After all your efforts--networking and distributing your resume--you've landed an interview for a job that looks just like the spot you've been looking for. It's a good fit between your qualifications and the requirements of the opportunity. You feel confident it will be another step on your career path.
Now, it's up to you to conduct a winning face-to-face interviews with those persons who will make the final hiring decision. It's time to sell the total package that is you and the benefits you…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on November 14, 2009 at 12:56pm —
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Mentors have strong and respected place in the world of work. In fact, that role is growing in importance.
Usually, older and more experience, mentors provide coaching and serve as role models for neophytes who turn to them for advice on how to build and manage careers. This role is important to the success of individuals and organizations.
Mentoring is taking on a new dimension as increasingly younger careerists are performing that vital service for their older bosses and associates.
It's be…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on November 4, 2009 at 12:10pm —
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Career Advice
All of the vibes seemed positive. You've had a series of interviews with a potential employer, beginning with the human resources officer heading up the job search and moving through to the manager to whom the position reports. It looks like a perfect fit for your particular education and experience. There's even been discussion of a starting date. Lunch with the division vice president, which you are told is really just a sign-off, couldn't have gone better.
It looks like a marr…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on October 16, 2009 at 12:23pm —
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You've been sitting on the edge of your chair, waiting for that offer for the job you badly want. Bingo! The offer comes through. But there's just one hang-up: you'd have to pack up and move to a new location half way across the country.
You should realize this is a very serious challenge. So back off and carefully analyze your needs as compared to the cost of the opportunity. That's right, "cost", because there's a price tag on every opportunity along the career path.
Consider these career ti…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on October 15, 2009 at 11:00am —
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No doubt about it, most of us at one time or another can identify with Comedian Rodney Dangerfield's trademark lament, "I don't get no respect." That's not surprising because our need to be appreciated along our career path is not always satisfied.
But stop and think the next time you are tempted to moan and groan about not getting respect and appreciation on your job.
Are you sure your boss and your peers are short on respect for what you do? They may not show it in tangible ways, but are you…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on September 15, 2009 at 11:00am —
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Never depend on a friendship with your boss to insure
career success. Think of the relationship as a business deal on your
career path. You have something to sell--your skills and knowledge. The boss is a buyer. The price paid is an investment by your employer that must earn a profit if the employer is to stay in business.
Bound by his own ambitions and the rules of the workplace, your boss can't carry out his assignment of supervising you on the basis of friendship. There comes a…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on September 11, 2009 at 11:21am —
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Yes, managers are under a great deal of pressure turbulent times and all of us are well advised to take this condition into account in managing relationships with them. It has never been more important for everyone to focus on the job at hand, do it in the best way possible and tread lightly so as to avoid undue confrontations.
But there is another side to the coin.
Managers need to keep in mind that employees are under the gun to cut costs, increase production ... in other words, do more with…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on August 29, 2009 at 10:53am —
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No matter how you look at it, hunting a job is hard work. In fact, there's nothing easy about it, particularly in troubled times. There is never a smooth path between effort and reward. Setbacks and frustration are the order of the day. Success requires discipline, consistency of effort, energy and a big dose of positive thinking.
"It's easy to get discouraged, because in this market, getting hired will take longer than you thought," declares Tory Johnson, chief executive officer of Women For H…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on August 12, 2009 at 10:49am —
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Don't doom your resume and cover letter to the trashcan by sending them out with dumb mistakes such as misspelled words.
"If you make errors on your application materials, the assumption is you'll make mistakes on the job," says Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps.
Three-fourths of the executives surveyed by Accountemps declared just one or two typos in a resume kills an application. Four out of ten declare that one typo means the axe.
Incomplete sentences or missing words can also kill your…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on August 10, 2009 at 12:40pm —
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Common Sense Career Advice
You sincerely believe you are the best qualified among the candidates for the promotion to manager of your department. You believe you deserve it. Your friends agree.
But, wham! The rug has been pulled out from under you. The position you would have given an eyetooth for goes to someone else. Your ego is trampled. You are mad and disappointed. You want to march in, tell the boss where to go and leave the place.
But hold on. Consider some common sense career tips bef…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on August 3, 2009 at 12:08pm —
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There's tension building between employers and their staffs over use of the Internet at work for both personal and business uses.
Younger staffers, who are usually more tech-savvy than their bosses, are pushing for more access to social networking and others sites, both for work purposes and for when they'd like to take a break from their jobs.
At the same time, many are finding that the sites they are expected to use for researching and communicating for work are blocked; and they are unable…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on July 26, 2009 at 11:35am —
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Career Coaching
It's an unsettling fact: we are in one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression. Layoffs are being felt across the board. Indicators suggest that more are yet to come before a turn-around begins.
Better to face reality than to hide our heads in the sand expecting a miracle. Now's the time to focus on recession-proofing your job so as to move forward on your career path
One school of thought holds that it is better to keep a low profile with the hope that you'…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on July 10, 2009 at 12:14pm —
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Career Coaching
Beware of scam artists who are exploiting those who are struggling to land a job in these turbulent times. They are stealing identities and collecting fees by offering to land jobs that don't exist.
With other venues for turning a fast illegal buck drying up these criminals are mining the job market.
Surely, there is a special seat reserved in hell for those scumbags who prey on people who are suffering because of they are out of work.
Consumer advocates advise specific steps…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on June 18, 2009 at 11:43am —
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Career Coaching
I'm scrambling around preparing to take off for vacation. My family--all 11 of us in various combinations, depending on who can get away from work and when--are going to be spending the time together at a house we rent each year on a North Carolina beach.
We always have a great time on our family vacation. It's a time to kick back and recharge our batteries. But we know that we must deal with many factors that can detract from the pleasures and benefits of getting away.
Here a…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on June 9, 2009 at 11:34am —
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Career Coaching
References are golden assets as you travel your career path. Nurture them with great care.
They may be personal or professional. The personal ones can speak to your stability and character. On the professional side, references should address your qualifications to handle the job. A combination of both types is first prize.
There are six career tips that will help you make sure your references assets work to your advantage in your search for a job.
1. Never take for granted th…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on May 26, 2009 at 11:37am —
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Career Coaching
Make no mistake about it. These are turbulent times. The winds of change are sweeping through the workplace. Managers and their troops alike are expected to learn new skills and to accomplish more with fewer resources. Pressures are ramping up on employers to improve their return on investments.
In order to survive in this environment employers are slashing their overhead costs by cutting back on operating expenses and eliminating jobs.
Strangely enough, there are still career…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on May 21, 2009 at 11:21am —
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Keys To Career Success
You are out of work. Or you are stuck in a dead end job, desperately wanting to change the course of your career path. You've been searching for a new job for what seems like ages. Finally, the telephone rings. You've got an offer. Every fiber in your being says, "Take it. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush."
But hold up. Should you take a blind leap into the first opportunity that comes along? What do you really know about the potential employer? Is the offer a ste…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on May 7, 2009 at 5:09pm —
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There is no second chance to make a good first impression. That's for sure when it comes to a job interview.
A first impression is the sum total of all the signals you transmit: verbal communications, sending and receiving messages; body language; self confidence without over-the-top ego; timing; evidence of preparation.
Be prepared to make your case with a "sales presentation" that concentrates on three of four key points from your career path. Drive home those points.
Be aware of timing. Do…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on April 22, 2009 at 12:05pm —
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Common Sense Career Advice
by
Ramon Greenwood
It is wise to spend some time examining the question as to why people make bad decisions because there's an inescapable correlation between the quality of one's decisions at work and the total of one's career success.
"Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How To Keep It From Happening To You", a new book co-authored by Sydney Finkelstein, a professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, provides some keen insight on the issue.
M…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on April 6, 2009 at 12:17pm —
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Common Sense Career Advice
By
Ramon Greenwood
No doubt about it. These are tough times. Jobs are hard to come by and to hold. It is not surprising, then, that job seekers may be tempted to pad their resumes. That is, be less than truthful about their skills, experience, even their references.
Don't, don't do it; stick to the facts. There may appear to be benefits to lying on your resume in the short term, but in the longer view it threatens ultimate career rewards.
While only 8 percent of app…
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Added by Ramon Greenwood on April 1, 2009 at 11:49am —
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