3 Ways to Stay Cool in Interviews and Get Your Dream Job

3 Ways to Stay Cool in Interviews and Get Your Dream Job As an experienced counselor with a fairly deep understanding of human nature, I can say this with total confidence: job interviews freak people out! In my time as a therapist, Ive interacted with some truly capable people. Ive coached business professionals who wield a great deal of influence, Ive counseled semi-professional athletes ready to take their game to the next level, and Ive mentored bright-eyed college grads who had a lot of ambition and very big dreams. And no matter who I talk to, Im always amazed to find that all of them (and I mean, all of them!) experienced a great deal of anxiety at the thought of being interviewed. From a psychological perspective, the fear is totally reasonable. The dynamics of a interview are wildly unsettling, and play on our innate fear of rejection. Think about it: an interview is a time-limited interaction with a total stranger, who will judge every single word you say, and analyze every action you make. He or she will openly scrutinize you. A few days or weeks after your meeting with the stranger, you will receive a phone call or an email, and be notified whether you have been rejected or not. Not fun. Pretty terrifying, really. So, as I noticed each of my clients was experiencing the same emotion regarding the same event, I put together an intervention to help them relax, focus, and make the most of every interview they find themselves on. The techniques I used are listed below, and each one is simple, actionable, and, most importantly, backed up with a lot of research! Use them to your advantage: 1) Envision your success before you start: Visualization is frequently used in the sports world, and many public figures (notably Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey) have sworn by the principles powers. The idea is simple: condition yourself for the goal you want to achieve by imagining it clearly in your mind. It sounds simple, but the research backs up the idea. One study showed that mental practice is almost as effective as actual, physical practice, and that doing mental practice and physical practice is more effective than either practice alone. So how does it work? Visualization activities must follow a very specific path. First, find a quiet place and relax. Then begin to imagine yourself with the person or the people interviewing you: what do they ask you? How do you answer some of the tough questions they ask? How do you calm yourself when you begin to feel nervous? The clearer your visualization, the better the technique works. In truth, visualization is really a form of preparation: you imagine the obstacles youll face, and you creative find ways to meet and overcome them. 2) Use social proof to your advantage: We are intrinsically social creatures, and we are constantly reading the emotional cues of the people around us. It is natures most effective way of learning about danger and learning about opportunity, and it is deeply engrained into our psyches. So how does that affect your job search? Almost 65% of all new employees at any given company attained their interview through someone they know. There are plenty of conclusions you can draw from this (the most obvious being if youre looking for a job, youre most likely to get it through someone you know, so tap into your contacts), but the important idea is that your interviewer will be more likely to hire you if someone can vouch for you. If you use your network to get your job interview, you are providing powerful social proof, and your interviewer already knows that someone values you. Unfortunately, many people interpret the 65% statistic to mean that the odds are against them if theyre going into an interview without a connection to the interviewer. Luckily, you can provide social proof in your interview discussion. There are two ways to do this: During your interview, talk about people you know, and share stories about working with your bosses and interacting with decision-makers are your previous company. Dont be boastful and dont be a name-dropper, but make sure that your interviewer gets the feeling that others liked working with you and valued your efforts. Provide your own social proof. The trend is to include the words References available upon request somewhere near the end of your resume, which is thoughtful after all, you dont dont want to deluge your interviewer with paper (especially before theyre interested in you). But if youve made it to the interview stage, do not leave your interviewers office without handing him a letter of recommendation. The letter can be from a former employer, an old professor that youve worked with, or a community leader that youve volunteered for, but make sure its a person with recognizable authority, and make sure it details you as competent, motivated, and easy to work with. 3) Give yourself a 24/7 pep talk: A researcher at the University of Pennsylvania found that personal success was almost invariably related to that persons explanatory style. That is, the most reliable way to tell whether a person will succeed or fail is to see whether they interpret their life in an optimistic or a pessimistic way. The research makes sense: how you interpret your circumstances determines how you feel, and how you feel determines how well you perform. So be nice to yourself! When you think about your job hunt, interpret your efforts in an uplifting way that makes the situation seem positive. If youve recently been laid off and youre looking for work, dont interpret your job loss as a negative: think of the new adventures youll have at your next place of employment, and how youre about to take the next step of your professional career. If youre looking for your first job out of college, dont see yourself as inexperienced, but rather as a blank slate ready to dive in and learn all you can at your new job. Chances are that even though youre speaking nicely to yourself, youll still feel nervous, and thats normal expected, even. But you have a choice: you can speak kindly to yourself and foster positive feelings, or you can beat yourself up and feel awful. Not all choices are easy, but this seems simple. Go get em! Remember, job interviews can be daunting, but youve got some pretty powerful tools to use: you can see the outcome you want, you can use social proof to display your value, and you can get psyched, because the job you want is almost yours! Author: Matthew Burke is a therapist in northern New Jersey. He serves as a job coach for many of his clients, and runs the cnacareeragency.com  to help students and career changers enter the field of health care.

42 Highest Paying Work From Home Jobs [INFOGRAPHIC] - Classy Career Girl

42 Highest Paying Work From Home Jobs [INFOGRAPHIC] More and more employees are opting to work remotely. The ability to manage emergencies at home, save time and money in commute, access to fantastic global job opportunities and flexibility are some of the reasons why telecommuting is preferred by employees. As far as companies are concerned, expenditure on maintaining physical workplaces, employee dissatisfaction and stress, and a waste of time and productivity are all curtailed when workforce goes virtual. Also, as compared to a few years back, technology has grown in leaps and bounds to make it easier for employees in different parts of the world to collaborate and work as a team. If you are looking for a work from home job, then there is no doubt you will be spoilt for choice. The infographic given below lists some of the best and highest paying telecommuting jobs available. There is something for everyone in the list with a range of jobs from creative writing, SEO, graphic designing and photography to clinical research, medical writing and engineering up for grabs. [RELATED: 100 Best Pieces of Career Advice] You can also choose to be on platforms like upwork.com or freelancer.com where you will be able to bid for short-term projects and get paid as soon as you deliver. These portals allow you to post your portfolio, work credentials and CV, and help connect you with potential employers. Though there are plenty of opportunities out there, it is necessary that you keep your eyes open to detect potential fraud. Several companies make offers that appear too good to be true but never stick to their end of the bargain. You should always verify the credentials of the company you are working with. It should have detailed contact information including a physical address, a contact email, and a phone number. You should also Google whether the company has been involved in any scam earlier. This will help you be sure about whom you are collaborating with and avoid mishaps. Check out the infographic from Ponbee below to get some very handy information about current telecommuting trends. 42 Highest Paying Work From Home Jobs [INFOGRAPHIC]

How to Attract and Retain Top Millennial Talent

How to Attract and Retain Top Millennial Talent While millennials suffer an unfair reputation for laziness and entitlement at the hands of the press, employers generally recognize that the younger generation’s high level of education, technological savviness, and fresh vision can be key to a company’s success. There are plenty of millennials out there: 16.2 million currently live in the UK, making them the largest generation in UK history. In 2015, millennials in the US surpassed Generation X to become the largest share of the American workforce, with one-in-three workers aged between eighteen and thirty-four. The difficulty, therefore, lies not with finding millennials, but,  given their reputation for job-hopping, with attracting them to and keeping them in your organization. Of course, millennials are people too, and so a clear job-posting, competitive salary, inspiring mission statement, good work-place culture, and so on, are all still needed to secure the millennials you want. But if you want the very top talent, you need to go beyond all the usual requirements. Here are five suggestions: 1. Use Millennials to Recruit Millennials As David Williams, serial entrepreneur and author, puts it, “the adage that ‘birds of a feather flock together’ is especially true of millennials when it comes to career recruitment.” Millennials, like most people, are looking for a workplace where they feel they belong and they are more likely to feel a sense of belonging if they are around people like them. You can bet that a millennial invited to apply for a job by another millennial is more likely to start the application process. Moreover, millennials are more likely to know what makes other millennials tick what offers will pique their interest and what will keep them at bay. 2. Maintain a Strong Digital Presence Ron Piccolo, Cornell Professor of Management, explains that “Millennials expect digital relevancy.” The first thing a millennial will do before beginning an application is to google the company. If they find little information or an out-dated website with a poor lay-out they are going to be put-off immediately, afraid that the business is behind with the times. As Piccolo says, it is vital to “invest not only in how you engage clients and consumers online but prospective employees as well.” 3. Offer a Flexible Schedule Nancy Altobello, Vice Chair of Talent at EY, argues that for young professionals,  flexibility is almost as important as salary. Flexibility here means the opportunity to work where they want and how they want â€" after all, no one likes to be micromanaged. Set them a target, a deadline, the essential constraints, and then leave them to it. This might mean they work unconventional hours, out of the office, in jeans and a t-shirt, but so long as they are delivering a high-quality service there’s no reason for this to be an issue. 4. Be Transparent Understanding a company’s vision and the direction in which they are heading is very important to millennials. They want to feel like the work they are doing is worthwhile, often not only for the company but for society at large, and that they are able to meaningfully participate in the company’s decision-making procedures. Explain clearly where your company aims to be in a year, five years, a decade, and the trade-offs you may need to make in order to achieve these goals. There’s little point hiring a millennial only to lose them shortly afterward because they can’t get on board with the company’s philosophy. 5. Give Regular Feedback and Opportunities for Advancement It may be common practice to offer employees annual or biannual reviews, but millennials are interested in much faster feedback and opportunities to develop. This shouldn’t be a surprise. Millennials can often earn a higher salary, grow their career, get a change of scenery, and find a better cultural fit by job-hopping â€" if you want to retain the best, you have to show them regularly that there is a clear career path available for them within the company. Major businesses have cottoned on. The American multinational technology company IBM, for instance, has abandoned the annual appraisal in favor of quarterly check-ins in which employees set and review their short-term goals. About the author: Oliver Hurcum writes for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in sourcing candidates for  internships and graduate jobs.

Personal Branding Interview Nick Friedman - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Nick Friedman - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Nick Friedman, who is the President and Co-Founder of COLLEGE HUNKS HAULING JUNK, the largest and fastest growing US-Based Junk Removal Franchise Opportunity. He recently co-authored his first book called Effortless Entrepreneur: Work Smart, Play Hard, Make Millions. In this interview, Nick talks about his new book, what it means to be an effortless entrepreneur, franchising, and more. Is there really such thing as an Effortless Entrepreneur? Dont you have to work VERY hard to build a business? An Effortless Entrepreneur is anyone who breaks away from what society tells them is the norm and takes a risk by creating their own destiny. The journey in creating and running a business is by no means effortless, but when you are doing something you love, long days feel short and hard days feel easy. Ultimate freedom is to be doing something that you are passionate about, creating value and developing systems that make it appear effortless. Is branding harder or easier when it comes to establishing a franchise and scaling it? Creating a franchise system allows you to scale your brand much more quickly on a national or regional platform than would otherwise be possible through organic growth. However, the key is to create brand standards and policies that must be upheld by all members of the franchise organization. One of our companys 4 Core Values is Always Branding, because its extremely important to create a public impression about the brand whenever humanly possible. A good example of this is when my business partner, Omar Soliman, went on the Reality TV Show Millionaire Matchmaker and insisted on picking up his date in one of our College Hunks Hauling Junk trucks. What obstacles did you encounter as a young entrepreneur? What lessons did you learn? The biggest obstacles weve encountered as young entrepreneurs was not knowing what we didnt know In other words, because we had no formal entrepreneurial training or background, we had to just figure things out as we went along, which often backfired and/or resulted in costly mistakes. Our tendency to take risks without evaluating them carefully was both a blessing and a curse, but became more of just a curse as our business grew and became more complex. It became extremely important for us to start educating ourselves by reading books, attending seminars and conferences, and building a team of mentors that we could learn from. How did you come up with the name College Hunks Hauling Junk? College Hunks Hauling Junk started on a hot summer day in Washington DC. Most of our friends were working typical college student jobs like waiting tables, boring retail jobs and internships. We wanted to do something different. Omars mom let us borrow a cargo van she used for deliveries for her furniture store. We decided hauling junk would be our summer gig. We sat around the table and came up with the clever name, College Hunks Hauling Junk. After laughing a bit, we decided it had some allure to it. We tested out the idea by putting up flyers that said College Hunks Hauling Junk around the neighborhood, and we started getting calls for our services. After going back to school Omar submitted a business plan for College Hunks Hauling Junk at an entrepreneurship competition at the University of Miami that won 1st place and $10,000 out of over 150 entries. What are your favorite common sense commandments from your book? My two favorite commandments are #3 and #4 in the book: ideas mean nothing without action, and start with a vision, create a strategic plan, and live by it. Good ideas are like sneezes. They may temporarily infect or get a rise out of a few people next to you but in the end, they’re just air coming out of your mouth. The real magic is in taking an idea and trying to turn it into a reality. The next step is creating a true vision from that idea. Most people don’t have visions; they have dreams. Like most businesses, ours began as a pipedream. We needed a clear vision to make it happen. Once you create a plan to take action on your dream, it becomes a vision. Every good business has a strategic plan, which is much different than the business plans you see in school. The first piece of this plan identifies your core values, purpose, and overarching goals. You then have a road map to work backwards from to the present day and begin working on your business. Nick Friedman is President and Co-Founder of COLLEGE HUNKS HAULING JUNK, the largest and fastest growing US-Based Junk Removal Franchise Opportunity. He recently co-authored his first book with business partner, Omar Soliman, entitled Effortless Entrepreneur: Work Smart, Play Hard, Make Millions. He was named Top 30 Entrepreneurs in America Under 30 by Inc. Magazine, Top 35 Entrepreneurs Under 35 by Bisnow.com, and is an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Finalist. He is an active Board Member of the Entrepreneurs Organization, a global organization comprised of founders of high-growth companies. Nick has appeared as a guest on National Television shows such as CNBCs The BIG Idea with Donny Deutsche, Fox Business News and ABCs reality based show about entrepreneurs entitled Shark Tank. He has been interviewed by Entrepreneur and Fortune Magazine as well as the Wall Street Journal for his expertise on franchising, branding, and young entrepreneurship.

Tips For Writing Resume For Older Person

Tips For Writing Resume For Older PersonIf you are trying to find a job and want to try your hand at writing resume for older person then you may need some help. I want to take you through some of the steps in order to get you through this process with flying colors.Before we begin, you should know that not every company that you apply to will get back to you. This means that some companies are going to reject your application completely. However, there are other companies that might be willing to take you on if you do have a pretty decent CV. You should keep this in mind when you write your resume.One thing that you should always try to do is write your resume for an older person in chronological order. There are two reasons for this, one being that you want to make sure that it flows. The other reason is that you want to show that you have some experience and are able to demonstrate that you can manage your time well.However, you should never write your resume as if you still have all of your old skills. That means that you should probably do some research on the company before you start putting together your resume. If you don't know much about the company or if you don't know if they are hiring then you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage.Now that you have found a company that might be hiring, the next thing that you should do is consider including some specific skills on your resume. Although you might be looking for a position that you have no experience with, you may still want to include a skill that you have some experience with.If you know a little about web design or a little about computer programming then you can include those two skills on your resume. Even if you don't know any of these skills then you can write some general information about yourself. This is especially important if you have a family member that is an older person or a friend that you want to be included on your resume.The last thing that you should do in order to make sur e that you can include specific skills on your resume is to take some time and look up some jobs that you have worked on. You can then write some specific skills that you might have about that job.There are many different websites that you can use to look up jobs and to write a resume for the older person. By taking the time to do this you will be able to write your resume for an older person in a way that is extremely professional. This is very important because you will be a part of someone's life in the job that you are applying for.

Innovation vs Expertise

Innovation vs Expertise Here are some questions I am trying to get my arms and head around: What are employers looking for? What will make you a better leader? What will take your career farther? What will make you successful? As the owner of our career, I think we need to be able to answer these questions. I am not sure if there is a right answer or a right for now answer, but it is worth asking yourself and others. I started following a new blog A Smart Bear written by Jason Cohen. Ive categorized his blog and several others under GREAT THINKERS in my reader. His interests and focus are a bit out of my typical reading, AND I enjoy this. Reading or skimming, on other topics offers me a fresh perspective, and thus todays post. Jason is engaging his audience and so much of the value in reading his blog comes from the comments as well as his post. Enough with the Expert Guilt is a recent post I am hoping you will have time to read and ponder. As you read remember that you are an entrepreneur- the owner, VP, COO of your own business, YOU! Everything that he is writing about certainly fits or can be made to fit your situation. It isnt enough to focus on your next job. You want to manage your career and that requires some thought and effort too! The Two Absolutely Most Useful Skills for Managing Your Time by Dan Erwin outlines what you can do to better become in charge of your time. 1) Identify your top 3 priorities (this is not as easy as it sounds). See Dans post for an example. 2) Do the thing you hate doing most FIRST. Managing your career is about taking an active role, not a passive role. Be the driver not the back seat traveler. Get in the game!

Online Police Application Process - What To Expect

Online Police Application Process - What To Expect Naturally, as the world around us becomes more and more technology dependent, the police are also turning to technology, as a means of delivering upon public expectation. This is why, over the past year or so, more and more forces have begun to use an online police application process. In this blog, we’ll explore the ramifications of this, the reasons for why the police are using this system, and the type of tests that you will face in the online police application process Online Police Application Process: Why?There are two main reasons for why the police service are turning to online recruitment. The first of these is that ultimately, it saves the police time and effort. By introducing an online recruitment system, they can filter out bad candidates even before the application form stage, making the assessors’ lives easier in the long run. As you can imagine, assessing application forms is a long and often tedious process. For the police, they quicker and more efficiently they can complete this, the better. The online police application process means fewer, but better quality, candidates make it through to the application form stage.Secondly, with the requirements of police officers becoming more and more strenuous, it makes sense for the police service to introduce extra tests for potential candidates. The police can only gain by subjecting candidates to extra screening procedures, and this is a great way to guarantee that a strong field of hopefuls move forward to the next stages. What type of questions will you need to take?The type of test that you will need to take, could differ depending on the constabulary that you are applying to. That being said, there are a number of assessments which are used by many constabularies, following the same trend/type of questions. The tests that we’ve used below are indicative of the type used by the majority of constabularies. Please be aware however that not all constabularies will use these assessments, and som e constabularies may have their own specially designed system. Job Preview AssessmentThe first test that you might have to take in the online police application process, is the job preview assessment. This is a questionnaire, which requires you to give open and honest answers to a variety of situational type questions. The idea of this type of test is to give you a better idea of what it’s like to work as a police officer, and how well you respond to the situations which you are likely to encounter on the job. At the end of the assessment, you’ll be given a rating based on your suitability for working in the police. Following this, it will then be your decision to decide whether you continue with the application form. The police generally don’t score you on this test, as it is done more to give you an indication of whether this is the right job for you.A typical question in this test might be something like:Police officers are generally required to work in shifts. In conjuncti on with the training and extra work that you will need to do, this could have an impact on your social and family life. For this reason, police officers must be able to work flexibly, sometimes carrying out night and weekends shifts, in order to fulfil the obligations of a regular policing pattern.If you believe that all of the above is something that you can deal with whilst on the job, answer yes. If not, answer no.Yes / No If you answered yes to the above question, then that will contribute towards a higher rating, where you are more likely to be told that you are suitable for the role; at the end of the test. On the other hand, if you answer no, you’ll be more likely to receive a lower score; and told that you aren’t suitable for the role. Behavioural AssessmentThe next type of test in the online police application process that you could be asked to take, is the behavioural questionnaire. In this assessment, you will be provided with a number of statements. In order to answe r, you will need to move a pointer along a sliding scale, with the furthest end saying ‘completely agree’ and the other end saying ‘completely disagree’. Again, these questions will be line with the police expectations. Unlike the previous test, you will be scored on this, and will receive a pass/fail mark at the end. A typical question might look something like this: Police Officers must operate without discrimination at all times. They must treat everyone fairly, and with equal levels of respect and politeness. Every member of the public deserves the same level of treatment, and to be dealt with without bias or discrimination.Completely Agree â€" Somewhat Agree â€" Somewhat Disagree â€" Completely DisagreeThe best answer here is ‘completely agree’, as this is in line with the core police expectations. Situational Judgement TestThe final test in the online police application process will be a situational judgement assessment, where you be required to answer various ques tions, testing you on your choices in police related situations. You will be asked to identify whether each action is effective or counterproductive. Once again, this is a pass or fail stage, and you will need to pass to progress. Here’s a sample of a typical question that you might find in this assessment:You are out on patrol in the local neighbourhood, when a woman approaches you and your colleague. She is extremely angry, and using vulgar language.Woman: ‘Police scum. You can’t trust Old Bill, all they do is cover up. When my house was burgled, the police did nothing! You two are good for nothing, waste of space.’ 1. ‘Madam, your comments are totally unacceptable. Unless you have a real complaint, go away.’ Efficient / Fairly Efficient / Inefficient / Counterproductive2. Ignore her. She’ll go away eventually. Efficient / Fairly Efficient / Inefficient / Counterproductive3. ‘Excuse me, Madam, I will ask you to retract your comments. Language like that is not accep table, and if you continue, we will have to detain you.’ Efficient / Fairly Efficient / Inefficient / Counterproductive4. ‘I’m sorry for the trouble that we have caused you. We’ll do better next time to deal with your problems.’ Efficient / Fairly Efficient / Inefficient / Counterproductive Answers1. ‘Madam, your comments are totally unacceptable. Unless you have a real complaint, go away.’ Answer: Fairly Efficient Explanation: This is a fairly efficient response. You are dismissing the woman’s comments, and making it clear that they are unacceptable.2. Ignore her. She’ll go away eventually. Answer: Inefficient Explanation: This is an inefficient response. The woman is verbally abusing officers of the law, and making unfounded accusations. At the very least, she needs to be made clear that what she is saying is wrong.3. ‘Excuse me, Madam, I will ask you to retract your comments. Language like that is not acceptable, and if you continue, we will have to detain y ou.’ Answer: Efficient Explanation: This is an efficient response, as you are clearly telling the woman that her behaviour is unacceptable, and providing her with a serious warning.4. ‘I’m sorry for the trouble that we have caused you. We’ll do better next time to deal with your problems.’ Answer: Counterproductive. Explanation: This is counterproductive, as you are simply accepting the unfounded This entry was posted in Police, Career Advice, Resources. Bookmark the permalink. 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