Attending a Job Fair

Tips for your Job Fair Success

Before the Job Fair

• Check with the sponsoring Wisconsin Job Center for a list of participating employers.
• Research the companies that interest you. Learn who they are and what they do. Check company websites for information.
• Create a prioritized list of employers you’d like to meet with at the job fair.
• Plan your strategy. Visit the booths that interest you most when your energy level is up and you are at your best.
• Do not wander or roam. Present yourself with a purpose.
• Don’t be shy- be prepared!
• Prepare and practice your introduction. You should be able to state in less than one minute your name, work experiences and education in a manner that is natural.
• Practice out loud to feel comfortable with your presentation to the employer.
• Resumes -- Prepare a strong resume and bring a sufficient amount with you.
• Resumes must be crisp and clean. Carry in a portfolio if possible.
• If you are uncertain of the quality or content of your resume, visit your Wisconsin Job Center for professional assistance.
• Dress for Success! Dress professionally. Treat this event just like you would any job interview.
• Avoid strong cologne, gum chewing and do not smoke beforehand. Be well groomed.

During the Job Fair

• Greet each potential employer with a firm handshake and smile.
• Make eye contact and introduce yourself.
• Be polite!
• Listen carefully to what the recruiter is saying. The room will be noisy and busy. Try not to become distracted.
• Focus, Focus, Focus!
• Don’t let promotional freebies on the table distract you; do not grab at them.
• Remember the recruiters’ name. Glance at a nametag.
• Get a business card from each recruiter. Save and use it for follow up purposes.
• Thank each recruiter for their time.

After the Job Fair

• Follow up with a Thank You letter.
• Send a letter to each employer you spoke with.
• Send Thank You letters within 3 days after the event.
• It is okay to enclose a resume with your thank you letter. This may draw attention to your name once again.

Evaluating a Job Offer

Once you receive a job offer, you must decide if you want the job. Fortunately, most organizations will give you a few days to accept or reject an offer.

There are many issues to consider when assessing a job offer. Will the organization be a good place to work? Will the job be interesting? Are there opportunities for advancement? Is the salary fair? Does the employer offer good benefits? Now is the time to ask the potential employer about these issues—and to do some checking on your own.

The organization. Background information on an organization can help you to decide whether it is a good place for you to work. Factors to consider include the organization’s business or activity, financial condition, age, size, and location.

You generally can get background information on an organization, particularly a large organization, on its Internet site or by telephoning its public relations office. A public company’s annual report to the stockholders tells about its corporate philosophy, history, products or services, goals, and financial status. Most government agencies can furnish reports that describe their programs and missions. Press releases, company newsletters or magazines, and recruitment brochures also can be useful. Ask the organization for any other items that might interest a prospective employee. If possible, speak to current or former employees of the organization.

Background information on the organization may be available at your public or school library. If you cannot get an annual report, check the library for reference directories that may provide basic facts about the company, such as earnings, products and services, and number of employees. Some directories widely available in libraries either in print or as online databases include:

• Dun & Bradstreet’s Million Dollar Directory
• Standard and Poor’s Register of Corporations
• Mergent’s Industrial Review (formerly Moody’s Industrial Manual)
• Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
• Ward’s Business Directory

Stories about an organization in magazines and newspapers can tell a great deal about its successes, failures, and plans for the future. You can identify articles on a company by looking under its name in periodical or computerized indexes in libraries, or by using one of the Internet’s search engines. However, it probably will not be useful to look back more than 2 or 3 years.

The library also may have government publications that present projections of growth for the industry in which the organization is classified. Long-term projections of employment and output for detailed industries, covering the entire U.S. economy, are developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and revised every 2 years. (See the Career Guide to Industries, online at www.bls.gov/oco/cg.) Trade magazines also may include articles on the trends for specific industries.

Career centers at colleges and universities often have information on employers that is not available in libraries. Ask a career center representative how to find out about a particular organization.

During your research consider the following questions:

Does the organization’s business or activity match your own interests and beliefs?
It is easier to apply yourself to the work if you are enthusiastic about what the organization does.

How will the size of the organization affect you?
Large firms generally offer a greater variety of training programs and career paths, more managerial levels for advancement, and better employee benefits than do small firms. Large employers also may have more advanced technologies. However, many jobs in large firms tend to be highly specialized.

Jobs in small firms may offer broader authority and responsibility, a closer working relationship with top management, and a chance to clearly see your contribution to the success of the organization.

Should you work for a relatively new organization or one that is well established?
New businesses have a high failure rate, but for many people, the excitement of helping to create a company and the potential for sharing in its success more than offset the risk of job loss. However, it may be just as exciting and rewarding to work for a young firm that already has a foothold on success.

The job. Even if everything else about the job is attractive, you will be unhappy if you dislike the day-to-day work. Determining in advance whether you will like the work may be difficult. However, the more you find out about the job before accepting or rejecting the offer, the more likely you are to make the right choice. Consider the following questions:

Where is the job located?
If the job is in another section of the country, you need to consider the cost of living, the availability of housing and transportation, and the quality of educational and recreational facilities in that section of the country. Even if the job location is in your area, you should consider the time and expense of commuting.

Does the work match your interests and make good use of your skills?
The duties and responsibilities of the job should be explained in enough detail to answer this question.

How important is the job to the company or organization?
An explanation of where you fit in the organization and how you are supposed to contribute to its overall goals should give you an idea of the job’s importance.

What will the hours be?
Most jobs involve regular hours—for example, 40 hours a week, during the day, Monday through Friday. Other jobs require night, weekend, or holiday work. In addition, some jobs routinely require overtime to meet deadlines or sales or production goals, or to better serve customers. Consider the effect that the work hours will have on your personal life.

How long do most people who enter this job stay with the company?
High turnover can mean dissatisfaction with the nature of the work or something else about the job.

Opportunities offered by employers. A good job offers you opportunities to learn new skills, increase your earnings, and rise to positions of greater authority, responsibility, and prestige. A lack of opportunities can dampen interest in the work and result in frustration and boredom.

The company should have a training plan for you. What valuable new skills does the company plan to teach you?

The employer should give you some idea of promotion possibilities within the organization. What is the next step on the career ladder? If you have to wait for a job to become vacant before you can be promoted, how long does this usually take? When opportunities for advancement do arise, will you compete with applicants from outside the company? Can you apply for jobs for which you qualify elsewhere within the organization, or is mobility within the firm limited?

Salaries and benefits. When an employer makes a job offer, information about earnings and benefits are usually included. You will want to research to determine if the offer is fair. If you choose to negotiate for higher pay and better benefits, objective research will help you strengthen your case.

You should also look for additional information, specifically tailored to your job offer and circumstances. Try to find family, friends, or acquaintances who recently were hired in similar jobs. Ask your teachers and the staff in placement offices about starting pay for graduates with your qualifications. Help-wanted ads in newspapers sometimes give salary ranges for similar positions. Check the library or your school’s career center for salary surveys such as those conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers or various professional associations.

If you are considering the salary and benefits for a job in another geographic area, make allowances for differences in the cost of living, which may be significantly higher in a large metropolitan area than in a smaller city, town, or rural area.

You also should learn the organization’s policy regarding overtime. Depending on the job, you may or may not be exempt from laws requiring the employer to compensate you for overtime. Find out how many hours you will be expected to work each week and whether you receive overtime pay or compensatory time off for working more than the specified number of hours in a week.

Also take into account that the starting salary is just that—the start. Your salary should be reviewed on a regular basis; many organizations do it every year. How much can you expect to earn after 1, 2, or 3 or more years? An employer cannot be specific about the amount of pay if it includes commissions and bonuses.

Benefits also can add a lot to your base pay, but they vary widely. Find out exactly what the benefit package includes and how much of the cost you must bear.

Job Searching from Work

You're sitting at your desk at work all day and you don't like your job or you want to find a better one. The temptation, of course, is to while away the hours looking at job postings, perhaps uploading your resume to apply, talking to contacts who can help, or posting about the trials and tribulations of your job search on your MySpace or Facebook page.

If you were to do that, you certainly wouldn't be the first (or the only) person to do so. Most people job search during the work week, rather than on weekends, and many of them do it from work. Given the way companies monitor employees it's not wise to use your work computer or email account for job searching. There are also ethical issues with job searching on your boss's dime (even if you can't stand him or her).

Who is Watching You Work

A Proofpoint Survey found that 32% of large companies read employee email. Almost 28% have terminated employees for email policy violations, while another 45% have disciplined an employee for violating email policies. 20% of surveyed employers disciplined employees for improper use of blogs or message boards, 14% for social network violations, and 11% for improper use of media sharing sites.

What you do online, at least when you're doing it from work, is your employer's business and not much of it is private. And the number of companies reading your email is important to note for anyone seeking employment. In fact, almost 17% of the companies surveyed had employees whose primary job is to read or analyze email.

So, it's important to be careful. Here's what you can do to make sure you don't get in trouble job searching from work, or even worse lose your job before you're ready to move on.

Job Searching at Work Do's and Don'ts

Email Account
Do not use your work email address for job searching. Use your personal account and don't send resumes and cover letters from your work email account or use that email address when you apply online.

Computer and Phones
Don't use your employer's computers or phone system. Keep your resume, your email correspondence, and anything and everything related to your job search on your home computer. Use your home phone or cell phone for job searching calls. Check for messages discreetly during the work day so you don't miss out on important calls.

Going Online
If you have a blog, be careful what you say on it. People have been fired for comments made about their employer. The same goes for what you write on MySpace, Facebook, and other networking sites. Videos posted on YouTube can be problematic, too. A police officer was fired for breach of work rules and policy because of a video of his activities during work showed up on YouTube.

Instant Message is dangerous, as well. Employers can - and do - read what you write there, too.

When and Where to Job Search
Use your lunch hour or your break. Visit a bookstore, coffee shop, or library with Internet access on your lunch hour and bring your laptop. This is also a good time to return employer phone calls, especially if you can take an early or late lunch to catch them in the office.

Be Discreet
Be careful who you tell that you're looking for a new job. If you tell co-workers, you can be sure that it will get back to your boss, one way or the other. Do tell your family, so they can take messages for you and so they don't inadvertently call work to say someone is calling about an interview.

Build Your Network
All of us should have a network of colleagues and contacts to use for building our career, whether we are currently job searching, or not. Most people's LinkedIn network has lots of contacts from previous employers, their current employer, vendors, customers, and colleagues. Staying in touch with those contacts, as well as what's happening in your field, can help your employer as well as yourself. Yes, you're positioning yourself for the future, but you're also using a tool that can help you learn about new products and can make connections that could help your company succeed.

Use Your Network
How does that saying go about killing two birds with one stone? Building your network on professional networking sites like LinkedIn can help your employer as well as yourself. For example, a web developer used his LinkedIn network to find someone to help with usability testing for his company's new web site. During the process, he also made a new contact who could help with his future job searching activities.

If You Get Caught
If, despite your best efforts, your boss catches you job searching, here's advice on what to do next and how to limit the damage.

Stealth Job Hunting

When you don't want your current employer to find out that you are job hunting, there are steps you can take to keep your job search confidential. The last thing you need to have happen when job searching is for your employer to accidentally find out that you're looking for a new job. It could jeopardize both your current position and future references from your employer.

Here are some suggestions on how to effectively job hunt on the sly, so that the wrong person doesn't find out that you are looking to make a move.

Stealth Job Hunting Do's and Don'ts

Email Address
Do not use your work email address for job hunting. Use your personal account or set up a free web-based email account specifically for job searching.

Office Equipment
Don't use your employer's computers or phone system. Many employers monitor Internet usage and review phone call logs. Keep your resume, your email correspondence, and anything and everything related to your job search on your home computer.

Your Resume
Be careful where you post your resume. If you don't want your current employer to accidently find your resume when searching for candidates, post on job sites where you can keep your employer and contact information confidential. For example, if you post your resume on Monster, you can make it confidential and your contact information and references won't be displayed. You can block your present company's name by entering an end date of present for your current position. Yahoo! Hot Jobs lets you create a HotBlock to stop certain companies from seeing your resume. Other sites offer a similar services.

Additional Resume Options
Other options for protecting your privacy (aside from blocking) include listing a generic company name and job title, rather than a specific one. You can also leave off company contact information. Do the same with your contact information and phone numbers. List your job searching email address and cell phone number.

Telephone Tips
Do not use your work phone number for job hunting. Instead, put your cell phone number and/or home phone number on your resume. Be sure to have voice mail or an answering machine in place so you get the messages in a timely fashion.

How and When
If you can't job hunt from work, what other options are there besides evenings and weekends? Visit a bookstore, cafe or library with internet access on your lunch hour and bring your laptop if you can find a wireless connection to use. This is also a good time to return prospective employer phone calls, especially if you can take an early or late lunch to catch them in the office.

Interviewing
Try to schedule interviews for either the beginning or the end of the day or on your lunch hour. If you have vacation time you can use, schedule multiple interviews for the same day.

Dress the Part
If you typically wear jeans to work, don't wear a suit when you have an interview scheduled. Someone will start wondering what the occasion is for dressing up.

Be Discreet
Be careful who you tell that you're looking for a new job. If you tell co-workers, you can be sure that it will get back to your boss, one way or the other. Do tell your family, so they can take messages for you and so they don't inadvertently spill the beans to your work colleagues and leave you a message that someone is calling about an interview.

Start a Job Search System
Confidential job searching will be much easier if you have a job search system in place.

Salary Negotiation Do's and Don'ts

Are you confuse with salary negotiation ? Here are the keys to successful salary negotiation. Follow these simple rules and you should achieve success in this important strategic tool of job-hunting. But remember, all negotiation carries risk.

• Do make sure you've done your research on the salary you should expect for the position you're seeking. And do use sources such as salary.com and others.

• Don't bring up salary before the employer does. And do delay salary negotiation for as long as possible (until you know exactly what the position entails).

• Do be aware of your strengths and achievements. And do be sure to demonstrate the value you'll bring to the employer.

• Do let the employer make the first salary offer. And do, if asked, say you expect a salary that is competitive with the market -- or give a salary range that you find acceptable.

• Don't inflate your current earnings just to get a higher salary offer.

• Don't feel obligated to accept the first salary offer. And do negotiate salary if the offer made is inadequate.
• Do thank the employer for the offer when it is made, but don't try to negotiate right after the offer is made. Do take the time to consider all factors before making any job offer decisions.

• Don't get overly aggressive in negotiating the salary you want.

• Don't just focus on salary. Do look at the entire compensation package.

• Do try to obtain other concessions (shorter review time, better title, better workspace) or benefits (bonuses, vacation time) if you aren't successful at negotiating a salary you want.

• Don't enter salary negotiations as part of an ego trip or part of a game.

• Don't accept the first acceptable salary offer you receive if you're not sure about the job or the company.

• Do get the offer in writing.

Good Luck

How to Post Your Resume Online

I typically don't refer job seekers to web sites that charge for products or services, because it's difficult for me to vouch for the quality of the product or service provided. Considering, though, the time and effort it takes to post your resume online, I'd be amiss if I didn't mention the services that will do it for you.

I am not endorsing any particular service, but, I do want to let you know that they're available. Resume services can save you time and energy, plus they can assist in getting broad exposure for your resume.

Post Your Resume Yourself
There are hundreds of sites where you can post your resume online. Some sites, like MonsterTrak, let you upload an existing resume with the click of a button. On other sites, you can cut and paste or use a resume building wizard. Since it's time consuming, start with the top sites. Keep track of where you've posted and make a list of your login names and passwords. That will save some time if you need to edit or change your resume.

Resume Posting Versus Blasting
There's a difference between posting your resume to job sites and blasting it all over creation. When you post your resume it will be uploaded to a list of specific job sites like Monster, CareerBuilder, and Yahoo! HotJobs.

ResumeRabbit, for example, posts your resume to 75 of the top career sites. You'll get login information for each site, so you can update your resume and apply directly to job postings on each site. “Job searching can be overwhelming and time-consuming, especially in a recession. ResumeRabbit.com efficiently cuts through the clutter and saves job seekers endless research and data entry time,“ said Lee Marc, Managing Director and Co-founder of eDirect Publishing LLC. Marc and his partners developed ResumeRabbit.com, after the acquisition and management of a human resource consultancy firm convinced them of the need to simplify the online job search process.

In contrast to the more selective resume posting services, when you blast your resume it's sent via email to thousands of employers and recruiters. However, some resume blasting services like ResumeMailman and ResumeZapper will let you target only recruiters who requested to receive resumes in specific industries and geographic regions and will send you a list of the recruiters your resume was sent to.

Here's what to consider before posting or blasting:

• Do you need your resume posted on so many sites?
• Do you have time to post your own resume?
• Does the time-savings justify the expense?
• Do you need thousands of recruiters receiving your resume?

Resume Posting Services

• Simply Hired Resume Post

• Career Soar

• ResumeRabbit

Resume Blasting Services

• ResumeBlaster

• Resume Broadcaster

• Resume MailMan

• ResumeXPRESS

• Resume Zapper

If you do choose to use these services, remember they are only one tool and should be integrated into your overall job search strategy. Lee Marc says, "In today's competitive job market, it's important to realize that finding a job, is in itself a full time job. To give yourself a competitive advantage, it's important to work smart and cover a lot of ground. Today's serious job seeker must take a multi-pronged approach to succeed. This should include networking, reading all the classifieds and searching job listings on all the career sites daily. It is also invaluable to send your resume to many targeted recruiters and post your resume to all of the top career sites which are searched by over a million hiring managers daily."

Tips for a Killer Resume

You know the feeling. You spend hours, or even days, creating a résumé. You pore over every word of your cover letter and agonize over what to say in your email. Then you hit ‘send’ and wait. And wait. And wait. No one calls. No one writes. You don’t know if anyone even saw your résumé. When this happens, it’s easy to get dejected and worry that employers are not interested in you. Don’t! Remember, they haven’t met you. They have only seen your résumé and that may be the problem.

An overwhelming majority of job seekers make basic mistakes with their résumés -­ mistakes that ensure that they will not get the interviews they deserve. If you feel as though you’re sending your résumé into a black hole, try this ‘Ten Step Program’ to diagnose problems and get your résumé working for you.

1. Is your resume the right length?
You may have heard that your résumé should fit on one page. This is nonsense. Recruiter or hiring managers don’t care if your résumé is one or two pages long. But they do care whether it is easy to read and gives key information upfront. Your résumé can be one, two, or (occasionally) even three pages. The only rule is that the length should be appropriate for you. If in doubt follow the (very general) rule of thumb that less than 5 years experience probably only requires one page and more than that may need two.

2. Does your resume clearly position you as someone who can meet the needs of the employer?
Think of a résumé as an advertisement for a product, only this time the product is you. Just like any other advertisement, positioning is everything. The person who receives your résumé will scan it quickly ­ perhaps for no more than 20 seconds ­ to determine whether you can help her company. Your job is to say quickly, clearly and loudly that you can!

Don’t just launch into a chronology of your career history. Instead, determine your own positioning by spelling out your message at the start of the résumé and giving the reader your version of events upfront. For this reason, you should use the first 1/3 of your résumé to create a compelling personal profile which highlights your key strengths in an attractive, easy-to-read format.

3. Does your resume begin with an objective?
Don’t start with an objective. Recruiters and hiring managers don’t like them because they focus on the needs of the job seeker rather than the needs of the potential employer. Consider this objective statement: “Seeking a software engineer position with a progressive employer where I can contribute to the development of new technologies and work with bright, committed people.”

This may be very honest but it is irrelevant to the reader, who does not care what you want and only cares what you have to offer. Instead of an objective, try using a positioning statement that clearly and concisely explains what you have to offer.

“Senior Software Engineer with 10 years experience developing leading-edge technologies.”

Now the reader can immediately see your value to the company. (For even greater impact, tailor this statement for each position so that the reader immediately sees a match between his/her needs and your skills.)

4. Does your resume contain specifics?
You must place your achievements in context by providing specifics. For example, don’t say something vague like “contributed to product design.” This tells the employer nothing about your actual contribution. Instead be specific about what you did: “Conducted market analysis for (name of product) to determine design and mechanics. Led changes to original design spec. despite initial developer objections. Received critical acclaim and sold over 4 million units.” See how being specific makes a difference? This level of detail shows the reader the contributions you have made in the past (and therefore the contributions you can be expected to make in the future.)

5. Have you outlined achievements as well as responsibilities?
Don’t provide a laundry list of responsibilities without showing what results you achieved. Most employers already know what the main responsibilities of your job were. They want to know what makes you different from all the other applicants. An effective résumé summarizes job responsibilities in a few sentences and then provides details of quantifiable achievements.

Focus most of your résumé on the results you accomplished, not the regular duties of your job.

6. Are there any typos?
Your résumé has to be perfect. Proofread it over and over again. When you are sure it’s perfect, have other people proof it! If even one word is misspelled the reader will assume that you didn’t know how to spell the word (this is bad) or that you didn’t care (this is even worse!) Nothing puts the reader off more quickly than misspellings or typos.

7. Is the résumé easy to read?
At least 50% of the impact of your résumé derives from design. A strong résumé design will pull the eye through the document, making it easy to keep reading and will highlight your key strengths clearly. But if your résumé is badly laid out, disorganized or hard to read, it will be discarded before the reader knows how qualified you are.

To see examples of how to lay out your résumé, go to the library or bookstore and look in the career section. You will find collections of sample résumés. Take time to understand how the page has been laid out and then apply what you’ve learned to your résumé.

8. Have you listed irrelevant information?
Don’t list your hobbies unless they directly support your qualifications for the position. Don’t detail your marital status or the number of children you have. Don’t mention non-professional affiliations such as political or religious volunteer work unless it directly relates to the position you are applying for. Any personal information runs the risk of turning the reader off. However proud you are of personal achievements, you should not run the risk of alienating someone before you even have your foot in the door.

9. Are you too modest?
Don’t be uncomfortable about blowing your own trumpet. Too many people play down their achievements. While you should never exaggerate on a résumé, you should definitely take credit for the things you’ve accomplished. Some people feel uncomfortable boasting on paper preferring to explain in an interview. But if your résumé doesn’t spark interest, you may never get that opportunity, so don’t be modest!

10. Have you created an internet-ready version of resume?
If you have to post your résumé online, or apply to a job via an online system, you will need to convert your résumé to a text-only format. If you don’t do this, your résumé will be almost impossible to read because most online systems cannot support the type of formatting used in a résumé (bold, italics, bullet points, lines etc.)

SUMMARY
When you send your résumé out, it must speak articulately for you. You can’t explain inconsistencies, clear up confusion or fill in things that are missing. Your résumé has to make your sales pitch in a clear and compelling manner within 20 seconds. Invest the time to make it exceptional and you will see an immediate increase in the response rate.

Job Letter Writing Tips

Perfection counts when writing letters for employment. All your job search correspondence should be simple, concise, grammatically correct, and error-free. Here are job letter tips and suggestions for writing employment correspondence which will help you stand out from the crowd.

All Job Search Letters

Spell check and proofread. Then ask someone else to read your correspondence before you send it. It's often easy not to notice mistakes in our own writing.

Write simply and clearly. Get right to the point and write short, focused letters. Each letter should be one page, or less. Each paragraph should contain three or four sentences, at most.

Do not use a form letter and send it to every potential employer you can find (you know what you do with junk mail!). Your cover letter should be written specifically for each position you seek.

Review letter samples to get ideas for format and content for your letters. Use examples as a starting point for creating your own library of job search correspondence.

Keep copies of all your employment letters. If you are applying for similar positions you can edit an existing letter rather than writing a new one.

Cover Letter Tips

Send a cover letter with each resume you send out. Your cover letter may make the difference between obtaining a job interview and having your resume ignored. Even if an employer doesn't request a cover letter, it's helpful to send one.

Personalize your letter. If you can, address it to the individual responsible for hiring. If need be, research online or make a phone call to find out who the hiring manager is.

Don't forget to sign your letter.

Use email for cover letters, but, keep them short and include in the email message. Don't send as an attachment unless the employer specifically requests an attachment.

Thank You Letter Tips

Try to send your thank-you note within 24 - 48 hours of your interview or meeting. The note may be handwritten on a small, professional, thank-you note card (if you have extremely neat handwriting and only a brief message to convey), word-processed, or emailed.

Thank everyone who helps you with your job search, not just your interviewers.

Requesting Reference Letters

Plan ahead and compile a list of references and some letters of recommendations now, so you're prepared when a prospective employer requests them.

Know Your References. Don't use someone as a reference without knowing exactly what they are going to say about you.

Reference Letter Tips

Describe how long you've known the person and in what capacity. Include dates of employment and details on how you've worked with (or known) the person. Continue by describing the person's skills and performance and what makes them an ideal candidate for a potential new employer. Also include two or three outstanding attributes. End by summarizing why you are recommending this person for employment.

Don't give a reference for anyone you are not comfortable recommending. It's perfectly acceptable to polite decline to provide a reference.

Resignation Letter Tips

Write a resignation letter, even if you tell your boss in person you are leaving. A well-written resignation letter can help you maintain positive relationship with your old employer, while paving the way for you to move on.

Review Job Letter Samples
It's helpful to look at samples, examples and templates when you are writing resumes, curriculum vitae, cover letters, reference letters and other job search correspondence.

Job Interview Tips

Job interviewing never seems to get any easier - even when you have gone on more interviews than you can count. You are meeting new people, selling yourself and your skills, and often getting the third degree about what you know or don't know. Here are job interview tips to help prepare you to interview effectively. Proper preparation which help alleviate some of the stress involved in job interviews.

Job Interview Tips

Practice

Practice answering interview questions and practice your responses to the typical job interview questions and answer most employers ask. Think of actual examples you can use to describe your skills. Providing evidence of your successes is a great way to promote your candidacy.

Prepare

Prepare a response so you are ready for the question "What do you know about our company. Know the interviewer's name and use it during the job interview. If you're not sure of the name, call and ask prior to the interview. Try to relate what you know about the company when answering questions.

Watch

Take a look at my Job Interview Tips Video, so you'll be sure to dazzle a potential employer and leave the right impression.

Get Ready

Make sure your interview attire is neat, tidy and appropriate for the type of firm you are interviewing with. Bring a nice portfolio with copies of your resume. Include a pen and paper for note taking.

Be On time

Be on time for the interview. On time means five to ten minutes early. If need be, take some time to drive to the office ahead of time so you know exactly where you are going and how long it will take to get there.

Stay Calm

During the job interview try to relax and stay as calm possible. Take a moment to regroup. Maintain eye contact with the interviewer. Listen to the entire question before you answer and pay attention - you will be embarrassed if you forget the question!

Show What Your Know

Try to relate what you know about the company when answering questions. When discussing your career accomplishments match them to what the company is looking for.

Follow Up

Always follow-up with a thank you note reiterating your interest in the position. If you interview with multiple people send each one a thank you note.

Ten Tips for Effective Job Searching

It's always important to make sure you have covered all the bases when you are in the midst of a job search. Sometimes we get so focused on one aspect of seeking employment, like sending out resumes, for example, that we forget to make sure that everything we do is professional, focused and appropriate. Review these ten tips to make sure your job search is on the right track.

Ten Tips for Effective Job Searching

First Impressions
Looking, speaking and acting professionally help to make a terrific first impression.

Follow-Up
Don't be afraid to follow-up. I hired a Customer Manager over a year after he first sent me his resume. I didn't even need to advertise when the position became available. In addition to sending me his resume, John had called me every month or so to touch base, and even stopped in my office (through the back door not through the receptionist!) just to say hello. Needless to say I remembered him when a position opened up. And he was extremely qualified for the position, which is why I remembered him.

Interviewing
Be on time for the interview. On time means five to ten minutes early. If need be, take some time to drive to the office ahead of time so you know exactly where you are going and how long it will take to get there.

Job Fairs
Periodically attend these events even when you are not necessarily looking for a job to see what opportunities are out there, and to gain a perspective on where you fit in the job marketplace. Tracey Miner, The Mulitcultural Advantage

Keep Track
I have found that one of the most useful things I started doing was to keep track of everything I am doing. I use a simple spreadsheet, like Excel. And I do mean everything. I have one file where I enter all the information from any job sites that I join. Information such as the username and password I created, what type of job site is it -­ freelance or regular or specialty. Tracey Pederson, Jill of Trades

Meaningful Work
Explore your passion, identify a new direction, and take action to create a career that leaves you energized and excited. Curt Rosengren,Passion Catalyst

Say Thank You
Try to send your thank-you note within 24-48 hours of your interview or meeting. The note may be handwritten on a small, professional, thank-you note card (if you have extremely neat handwriting and only a brief message to convey), word-processed, or emailed.

Stay On Top of the News
Be aware of the lastest business news in your community or the city where you want to work. Read local business journals to find out who's on top in your industry. Review the Business section of your local newspaper, as well. These resources will give you a sense of which employers are "hot" as well as often contact information to send your resume.

Your Resume
Write it until it's right. Think, write, think some more, rewrite, proofread, get feedback and rewrite. Joyce Lain Kennedy, Career Author

Don't Give Up
Last, but not least, don't give up. Job searching is never easy and it's even harder when the job market is difficult. Keep plugging away at your job search and eventually, though it may take more time that you expected, the right position will come along

Good luck