Dont Make These Body Language Mistakes!

Dont Make These Body Language Mistakes! If certain techniques for acing job interviews are so well-known that you use them almost automatically, the things that you don’t realize you’re doing can cost you that dream job at the final hurdle. Identifying and neutralizing potential errors before the big day can make all the difference if you’re up against strong competition. Your good qualifications count for little if you’re going to treat your interview as a trial, a sparring match, or an over-familiar chat. New research from CareerBuilder has revealed some of the shocking slip-ups that candidates have made while under scrutiny from potential bosses. Even if you’re a talented medium, grabbing the interviewer’s hand and forcing a palm-reading upon them is probably not a good idea â€" it certainly cost one recent interviewee the job! Another sang all her answers to the panel’s question; and what about the candidate that applied lotion to her feet while being questioned? Presumably, it made the defeated walk home a little less painful. But if these are â€" one hopes â€" isolated cases, far more mundane slip-ups are causing much big numbers of people to fail. Over two thirds of the 2,600 hiring and HR managers surveyed said that catching a candidate lying about something is an instant disqualifier; the same number report that a candidate who answers a phone call or text message during an interview will progress no further. Unintentional signals Okay, so most of us agree that those behaviors are a pretty bad idea. But what about the signals that you don’t notice you’re sending? Take your handshake, for example: 22% of employers reckon a weak handshake is one of the worst body language errors a candidate can make. But over-compensate, and you could be equally doomed: another 9% find an overly strong handshake off-putting. If you want to give a good impression in those first moments, try to make sure your handshake is firm, you keep eye contact with the recipient, and you shake three times. Practice with a friend before the big day: hopefully your buddy can help you calibrate the perfect grip. Make it intentional Folded arms are another no-no. Most of the time, you probably don’t realize you’re doing it. Maybe you’re cold, nervous or self-conscious â€" but body language experts agree the message it sends is usually the same: that you are insecure or defensive. And indeed, crossing your arms can make you so. So while folding your arms is not quite the same thing as applying foot lotion, it’s worth making a mental note to establish a confident posture as soon as you find your seat. Keep your hands on your lap or leg. If unfolding your arms makes you prone to wild hand gestures, then clasp your hands together where they’re resting. Don’t stay too stiff â€" but make sure any gestures you use are meaningful. First impressions count Around half of all employers say they know whether a candidate is a good fit for the role within the first five minutes of an interview. When you consider that the application that got you this far has already demonstrated your level of experience and qualifications, it really means that your personality and your body language are key to the interview process. By this stage, you’ve got it all to lose, so make sure you put in some proper practice ahead of time if you want to progress any further. A new infographic from OnStride gather seven of the biggest body language mistakes into one place, explains the problem with them, and offers achievable methods to fix them before you turn up to your interview. Figure it out in advance, and hopefully you will avoid becoming just another human resources statistic. Courtesy of: On Stride

Is Your Personal Brand Delivering An Encore Performance - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Is Your Personal Brand Delivering An Encore Performance - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Yesterday, I had a very long conversation with Robert S. Kaplan about business strategy and today I spoke with Mark Sanborn about how to deliver an encore performance at work, to keep them coming back for more. Mark was more brief, relative to Robert, but both share extremely good quality information for all of you. Why should companies care about delivering an encore performance? If they dont, will they survive in the future, in a world filled with unlimited choices? It isnt just the number of choices available but the quality and value of the offering. More options generally means more competition which makes remarkable products, services and performances stand out from the mass of offerings. What traits do all extraordinary performers have in common? Can you explain why each is important to overall output? What youre asking is the essence of the book. There are shared skills that create a remarkable performance and thats what I address: preparation, practice, performance, polish and dealing with pitfalls. Passion is the fuel that drives this process engine. Passion: The fuel for remarkable performance Prepare: How remarkable performance begins Practice: It won’t make you perfect, but it will make you better Perform: How to engage your audience Polish: Making your performance shine Many workers are happy working 9-5 and delivering results on par with what their companies are demanding. What impact does this have on companies? The corollary of you get what you pay for is you get paid what youre perceived as being worth. While there are a few exceptions to the rule, companies will value and should reward employees who go beyond basic expectations. The value-creators are those who rise in an enlightened organization. Why do companies need to start focusing on building their talent from within? Engaging the people on the team is what gets them excited and committed about their work and their customers. Developing latent talent is the best way to increase organizational capacity. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh014NJ-lHQ] What are a few tactics for achieving an encore performance? What will make people talk about you for time to come? Knowing more about your product or service and your customer than anybody else is a good starting point. The more you know about your clientwhat he or she likes, values, desires, etc.the greater the opportunity you have to provide personalized attention. - Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, is president of Sanborn Associates, Inc., an idea studio dedicated to developing leaders in business and in life. Mark is an international bestselling author and noted authority on leadership, team building, customer service and change. His latest book is called, The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do. Mark holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA) and is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame. Marks list of over 1,500 clients includes Capital One, Costco, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, FedEx, Harley-Davidson, and many more.

Mind The Gap Dont Let Missing Work Experience Hamper Your Career

Mind The Gap Dont Let Missing Work Experience Hamper Your Career Do you have any gaps in your resume? Im talking about the big, red-flag kind of gaps. Maybe your resume gap is due to unexpected downsizing, extended travel, or health  family issues. Having a resume gap  can be quite common, especially these days. Theyre not as eyebrow-raising as they used to be, but you still  have to be accountable for them. Prospective employers want to know what was going on behind the scenes. As a job seeker, you will have to answer this question. So be prepared. How do you deal with it? Here’s how. Be Honest It’s essential to be honest. There is no point in telling a lie; bluffing your way is not an option. The risk is high if a hiring manager sees straight through you. Explain the  circumstance that led to the compulsive gap on your resume, with no excuses. In the words of James Caan, serial entrepreneur Personally, I am always more interested in the abilities and characteristics of an individual if they havent been in work for a while but have the quality my company needs, I will hire them. Think Outside the Box If youre currently between jobs and worry that it might lead to a lengthy gap in your resume, consider performing  some volunteering work. Non-profits are always seeking volunteers, and you never know who youll meet while on a project. You could learn of a new opportunity while donating your time. And even if you dont, your volunteer gig closes that resume gap nicely. Even if youre seeking a structured, full-time job to replace your old one, doing  contract or part-time work can minimize or close entirely  a resume gap. Freelance work is available in a variety of industries via sites like  ODesk, Elance, Vworker, Freelancer.com and Guru. Focus On  Your New Skills Some people tend to think that schools, colleges and office spaces are the only places where learning takes place. Well, this is definitely not true. Let’s take an example. Maybe you took time off from your work in order to travel and write. In such a scenario, you learned  how to deal with hardships, coping with  different people from various cultures and backgrounds. Such an experience enhances your tolerance, and your abilities to deal with different types of people and make you more culturally sound. This kind of an experience can be useful for any business, global or local. Or let’s consider another situation where you have taken time off in order to raise your children. You are bound to have sharpened skills like organization, multitasking and discipline. Try and make the hiring manager aware of all your skills; justify how relevant are they in your new job and how can you actually apply them. Reflect and Skew Positively Maybe you took time off to explore your options, start a business, or pursue your passion. But it failed, and youre headed back to a real job. No worries in explaining this one. What did you learn? Ponder over how this can help you in your present times and your future job. How did this “gap period” help you? What challenges did you face? How have you grown? Reflect on questions like  these, be sincere in your responses, and practice to ensure you  sound natural and confident about shifting gears again. Let Your Talents Be Your Guide Fortunately, in our  current economic  job markets, the focus lies more on finding the right kind of talent for the job at hand. So, even though you might feel concern about your resume gap, sometimes they arent as big  an issue as you expect them to be. In these cases, as long as your resume reflects a strong skillset for the position, you have a positive attitude, and are proactive in your approach, a gap in resume isnt the red flag that it used to be. About the Author:  Sampurna Majumder is a blogger and a professional career author with proven expertise in writing for topics related to jobs, job trends, different job opportunities, various workplace and industry information, tips and strategies for job seekers. Image courtesy of ciscopa.

If I could start my university time again, I would have done things differently advice on summer internships from a recent graduate. University of Manchester Careers Blog

If I could start my university time again, I would have done things differently’ advice on summer internships from a recent graduate. University of Manchester Careers Blog If you are still unsure on applying for summer internships for next summer, here are some words of advice from a recent University of Manchester graduate Justin Colver on why he values internships, what he would have done differently and how he thinks internships can benefit you in finding future jobs. “I didnt apply for internships in either first or second year and I wish I had. The reason wasnt just laziness, it was because I neither knew what I wanted to do, nor thought I stood a chance of being successful, especially as I thought I would be looking at the big 4 accountancy firms.” Career ‘inertia’ is a real danger which can occur when you have lots of options and aren’t sure which to choose, or perhaps think it’s best to wait to see what happens â€" things will become clearer later on, won’t they? Well, not in Justin’s experience. Often you have to just try things to see what you really enjoy. “It really doesnt matter if you have no idea what you want to do, just try and get [some] sort of internship sorted out. Even if you dont think your CV is strong enough for the big firms, try to get an internship with another firm, even if it isnt particularly the field you wanted to enter. You may find you enjoy that line of work, and you also become aware of the different types of jobs there are out there.” Although he was only aware of accountancy jobs at the time, looking back he would have loved to have done an internship in other areas including ‘marketing, communications, HR, Procurement etc’. It’s surprising how many students only apply to the biggest firms or get deterred by the competition. The Careers Service deals with a lot of smaller businesses too, great opportunities where you may not face the same competition to get an internship. In his second year, Justin says that he didn’t realise that there were so many ‘easier yet still great alternatives’. From Justin’s experience to have an internship in any area of business would help for future applications for graduate programmes. With professional experience you can demonstrate to employers that you developed relevant transferable skills for their role. And remember, your pre-final year is when a lot of organisations open their doors for summer internships â€" miss this opportunity and you may not get another chance to put that great bit of experience on your CV! In Justin’s words this is what he has learnt about internships: It is a necessity for many employers and shows that you are motivated They are very useful for many questions which are asked at interview such as when you are working in a team etc They [internships] are a good time to see what actually goes on in the workplace and should help people get an idea of what they want to do. If you need any information and advice on compiling your CV, covering letter or application for an internship see our Career Service Starting Point guides online or to pick up in person from the Careers Resource Centre, and get further advice when you have tailored your internship application through the Quick Query service. There is also more information on Work Experience and internships on our website. All Undergraduate summer internships work experience

Increase Your Skillset To Further Your Career! - CareerMetis.com

Increase Your Skillset To Further Your Career! Sometimes you get stuck inyour career, you may not have certain skills or qualities you will need to possess to move onto the next level. Don’t fret though, there are always ways in which you can improve yourself and eventually move up the career ladder.But first, you need to put the effort in to make sure you have the skills you need before putting yourself forward. This can be tough, because you are working and as a result won’t have the time to dedicate to improving yourself, especially if you have a family to run back at home.Here are some tips that can help you succeed, you may already have tried them, but if not give them a go and see if they can improve your career outlook.1.Online CourseevalDoing an online course means you can dip in and out of it whenever you want. You don’t need to travel to a classroom so your options are wide open and you can save a lot of time. There are many providers of online courses, check out this Udemy review for an example.You need to find t he best one for you. Don’t jump the gun and part with a significant amount of cash before you are sure it is the course for you. Try a demo if one is offered, and read up on some customer reviews to ensure the course is worth while.You also need to make sure your internet connection at home is good, otherwise your course could be affected and you be left frustrated. An online course can be the perfect way to increase your skillset while still maintaining relative control over your life.Photo Credit â€" pixabay.com2. Work Based CoursesDepending on who your employer is and what kind of business they operate they may offer in house training or upskill courses. Get yourself on these. Book yourself on and show initiative or otherwise ask your supervisor to put you on the course.Make sure it is the right one, don’t join one for the sake of it, instead figure out exactly which courses open up the route you want to take.Speak to your supervisor and perhaps they can give you the right ad vice and set you on the right route needed to earn promotion. You’ll never know if you don’t ask.3. Night CourseIf you have the time a night course could be for you. Check your local community centre or university, they usually run differing courses in the night which are accessible for adults who work full time.evalAgain, you need to make sure it is the right course for you because if it isn’t you won’t be able to get your money back. They start at certain periods, usually they involve around ten lessons.They can be a great way to get started and if you enjoy it you can then move onto harder lessons at an advanced pace. The certificates you receive could give you what you need to move up in your place of work. You could even end up with a degree if you stick at it for long enough.

Acknowledge the small wins of your job search - Sterling Career Concepts

Acknowledge the small wins of your job search Acknowledge the small wins of your job search A colleague and friend of mine, Erin Kennedy, CPRW, CERW,shared a smart revelation in a recent blog post. As parents, we focus on celebrating our childrens victories, but what about our own? At the end of a busy day, we tend to brush our own achievements under the rug.True, but not very fair, is it? Erin challenged her readers to celebrate lifes small victories, and I can not agree more! I think this is an especially important strategy during a job search. Take the time to set realistic goals and celebratethosewins. It willkeep your spirits up and help maintain your momentum. Setgoals make 10 calls,secure anew interview, or reconnect with 5 members of your network and when you hit each goal, take the time to do your happy dance,pour a glass of wine, or treat yourself to an afternoon off. You deserve it!

How to Write a Financial Analyst Resume

How to Write a Financial Analyst ResumeWriting a financial analyst resume is actually quite simple. There are no special skills required here. This, however, will make your resume look incomplete and weak. You need to make it look like a professional resume by laying emphasis on several details that have a bearing on the financial analyst job profile.First of all, your financial analyst resume must clearly highlight the fact that you are a complete professional with a degree in accounting or finance. You should also include at least three years of practical experience that will qualify you as a professional. It should also state that you have a perfect score in the CPA Exam, with an average of 70%.The next important thing that you should include in your resume is the career objective for the job, which may be broken down into two categories - functional and structural. The structural portion of your financial analyst resume will highlight the various technical skills that you possess . This will help you in showcasing the fact that you have achieved a level of competence and expertise. Thus, in this part of your resume, you need to add your CPA Exam scores, for which there is a requirement for valid CPA Exam scores.You can include your analysis of the financial analyst job description in the structural section of your resume. It will highlight what responsibilities you would be performing. Furthermore, you can also include your achievements in customer service, which is considered to be another important criterion for financial analysts. You should also mention the specific experience and successes you had while working for an organization.Aside from the financial analyst job description, you can also add your CV and other relevant credentials. You need to stress that you are really prepared to handle various new challenges in the field of financial forecasting. In your CV, you should mention any awards that you might have won or that have been given to you, inc luding recognition from local professional organizations.Another important section of your financial analyst resume is your history in the field. In this section, you can highlight your responsibilities within a company, as well as your expertise and skills in the field.Last but not the least, it is important that you include a 'Recommendations' section of your financial analyst resume that highlights the companies where you have worked and the projects you were assigned. This is also a good way to highlight the projects where you were assigned to a team, like a research team, which requires the expertise and skills of financial analysts.Though writing a financial analyst resume is quite easy, there are still some tricks to follow that will make your resume look more professional and impressive. So, take care to follow the above tips and get the job of your dreams!