Interview handshakes How not to make a good first impression

Interview handshakes How not to make a good first impression by Michael Cheary Making the right first impression at a job interview really matters…And whilst getting your handshake sorted might seem simple, you’d be surprised how quickly it has the potential to go wrong.So, aside from knowing that 80% of recruiters generally like it firm, how do you ensure you nail the perfect handshake and get the interview off on the right foot?Simple: listen to the experts. Oh, and always avoid the temptation to go soul-searching at family gatherings…Remember, your Uncle Barry: Good at barbecues. Rubbish at interview advice.Find a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Interview Techniques Jo b interview tips

Resume Writing Tips For Ex-Offenders

Resume Writing Tips For Ex-OffendersA quick and concise resume can be the determining factor in whether a job applicant is accepted or rejected. You may be a criminal, a nonviolent offender, a sex offender, or someone who has committed a violent crime. Resume writing tips for ex-offenders can help you present yourself to a potential employer as competent and honest. Employers will take the time to look past the crime that you committed.Compensation is a critical aspect of your resume. If you are trying to get a job as a criminal justice officer, the base salary should reflect that fact. Many employers don't like to hire anyone who's been arrested for a felony. In order to keep your rate competitive, list your offenses in a separate column. List the most serious offenses first.One sentence and two to three sentences describing the basic information of your convictions are recommended. If there are violations that are the same as or similar to what you did, list them under the same cat egory. A brief summary of your prison term, if any, is another good idea. You can also provide contact information and a picture of yourself. Avoid mentioning anything that might get you in trouble.Talk to a defense lawyer about the case you're trying to get a job on. Sometimes you may be eligible for early release. The lawyer can make sure your sentence will be the shortest possible time.Find out what kind of people you are talking to when you visit a library or visit a good book. Some of your classmates are ex-offenders. You can ask them for a recommendation for a good attorney. You can even check the local government websites for their own lists of attorneys. It's always a good idea to ask around for recommendations of good lawyers. Write a list of the most violent crimes you've been convicted of. These cases are worth remembering. You will remember them if the criminal justice department at your school doesn't have a good file of your criminal convictions.You can use your list o f violent crimes as a list of crimes, you want a lawyer to handle. Most employers consider violent crimes to be dangerous or terrible crimes. Examples include murder, rape, kidnapping, and arson. If you were a sex offender, a violent or heinous crime should be written.Consider resume writing tips for ex-offenders. If you are a convicted felon, you may need to mention the reasons why you're willing to work for a new employer. This way, employers will see that you aren't sorry for what you did.

How to Write a Resume - Step No. 3 - Strategy Wins the Battle

How to Write a Resume - Step No. 3 - Strategy Wins the Battle This is the 3rd post in my ‘How to Write a Resume’ series, you can read the other steps here: 1) Feel The Employers Pain 2) Know Your Value to the Employer It’s maybe the most important of them all. Learning how to strategize your resume is the absolute #1 secret to opening doors and getting interviews. No exaggeration. What is a Resume Strategy? Developing a resume strategy means sitting down and figuring out exactly what message you want to convey. Most people think of resume writing as documenting their career history but that’s absolutely the wrong way to think about it. A resume isn’t a history paper â€" it’s a marketing tool. By developing a clear strategy, you can then shape a message that will sell. A message that will make recruiters and employers want to call you as soon as they read your resume. That’s what your strategy is â€" it’s the overarching message you want to communicate. How Do You Settle on a Resume Strategy? We’ve already laid the groundwork for your strategy in the first two posts in this series. So far, I’ve talked about how important it is to understand what employers need (“Feel Their Pain”) and also why you then have to fully understand what you bring to the table (“Work Out Your Value”). To decide on your resume strategy, you simply put the two together. You look at your ability to add value and you match that to the needs of your target employers. Where the two meet, is your unique value proposition, and that’s the basis for your resume strategy. So for a sales person, the key message might be to show how much money he has made for various employers over the years. A marketer might be targeting companies who sell emerging technologies, and therefore his strategy will be to position himself as the ‘emerging technology guy.’ A web designer might have identified her biggest strength as her ability to delight clients with her designs, and she decides this is what she wants to communicate. This may all sound very obvious, but the mistake most people make is trying to communicate too many different messages in one document. Decide on your strategy and then stick to it! (By the way, it’s OK to have several different resumes, each with a different target audience and strategy in mind). Translating Your Strategy Onto Paper: OK, so you know what you want to communicate. Now you can make some decisions about how to do that. Consider the following: What will your resume headline say? How will you communicate your core message right upfront? What evidence can you provide (all the way through the resume) to support your core message? How might you use testimonials from performance reviews or LinkedIn to bolster your message? What career accomplishments can you highlight that will support your message? Are there creative ways to communicate your central message? Conclusion By keeping your strategy in mind as you structure your resume, you’ll have not just a boring career document, but what one of our clients called ‘a strategic masterpiece.’ And more importantly, you’ll have a document that will press all the right buttons for your target employers and will therefore give them a compelling reason to pick up the phone and call you. Louise Fletcher co-founded Blue Sky in 2002 after a career as an HR executive. She admits to being a ‘wordnerd’  at heart and loves to write. She developed the Blue Sky resume approach, has written two books, and has been a featured expert for sites such as Monster, The Ladders and HR Guru.  Image:  Shutterstock. Now read: How to Write a Resume â€" Step No. 4 â€" Design to Inspire

Interview Branding - Four Words - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Interview Branding - Four Words - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career A colleague shared a story about a Harvard business school student who was asked by a professor to explain a business case the class had been studying and for the student to share his conclusions. The student had prepared for this scenario and when the time came he rattled off everything he knew about the subject â€" everything. The professor responded by telling the student that he was like a “monkey with a pistol”. When I heard this, I could envision a monkey firing his gun randomly, with little chance of hitting the target, spraying bullets all over a firing range. The professor was saying that the student had the tools to do the job (knowledge of the case) but was all over the place in his thoughts and conclusions. Are you a “monkey with a pistol” in an interview? Does ‘Word Vomit’ happen when a hiring manager asks you a question? If this story hits too close to home for you as it did for me, consider approaching your next interview as a Branding Interview. As you conduct your preparation for an upcoming interview, think of four words that describe your best attributes/skills for the job for which you are interviewing. These words should be related to the needs of the position and employer â€" try to go beyond generic terms (ie. hard-working, team player, people person) to position specific content. During the interview, focus your answers to communicate these four terms in your examples. You will find that your answers begin to have themes and these themes are picked up by the employer â€" thus you are communicating your brand to the hiring manager. When you leave the room, the interviewer should be able to associate those four terms with your application, thus ensuring you are leaving the impression you want to leave rather than the impression you hope to leave. Additionally, you will become more memorable as search committees will be able to associate words/phrases/terms with your application. Having your personal brand/four words and working them into the majority of your answers, you will avoid the “monkey with a pistol” scenario and stand a better chance of hitting the mark. Author: Kevin Monahan  is the Associate Director of the Notre Dame Career Center.  In this role, he leads the center’s  employer relations efforts in addition to coaching  young professionals in career management and career change capacities. He combines career consulting services with employer outreach to help find opportunities for both constituencies.  He is the author of the  Career Seeker’s Guide  blog.

Writing a Cover Letter and Resume

Writing a Cover Letter and ResumeMany aspiring writers write cover letters and resumes without even knowing it. When you think about how many people you know who have written cover letters and resumes over the years, you will see that they were probably not aware of how much information is included on each page.Writing a cover letter and resume is one of the most important things you can do for yourself when it comes to people's lives. It is very important to get people to take you seriously before they hire you to do work for them. You will be the person to make a person sit up and take notice of your resume or cover letter.Another important element of both forms of communication is the initial introduction. You must include this to give people an idea of who you are. Be honest, sincere and have a personal connection with them to make them believe in you.When writing a cover letter and resume, you must pay attention to what they want. In your introduction, it is important to include everything from your professional title, employer's name, to where you work, and what you do. This is important because they will need to know how to reach you so that they can learn more about you. In addition, this will be the first thing they will see when reading your letter.Although cover letters and resumes are very different from other forms of communication, the format and information they contain are often similar. The biggest difference is the 'lead sentence' and the introduction. When writing a cover letter and resume, your main goal is to create a sense of intrigue in your reader. You want them to want to learn more about you so that they know whether or not they should hire you.Your opening paragraph is also a very important part of both. Before you go into any details about yourself, including your job history, be sure to introduce yourself in a way that is welcoming. Many people will write their letters on paper and send them via e-mail.One of the best great tips for making your introduction as enjoyable as possible is to use humor. If you can make fun of yourself or someone else's accomplishments, then this will not only build your reader's interest but will give them a positive feeling. When writing a cover letter and resume, you must not use sarcasm, anger or negativity.When writing a cover letter and resume, you must make it clear and simple to provide good contact information. This will show people what kind of attitude you are going to bring to their office. Be sure to include your phone number, home number, fax number and email address so that people will be able to reach you if they need to contact you.