casual. Use a formal greeting and signature. Use professional stationery if you mail in your application.

When in doubt, it’s best to use a standard cover letter format. Sandy Malone, a professional wedding planner and the star of TLC’s Wedding Island, confirms that most hiring managers aren’t impressed by gimmicks: “Just stop with the ridiculous-looking and colorful resumes. Unless you’re a graphic designer, keep it simple and follow a standard format. I don’t want to hunt for your credentials. That just annoys me.”

5. You didn’t proofread

This is one of the most important steps: Proofread, proofread, proofread!

In addition to correcting any spelling or grammatical mistakes, you have to get the details right. You don’t want to start your cover letter with “Dear Sir” if the hiring manager is a woman.

Also, double check the company name and position title so you don’t send the wrong template from a previous cover letter. Lastly, be sure to back up your skills and experience. If you claim to be extremely organized and have strong writing skills, your cover letter should reflect that.

What else would you add to the list? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Whitney Eidman is the Community Manager at Doostang, a community of over one million elite professionals with inside access to thousands of top jobs. Connect with Doostang on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

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The post 5 Signs the Hiring Manager Just Isn’t That Into You — And How to Change It appeared first on Brazen Life.

Remember that when you’re invited to interview for a position, the hiring manager already feels you’re qualified for the position. But truly connecting with your interviewer can be tough, and conversations don’t always go as planned.

Here are a few signs the hiring manager may be losing interest in you — and how to turn the interview around:

1. They only ask questions from their prepared list

A hiring manager always prepares for an interview by developing a list of questions. They’ll usually begin to digress from their list by asking follow-up questions to your answers to build a clear picture of your potential for the job.

If they begin to lose interest, however, they may begin to “stick to the script” and run through their list of questions without asking for much elaboration.

How to turn it around: Change tactics — answer their questions, but also ask some of your own. Ensure the interview is a two-way conversation. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Engage the hiring manager. Lead the conversation in a direction that allows you to demonstrate your knowledge of the industry, company and your skills.

2. They become easily distracted

If your hiring manager becomes distracted during the interview, it’s a surefire sign they’re losing interest. Do they glance at their computer when new emails come in? Does the amount of eye contact they make with you dwindle? Perhaps you catch them glancing at the clock or other work on their desk. You need to bring the focus back to your conversation immediately.

How to turn it around: You should’ve researched the company and industry when preparing for this interview, and now’s the perfect time to leverage this information to sell yourself.

Comment on a piece of pertinent industry news and ask how it affects the company. Draw connections between market trends and how they might affect the company’s services or product line. These topics make an impact on the interviewer’s job, so it’s a good tactic to grab their attention.

3. They stop taking notes

When a hiring manager stops taking notes during an interview, this indicates your responses are leading them to believe you’re not the right candidate for the job. They’ll be recounting the details of the interview to company management, so detailed notes on their top candidates help them make a case for hiring you.

How to turn it around: When a hiring manager stops taking notes, don’t panic. Keep an eye on what interests them throughout the interview. What responses do they take notes on and when do they stop?

Highlight the skills and experience they find most intriguing, even if you feel those topics aren’t your strongest attributes. Guide the conversation back to those points and expand on them as much as you can without pushing it too far.

4. They don’t ask how you would use your experience for the benefit of their company

At the end of the day, a hiring manager’s job is to find potential employees who can make a contribution to the company. If they aren’t sure you’re the right person for the job, they may not initiate a conversation about your experience and skills in relation to the job.

How to turn it around: You should be proud of all your professional accomplishments, but emphasize the ones this company needs. Did the job description mention they need someone who can make killer presentations? Guide the conversation in that direction. Are they looking for someone with the ability to work well in groups? Give examples of how well you’ve done in the past.

Always bring the conversation back to how you can be an asset, as all companies are looking for someone who can provide them with solutions to their problems. If they don’t bring up your potential, you need to make it part of the conversation.

5. They don’t mention a second interview or future communication

The end of the interview is usually when the hiring manager will discuss the next steps in the interview process. This includes when you can expect to hear from them, whether there will be a second interview, and any further information they might need. If they don’t offer opportunities for further communication, it might be a sign they’re on the fence about you.

How to turn it around: Let the interviewer know how interested you are in the job and the company. Ask when you can expect to hear from them or inquire about the next steps. Be polite and confident in your inquiry and it’ll impress upon the hiring manager that you’re serious about the job.

Within 24 hours of the interview, you should also send a formal email to thank them for the opportunity to interview. Not only is it courteous, but it also keeps your conversation fresh in their minds.

Not every interview is a smooth conversation. If you find you aren’t connecting with your interviewer, it doesn’t mean you won’t get the job. It just means you may have to work a bit harder to impress them. Steer the conversation in a way that casts you in the best possible light.

What do you think? How do you try to turn tough interviews into outstanding job opportunities?

Robyn Melhuish is the Communications Manager at MedReps.com, a job board that gives members access to the most sought-after medical sales jobs and pharmaceutical sales jobs on the Web. Connect with Robyn and MedReps.com on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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The post Thinking of Lying About Your Experience? Here’s How Interviewers Will Find You Out appeared first on Brazen Life.

You may think the string of fancy titles on your resume is all an employer needs to see, but if they’re sharp, like billionaire technology mogul Elon Musk, chances are they won’t be satisfied without digging a little deeper.

In an interview at Business Insider’s Ignition conference, Musk talked about how he determines whether job applicants are truly qualified for the position. Click here to take a look.

If an interviewer asked you to describe a problem you faced in your job and how you solved it, what would your answer be? Share your ideas in the comments!

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The post How to Juggle a Full-Time Job AND a Successful Job Search appeared first on Brazen Life.

Here are four tips for juggling work and a grueling job search:

1. Make the time, and use it wisely

I know it seems like there are not enough hours in the day, and that means something’s gotta give. Whether it’s giving up an hour of sleep, your Sunday brunch or your spin class, that time has to come from somewhere — but don’t worry; it’s only temporary.

Try to allocate an hour a day to your job search. Since you’re only going to give it one hour per day, use that hour wisely. Shut down Google Talk, turn off your cell and really focus on the task at hand, whether it’s browsing for roles, putting together applications or preparing for an interview. Really make it count.

2. Choose your jobs carefully

Making it count means not applying to every job you see. Trust me — getting out of work to go on interviews (if you’re lucky enough to get called in!) is not easy or fun. Make sure you’re only applying for roles you really want to go after wholeheartedly. Also make sure you’re applying to roles that you’re qualified for. Anything else will be a waste of time that you do not have a surplus of!

3. Don’t let coworkers know you’re looking

This is a mistake I see people make often. You’re excited about the prospect of a new opportunity and feel the urge to tell a coworker. Resist that urge!

There may also be times you need to sneak away from the office. Use personal days when you need to, but otherwise schedule interviews early in the morning or late in the afternoon when you can. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t be showing up in a suit every time you have a “doctor’s appointment,” either. Overall, keep your search under the radar as much as possible.

Whether it’s true or not, the perception is that if you’re looking for a job elsewhere, you’re not giving 110 percent where you are. If it ends up taking you a long time to make a move, this could negatively affect how people view you and value you in your current company.

4. Don’t let your search interfere with your work product

Most importantly, make sure you’re still delivering flawless work to your current employer. After all, they’re the one handing over that paycheck, and being mentally checked out is not professional. Leaving a job can be sensitive enough, and you want to leave on the best terms possible. You never know when you might need to use them as references. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

Ultimately, this double-duty isn’t going to be the most relaxing part of your year. Just remember that it’s only temporary, and the short-term sacrifice of time and energy will pay off in dividends when you land in a great new role.

This post originally appeared on Your Coffee Break.

Jaime Petkanics is the writer behind www.prepary.com, an online resource which provides advice on all aspects of the job search. A former recruiter, Jaime answers questions ranging from how to write a great resume, to how to answer interview questions, and everything in between.

Your Coffee Break is a lifestyle magazine for the professional woman. Based in London with representatives in New York, Los Angeles and Paris, Your Coffee Break has rapidly established itself as the go-to magazine for business women across the globe looking for inspiring content to read during their coffee break. Follow them on Twitter at @UrCoffeeBreak.

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The post Why You’re Wasting Your Time Searching for the Perfect Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

Now, before you go burying your misery in a pint of mint chocolate chip, rest assured this seemingly depressing dose of reality isn’t a reflection on you. You may very well be the cream of the crop when it comes to talent and charm, but the big issue is this: The “perfect” job doesn’t exist. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

The good news is, there are some really great jobs. And the key to finding those opportunities lies in some solid self-reflection and the acknowledgment of the tradeoffs inherent to any career decision.

As Seth Godin says, “A decision without tradeoffs isn’t a decision.” So, how can you approach your job search in the smartest way and find that place where less-than-perfect is still pretty damn good?

Get clear on your non-negotiables

You most likely have a couple requirements that simply can’t budge. Maybe you have to stay within a 100-mile radius of your hometown for family reasons. Or you have to at least earn enough money to make a dent in your student loans. Identify those deal-breakers, and be discriminating. The longer your list, the more limited your possibilities, so try to keep it short — three or four factors, tops.

Struggling to narrow it down? You’re probably making assumptions that don’t really hold water if you’re open to some give-and-take.

Do you really need be a manager, or would you consider a different title if it meant you could learn new skills or have an off-the-charts great boss as a mentor? Do you really have to add a big-name brand company to your resume, or could you forgo that wish if you knew you’d have more responsibility and schedule flexibility?

In all likelihood, there are a bunch of factors that aren’t really “must haves,” but are ”nice to haves.” And that’s where your great possibilities exist.

Define what a great day of work would be like

Once you’ve named your non-negotiables, make a list of other factors that might play into your career decision. They can be quantitative, like salary and commute, and qualitative, like culture and opportunity for growth. What matters is that they’re specific to you.

Ask yourself what a great day at work would look like. Start with the following questions:

• How do you want to spend your time?
• What do you want from your coworker relationships?
• What kind of work environment is most energizing for you?
• What do you want in a boss?
• How do you want your job to fit into your life?

This is the time to be honest with yourself — just get it out of your head and onto paper. You aren’t obligated to share your list at the next family dinner or at happy hour with your friends.

Think about the tradeoffs you’re willing to make

Your list of variables may feel lengthy and make your head spin. Break it down into smaller, bite-sized chunks to frame your thinking and maintain your sanity.

Start by picking two key tradeoffs. Think about your sensitivity to changes in each of them, particularly relative to one another. What do you value more: a flexible work schedule or a 10 percent bump in pay? The chance to work with an icon in your field or a 20 percent shorter commute?

As you play around with different scenarios and notice your gut reactions, don’t fall prey to false choices or exaggerated outcomes. If you prefer the shorter commute, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to work for a jerk. Your boss might be a great match for you, but is an up-and-comer rather than a high-profile industry leader.

Every variable has a range of personally acceptable values. Figure out that range for yourself and consider your willingness to move within it.

Get going!

Once you’ve practiced thinking in tradeoff terms, you’ll be more certain of your personal preferences. Now put that awareness to good use — use it to focus your job search, guide your networking conversations, compose enlightening interview questions and, ultimately, negotiate an offer.

With another hat tip to Seth Godin: “The art of good decision making is looking forward to and celebrating the tradeoffs, not pretending they don’t exist.” The elusiveness of that perfect job doesn’t have to keep you stuck. If you know what you’re willing to give up to get the things that matter most, you can keep moving forward to some pretty great possibilities.

Besides, perfect is overrated.

Laura Garrett is a certified career coach and partner at Ondecision, Inc., an organization dedicated to helping individuals uncover their personal preferences in the name of more authentic career planning. Stay connected to Laura’s work on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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The post 4 Mega-Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make On Your Resume appeared first on Brazen Life.

Most job seekers are well aware of the major no-nos on resumes, but here’s the bad news: your resume probably has other red flags you’re not aware of. Here’s the worst news: There’s no way to know for sure what they are.

Why? Because every recruiter and hiring manager has a different approach, and every company has different needs. A red flag for one position is an asset for another.

What’s a job seeker to do? Well, if you’re a mind reader, that’s a big help. Otherwise, you have to rely on learning about industry norms and consider what you want in a job and a company. Here are a few common red flags:

1. No social media presence

While you should never include a link to a personal profile, not having one at all can also raise concerns. In most positions, technology plays an important role, and your ability to maintain a social media account shows a level of comfort employers want to see.

For many creative jobs, such as Web design, photography or writing, it’s expected as a way to gain access to a portfolio of your work. Depending on your industry, this can be done through a Flickr account, a blog or even a Twitter feed.

For jobs that rely heavily on your ability to network and develop relationships, such as marketing and sales positions, showcasing your large social following can be an asset. For many online marketing positions, it’s a requirement, whether it’s stated upfront or not.

Not sure what the standard is for your industry? In almost any job, it’s a safe bet to include your LinkedIn profile. (Click here to tweet this thought.) A great place is in your header under your email address. It’s unlikely a hiring manager would toss your resume for including it, and you’ll avoid being overlooked because someone assumes you’re a techno-phobe.

2. Too few job changes

You probably know that job hoppers are frowned upon, but staying in one place for too long can also hurt you. Many employers want applicants with a wide range of experience. They may question the depth of your knowledge of the industry or wonder why you didn’t take initiative to find more opportunities for growth.

This is particularly true for any industry that requires a diverse set of skills and expertise, such as technology-related fields and project management positions.

What’s a loyal employee to do? If you changed positions or were promoted, break up those different titles into separate sections. Be sure to highlight any changes in department or location as well.

If you haven’t moved around, it’s even more important to highlight specific accomplishments and continuing education to alleviate any concerns. And before you panic, consider this:

If you’ve been in one position for a long period of time, it’s likely you valued that company’s loyalty to you as well. If a new potential employer thinks loyalty is a weakness, it may not be the right match for you anyway.

3. No hobbies or additional interests

Nine times out of ten, including this section on your resume is a bad idea. Employers don’t care about your life outside of work. (Many of them would probably prefer you didn’t have one at all.)

That being said, for some jobs, it’s crucial to showing why you’re the right candidate. If you’re applying for a position at a surfboard company, the fact you can ride a wave is definitely relevant.

A veterinarian’s office is likely to be impressed by your volunteer work with the local shelter and your three dogs, two cats, one gerbil and tank full of fish. In these instances, not including information about your personal life is a mistake.

Also, some workplaces — particularly younger, tech companies — make a point to showcase their employees’ hobbies and personal accomplishments. For instance, they might post on their blog about an employee winning a chess tournament or share the results of their annual table tennis competition.

It’s about showing that you’re not just qualified, but also a match for the company culture. It’s unlikely your resume would be thrown out for omitting this information, but its inclusion can move you to the top of the pile.

4. You’re too qualified

If you seem too good to be true, employers often assume it’s all false. Even if they believe you, it can bring up questions about why you want the job in the first place and how long you’ll stay if you get it.

This can be particularly frustrating for applicants actively seeking a less stressful position or trying to change industries. Take it down a notch. Look at what’s required for this particular position, and make sure you’re showcasing just those qualifications (and maybe just a bit more).

Don’t be afraid to tone down position titles, too. It’s not lying to list your position as marketing if you were the marketing manager, but that extra word can make a big difference in how you’re perceived.

Also, be careful about over-explaining your positions as this can be seen as overcompensating. The key is to focus on achievements in a clear but concise way.

What concerns do you have about the impression your resume gives employers? Share in the comments.

Juliana Weiss-Roessler is a professional resume writer based in Austin, TX. She’s also a contributor to JobTonic.com, where you can perform a job search and apply directly to multiple top job search sites in one easy location.

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The post No Experience? No Problem. How 4 Pros Landed Their Dream Gigs appeared first on Brazen Life.

Here are the inspiring stories and creative strategies these people used to transition into a job they love — without related work experience or education.

Work on your transferrable skills and connect with the interviewer on a personal level

Tom Aiello, president of March Marketing, was an Army combat engineer who wanted to work in advertising.

To get the recruiters’ attention, he listed his skills and compared it to job descriptions to see which of them are applicable in advertising. Then he focused his resume and cover letter on these transferable skills. His next challenge was to convince company VPs that his military background was applicable to advertising.

These decision-makers didn’t think “a rigid Army veteran would thrive at an ad agency,” says Tom. He had to convince them that he could fit in. “The key was connecting on a personal level to make them feel they could work with me,” Tom says.

He looked up the background of each interviewer, then used the information he found to break the ice by drawing out what they have in common.

Do your homework: study the people, culture and the work done. Use this to “ask intelligent questions about the job,” Tom suggest.

When transferrable skills aren’t enough: quash the stereotypes

Peter Berner, president of Pilot Workplace, had a successful banking career, but he wanted to be a career counselor.

Back then, “the going price of admission into the career development field was a Ph.D. in Psychology and a skirt,” says Peter.

Here’s a situation where transferrable skills and enthusiasm weren’t enough.

To solve this, he compiled the bios of senior leaders in major career development firms, and through persistent networking, he got an audience with the decision-makers of these companies.

But he didn’t ask for an interview. Instead, he showed them the bio compilation without the names and asked them to check for any similarities in the work and backgrounds on the bios. None of them could find a pattern.

The credentials of the senior leaders were diverse, but even more surprising to his audience was the fact that “none of them had a Ph.D. in Psychology and not one of them was female,” Peter says.

After realizing this, the people who didn’t want to give him a chance were suddenly open to hiring him. Don’t disqualify yourself from the competition just because you don’t have the “requirements” for the job. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

Create your own experience

Varda Epstein, a mother of 12 with a high school education, started out occasionally cleaning houses to help pay the bills, but is now a successful writer.

Like most writers, she started out with no clips, so she wrote editorials for a local newspaper and used them for her portfolio. Today, she’s the communications writer at Kars4Kids, an organization sponsoring educational initiatives for children. “I’m doing what I love best: writing about education and helping children,” says Varda.

Many aspiring writers think they can’t have a successful writing career because they don’t have a journalism degree, but she didn’t let that stop her. “No potential employer noticed or inquired about my lack of education,” says Varda.

Don’t be impatient for success

“Nothing big starts big,” says Dan Nainan, senior Intel engineer turned comedian. He used to travel the world doing technical presentations with Intel Chairman Andy Grove, but he wasn’t exactly a “natural” on stage.

He took comedy lessons to get over his fear of public speaking. After that, the comedy kind of took off and, since then, he’s performed at several events, including a TED conference and several presidential inaugurations.

He’s successful, but “it took almost two years of full-time work to get my first show,” says Dan. Back then, each $5 ticket sold earned him $1 and he had to hand out flyers in Times Square. It was hard work for low pay, but he persevered.

As for changing jobs and learning new skills, Dan suggests, “If you want to do something difficult, try something even more difficult, and the difficult thing will become less so.”

Let that sink in for a moment. It’s logical advice. In his case, speaking on stage was hard, but it’s even harder to make people laugh. Once he got comfortable with comedy, public speaking came easier.

What about you? Are the requirements for your dream job a bit out of reach? Try the strategies here.

If these strategies have worked for you before, share your story in the comments!

Charley Mendoza is a freelance business and career writer. She helps business consultants and career professionals attract new clients through copywriting and blogging.

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The post The Secret to Nailing That Interview and Getting the Job You Want appeared first on Brazen Life.

You walk into your favorite shoe store, and a friendly assistant approaches you. “Hello!” she exclaims, while beaming her most customer-friendly smile. “How can I help you today?”

“Well, I’m looking for winter boots,” you reply, and go on to describe the boots: “I’d like them in black, calf-high, with a fur trim. I don’t like heels, but I do need the sole to have a decent grip.”

The assistant appears to be taking mental notes as she nods her head enthusiastically. You notice this spirited zest and cautiously add, “Oh, just so you know, they’re for my next vacation. I’m heading out to Antarctica.” You leave out the part about being on the final leg of your 20-must-see-places-before-you-die trip. She has enough details.

The assistant leaves with the instructions and, moments later, returns with an armful of boxes. Slowly, she opens the lids and starts to reveal the treasures.

“I think you’ll love these,” she claims, handing you a pair of red ankle boots.

Seeing the disappointment on your face, she grabs another pair. “Oh these. These are simply perfection.”

The camel-colored concoctions most certainly are not.

Twenty minutes later, you find yourself on the bad side of frustrated and wonder if anything you’d requested resonated at all.

This story has a point: When the shopper is your potential new employer, and the friendly assistant is you, the last thing you want to do is hand over red boots when black ones were requested.

In other words, know what your interviewer wants before you begin handing them solutions. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Get inside their head and figure out what their most pressing needs are. And proceed to show them how you’ll fix them — in your resume, your cover letter and your interview.

Here’s how:

Do your homework

As an interviewee, your job isn’t to show up at the interview prepared to answer questions. Your job is to have answers prepared in anticipation of questions.

If the very thought of this makes you shudder with fear, fret not. It’ll take some work, but it’s easier than you think.

Whether the interview is a done deal or you’re trying to break into a new business, knowing what issues your hiring manager is facing is the key to getting noticed.

• Interview people. Reach out to people in the business. Use your network to create warm introductions. When speaking to the employees, ask them about challenges they face in the business and their team. Get as much detail as you can.
• Go online. Many businesses participate in industry forums and communities. LinkedIn is the biggest place. Seek out where your target employer is and read the latest updates. A wealth of information awaits you.
• Speak to competitors. Businesses in the same industry face similar issues. Again, ask your network to make warm introductions and speak to employees of competing businesses. As well as understanding what challenges they face, this will help in researching the competition of your interviewer. Everyone likes inside information.

Bulletproof your resume

Armed with your background information, your next step is to show ‘em what you’re made of.

Given the challenges and issues you’ve noted, what can you do to solve them? What have you done in the past that displays your skills and abilities in fixing the issues? What expertise can you provide that the employer doesn’t already have?

This is difficult to do. It’s up to you to think creatively and dig deep. Once you know what the answers are, write your resume to include them for every relevant job you’ve done. Use different formatting techniques (bold, italic, changing text size) to draw the eye to those specific areas.

And while you’re perfecting your resume, know this: 80 percent of your competition won’t think of doing this. They’ll turn up at the interview ready to answer questions using knowledge of their experience alone. And you? You’ll turn up with the answers the employer previously only wished had existed.

Interview day

D-day arrives. Are you prepared? You will be, right? Because in addition to research on competitors and the killer resume you created, you also prepared examples of how you can be of value to the interviewer, didn’t you?

No? Let’s fix that.

When you note the key issues facing the interviewer and find solutions, your focus will be on how you can lead those solutions. Write these down in detail, create a case study and make your solution visible. Why?

The power of paper: When you’re in the interview room and you’re ready to talk about your solutions, don’t just discuss them. Pull out the paper that has the magic case study or detailed description on it and hand it over to the employer. “Let me show you something I’ve created,” you’ll exclaim, handing them your paper.

What impact does this have? It gives them a solution to their problem. It shows them you have initiative. And it makes their decision to hire you easy.

Much like if the assistant had brought those black, fur-trimmed boots with a good grip.

Taking these steps will put you in the front line of 80 percent of those competing for the same job. You’ll have done your homework. You’ll have networked with your future colleagues already.

And the interview? It’ll be a mere formality.

Razwana Wahid writes at Your Work Is Your Life, a service dedicated to making your writing  work  – to sell, to convert, to connect. Read more at http://www.yourworkisyourlife.com or follow her on Twitter.

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You’re ready for the responsibilities and rewards of a real-world career. But there’s a problem. You have the training, but not a lot of experience. You want to break into a new career, but so do thousands of other recent graduates whose resumes are painfully similar to your own.

Just like a number scrawled on a bathroom stall, many people have glanced at your application — but no one is picking up the phone.

Sound familiar?

There’s hope. Check out these lesser-known strategies to set yourself apart from the competition:

1. Rethink your niche

You have a degree in journalism, so you want to be a journalist, right? While this may be your end goal, it’s relatively unlikely you’ll land such a coveted position right off the bat, even if you’re quite talented. Your odds might actually be greater in other fields.

Take time to break down your core skills. Consider other industries that covet those same skills. The results of this strategic move are many: You’ll broaden your options with alternative career paths. You’ll have opportunities to advertise and leverage your knowledge in another field. Plus, you can prove to employers that you’re uniquely prepared to approach their industry with a fresh perspective.

Let’s revisit the journalism example. You could consider a job in the nonprofit sector. Grant writing is a core requirement for many nonprofits, and successful grant writing requires the ability to tell a compelling story. Grant writers have to research and understand many facets of the project or issue at hand, then distill that information to form a convincing argument without sacrificing accuracy. Has your degree prepared you for such a job? If you’re a strong journalist, you’re absolutely prepared.

2. Make the call

Most employers have moved their application processes online. Some companies have even automated their hiring systems and only accept resumes that have been copied and pasted into a Web form. Then your “resume” gets delivered to an anonymous HR technician who coldly decides your fate.

In these cases, it’s easy to feel like a shiny new penny dropped in the grass. You know you have the value — perhaps the penny is a poor example, but who drops a gold bar while they’re out for a walk in the park? — but there’s no saying when or if anyone will notice your online application.

You can remedy this feeling and make a good impression on prospective employers by tracking down contact information for a company’s HR specialist or the director of the department to which you’re applying. Reach out — preferably by phone — to introduce yourself and to confirm receipt of your application materials.

Doing so demonstrates you’ve done your research and are serious about the job. It also bookmarks your name in an employer’s mind, making it easier for them to pin you as more than just another resume in the stack.

Before making the call, be sure to check that an employer hasn’t specifically requested to not be contacted by phone or email. This is rare in most industries, but it does happen. And there’s no faster way to the rejection list than coming across as an ignorant pest. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

3. Give them more

When a company lists an opening, they can expect anywhere from several dozen to several thousand applications. It makes sense, then, that they only want a succinct cover letters and resumes. Anything longer than a page is overwhelming.

You would be wise to heed employers’ length requirements when you prepare your application. Exceeding their maximum, even if you’re highly qualified, can land your manifesto in the trash bin. But if you can’t detail your entire life story, starting when you won the second grade spelling bee, then how do you convey the extent of your awesomeness?

Include a line towards the end of your cover letter inviting the hiring committee to learn more about your work online. This requires, of course, that you build and maintain a personal blog or website with relevant, professional and current content.

Blogging can be time-consuming. But if you’re unemployed, you probably have time to spare. And the investment of your time can pay off. Think of your blog or website as a complement to your resume that not only showcases your talents, but also reflects your character.

If your resume is stellar enough to put you in the running, chances are good the hiring committee will take a peek at your website. And if they like what they see, chances are even better that you’ll be bumped to the top of the candidate list.

Haley Coffman is a recent grad who landed a job writing for eDegree. She spends her weekends writing a novella about a Spanish bullfighter named Isabella.

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The post Phone Interview Tips That Will Help You Land Your Dream Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

The good news is there are some basic steps you can take to make a good impression:

1. It’s all in the words

A high percentage of communication is nonverbal (e.g., facial expressions, gestures and eye contact), which can’t be conveyed through the phone. This means the words you use and how you deliver them are more important than usual. Choose your words wisely.

Letting the recruiter hear energy and enthusiasm in your voice matters as much as the language you use. Remember, recruiters talk to many bland, listless candidates all day, so listening to a genuinely cheerful person stands out.

2. Answer the (right) phone

A common mistake is to provide one phone number to the recruiter, yet be standing by to answer on a different line. In a world where having multiple personal phone devices is a common reality for many, make sure you’re available at the right number. Set a calendar alert to remind you of your scheduled time. Be ready and waiting for that phone to ring.

3. Don’t multitask

I commonly come across candidates who repeatedly press keys on their phone (on accident), deafening me with intermittent beeps. I know this means the candidate is holding the phone with their cheek and shoulder and they’re busy with something else.

This also means they’re completely distracted and only partially engaged in the conversation. This isn’t the time to wash your child, do your laundry, order takeout or read a magazine. Yes, we’ve heard it all.

4. Park the car

Many candidates think they might as well kill two birds with one stone and talk while they’re on their way to their next destination. This happens to be illegal in many places, and at the very least, is distracting. Worst of all, it often leads to a poor connection, and listening through ambient noise is painful.

5. Do your homework

A phone interview is still an interview. Don’t let the informality of the phone get in the way. (Click here to tweet this thought.) The recruiter wants to find out about you, your motivations and why you want to be a part of this organization in this particular role. Be ready to explain why you fit based on your knowledge of the company and skill set.

Before the call, go to the company’s website and read up on the company mission, culture, goals, products, services and exec bios. Don’t assume that Company A, which makes widgets, is anything like Company B just because they also make widgets.

Based on this knowledge, determine how and why you belong there. Write down five points you want to make about your experience; this will help you to collect your thoughts about your past work and highlight what’s most important for them to know.

6. Prepare questions to ask

Most recruiters allow time at the end for questions, and you should take this opportunity to learn more about the specific role you’re applying for. Ask about the size of the team you’ll be working on, and how this role fits within the organization. Ask about specific goals the team wants to achieve. Ask what the interviewer likes the most about the company.

This shows the recruiter you’re not just in it for the paycheck; you want to find a place that’s a good fit for you.

Remembering these simple tricks will ensure you put your best foot forward during this crucial first impression. And here’s one last suggestion: About 30 minutes before the call, if you can, go for a nice walk. It’ll allow you to clear your mind, get your creative juices flowing and give you a moment to reflect on what you’re going to say.

Good luck!

Danny Roberts is a recruiter for Redfin, a technology-powered real estate brokerage that is currently hiring for many roles. In 2000, Danny participated in MTV’s The Real World: New Orleans, which lead him on a unique and varied career path that helped him discover what his values are and where he needs to be.

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The post How Using Your Job Application to Tell a Story Can Get You Hired appeared first on Brazen Life.

Any good movie provides a context, or a frame, for viewers to understand the main character and his actions. The context is not only what motivates the main character and allows him to overcome great obstacles; it’s also how the audience relates to that character’s story.

Batman’s frame is his parents’ death. In The Lord of The Rings, the frame is Frodo and Sam’s friendship, and in Harry Potter, it’s Harry’s status as an outsider. Just like these Hollywood blockbusters, your resume needs context to tell your story, too.

You probably already know your resume has less than 10 seconds to grab someone’s attention. By adding context, you give hiring managers a frame for your experience and accomplishments so they can quickly digest your story.

Often a strong frame can actually shape how potential employers understand your skills and qualifications. So spending a little effort to set the stage is well worth it. And since almost all communication and job applications are online these days, it’s easy to set up your stage.

Take these three simple actions to frame how recruiters and employers will view your story:

1. Show employers you’re more than a name

What’s your desired job title? Writer? Marketing Specialist? Business Analyst?

Whatever it is, add that title behind your name in your email from field. Yes, that’s it. Easy, right? Simply go to your email settings and change your name to something that alludes to the position you want.

For example, if you’re in sales, then you’ll want to send employers emails from John Doe — Sales Leader. Even before the recruiter or hiring manager reads your email, you set an expectation. Right off the bat, you identify yourself as someone who can help them with their sales.

2. Reinforce your brand at the end of your email

Once a hiring manager has read your introductory email, you’ll want to make two things clear. First, make sure your email signature matches your from setting. Then, directly below your name, include a link to your your LinkedIn profile. Make it easy and seamless to find out more information about you.

Of course, your LinkedIn profile should also carry the same context, or frame, to fully take advantage of the branding opportunity. So double-check that your LinkedIn headline matches your email from setting and signature.

There’s a reason all those infomercials run a fake timer to insist you to “call now before time runs out!” Advertisers know they have a limited window of time to get someone to act. When it comes to the job hunt, you’re in the same boat as those informercials.

If you can convince an employer to act — to visit your LinkedIn profile as soon as they finish reading your email — then they’ve already invested more time in you than they do with the average applicant. Once a potential employer takes that step to learn more about you, you increase your chances of them wanting to get to know you better in an interview.

3. Make your resume file name more memorable

Too often, job seekers call their resume file resume.doc. While this may make sense sitting on your personal desktop, a recruiter who receives hundreds of resumes a day won’t feel the same way.

Make it easier for them to remember who you are and what you do. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Use the same title you used for your email from setting. For instance, Jonh_Doe_Sales_Leader.doc.

Remember the key is to make sure every time they see your name, it’s associated with what you do. That’s how you start your story. Then, your resume simply unfolds that story.

Now you have a surefire way for employers to view you as a sales professional, IT specialist or project manager before they know anything about you. You’ve created a frame through which they can view your experience. Hey, it works for Hollywood; why not you?

Steve P. Brady is an executive resume writer who blogs on resume writing and career development.

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The post How a Well-Crafted Summary Can Take Your Resume from Boring to Stellar appeared first on Brazen Life.

The summary section is a great opportunity to quickly establish yourself as a stand-out candidate by taking the best parts of your resume and cover letter and shrinking them into a super-impactful area at the top of your resume.

Still not convinced? Check out the following three ways a summary section could take your resume to the next level:

1. Personal branding

It’s always better to tell someone your brand than to leave them to figure it out. Your summary statement provides a powerful opportunity to establish your brand right away. Unlike the weak objective statement that says what you’re looking for, a good summary statement lets the reader know who you are, what you do and what makes you amazing at it. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

Imagine a resume for a sales position with a digital goods company begins with the following:

Results-Driven Digital Product Sales Manager Who Consistently Beats Quotas

That statement doesn’t just say “Hey, I sell things.” It lets the recruiter know the applicant is great at moving digital products. They’ve effectively branded themselves as the go-to person for selling digital products, and a recruiter is more likely to read the details.

2. Hook ’em and reel ’em

Every novel has an insert in the sleeve or a quick description on the back that gives juicy plot points and character details. That’s the author’s way of trying to sell you on the best parts of the book to convince you to buy and read the whole thing.

That’s what your summary section can do for your resume.

Recruiters are short on time and only spend around six seconds on the first glance of your resume. That’s why it’s suggested the most relevant information be in the top one-third of your resume — it’s most likely to be read.

Your summary statement will put a highlight reel of the best moments at the top of your resume, making it easy for the reader to identify why they need to pick up the phone and get you in for an interview, stat.

3. Get past the applicant tracking system

The applicant tracking system (ATS) is the machine recruiters use to search for resumes based on keywords and key phrases. Resumes without these words (or few of them) may never be seen by human eyes. Try to get a good number of these keywords in your resume, but make it sound natural. The summary section is a good way to pull this off.

Imagine the digital sales position ad mentioned earlier states it’s looking for someone with experience defining digital sales mission statements. An applicant may set up their summary section like this:

Results-Driven Digital Product Sales Manager Who Consistently Beats Quotas

• Moved over $1.5 million in digital goods, exceeding quota by 20 percent, with XYZ company.
• Defined digital sales mission statement for 123 Incorporated.
• [Another great thing from the resume with keywords here.]

Not only do you have a high-powered, attention-grabbing summary statement, but you’ve also used the bullets to back up it up and add keywords the ATS will be looking for.

The summary section is a power tool to add to your resume arsenal, whether you’re looking for a job online or hitting the pavement and getting your resume into the hands of people who make the decisions. Put a summary section on your resume to get it the attention it deserves.

Have any questions about writing a summary? Hit up the comments below!

Ibrahim Alamin is hellbent on helping people find the jobs they really want or create them. For more tips, check out his blog and his e-course on resume hacking.

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The post How a Well-Crafted Summary Can Take Your Resume from Boring to Stellar appeared first on Brazen Life.

The post Overqualified Doesn’t Mean Out of the Running If You Follow These Suggestions appeared first on Brazen Life.

Whether you’re looking for a job that’s a step down from a previous position for personal reasons (you’re looking to scale back on the job to focus more on the home front) or for practical reasons (you need a job to pay the rent), the first step is to recognize and embrace it.

The first place to do that is your cover letter. In the letter or email, say, “I recognize my previous experience looks like I wouldn’t be a good fit for this position, but I’m truly interested in it. I’m looking for a new challenge and believe this is it.”

If you feel comfortable revealing in the letter you’re looking to scale back so you can spend more time with your children, go ahead and say that. By answering the question before it’s asked, you’re showing openness and honesty, qualities many employers appreciate.

It’s also important to say in your cover letter that you’re excited about the job and how it fits with your long-term goals. That sends the message you’re not just taking the job because you’re desperate (even if you are, never, ever admit to it!).

If you don’t feel comfortable saying anything in your cover letter about your new career direction, you can make several tweaks to your resume to take the focus off past titles:

1. Choose your words carefully

If applying for a non-managerial job, shy away from terms like “overseeing,” “supervision” and other words with managerial tone. Focus instead on work-specific skills the job you’re applying for requires. Discuss your skills in concrete ways and explain how they relate to the job you’re looking to fill.

2. Simplify

Keep your resume simple and leave off unrelated experience and education, focusing only what jobs and degrees relate to the one you’re applying for.

If you want to include all jobs to avoid questions about gaps in your employment history, go ahead, but keep the explanation short — just your job title and the dates you worked. And that master’s degree that has no bearing on the job? Just leave it off.

3. Play down titles

If you were a manager at a previous job and are looking for a job without a title, consider leaving past titles off your resume. Instead, list the company’s name, how long you were there and key job duties. Focus more on what you did rather than a job title.

4. Match words in your resume with those in the ad

This is a trick that works well for all job seekers. By using the same words in your resume that appear in the job ad, such as “organized” and “dependable,” you’ll catch the hiring manager’s attention.

If your cover letter and resume land you an interview, be prepared to answer hard questions in person about why you’re interested in a “lesser” job or one you may have too much education for. Practice your answers in advance and be ready.

Remember to express enthusiasm for the position and how you see it fitting well with what you want to do long-term. Perhaps you’re starting over in a new field or are looking for a job where you can spend more time with your family. Whatever your answer is, be ready with it. You need to convince the interviewer they’d be crazy not to hire you.

Also be prepared for the question, “How long do you think you’ll stay if we hire you?” When this question comes up, be ready with an answer such as, “I’m very interested in this position and see it fitting well with my long-term goals. I’m very excited about it.” Of course, you’ll need to be ready to say why you’re excited, so have those answers ready, too.

By putting together a well-written cover letter and resume and preparing in advance for tough interview questions, you should be able to shrug off that “overqualified” label and have employers see you as the worker who’s right for them.

MaryBeth Matzek specializes in writing on small business topics, personal finance, job hunting success and the healthcare industry. Visit her blog at http://1bizzywriter.wordpress.com or follow her on Twitter at @1bizzywriter.

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The post Overqualified Doesn’t Mean Out of the Running If You Follow These Suggestions appeared first on Brazen Life.

The post Want to Get Hired? Stop Fighting the Clone Wars and Show How You’re Different appeared first on Brazen Life.

Some companies want a workforce made of clones who they can pay the lowest possible wage to do mind-numbingly simple tasks. This makes their clone army as replaceable as possible.

But you don’t want to join the clone workforce. You’re not a clone. You need a game-time strategy to avoid fighting this Clone War.

The good news is, it is possible!

The bad news is, old job-hunting strategies won’t work.

In recent years, the feeling of being an anonymous drone in a big and heavy machine has pervaded the professional lives of many brilliant professionals. Many see only one way out: Plummeting into massive debt to get fancy master’s degrees.

This strategy does not necessarily solve the problem. Many clones have fancy degrees, too. Some of these professionals end up working even longer hours in jobs they hate just to pay back their debt.

What should you do to become a real master of your career? Apply an entrepreneurial mindset to fine-tune what you offer employers. Here’s how to stand out from the clones:

1. Observe which problems your market needs solved

An impressive resume is nice. But employers really want people who provide solutions to their problems. Identify those problems in your industry that the clones cannot solve. This will not only guarantee your job security, but also give you a competitive edge since your company will be so afraid to lose such a highly qualified niche problem-solver.

My friend Victor has worked in construction for four years. The corrosion of structures has become an issue. While many ambitious professionals decide every year to go $100K+ into debt to get a master’s without a specific strategy, Victor spent $3K to take a specialized training course in corrosion and meet his industry’s needs. Today, he manages a team of five people and declines job offers every month. People with his profile earn $120K per year in the U.S.

2. Work towards fine-tuning your skills in one niche

Part of your experience and skills are unique in your market. Identify the companies where your skills can make a real impact and interact with them. If you’re patient, you’ll emerge as the leader of your niche when the opportunity shows up.

Santiago’s first language is Spanish. He developed experience as an IT project manager in a big multinational company, but he was starting to feel like a clone. He identified a few Spanish multinational companies in his area and started to network with people who worked there.

A year later, one of these companies needed an IT director. He was the only bilingual candidate and because of this, Santiago wiped out the competitors with top fancy degrees. Today, he manages a team of 10 people and earns six figures.

3. Showcase your humanity

Job boards are not your key to finding your dream job. Remember that 80 percent of job offers never get published — hiring managers turn to their networks instead.

Even if the job is published, managers ask their professional and personal circles for recommendations. They don’t ask, “Do you know someone with a bachelor’s in computer science (an MBA is desirable), three to six years’ proven experience in code development and software and systems architecture, thorough knowledge of server hardware and operating systems?” Wow, you can end up burnt out just by reading the job description!

Managers trust humans they have already connected with more than an unknown clone who meets all the requirements. While hard skills can be learned, trust is priceless and irreplaceable.

So don’t forget that every person you interact with is a potential connection for future opportunities. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Just keep in mind that people will remember the way they felt working with you, not exactly how you calculated the ROI of a new product launch.

Purely rational hiring decisions do not exist. Human beings decide by mingling their emotions with seemingly rational criteria. When deciding who to hire for a job, managers will rely first on their subjectivity before the hyper-objectivity of clones’ job qualifications.

Doing what everybody else is doing requires an enormous effort that keeps you from applying your energy and resources towards doing what makes you unique — and what you love. Maybe it’s time to stop thinking as a clone. To find a job you love and not a job anyone could do, think like a savvy job hunter instead.

Mariana Zanetti earned her MBA degree from one of the top 15 business schools worldwide and has more than 12 years of international marketing experience in three countries. She is the author of The MBA Bubble.

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The post Ask These Interview Questions to Find the Right Workplace appeared first on Brazen Life.

If you haven’t found that job yet, you’re probably faced with the question: Is it more important to find a good position at a company that’s wrong for you, or a position that isn’t right at the perfect company?

If it’s a company that appreciates your hard work, reflects your values and rewards success, take the latter option. In the long run, you’ll have more opportunities to develop your career.

For GenY, picking the right workplace is often more important than the position itself. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Picking the wrong company can breed dissatisfaction and restlessness, even if you like your job title. As a Millennial, you might take a more holistic look at your work environment and how it fits into your life.

But finding the right company is harder than you think and can require asking gutsy interview questions. Here are five questions you should be asking companies to help you figure out if they’re a good fit for you:

1. What do you think of my generation?

If your boss believes the bad press about GenY (they’re lazy, self-centered and narcissistic), there’s a good chance they won’t see you as an important asset. Find a workplace that sees GenY as an integral part of their growth strategy.

There are employers who realize GenY has had the valuable experience of navigating technological paradigm shifts — from the emergence of the Internet and social media to the transition to mobile platforms and the explosion of connected devices.

Your experiences have made you especially adept at thriving in the digital economy, and you deserve an employer who realizes that.

2. How do you approach work and community involvement?

Punching in and punching out isn’t enough for someone who’s community-minded and world-conscious. While making money keeps the doors open, it’s important for employers to realize they need to do more.

What’s your prospective employer doing to make the community and world a better place? Look for a company that doesn’t just pay lip service to giving back. How well is it engaged in charities and community organizations? What volunteer opportunities does it encourage?

3. Do you have a Millennial in your upper-management team?

If the only Millennials you see when you interview at a company are getting coffee or gophering for sandwiches, this is a bad sign. Look for a company with a young vibrant workforce and management that gives GenY big challenges and titles like VP, COO or CEO, not Assistant to the Assistant to the Assistant Regional Manager.

A company that believes in the potential of your generation will have your generation leading their teams and divisions.

4. Is there an office community, and how do you support it?

Your job will be a big part of your life. You want to excel and work hard to make yourself indispensable to the team. But you don’t want to be in this alone, and a vibrant work community is important to liking your job, feeling part of a driven group and being happy.

What is the company doing to make work a community? What events, potlucks, field trips, ugly sweater days and coaching or mentoring programs do they have?

5. Will I have the opportunity to advance and make money?

As much as we may not like to admit it, making money plays a big role in our decision about where to work. And even if you don’t care about it now, someday you may have a mortgage, medical bills or a family that’ll require money. Make sure there’s a path for you to advance and make enough money to have what you want.  

Many prospective employers want to hear this — they need to keep the revenue coming in to keep the doors open, and your desire to make money shows your drive to succeed.

It’s always hard to get everything you want from a job, but hopefully these pointers help you find the best job and fit for you. Remember to stay humble, but also realize that you’re a valuable commodity and you should be working for employers who recognize it.

Bobby Campbell is a successful entrepreneur with a deep understanding of how to leverage disruptive technology to drive business growth. He’s the founder of several leading digital media companies, including AdKarma and Division D. Connect with him on LinkedIn here.

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The post How to Make Your Online Portfolio Really Work for You appeared first on Brazen Life.

If you’re a designer, you can use portfolio sites like Behance, Carbonmade and Coroflot to upload your artwork and present it to potential clients and employers. If you’re not a designer, free sites like WordPress provide tools to create professional-looking portfolios.

But an online portfolio doesn’t have to end with creating it. Make the most of having an online portfolio and increase your chances of landing a job that offers more professional growth. Here’s how:

Follow people

Once you create an online portfolio site, you gain access to the site’s community. Browse for users within your industry who are thought leaders and exceptional people and follow them to receive updates.

You want to see how other people with your job description are performing. By following them in the portfolio community, you also become privy to the latest trends and best practices related to your niche. You can also get ideas for your next project by looking at what others are doing.

Collaborate and connect with others

If you like other people’s portfolios, why not make your connection with them more meaningful? Besides submitting your online portfolio along with your resume to companies, search for users within the site you want to collaborate with. Contact users who complement your skills to make your collaborative work more interesting.

Venturing with like-minded people helps you develop your craft and learn new skills. You can include the work in your portfolio site once it’s done. You can put the connections you make to good use down the line. You could request users provide a testimonial about your work that you can feature on your online portfolio, for instance.

Handle criticism graciously

Once you’ve created your online portfolio, you may enter into discussions with other users about your work. Some will love your portfolio, while others won’t — and they’ll let you know what they think. If they have a different opinion about your portfolio, make a case about your work and explain the rationale behind it.

Never forget to keep your composure and be gracious with criticisms, whether constructive or not.

Dealing with people who have a different view about your life’s work can get ugly when not handled properly. You put your portfolio work online for everyone to see to grow as a professional and develop relationships with like-minded people. How you conduct yourself through your online portfolio site is a way of managing your brand. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

Promote, promote, promote

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are good places to start promoting your online portfolio site. LinkedIn, in particular, is a great social networking site specifically for professionals.

When posting your online portfolio using these sites, however, never make the mistake of over-promoting your work. People might get annoyed with the repetitive nature of your updates.

As a professional, social media is your platform to showcase your accomplishments. By showing off your work to the biggest social networking sites, you increase your chances of getting found by companies.

Once you’ve done the steps featured above, you can expect to make a bigger splash in the market by not only having a functioning online portfolio, but also making a conscious effort for your online portfolio to be known.

Christopher Jan Benitez is a freelance writer and content writer who currently works as Web manager for PortPrep, a site that helps high school seniors build an art portfolio that will get them into arts college.

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The post Organize Your Job Search in 6 Easy Steps appeared first on Brazen Life.

In a competitive job market, your search can get frustrating and messy if you don’t tackle it with an organized approach. No matter what field you hope to land in, you need to stay on top of your job search game.

Follow these six tips to organize your job search. The more focused and productive you are, the faster you’ll get the results (and job) you really want.

1. Know what you want

Before starting any journey, you should have an idea of where you’d like to go. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

It’s not always easy to identify your ideal career. One way to move in the right direction is to identify things you like to do, the types of work environments that appeal to you and even the types of people you enjoy working with. Thinking about these elements will help you decide what companies, industries or roles would be good for you.

It could be helpful to try out some free personality assessment tools that can help you learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. Myers & Briggs offers many personality tests, including some focussed on career. Via me offers a chance for candidates to get a free character strength profile, Colorcode offers a basic analysis and The Passion Test can help you discover your true passion.

Different tests will reveal different aspects of your personality. When taking these tests, keep a paper and pen handy and jot down the key points. Instead of wondering about what may work for you, make that list and make things happen.

2. Set specific goals and parameters

To get organized, clearly define and set goals for your job search. While your ultimate goal is to find employment, setting milestones along the way gives you something to work towards.

Set weekly goals for how many networking connections you’ll reach out to, the number of companies to research and how many jobs you’ll try to apply to each week. These goals will create the opportunities you need to track later in your job search.

It’s also important to know which priorities will help narrow down your search to the targeted opportunities. For instance, you should know if you want to work for a nonprofit organization or a Fortune 500 company or how far you’re willing to commute to work. Once you set those priorities, you can tailor your job search around them.

3. Create meaningful lists

It’s amazing how much a simple spreadsheet can help keep you organized. Don’t underestimate the power and simplicity of a good-ol’-fashioned list. You can check off tasks as your job search progresses.

If you feel a little overwhelmed, try creating lists to keep you on top of things. Lists can help you keep track of info like:

• Networking contact details
• Companies worth researching
• Job postings to apply for
• Interview requests

4. Track your activity

Many job seekers try to rely on memory to stay on top of their activity. This can get difficult as you apply to more and more jobs.

Stay organized and keep track of relevant information like when you applied to a certain job or how long it’s been since you heard from the hiring manager.

Since you already created meaningful lists above, create a system to keep track of where you’ve applied, when you sent your materials, any relevant company information, the names of people you’ve reached out to or spoken with, interview requests and other info you need to stay on top of throughout the process.

5. Organize your physical and digital job search workspace

In the digital age, we have both physical and online workspaces. Both should be set up in a way to keep you on top of your game. Most people operate better when their physical space is neat and tidy.

Keeping your workspace de-cluttered will help you stay on top of deadlines. Be sure to organize all your job applications, cover letters and variations of your resume as well. Don’t risk sending the cover letter you wrote for company X to company Y.

To stay organized online, compile your job search info, lists and any other information into one folder and subsequent subfolders. Whether you decide to use folders on your desktop, Dropbox or Google Docs, every document should have a home so you can find things quickly when you need to follow up on action items.

6. Don’t spend too much — or too little — time on one thing

Your success may depend on good time management skills. You’ll be more effective in setting goals, creating lists and tracking your progress when you properly manage your time.

Start by logging tasks and follow-up events in your calendar. Block out time for research, or allot time for responding to emails and following up. When you’re this organized with your time, success in your job search is close at hand!

 Are you taking similar steps to keep your job search organized? Share your tips below!

Afifa Siddiqui is the Co-Founder of Careerleaf, the new generation of job board software focused on the candidate experience. Connect with Afifa and Careerleaf on Facebook and Twitter.

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The post Telecommuting Jobs: 7 Respected Companies That Let You Work from Home appeared first on Brazen Life.

FlexJobs recently compiled a list of the 100 top companies for remote work. The companies that made the list posted the most such job listings in 2013, and for any job seeker who wants to work from home, they’re the ones to target in your job search this year.

Many of the top 100 companies offer jobs that are a great fit for young professionals because the level of experience they require and the types of jobs they offer match people beginning their careers. Here are the seven top companies with remote jobs for young professionals:

1. American Express

American Express ecompasses a variety of financial goods and services, and it employs 63,500 professionals worldwide. Glassdoor gave American Express an Employee Choice Award as one of its 50 Best Places to Work according to the employees themselves. It’s also won awards like Ethisphere’s Most Ethical Companies and the Human Rights Campaign’s Best Places to Work.

If you’re a young professional looking to work from home for American Express, you’ll find job listings like travel counselor, junior meeting manager and account development manager.

2. SAP

SAP is a German company with U.S. headquarters in Pennsylvania, and it specializes in enterprise software and related services. Remote jobs are key to SAP’s worldwide reach, with jobs in the United States, Europe, China, India, Australia and Africa.

The company seeks customer-focused professionals and offers full-time telecommuting jobs in areas like support advising, audience relations and software development.

3. Xerox

With one of the most recognizable names in document technology, Xerox has come a long way from its founding in 1906. Specializing in digital printing, workflow solutions and related products and services, the company has 160 locations worldwide.

Xerox’s remote job listings include positions like project management, customer service, sales and research.

4. Kaplan

You may remember Kaplan from your test-prep days in high school and college, but this education company has grown into a global provider of education at all levels. With programs in higher education, K-12, test preparation and professional training, Kaplan offers a wide range of telecommuting job opportunities such as test prep instructor, technical writer, developer and (for college students) campus representative.

5. Nielsen

If you watch television, you’re probably familiar with the Nielsen ratings system, but Nielsen is a global measurement and information company that specializes in forecasting and trends in a variety of industries.

One of the most prevalent remote jobs offered by Nielsen is field service representative, a position responsible for interacting with families involved in the Nielsen TV ratings program.

6. Healthfirst

A New York City-based health plan, Healthfirst partners with local health providers to offer affordable and quality health insurance coverage. A current employee at Healthfirst listed some of the pros of working for Healthfirst in a Glassdoor review: “annual raises, bonus twice a year, excellent management, very flexible and pushes you to do your best, friendly work environment.”

Its telecommuting and remote job listings include care management, medical files coordination, quality and service analysis and a variety of nursing positions.

7. American Heart Association

Dedicated to supporting the treatment and prevention of heart disease, the American Heart Association hosts events around the country and has a global presence. The NonProfit Times named the AHA one of the 50 best nonprofits to work for.

Telecommuting jobs for young professionals at the American Heart Association include fundraising, special event management and sales.

If flexible work options are what you’re looking for, working from home can be ideal. Try searching for keywords like “telecommute,” “home-based” and “remote job” to find companies and jobs that support telecommuting.

And even if the company you’re dying to work for doesn’t offer remote jobs, it’s still possible to ask your boss to let you work from home once you’ve landed a position.

Brie Weiler Reynolds is the Director of Online Content at FlexJobs and a contributing writer for 1 Million for Work Flexibility, the first national initiative to bring people together and create a collective voice in support of work flexibility. FlexJobs lists thousands of professional-level jobs that offer flexibility like telecommuting, flexible scheduling and freelancing.

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The post Are You Working in One of the 10 Happiest Cities in the U.S.? appeared first on Brazen Life.

CareerBliss recently released their list of the Top 10 Happiest and Unhappiest Cities to Work in 2014, and some of the findings may surprise you. Topping the chart of happiest cities was San Jose, CA, but Sacramento, CA was listed as the eighth unhappiest city. Philadelphia, PA grabbed number eight on the happiest cities list, while Pittsburgh, PA ranked fifth on the unhappiest.

(Also worth noting: Brazen’s own hometown of Washington, D.C. came in as the second happiest city!)

Based on feedback from hundreds of thousands of workers across the country, workplace happiness was analyzed based on factors like company culture, growth opportunities and relationships with one’s colleagues.

Check out the full article here.

Did your city make the cut (either as happiest, or unhappiest)? Do you think your city should be listed? Let us know in the comments!

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The post Are You Working in One of the 10 Happiest Cities in the U.S.? appeared first on Brazen Life.

The post A Networking Trick That Could Help You Find Your Next Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

Working, but daydreaming of a better job?

What if you could just chat with a colleague, maybe at a conference, and hear the magic words, “Hey, we’d love it if you’d come work for us”? When you get into a spirited professional conversation, career magic happens. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

It’d be much easier if you already knew plenty of colleagues who could tell you if their workplace is awesome — or awful. And put in a good word for you. But you don’t know people at every company. Most of us don’t network as much as we should.

Your challenge is to get your foot in the door, get to know the company and get them to know you, without the knuckle-biting stress of an interview.

Here’s a trick few people have tried, simple as it sounds. But it works.

1. Find a colleague in a company, someone with a cool job at your level. If you’re a senior software engineer, for example, look for another senior software engineer.

2. Ferret out their email address, then cold-email them. Introduce yourself and give a link to an online profile or two; they’ll most likely answer. They enjoy chatting with other smart professionals. (That’s you, right?)

3. Set up a phone call and maybe grab a coffee. The two of you can talk about your profession and experiences on the job.

They’re your peers, not managers or HR people. You can trust them to tell it like it is.

The groundbreaking career book What Color is Your Parachute? suggested the unemployed should do informational interviews to ask experienced professionals about opportunities in the industry.

You, the employed professional, should do informational interviews from a position of strength. You have the skills employers need. Talking with you is a privilege.

You can chat with your colleague about the technical side of your job: “We’ve been diving deeper into JavaScript recently.” They can also tell you about their workplace: “There’s lots of adrenaline here, and it’s sometimes a bit draining. But the people are top-notch, and we never go beyond 40 hours in a week.”

Employers want these conversations; they’re sick of mass-spammed irrelevant resumes

Employers have started using a straightforward but underestimated recruiting trick: offering access to their top professionals to attract their peers. They want to make it easy to send those cold-emails.

This sort of friendly conversation goes beyond the usual dull interview questions to find ideal pairings. Will Critchlow, CEO of the digital marketing agency Distilled, says, “We love hiring people who are passionate about working for us specifically.”

And Critchlow isn’t worried engineers lack sales skills. “We find that the right people just want the unvarnished truth about what it’s like to work here,” he says.

Don’t be shy to contact an interesting company. The Internet startup Kloudless, of Berkley, CA, draws in candidates this way. CEO Eliot Sun says that cold-emailers love hearing about the corporate culture and end up choosing Kloudless over larger companies across the Bay.

Interesting colleagues are more effective in attracting top candidates than boring job ads

If you’re among the lucky few who are completely happy where you are, consider volunteering yourself as a company ambassador. If it’s done right, you’ll get a great opportunity to talk to smart people across the industry and bring the best ones on board.

Many companies already have some sort of ambassador program, but even if not, it’s simple.

Here are the steps:

1. Ask your manager to set up a small ad highlighting you at the company’s careers page, with your name, title, photo and online profiles like GitHub, LinkedIn or StackOverflow so other professionals want to talk to you.

2. Potential candidates send you a message, with a few of their own professional profiles, to prove they’re worth talking to.

3. Your manager or HR screens each contact. You’re busy, but you enjoy talking to smart, experienced professionals, and it’s their messages that’ll get through to you. About one to three of these contacts a week is ideal.

4. You answer briefly. If you and the incoming contact hit it off, you can do a phone call or lunch. And maybe, if it goes really well, refer them for a job interview.

This way is better for everyone. If you’re a potential candidate considering a new job, you go into discussions with the confidence that insiders already support you. If you’re an ambassador, you get to talk to some fascinating potential colleagues and create a rapport as you pass the good ones on for interviews. What could be better?

Josh Fox decided that peer-contact programs should be fast and simple for employers and software developers, so he created an easy way for employers to provide an ambassador program, based on FiveYearItch.com. If you’re an employer who’s considered the idea of an ambassador service, please be in touch.

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The post Before You Job Search, Make Sure You Soul Search appeared first on Brazen Life.

You only need to look at the latest job satisfaction surveys to recognize how unfulfilled most workers feel. For seven straight years, The Conference Board has reported that less than half of U.S. workers are satisfied in their careers.

So, what can you do to find job satisfaction and fulfillment while still making a great living?

Uncover your core genius

“Core genius” is the special contribution each of us brings to our professional life. It’s what you’re in this world to do that only you can do. It’s the unique package of skills, experiences, passions, interests, talents, abilities and attitude that you possess.

Take one of my clients, Laura Rolands, for example. Laura was a hardworking human resources executive at Chrysler. She’s also a mom. When her son was diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), she got to work and investigated how to best help him with attention strategies at school and in life. Through this experience and through our career coaching work together, Laura realized she had a talent and an interest in helping people with attention issues.

It led Laura to start an attention coaching business shortly after accepting a voluntary buy-out from her position in the automotive industry. Her business focuses on coaching people to overcome challenges associate with ADD or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Her clients have developed time-saving personal routines and have improved their academic and business performance.

The path to a successful career fit

In 10 years of coaching, I’ve seen that we are each uniquely built to fulfill a specific purpose. However, too often, people take their unique talents for granted. (Click here to tweet this thought.) In fact, the real challenge is that most people have no idea what their purpose is.

I believe the best way to find your purpose — your core genius — is to conduct a formal soul search and get specific about all the elements of your ideal career. It starts with assessing yourself across eight essential dimensions, which include:

1. your top interests
2. your key motivators
3. skills you want to employ
4. ways you want to contribute
5. your best qualities
6. your ideal work environment
7. activities you enjoy most
8. salary and benefits you desire

Soul search before you job search

By reflecting on these elements, you can prioritize what’s most important to you and brainstorm career possibilities that match these elements.

In order to discover your core genius, you need to stop looking at want ads and instead start talking to anyone and everyone about the ways you are already of service. Carefully process all of that input, and you’ll see viable new options ahead. Take seriously the value you bring to the table, and believe that you can get paid to deliver it. Let others know about the high-value service you’re prepared to provide, then deliver it consistently and professionally.

Soon, you’ll find you have more than enough work in your new role — and you’ll be making a living while loving what you do.

Are you in touch with your core career strengths? What steps did you take to gain that awareness, and how have you applied it to your career? Share your thoughts in the comments!

CNN dubbed Maggie Mistal “one of the nation’s best-known career coaches.” A former Learning and Development executive at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has been featured across major media, including NBC’s Today Show, Fox Business, CNN and The New York Times. Connect with Maggie on Twitter, or LinkedIn or Facebook and check out her Soul Search Workbook here.

TalentCulture is a vibrant open online community, driven by professionals who share a passion for innovation, collaboration and a desire to advance the world of work. Join their #TChat Events every Wednesday from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. EST, or join the ongoing conversation anytime at #TChat on Twitter.)

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The post How to Answer the 5 Interview Questions Employers Ask If You’re Unemployed appeared first on Brazen Life.

Some employers stubbornly place greater confidence in a candidate if someone else (no matter who) wants to keep them onboard. There’s not much logic to this assumption, but there it is.

So where does that leave you if you’re unemployed?

And, even more importantly, how should you approach interviews if you’ve been out of work for a long time?

If you’ve been on the market for six months or longer, get ready for skeptical employers to present you with any of these five questions. Understand what the interviewer is asking and practice your answers prior to the interview so you won’t be caught off guard. (Click here to tweet this list.)

1. Why did you leave your last position? And why did you leave the one before that?

Translation: If she’s out on her own and she’d rather not be, then what is she doing wrong? Maybe the clues lie in her departure from past positions. I’ll ask her about past employers, then I’ll read between the lines and try to determine if she’s a dedicated worker and good performer who’s easy to get along with.

How to answer: Keep your responses positive and focus on what you learned from your positions.

2. Have you been interviewing much?

Translation: Have you been actively looking for work? And if so, how are other employers responding to your resume?

How to answer: Be honest, but recognize that your potential employers will want reassurance that you’ve been aggressively searching.

3. What else have you been doing while searching for a job?

Translation: The employer wants to make sure you’ve been working hard to develop your skills and pursue goals, whether you have a job or not.

Now is a great time to talk about your volunteering gig, the fund drive you organized, the open source community you joined or the family member you’ve been taking care of.

How to answer: Make sure you come off as a busy and ambitious person, not a couch potato.

4. How has your time off affected you as a worker? Will you be ready to jump back in and be a leader?

Translation: The employer is trying to find weak points in your self-description. She’s also trying to get a sense of how you approach challenges, how you might fit in with the company culture and how you would handle the responsibilities of this specific position.

How to answer: Keep your answer as honest as possible. Pause for a few seconds to organize your thoughts before you speak.

5. What can you tell us that might allay concerns about your lack of employment?

Translation: We like you, but we see a red flag. Why aren’t you already employed? What’s wrong?

How to answer: This question may seem upsetting, but it’s actually a brilliant opportunity in disguise. This is your chance to deliver your elevator pitch, the 30-second speech that tells employers about the talents, skills and contributions you can bring to this position that no other candidate can.

Jenny Treanor is a career advisor and job search expert who provides consultation for staffing firms, hiring managers and job seekers across every industry. Her blogs and articles appear regularly on LiveCareer, home of America’s #1 Resume Builder.

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The post 5 Ways Showing You Care Will Help You Land a New Job appeared first on Brazen Life.

Disengaged employees are a pox on all they touch — they kill sales, bum out customers and sap the morale of high performers. As employers become aware of this, it’s more vital than ever to display the characteristics of an engaged employee. Here’s how to do it:

1. Understand the concept

Employee engagement is more than good morale and camaraderie. (Click here to tweet this thought.) It’s about giving 100 percent at work. We’re talking time spent, ideas shared, knowledge gained and persistence displayed. It’s about finding meaning and feeling stimulated in your job, mastering a skill set, playing an important role in the company’s culture and taking pride in your work.

2. Share tales of engagement from your last gig

Research shows that only 30 percent of the workforce is truly engaged at work. Employees have checked out due to lack of interest or motivation. Does that include you? Differentiate yourself from other job candidates by offering specific examples of how you’ve engaged in the jobs you’ve had so far.

Did you take on an assignment to expand your abilities? Did you volunteer for the tough job no one else wanted, just to see if you could? Did you start a network for workers in similar roles to share ideas and best practices? Did you recruit a superstar to your team? If you answered “yes” to any of these, say it loud, with spirit, in your interview.

3. Display your commitment to commitment

Engagement at work rests on a sense of commitment — not only to your job, but also to the bigger mission. If you find yourself saying “That’s not my job” or “I don’t know how to do that” more than “I think I can help” or “I’d like to try,” there may be an engagement gap.

Dive in and take on new projects. You’ll learn and be ready to speak about how you do this in a sustainable way. It’s OK to share when taking on too much is a problem, too. Burnout is the biggest risk for hyper-engaged people.

4. Showcase how you’ve become stronger by overcoming challenges

Everyone has challenges in the workplace. Unfair workloads, bad attitudes, challenging market conditions. Truly engaged employees are quick to take ownership for both successes and failures and point to the lessons they learned. Be prepared to talk an interviewer through your trials-by-fire, your resilience and your ultimate success in the face of adversities great and small.

5. Show that you’re an intrapreneur

Intrapreneurs are engaged employees with an entrepreneurial mindset. They act like owners, developing innovative solutions to problems and adding value beyond their job description. Give examples of how you proposed a product or service idea that helped those outside your team, how you identified a specific problem and implemented a solution. Then get ready for that “welcome aboard” handshake.

Engage at work, volunteer, hustle, show intrapreneurship and land your new job. And who knows, if and when you go all in, you might create your own position within the company.

Or create your own company.

Henry Albrecht founded Limeade in 2006 and has led the company from an idea in his basement to a high-growth SaaS employee engagement company. Before earning his MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Henry dribbled the basketball in Europe and used his love of statistics and technology to hustle through product and marketing roles at companies such as Intuit.

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The post 10 Job Boards That Use Social Media to Boost Your Search appeared first on Brazen Life.

Even if you’re not going to use them, I hope you find their creativity and ingenuity interesting. (Click here to tweet this list.)

1. JobsMiner.com

JobsMiner.com uses data analysis technology to extract job postings from social media networks. By presenting only the most relevant information from social networking sites, blog posts and forums, it lets you focus on the human connection.

After signing in with a Facebook account, you can see jobs from around the country that JobsMiner found from various social sources. Clicking on the job you find interesting will bring up the source. Comparing these results with those of a traditional job board, JobsMiner shows you some very hard-to-find opportunities that simply don’t appear on other boards.

2. LinkUp.com

Rather than asking employers to pay to post their jobs on its network, LinkUp.com simply finds and indexes jobs from the employer’s own websites. Clicking on jobs you like on LinkUp takes you directly to the employer’s website. Because LinkUp isn’t paid for applications, it doesn’t need to be involved after you’ve found a job or company you like. No scams or weird third-party websites are involved.

On LinkUp, you’ll find jobs that simply never made it to other job boards. After all, most companies don’t bother posting their jobs to major job boards. Currently, the site indexes well over 35,000 companies’ jobs sites.

3. ApplyApp.ly

ApplyApp.ly is a job-matching service that looks at your past experiences, skills and even personality traits to suggest better-matching jobs. Each job you see on ApplyApp.ly lets you know how well your personality and experience would fit.

As a measure of your personality, ApplyApp.ly relies on your Myers-Briggs personality type. If you don’t already know your Myers-Briggs type, you can buy the test for a discount through the site. The site also offers a service called Résunate, which shows you how to customize your resume based on the job you’re going for.

4. Jojari.com

Jojari.com uses your entire LinkedIn profile or resume to conduct a more thorough search than traditional job board searches. This technology is also used by lawyers to find related cases.

After linking your LinkedIn profile or resume, Jojari quickly provides you with a list of stack-ranked jobs. You make the search results smarter by telling it to give you “More Like This” or “Less Like This.” It’s amazing how accurate the personalized results can be.

5. Startwire.com

If you’ve applied for a job before, you know how frustrating it can be to wait and wait and wait to hear anything back. This experience is often called the “black hole” by frustrated job seekers. Startwire.com seeks to end the black hole by giving you status updates on the progress of your job application.

Along with its job-matching service and one-click apply, you get alerted when a recruiter looks at your application, passes it on to someone else, categorizes you or puts you in various buckets. Just knowing what’s going on with each of the jobs you’ve applied for can be a huge stress reducer.

6. TweetMyJobs.com

TweetMyJobs.com leads the way in bringing the job market to Twitter. The site has been reviewed in The Wall Street Journal, on CNN and in BusinessWeek. Even if you don’t plan to be very active on Twitter, having a TweetMyJobs account to stay up-to-date is certainly worthwhile.

As a job seeker, you need to engage in three primary activities on TweetMyJobs:

1. Subscribe to a Twitter job channel. A job channel is simply a Twitter feed that’s specific to your location and industry.
2. Upload your social resume and tweet it to TweetMyJobs’s @TweetMyResume account. @TweetMyResume has more than 16,000 followers who are instantly alerted every time a new resume is posted.
3. Sign up for alerts. TweetMyJobs can notify you of new job postings that match your profile in many different ways. If you don’t want to receive tweets of job postings, TweetMyJobs can send you an SMS text message or email with relevant jobs.

TweetMyJobs also helps you in finding referrals through your social graph, mobile apps for job searching using geolocation services, and augmented reality.

7. Bright.com

After a study of over 2.3 million resumes, a team of data engineers and computer scientists from Bright.com found a way to grade your resume to predict if it’s going to help you get the job you’re applying for.

After you upload your resume to the site and do a search for jobs, Bright tells you which jobs you’re more likely to stand out for based on your resume, which can help you decide which jobs to apply for.

8. Jobfox.com

Jobfox.com sends you an email every time a new job is posted with your location and title criteria. It’s that simple!

9. JackalopeJobs.com

Jackalopejobs.com analyzes your LinkedIn and Facebook network connections to provide search results not based on keyword but based on the number of connections you have. After all, why not just tell you what companies you’re better connected to?

After linking your LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, simply use JackalopeJobs like a normal job board and see which jobs have more connections. And, even more powerful, you can see which connections have more jobs! Just click on the name of one of your connections and see how many jobs are open at their current company.

10. Cachinko.com

By leveraging your Facebook network, Cachinko.com tells you who in your network may be a good connection to the opportunity you’re looking at. So before you apply, you can reach out and network first. Because Cachinko is fully integrated with Facebook, you can send messages to any of your Friends directly from its system.

Cachinko lets you indicate which jobs you prefer by starring them, and it gradually begins to customize search results for you. After you’ve done a few searches and starred a few jobs, click on “Jobs You’ll Love” to get an automatically generated list of jobs delivered based on your past preferences.

This post appeared on Career Enlightenment and was originally posted on Dummies.com, from the author’s book Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies (2nd edition).

Joshua Waldman is the founder of Career Enlightenment, which offers professional LinkedIn profile writing and job search services to colleges, WorkForce offices and re-entering veterans.Watch Joshua’s exclusive video “3 Secrets to Getting Job Interviews by Next Week” to learn the three secrets no one wants you to know about getting hired in today’s job market.

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The post Don’t Let Unemployment Keep You from Living Your Best Life appeared first on Brazen Life.

But, you’re unemployed. You wonder, “Should I let my hair down and enjoy myself? Or do I need to fully invest myself in my job search?” If you want to get the most out of life and be the person you’d like to be — job or no job — keep these tips in mind:

1. Go out

Getting out of the house and away from your screen can be the best job search move you’ll make all week. As long as you aren’t spending money, it’s a good idea to stay in circulation. Keep talking to people. Keep getting dressed, going out and staying busy. (Click here to tweet this thought.)

You may be taking your nose away from the job search grindstone for two minutes, but in the process, you might engage in conversation with a stranger and find out about a new opportunity — or a new industry. You’ll also expand your network by making new friends.

2. Keep an eye on your money

As you stay in contact with old friends, new friends, professional contacts and family, know the difference between a cup of coffee and a walk (good), a free museum (also good) and a ski trip to Italy (not so good). For the moment, accept that you can’t afford some items and activities. Over the long term, these expenses can add more stress than they take away.

3. Don’t be a jerk

While you struggle with the unexpected serving of misery and hardship, don’t make your problems into problems for everyone around you. Share your feelings with those you trust, but don’t snarl at those who make well-intended thoughtless remarks. Don’t lash out in frustration at those who don’t deserve your wrath.

4. Don’t overthink

This can be difficult if you’re experiencing unemployment for the first time. It’s easy to get drawn into a spiral of questions about what went wrong at your last job (why were you laid off instead of the person next to you?), your future prospects and your basic worth as a human being.

But these questions don’t have answers. The more time you spend asking them, the deeper you’ll dig yourself into a hole of fear and self-doubt. When you’ve been staring at your navel for too long and you need to interrupt a harmful thought pattern, get up and do something kind for someone else.

5. Expect to be judged, and rise above it

Unemployment isn’t glamorous. It can — and will — draw abuse from narrow-minded, judgmental types who don’t have a wide range of life experience. Don’t listen. Don’t let fear of a few catty remarks push you into a foolish life decision such as committing to a job you don’t want, staying in an industry you don’t like or passing on an opportunity that would truly make you happy.

6. Stay in touch with the things that bring out the best in you

Identify the people and activities that make you feel most alive, most engaged and most at home in your own skin. Sometimes the job search requires you to plaster on a fake smile, but when do you smile for real? When do you truly feel like yourself?

Make a list of these moments, and the people who make you feel this way, and spend as much time with them as you can — even if it means taking a short break from your job search.

Jenny Treanor is a career advisor and job search expert who provides consultation for staffing firms, hiring managers and job seekers across every industry. Her blogs and articles appear regularly on LiveCareer, home of America’s #1 Resume Builder.

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The post 4 Organizational Job-Hunting Tricks You Haven’t Tried appeared first on Brazen Life.

So why are you still hunting for a job the way your parents did? When will you learn that mass emailing resumes to every job opening under the sun is not the way to get hired?

Maybe you’re just plain lazy — no one likes writing hundreds of customized cover letters. Or perhaps you lack self-confidence — why spend time working hard on an application when no one will even read it?

Whatever the reason, it’s time to put your tech-savvy skills to use and organize your job hunt.

You need to tackle your search for a job with the same enthusiasm and organization as you would a full-time job — because when you’re out of work, job hunting is your full-time job. (Click here to Tweet this thought.)

Stop wasting time with canned emails and generic cover letters. Instead, streamline your job search with these four practical systems:

1. Create a “spreadsheet of opportunities”

Head to Google Drive or Excel to organize every job you’ve ever wanted, heard of or applied for. Be sure to include even those companies where you’ve only dreamed of working. I organized mine by Company, Position, Contacts, Job Application Link, Date of Application, Notes and Status.

Update your spreadsheet daily. It will help you keep track of when to follow up, where you might need to make a new contact and what homework you need to do to prepare for the next interview stages.

This also comes in handy if you’re on unemployment. Having all this information in one place is a great reference guide when you need to prove you’re actively looking for work.

2. Save answers to application questions

Job applications are significantly more complicated than they were just a few years ago.

Many applications now ask specific questions about a project you’re most proud of or require a list of your most useful skills. Instead of just typing this directly into an online form, store those answers (proofread and spell-checked, of course) in a Job Hunt folder in Evernote.

For your next pesky phone screening, keep these questions open during the call so you can quickly reference your best answers. The more you do this, the more comfortable you’ll get answering these questions. (I’ve memorized most of mine by now, which is a bonus since I began to sound really articulate during those calls.)

Evernote also has great a great tagging system, so it’s easy for find responses pertaining to skills or project results when answering new questions on the fly.

3. Save your cover letter templates

Though you should submit a customized cover letter for every job, it’s OK to start from a template. Each template should include your favorite accomplishments relevant to the role you want. This makes applying for jobs the right way easy as pie.

Save your cover letter templates and a PDF of your resume to Dropbox so you can access them from anywhere on any device. So if you meet a lead for coffee and the conversation goes well, you can send your resume right there.

While my title has pretty consistently been “Social Media Manager,” that can mean different things to different people. Instead of limiting myself to roles with the same title, I applied to content strategy and community management jobs as well as more traditional marketing positions. When I sat down to write a cover letter for a position, it was helpful to have a few different templates to start from.

4. Become best friends with your calendar

Randomly applying for jobs will not get you hired. My biggest successes have always come from meeting people in person.

Whether it’s at a formal networking event or meeting a friend of a friend at Starbucks, talking to humans always trumps applying online. Regularly talk to people who love their jobs. Buy them coffee in exchange for picking their brains about work, projects and valuable skills.

This means you need to invest time in organizing your calendar. And don’t forget to pencil in valuable Parks and Recreation time so you don’t go crazy — there is such a thing as too much networking.

Set a schedule for what you will do each day: Who you’ll reach out to, what jobs you’ll apply for and what action steps you can take. With an organized calendar, your job hunt will feel purposeful and productive instead of listless and hopeless.

The result of this obsessive job search? I landed an unbelieveable role at a successful startup in less than four weeks. *Brushes shoulders off.*

How have you made your job search as organized as possible?

Marian Schembari is a blogger, traveler and all-around social media thug. She landed in San Francisco via New Zealand via London via New York, where she’s now the Marketing Manager at Thumbtack.

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The post Do You Really Want Your Parents Interviewing on Your Behalf? appeared first on Brazen Life.

Now, not only are we apparently bringing our parents to interviews — we’re actually having them interview for us! Well, some people are.

Check out this story from a recent Harvard Business Review article:

A recruiter at a well-known Fortune 10 company told me this story: She was getting ready for a phone interview with a new college graduate. But when she dialed into the conference number at the scheduled time, instead of the candidate, there was an older woman on the line.

The female caller identified herself as the applicant’s mother and said, “I know you were expecting a call with John (not his real name), but he’s tied up in another interview at the moment. Fortunately, I know him so well that I can do the interview for him. Do you mind?”

The recruiter understandably replied that she did mind and asked John’s mom to have her son call when he was available.

If you suspect this conversation is an anomaly (and a shocking one at that!), think again.

While we can understand other things mentioned in the article — namely, that many Millennials still live at home and turn to their parents for advice with their job hunt — going so far as to have your parent stand in for you on an interview doesn’t exactly present the right message when it comes to your ability to handle your own career.

Sure, your mom might know you well enough to answer questions about you, but do you really want her to? (Click here to Tweet this thought.) One of the goals of an interview is to determine whether you’re a good fit for the position personality-wise and whether you’ll fit into the corporate culture. Your parents may be able to paint a picture of the kind of person you are, but nothing compares to the real thing. And, let’s be honest, praise from your biased mom probably shouldn’t hold much weight in an interviewer’s mind.

We’d like to think this is another example of the media blowing GenY stereotypes out of proportion, but the article’s author claims 50 percent of HR professionals she’s spoken to have experienced this sort of interviewing-by-proxy. We’re curious to hear your thoughts.

You can read the full article here.

Would you ever consider letting a parent interview for you? What do you think of Millennials who do?

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The post 6 Social Media Jobs That’ll Be Big in 2014 appeared first on Brazen Life.

One thing is abundantly clear: social media is now necessary for global commerce, and 2014 will be the catalyst for vital social media marketing positions. (Click here to Tweet this thought.)

Social media is more than liking or retweeting a post; it’s a new, cutting-edge marketing medium with unlimited potential. According to Constant Contact’s Small Businesses: Then and Now Survey conducted in May 2013, social media marketing has exploded, with 87 percent of small businesses using social media as a marketing tool today.

Since social media marketing requires a combination of analytical skills, good communication and performing extensive research, you can bet business, communications and English-related degrees are good candidates for 2014 social media job openings.

Explore the new frontier of marketing with these six up-and-coming social media positions:

1. Search engine optimization (SEO) specialist

Companies want to be visible to potential and current customers. To do so, SEO specialists are essential. SEO specialists wear many different hats, each of which are designed to boost website rankings within relevant search results.

This job involves analyzing websites, testing different marketing techniques and creating new quality content. SEO specialists also use social media websites to market new content. In an age where digital technology outperforms print sources, social media is a quick way to spread more than status updates and commercial information.

SEO specialist positions often require a bachelor’s degree and at least one to three years of Web experience. Knowledge in HTML, CSS and blogging is a plus.

Approximate annual salary: $69,000

2. Social media strategist

Social media strategists work on creating a public profile for companies, allowing them to interact freely with customers on social media sites. Though posts are about company services and products, these business social media accounts help develop an interactive business-customer relationship.

It’s marketing by humanizing a company through online social interactions. The more social media followers a company has, the more their products and services are recognized.

Social media strategist positions often require a bachelor’s degree and two years of previous work experience in social media marketing.

Approximate annual salary: $61,000

3. Online community manager

An online community manager is a liaison between a company and an online community (e.g., social networks, message boards and email groups). As more people come together online to share similar interests and ideals, online marketers have the perfect opportunity to target these groups and pitch their own products and services.

The online community manager’s goal is to use online communities to increase brand loyalty and Web traffic and to maximize their company’s social media marketing strategy.

It involves analytical, creative and business-oriented skills to promote a company, products and services. An online community manager never has the same job any single day; it involves adapting to new online technologies and social media tools.

This position often requires a bachelor’s degree, two years within a business setting and experience with Photoshop, video editing and website development.

Approximate annual salary: $59,000

4. Social media marketing manager

Social media marketing managers oversee the design and execution of social media marketing strategies. Their goal is to drive audience growth and bring their company and brands to the forefront.

A number of social media tools are used to analyze the best marketing tactics for each social site. Since each social networking platform works differently, content has to be adapted to maximize its effects. The social media marketing manager oversees the communications strategy for these platforms and delegates their goals and expectations to the rest of the online marketing team.

Social media marketing manager positions often require a bachelor’s degree (an MBA is sometimes preferred), a minimum of five years of digital marketing experience, excellent verbal/written communication skills and a solid understanding of social media platforms.

Approximate annual salary: $57,000

5. Social media marketing coordinator

Social media marketing coordinators write unique content and take photos and videos for the social media accounts they administer. The position involves frequent social media post updates (hours on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, etc.) and use of social media analysis tools.

A college degree isn’t required, but strong written/verbal skills, proficient blogging and knowledge of social media platforms and video editing are all necessities of the position.

Approximate annual salary: $47,000

6. Blogger or social media copywriter

The word “blogger” has become overly generalized as a simple hobby for some people. But for businesses and marketing firms worldwide, bloggers and social media copywriters are essential in creating an online presence. It’s a strategy of numbers, and the role of the blogger is crucial for receiving online attention.

There’s a dual function behind this position: 1) create engaging and factual online content via blog posts, social media networks, message boards etc.; and 2) attract readers and followers.

Posts often include keywords that, when clicked on, redirect readers to a specific company website or related page. Where a spammer presents irrelevant, flashy content to readers, bloggers and social media copywriters deliver valuable online information to their readers.

Bloggers and social media copywriters require exceptional written skills to deliver concise information. A college degree isn’t required, but is often preferred.

Approximate annual salary: $43,000

In 2014, prepare for a new chapter in online marketing. Social media marketing will help personalize the business experience and reach an unlimited pool of potential consumers. Since online social demands will only continue to grow and evolve, these positions will redefine marketing’s online future — and it begins here.

Salary data from Simply Hired.

Andrea Fisher is an online marketer and content specialist for Excite Education. She has an English degree and Political Science minor from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her work has been published in a variety of publications, including the Chicago Tribune and Business Insider.

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The post The 3 Things Your Future Employer Wants to Know About You appeared first on Brazen Life.

1. Here’s what I’ve got.
2. Here’s what I will do for you.
3. Here’s what I want you to do next for me.

Yes, it sounds extremely simple, but there’s an art and a science to effectively offering your time for money and getting that job. So let’s discuss what each of these bullet points mean.

1. Here’s what I’ve got

You’ll notice this isn’t “Here’s what I know.” Your employer doesn’t care about what you know. In fact, what you know has little relevance to your employer.

It’s what you can do with what you know that really counts. (Click here to Tweet this thought.) Nothing else matters, but this is where the majority of people go wrong.

Just because you have specialized knowledge doesn’t mean you should be employed. You might think having a certain degree, qualifications or number of years of experience is sufficient enough to get you the job. Others believe the severity of their need will lead to someone taking pity on them and giving them a job.

This, again, is one main reason why many people have a hard time getting a job. In the midst of all these ideas about why they need a job, job seekers omit the specific reasons they’re valuable to prospective employers.

2. Here’s what I will do for you

This is the step where you demonstrate your enthusiasm for the position. You can do this in a variety of ways: during your meeting or phone conversation or in your well-crafted cover letter and resume.

Your attitude will come through in your interactions, so being positive is important. A negative attitude can be poisonous in this step.

If you’re not positive, why would an employer hire you? Maintain a positive attitude at all times, even if you’re fearful or nervous. Recruiters tend to avoid negative candidates who complain about the difficulties of the job market.

Keep in mind that many candidates have experienced the same hardships, but they bring positivity to their interviews. That positivity is not just contagious; it makes people want to work with you.

Save the pain and frustration of your job search for someone else. Don’t even bring it into the room. Of course, nervousness in an interview is natural. It’s OK to experience that as long as you have the right attitude.

And remember, the worst possible outcome is that you don’t get the job. Even if they don’t offer you a position, send the person who interviewed you a thank you note and wish them well. It will establish you as someone with impeccable manners and even confidence. You will put the idea in their mind that you’d be a good person to represent their company. The next time a job opens up, you’re more likely to be considered.

3. Here’s what I want you to do next for me

During your interview, make sure your interviewer knows you’re interested in the job. Ask questions about the position and ask about next steps.

Don’t ask about compensation and benefits. Instead, let the interviewer broach those topics. Interviewers will often ask applicants what compensation they’re seeking. This is an area where many job seekers make a crucial misstep.

When asked this question, a lot of interviewees will say they don’t know or cite a too-high or too-low figure based on guesswork. They erroneously believe that if they admit they’ll accept any type of offer, they’ll seem more appealing to the person with the hiring power.

Other people believe their hardship, mortgage or childcare responsibilities will earn the sympathy of prospective employers and lead to a job offer. But this desperation invariably has the opposite effect, especially if you’re willing to accept a very low salary. This red flag makes employers think you may be under-qualified.

Of course, the other pitfall job seekers step into is asking for too much money, which will make employers hire someone less expensive. Both extremes illustrate a lack of preparedness and a lack of awareness about the position. Research the industry standard for a realistic expectation of what the salary for this position should be.

In summary, employers are mostly interested in what you can do for them. They really don’t care about your background, except with respect to how you can use it for their benefit. They already have your resume and know enough about you to bring you in for an interview in the first place.

Employers are selfish. They’re looking out for their own interests. They don’t really care about you, your feelings or your current financial situation. All they care about is how you can help them achieve their objectives.

This information is not meant to be discouraging. In fact, it’s mentioned to simplify things and distill your interview performance into one clear message: what you can offer your new boss.

George Egbuonu (MBA) is the best-selling author of the book How To Get A Job In 30 Days Or Less. To attend a free webinar on How To Get A Job In 30 Days Or Less, visit: http://helpingfeet.com/webinar.

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The post 6 Networking Tactics to Land a Job at a Startup appeared first on Brazen Life.

You’ve heard it before — networking is essential for almost any kind of job hunt — but it’s especially true for startups. Here’s why: when building a team, startup founders rely on their network to separate the signal from the noise:

Every time a promising startup posts a job, tens if not hundreds of applications flow in. Founders don’t have time to go through all of them, so they use their network as a filtering mechanism by starting with people that have come recommended. Candidates who’ve been endorsed by someone the founder knows get the first crack at the opportunity. — Scott Britton

If you’re ready to get hired at a startup, here are six networking tactics that’ll help you get the gig:

1. Make it personal

Networking events can be a great first step to getting inside an industry. But they can also be a huge waste of time, especially in Startup Land, where it’s difficult to tell who’s doing awesome work and who’s a wannabe entrepreneur.

Rather than spending two hours at an event speaking with a parade of random people, focus on connecting with a handful of contacts you know you can learn from. Do some research, pinpoint a few top candidates and reach out for a short informational interview.

Avoid the dine-and-dash syndrome. You’ve worked hard to make great contacts, so don’t drop off the face of the earth after one meeting. Keep up with your network so you aren’t the person who only reaches out when they need something. Every month, grab coffee with a few of your contacts to keep the connection strong.

2. Apply before the job gets posted

If a company you like doesn’t have a job posting, that doesn’t mean you should wait until they do. Shoot ‘em an email. Tell them why you’re a fan of their work and explain how you could fit into their company.

Being confident in knowing you are a great fit for a company and having the ability to pinpoint areas of opportunity you can fill before the company even posted a job is… well, ballsy. But it’s incredibly effective. Reach out to companies you like early, build relationships with the employees and create a connection that will allow you to have a leg up on the competition.  — Breena Fain

3. Think local

While some recruiters won’t admit it, it’s easier to be hired at a startup if you live in the area. That doesn’t mean you have to be in a startup hub like Silicon Valley, New York or Seattle. Places like Boulder, Cambridge and Washington, D.C. are among Entrepreneur’s top 10 cities for tech startups. You can find high-tech startups in every single state.

Plus, the more remote your location, the less competition you’ll face. So start local. And if you want to move to a new city, try to visit often and at least appear like you’re a local.

4. Throw your own party

Highly-targeted events can be beneficial for everyone involved. When Alison Johnston Rue, CEO and cofounder of InstaEDU, realized there weren’t any events specifically for education tech founders, she decided to make her own:

When we were first getting started, I wanted to get to know other edtech entrepreneurs better. I made a list of founders I knew and founders I would be interested in meeting and invited them all to a happy hour at our office. The entire event took about two hours to organize, and it helped me meet and get to know the exact people I wanted to connect with.

5. Be generous

In his book Linchpin, entrepreneur guru Seth Godin wrote an important networking truth: “It’s difficult to be generous when you’re hungry. Yet being generous keeps you from going hungry. Hence the conflict.”

If you’re only focused on what you can get from other people — a job lead, an interview, a connection — rather than what you can give them, you’ll find yourself in hot water. Networking is a two-way street. The more you can improve someone else’s life, the more likely they are to help you.

Stuck on how to be generous and provide value? Here are some ideas:

• Send over an article or video the person would genuinely find interesting.
• Offer to give feedback about a product or website.
• Promote their organization to your personal network.
• Make a relevant introduction.

6. Take action

Founders need people who can take action, make decisions and figure things out on the fly. You’ve got to have initiative, creativity and hustle.

To demonstrate your action bias, tackle independent projects. Whether it’s a blog, an event, a side hustle, an incredible social channel or an artistic venture, get out there and do something.

Interesting projects often generate interesting opportunities and connections. (Click here to Tweet this thought.) Plus, you’ll have something cool to work on while you hunt for your next gig.

What tactic would you add to the list? Tell us in the comments!

Annie Rose Favreau is a Seattle-based content strategist, digital marketer and startup problem solver. You can find her Twittering away at @A_Favreau.

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The post How to Use Facebook Ads to Get a Job You Really Want appeared first on Brazen Life.

In retrospect, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.

If you’ve ever agonized over how to break out of your job search rut, here’s how I did it — and maybe you can, too. Fed up with traditional tactics, I took out a Facebook ad aimed at people who worked for the hottest companies in Austin. It earned me an interview with the company at the top of my list. A few weeks later, I had the job.

Would it work again?

Fast-forward to today. In writing my book about strategies for getting access to hard-to-reach people through social media, I tested the same Facebook ad tactic to see if it would work with the world’s most coveted employer: Google.

 First, I created the two ads you see below.

Both use humor in the headline and body text, but the element that makes it stand out is the direct reference, which is bound to catch a Googler’s eye.

Since I wasn’t actually looking for a job at Google, I had to come clean with whoever clicked. The next step was to create a custom landing page that explained the experiment. If I’d been looking for a Google gig at the time, I would have created a “Hire Me” page.

The ad targeted 16,560 Facebook users “who live in the United States, age 25 or older, who graduated from college, who work at Google.” In two days, the ad got 48 clicks (0.103 percent click through rate, or CTR) at a total cost of $30.68. If you know about advertising, you know that’s a fairly low CTR — but think about it for a second:

For about $30, 50 Google employees were willing to consider me as a candidate. (Click here to Tweet this stat.)

Round three

Recently, I re-entered the job market and found a VP of Marketing job post at a startup. I decided to devote a few hours and bucks to getting the CEO’s attention. His email wouldn’t have been hard to find, but I wanted to get in front of him in a unique way, since I knew hundreds of people applied for the position.

The company was too small to be targetable in the same way Google was, so I tried targeting individuals. The first step was to hit the company website and write down the names of the employees on the company’s “about” page.

Next, I searched for those employees on Facebook and plugged their user ID numbers into a CSV spreadsheet. (Use this tool to find user IDs.) I uploaded the list of user IDs as a Custom Audience in Facebook’s Power Editor tool, which helps businesses manage multiple campaigns, and just like that, I had my targetable audience.

Then I created a page on my blog that detailed why the company should hire me, followed by a call to action instructing the reader to tell the CEO to ping me. To create the ad, I used the company color palette with the text “Hi, [company name]!” The accompanying ad copy mentioned that I’d applied for the VP position and asked the user to click to learn how he or she could help.

The results were fun to watch. Of the 16 targeted employees, the ad was served to 10 of them. Of those 10, seven clicked and one left an encouraging comment. Within a week of starting the campaign, the CEO’s assistant reached out to ask if I could chat with the CEO that weekend.

The phone chat led to an in-person interview with the CEO and another executive. The interviews went well, but I didn’t have the experience they were looking for. Oh well — it cost me $6.48.

Once you try this technique, you’ll wonder how you looked for a job without it. It’s a proven strategy to get C-level attention at virtually any company, it’s repeatable and it’s cheap. Give it a try, and let me know how you fare.

Ian Greenleigh is a social media and content strategist and author of the new book The Social Media Side Door: How to Bypass the Gatekeepers to Gain Greater Access and Influence . Greenleigh tweets at @be3d and blogs at daretocomment.com.

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The post What You Should and Shouldn’t Say to Your Unemployed Friend appeared first on Brazen Life.

You also try to mind your manners when she opens up about the details of her search process. Here are a few things it’s probably better not to say so you don’t compound her feelings of frustration and isolation (and place a burden on your relationship):

1. “How’s the job search going?” (again, and again)

It’s fine to make conversation and inquire into your friend’s well-being — but don’t ask incessantly.

Some job search days are better than others, but your friend will be on the market every day until she isn’t anymore. If she hasn’t told you she has a job and is starting next week, don’t expect to be provided with updates every hour. In fact, only ask if you have something to offer.

2. “Here’s what you’re doing wrong…”

If your friend asks you for advice, feel free to offer tips and critique her strategy. If she doesn’t ask, don’t attempt to tell her what she’s doing wrong — because you might add to her annoyance or, worse yet, give her misleading advice.

3. “I know a guy who does the same thing you do. He can hardly tie his shoes, but he was hired within a week of graduation for a six-figure salary. You should think about doing that.”

This story can be inspiring if you end it by handing your friend the name and phone number of the manager who hired the guy. But if you aren’t planning to do that, it’s not a good story.

4. “That’s the problem with kids in this economy today. They always (fill in the blank).”

Alternatives include “They never…” or “They think they’re special, but they’re not” and “They’re so entitled.” These are especially toxic if your friend is younger than you.

People don’t love being handed a list of everything that’s wrong with them. They also don’t like lists of everything wrong with their generation.

And while we’re at it, they also don’t love hearing what’s wrong with every member of their ethnicity, their gender, their hometown or everyone from their alma mater or with a degree in their area of study.

5. “On the plus side, you have all this free time now!”

Your friend knows exactly how much free time she has. No need to rub it in.

Try these five statements instead

Words of encouragement will go over better. The following statements show you have your pal’s back, you care and you’re not spewing generic advice:

1. “It’s rough out there.”

This might sound cliché, but it’s actually polite.

2. “Ugh.”

Sometimes a simple “ugh” is all your friend needs to hear. Honest emotion feels good every now and then.

3.  “I’m keeping an eye out for you.”

Having a trustworthy supporter is vital.

4. “I know a guy who’s a complete genius, who graduated at the top of his class in Harvard, and he can’t find work anywhere.”

This puts your friend’s job search in perspective.

5. “I remember when I was laid off and spent months on the job market. It was frustrating and isolating, but it worked out OK. I made it through, and I’m sure you will, too. I’m here if you ever need a sounding board.”

Nothing beats a compassionate friend who’s willing to listen and talk. (Click here to Tweet this thought.)

Jenny Treanor is a career advisor and job search expert who provides consultation for staffing firms, hiring managers and job seekers across every industry. Her blogs and articles appear regularly on LiveCareer, home of America’s #1 Resume Builder.

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The post How to Convince Any Interviewer They’d Be Stupid Not to Hire You appeared first on Brazen Life.

Anxiety, apprehension and worry are all natural human responses to a stressful situation like an interview — these are indicators that you want to succeed. Yet that protection mechanism called fear kicks in to defend you against the pain of failure.

So what can you do to build up up your confidence against the fearful expectation of failure? One method is to create a powerful strategy that will persuade your interviewers that you’re the best — the one — for the role.

Treat your interview like a sales pitch

Since your interview is your chance to sell yourself and convince this person of all the good you can do for the company, think of this conversation as a sales pitch. And every sales pitch needs an elevator speech.

Before you walk in the door, you should be ready with a short, punchy sentence or two that not only wraps up your skills, qualities and talents, but also entices the interviewer to listen to more of what you have to say.

Interview yourself first

Ready to write that hard-hitting sentence or two that will create a great first impression with your prospective employer? Start by asking yourself a series of questions.

The answers will help you understand your own value and realize all that you could potentially achieve with this new opportunity. Ask yourself:

• What are you really good at in the context of the work you would be doing?
• In what aspects of this work do you excel?
• When are you at your best?
• What qualities do you have that will add real value to this company?
• Why would you be a great asset to them?
• What’s your greatest strength?

These types of questions dig deep into your psyche and help you develop the conviction that you’re the right person for the role. The answers will help you overcome some of the fears that cause pre-interview anxiety and nerves in the first place.

Psychologists say a certain degree of nerves are necessary for you to be on your game. They help you focus and concentrate. Those butterflies in your stomach just need to be coached to fly in formation. Manage your fear by answering the questions listed above, then get to work on folding the answers into your interview.

How to write a winning elevator speech

Once you’ve formulated your answers, you can put them into effective phrases that will make you stand out as a confident and effective candidate.

Take a good look at the job post. What exactly does this role require? Excellent organization skills? Mastery of C++? Great people skills?

Focus your elevator speech around these requirements. Imagine you’re being asked (as you very likely will be), “What would you bring to this role?”

A strong answer might sound something like:

I’m self-motivated, with energy and enthusiasm for great results. I love working with a team and achieving goals. Being professional, listening actively and being part of the solution are vital when I work in a team, and I believe this is a real strength of mine — the ability to get along with different personalities.

Let’s break down the different traits this personal statement covers:

• Self-motivated
• Dedicated
• Energetic
• Results-oriented
• Team player
• Professional
• Active listener
• Solution-driven
• Relationship-focused
• Approachable

What employer would reject a person with these attributes? These skills make you stand out, especially if you’re applying for a role that involves working with different teams or customers.

Your elevator pitch should cover the essential elements you know the employer wants. Speak about the future of the company and how you can help them get there. Help the interviewer see the bigger picture — with you in it.

With an effective elevator speech, they’ll see you as a valuable asset to bring to their department, team, customers and company. (Click here to Tweet this thought.)

To recap:

1. Revisit the questions above.
2. Answer them specifically in relation to the position.
3. Condense your answers into a phrase or two that will grab attention.
4. Ensure your elevator speech is relevant to the role.
5. Show your value without showing off.
6. Deliver your elevator speech genuinely and with passion — make it a no-brainer that you’re the best person for the role.

This process will help you build confidence to calm your nerves and lay the foundation for a positive and influential interview.

As a business improvement expert, Sean McPheat helps companies improve their sales, management and HR teams through consulting, coaching and training. Sean is the Managing Director of the MTD Training group. You can find more tips and advice on how to boost your business via Sean’s blog.

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The post Get Recruited: Upcoming Brazen Recruiting and Networking Events (December) appeared first on Brazen Life.

But did you know Brazen also partners with popular employers and universities around the country to put on virtual career fairs and networking events?

Our platform allows talented candidates to connect directly with recruiters, hiring managers and other decision-makers to see if there’s a match with a particular company or organization. Doesn’t that sound more civilized than applying to a standard job listing and never hearing anything back?

Many of our partners ask us to bring the best job candidates to these events, which means YOU have a chance to get recruited. This is your opportunity to take a step up in your industry and transition into your dream job.

Want an invite to our next event? Sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll keep you posted!

Get psyched about these upcoming events

This month, an impressive roster of employers, universities and organizations are hosting events on the Brazen platform. We’re excited to partner with Verizon in sponsorship with The Wounded Warrior Project, Stonegate Mortgage, National Association of Colleges & Employers, Conference for Women MA and many more impressive employers who are looking to chat one-on-one about open positions — as well as make hires.

On the university side, we’re working with University of Nevada in sponsorship with Volkswagen, Penn Graduate School of Education Resume Review, George Washington University, Penn State Alumni Association, and more to host networking events that help alumni and students make valuable connections.

Don’t you want to be in on this goodness?

Sign up for our newsletter to get on the invite list!

Brazen Life is a lifestyle and career blog for ambitious young professionals. Hosted by Brazen Careerist, we offer edgy and fun ideas for navigating the changing world of work. Be Brazen!

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The post Get Recruited: Upcoming Brazen Recruiting and Networking Events (December) appeared first on Brazen Life.

The post The Best Seasonal Jobs of 2013, and How They Can Help Your Career appeared first on Brazen Life.

The team at CareerCast, a leading career resource and job database, has issued its annual Best Seasonal Jobs report, highlighting the top temporary positions available this time of year.

The 2013 list includes:

1. Santa Claus
2. Retail Salesperson
3. Material Recording Clerk
4. Parcel Delivery
5. Personal Shopper
6. Photographer
7. Chef
8. Volunteer

(Click here to Tweet this list.)

It’s no surprise the Santa gig makes an appearance on the list, but we are a little surprised that Saint Nick is tops. Is it the hours (presumably great), the pay (presumably not great) or something else? Spreading Christmas cheer? Working with kids? It can’t be the parents…

Not all seasonal jobs are created equal. Some may be better for your long-term prospects. Other seasonal posts may be desperate enough for employees that they could be more likely to hire quickly, saving you some of your valuable time.

How do you choose?

“The real question is: Why are you looking for a seasonal job?” asks Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast. According to Lee, anyone who’s mainly looking for extra income can choose freely, but if you have hopes of turning the temporary gig into a full-time position, your options are limited. Many jobs on the list “tend to be holiday-only,” Lee says.

Still, there are exceptions. UPS, for example, considers holiday help for long-term employment, presumably evaluating workers’ performance during the busy season. “Almost like an internship,” Lee says.

Other benefits of seasonal employment

Beyond permanent positions and extra paychecks, there are other ways to maximize a seasonal job opportunity.

“The key here is to look at transferable skills,” Lee says.

One example: A marketing professional looking to advance her career may take on a retail position, then volunteer her skills for marketing initiatives within the store, effectively “filling in [her] resume, staying active [in the industry].”

A culinary student could log professional hours during the holiday season, which might fall during her school break. That means real-life experience that doesn’t conflict with a study schedule.

See the full report here. As a bonus, each job listed includes available positions.

So, who’s ready to play Santa this year?

Cassie Nolan is the blogger behind Alternative Badassery, “A creative guide to being good at life,” where she covers career, writing and health topics. She also regularly disseminates awesome on Facebook and Twitter.

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The post 5 Reasons Hiring Managers Aren’t Calling You appeared first on Brazen Life.

Consequently, you may have adopted the miserable “I’ve applied to tons of positions, but no one is hiring or calling me back” mentality.

To help professionals overcome this debilitating “no one is hiring” mindset, Alysse Metzler wrote The Recruiting Snitch: Recruiting Secrets to Help Land Your Dream Job. The Recruiting Snitch is loaded with secrets that 101 recruiters and hiring managers have revealed about their hiring methods.

“Practice makes perfect, and knowledge is half the battle. So once you really know what’s going on inside recruiters’ heads, you will be able to ace the resume review, get through the application process, impress the recruiter on your phone interview, wow the hiring manager in the face-to-face interview and have a smooth offer process,” Metzler writes.

Read more at Black Enterprise…

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The post 5 Reasons Hiring Managers Aren’t Calling You appeared first on Brazen Life.