10 Things Job Hunting and the X Factor Have in Common

10 Things Job Hunting and the X Factor Have in Common Not a fan of the X Factor?  I dont believe you! Its the most addictive program on TV and it turns out that public humiliation can be pretty funny when its not happening to you. Harsh but true. Im just kidding of course, but you sure do see some interesting auditions in the early stages of the show! Come to think about it, there are many similarities between the X Factor audition process and the job search experience. You start off as a single applicant among a hoard of others and just hope with all your heart that it works out for you this time round. Throw in a few awkward moments and disappointing rejections and theyre pretty much the same thing. To prove my point, here are a few things that the two have in common: 1) The vast competition Tens of thousands of people audition for the X Factor each year hoping that it will be their big break. Unfortunately, when you start out on your job hunt, you are in a similar position. Chances are that for every role you go for you are going to have to go up against others and prove yourself as the strongest candidate. 2) Round 1round 2round 3. The X Factor is far from a speedy process. Starting with an audition with the producers, followed by the  first audition in front of the judges, followed by boot camp, followed by judges houses.and finally the live shows. No wonder X Factor contestants  talk so much about the journey they have been on throughout the show, its taken them the best part of a year by the time it comes to a close! Frustratingly, the interview process can become pretty dragged out too, depending on the size of the organisation and number of applicants. For a large company you should expect more than one round of interviews, so buckle up, youre in for a long ride! 3) The suspense Youve just had your audition/interview; welcome to the waiting game. Whether you feel like it went well or not, awaiting your fate can be a pretty daunting time. No doubt youll be replaying  every word that left your mouth over and over again in your head, scrutinising each moment in great detail. At least on the X Factor they generally find out if theyve been successful pretty soon after the audition;  however waiting for an employer to get back to you after an interview can sometimes take weeks! 4) An emotional rollercoaster A mixture of nerves, excitement, terror and tenacity mean that you dont know whether to laugh or cry. One minute youve been issued the good news that youve been called for a second interview/through to the next round of auditions and the next it hits you that youve got to put yourself through another petrifying ordeal in the imminent future. 5) Forgotten words Its painful viewing when an X Factor contestant forgets their words mid performance. Youve got to feel for them though, as the best part of us can probably relate to it to some extent. Whether you have a complete mind blank and cant remember what you wanted to tell your interviewer, or nerves get the better of you and you suddenly develop a stammer 10 minutes in,  sometimes our brains and mouths dont sync up quite as well as wed hoped. 6) Critical judgment On the X Factor, contestants will go all out to impress the judges and receiving negative feedback must be gut wrenching for them. During a job interview you must also do your best to ensure that you make a good impression on your interviewer. They may seem like a nice person, but remember that youre there in order for them to critically assess whether you are suitable for the role, so they will be judging your every word. No pressure! 7) Poor wardrobe  decisions Creating  a happy medium between presenting yourself smartly and showing  a bit of personality isnt always easy to get right. 8) Rivalry Its a dog eat dog world out there. Sure your rivals are great on a personal level, but they are your competition standing in between you and your dream, so for the time being they are your arch nemesis. 9) Rejection Unfortunately rejection is a large part of both experiences. After all, only one person can get the job/prize at the end of the day. Though you know that competition is tough and you tried your best, it never seems to weaken the blow of a rejection. 10) A scary boss Successful? Congratulations! Now meet your terrifying new boss

Using Examples Of How To Write A Resume

Using Examples Of How To Write A ResumeOne of the more important things when you are writing a resume is finding the right combination of active and passive verbs. Active verbs can show that you have been active in your career, such as 'achieved'achieving financial goals' while passive verbs can show that you were passive and let the career take over and do the work for you, such as 'took on new responsibilities.' When finding the perfect balance between these two types of verbs, you will find it helps to consider some of the following examples.Being an employee of a company, 'the company's goal is to achieve financial goals' might sound like a passive verb. However, when you are talking about yourself, it can show that you are a part of the company as an employee. Also, when you are talking about yourself, it can show that you have been very successful with the company. But when you are talking about your accomplishments, it can show that you have worked hard and achieved many goals .Resume writing can be a tedious task. However, it can be made easier by using some examples. In order to get the best results, you will want to use examples that show the most active verbs possible. Because most resumes are for people who have already achieved their goals, it is often best to use examples that use this word. Some examples that work well include:When using examples, it is important to use strong keywords. Strong keywords show that you are serious about your career. It also shows that you are committed to presenting yourself as someone who has accomplished a lot of things.Passive verbs are examples of how to create examples of how to have a full experience. Examples include 'took on new responsibilities,' 'took on new responsibilities with the company,' and 'took on additional responsibilities with the company.' For example, someone who was responsible for the company's accounting processes, such as 'managed accounting' can show that they have completed much work and have had a full experience with the business. On the other hand, someone who was passive and was not very involved in the company's accounting processes, such as 'worked under the supervision of accounting,' can show that they did not feel they were very involved.Another thing to consider when considering examples of how to write a resume is to use some that use less active verbs. Examples that use less active verbs include 'brought in new accounts,' 'consolidated accounts,' and 'developed partnerships.' These examples are used as examples of how to complete a job quickly and easily. The examples demonstrate that someone can have a positive impact with just a little effort.Resume writing is a project that requires a great deal of skill. When you are trying to make a good impression on a prospective employer, it is important to use as many examples as possible. Examples of how to write a resume can help you to have a full experience and show that you have learned many skills along t he way.Examples of how to write a resume can be found at your local library. In addition, the Internet provides you with a large selection of examples of how to make a resume that shows that you have many skills and that you have completed work that has resulted in many accomplishments. By carefully reviewing each example in detail, you will see how easy it is to put a resume together and how valuable it is when you are trying to find your dream job.

The True Cost of Hiring a New Employee

The True Cost of Hiring a New Employee When you hire a new employee, you’re not just agreeing to pay them a salary. There’s recruiting costs,  training, benefit packages, equipment, and more than have to be factored into the equation. Recruiting: Recruiting is one of the more obvious costs that gets overlooked because it’s not an ongoing cost. You  only incur it when you’re looking to hire someone. According to business advisor William G. Bliss, the  high costs of processing recruitment, mainly in the form of advertising and time-in by the recruiter, can  become a substantial drain on a company’s finances. Then, there’s background checks, and pre-employment assessment tests that have to be  performed. Even at $8 per hour, you could wind up paying $3,500 per employee in direct and indirect  recruiting costs. Training Costs: And then there’s training. What happens when you find that perfect employee? They have to be trained.  Training is one of the most expensive investments you will make. According to a report from Training  magazine, companies spent an average of $1,200 per year, per employee in 2007. That trend hasn’t  slowed down in recent years, either. Employers spend an average of 32 hours every year on training. Of course, with online training  becoming more popular, some companies can reduce their training overhead, but typically only in  specific fields. For example, employers can go to a company for technical training and those costs are  much lower than what most employers can absorb in-house. Salary And Benefit Costs: The biggest cost is probably the salary of your employee that and benefits. Benefits can range from  free coffee to comped or split-dollar life insurance, to retirement packages and health insurance. Most employees expect something resembling a cafeteria plan dental plans, life insurance, disability  insurance, gym memberships, and much more. Some estimates say that salary plus benefits costs between 1.25 and 1.4 times the base salary for your  employee. So, if you hire someone, you may end up spending anywhere between $62,500 and $70,000  on them. Going forward, your biggest cost will be health insurance. If premiums continue to rise, expect your employee costs to approach 1.5 to 2 times base salary.  Controlling these costs aren’t always easy, either. By law, you must offer health insurance to your  employee if you have more than 50 employees who work for you full time or count as full-time  employees. And, while not required by law, many employees demand generous retirement plans with matching  provisions, which could drive your costs higher. Workplace Integration: Another cost that shouldn’t be overlooked is the cost of integration. This refers to the process of  assigning a new hire a desk or office space, space in the company, space on the production floor, and  then helping them fit in and get along with other employees. Many businesses, these days, are much more sensitive to an employees needs and they go beyond just  providing an ergonomically-designed chair or desk. Software customized for the employee, a cell phone,  travel funds, and special equipment necessary to do the job (or equipment that makes the job easier). In some businesses, this is more important than in others. So, for example, an employee working in IT in  telecommunications might need more special equipment than an individual who works strictly in an  office environment in an industry that is already fairly standardized in terms of production. IT personnel who work in the field often need their own cell phone to make calls to their superiors. They  need tablet computers to test equipment and special equipment to test their testing equipment or run  â€œline checks” on internet and telephone services. They need company vehicles, cables, replacement modems and other equipment for the customer,  special training for accessing various types of crossover boxes and how to fix or maintain them. What’s Your Break-Even Point? Before you hire someone, you need to know where your break-even point is. Hiring a new employee is  expensive, but if they bring in more profit than what they cost, it’s usually worth it. At the same time, it’s not something that you should take lightly. At the end of the day, a serious cost-benefit analysis needs to be done and, even when the CFO doesn’t agree with the hiring manager,  profits still drive the business forward. That doesn’t always mean every profitable employee on paper  will turn out to be profitable in reality, but a good assessment reduces the risk of this occurring. Author:  Chandana Das is a Senior Content Writer for  Simplilearn.com. She has a M.A. in English Literature from Gauhati University and is PRINCE2 Foundation certified. Her unique and refreshing writing style continues to educate and inspire readers from around the world. Visit the site for more information on employee training.

Market Mismatch Are You Recruiting for the Wrong Agency

Market Mismatch Are You Recruiting for the Wrong Agency Its amazing how much agency recruiters know about what it takes to succeed in the industry they  specialise in. Day in, day out, recruiters partner with the  powers that be at organisations in their specific sector, getting under the skin of their hiring needs. They are the ones who know where the best candidates are working, what the most prestigious projects are and the best way to carve out a successful career in the field. The great agency recruiters are always abreast of big industry news and are often the first to hear of recruitment plans and labour demand as a result of such. They spend each day interviewing and coaching candidates, who are experts in their field.  They read through role description after role description, and will sponge up endless amounts of knowledge about the types of roles they recruit for. Given how much time is spent investing into said particular sector (on top of mastering their own art of recruiting), agency consultants MUST  choose their specialism wisely! Couldnt care less about yours? Perhaps its time to switch it up. Resentment: recruitment or the roles? If  quite often you find yourself resenting parts of the  job youve always loved, it might be time to take a step back and work out what the real issue is. Instead of getting frustrated with your clients and candidates and coming to the conclusion that a career as an agency recruitment consultant  is no longer for you, ask yourself this: Am I interested in anything my clients or candidates have to say about the industry they work in? Do the roles I recruit for sound boring to me? If the answer to  either of these questions is yes, perhaps its worth moving into a new market. Your annoyance with your job could be due  to the fact youre bored with the types of roles youre recruiting for! Relate  not alienate Moving to a new market (that actually interests you) is likely to reignite your drive as a recruiter. Youre likely to find you relate better with clients and candidates  who you have some  common  ground with and share  interests with. If you are in a market where you dont fully understand what youre talking about, what your candidates are talking about and what your clients really want, youre likely to feel constantly alienated. Recruiters arent supposed to be able to personally carry out the roles being recruited, but you are supposed to be  a specialist who gets your chosen  market! Knowledge is power Being interested in something means youll have a natural inclination to understand the subject matter. Your non-forced curiosity will lead you to ask more questions of your hiring managers and candidates, and their answers are  more likely to  make sense to you. Knowledge is power the more you know and understand, the more comfortably and genuinely youll be able to sell positions  to candidates and your specialisms to clients. From daily chore to wanting more Further to my last point, if you are interested in retail,  hospitality and customer service, keeping up to date on this type of industry news as a recruiter in that market wont be a bore, but something you naturally want to learn more about. However, if you loathe this industry, recruiting inside it will feel like a chore and you wont have any interest in keeping up to date with relevant news, nor talking to candidates about their day to day tasks and longer term career goals. Passionate pursuits Specialising in an industry that interests you  will make you  more passionate about your work. Your energy levels will be noted i every conversation you have; clients will start to respect you for your thorough, consultative approach to recruitment, blowing other generalists out of the water when it comes to commitment and depth of grasp on the sector. Your business will feel the positive effects of referrals and recommendations, through word of mouth.

Some Awesome Tips to Help You Write Your Resume

Some Awesome Tips to Help You Write Your ResumeWhen you are searching for resume tips, there are many that you may be looking for. One of the most common things that people are looking for are resume tips to help them when it comes to a resume to make it stand out from the rest. People want their resume to be unique and they want to be able to get their resume noticed so that it is noticed by companies that they want to work for.Resume tips should be sought out and implemented to help you with your resume. There are many steps that you can take in order to get your resume noticed. If you know what you need to do then you will be able to see how to make your resume stand out.One thing that you can do is to take the time to prepare your resume properly. This includes the title, body, bullets, etc. You want to make sure that everything about your resume is written correctly. You also want to have your skills, education, and work experience written clearly and professionally.Another one of the most important resume tips is to make sure that you put something that is unique about you on your resume. Make sure that you do not just put all of your credentials on your resume but also try to put something that tells the reader why you want to work for them. This is something that is really helpful to see when you are writing a resume.There are many places that you can go to find resume tips for you to take and put into effect. You can go to your local library or bookstore. There are also a lot of websites that have good advice and tips for writing a resume. You can go online and search for different websites that offer resume tips.Take the time to write out a list of tips that you can put into effect for your resume. These resume tips will help youto get your resume noticed by employers and they can see what you are looking for in terms of a job. This is a great way to start your new career.The next step is to get some professional help. This includes putting together a sample resume that has all of the necessary information on it and writing a cover letter for you to send to companies. There are several sites online that have a resume writing service that can help you out.These resume tips will help you see how to take the time to put in the effort to get your resume noticed. All of the resume tips that you will find will make the process easier for you.

Youve Just Become a Manager Now What

You’ve Just Become a Manager… Now What Manager Role… Now What? You’ve just become a manager either through an internal promotion or by landing another job. Woo hoo! Time to celebrate. But…once you get into your office, suddenly you realize that this can be a scary step, whether you want to admit it or not. For everyone who is working their way up the proverbial ladder, landing that first job that takes you to the next level into managing other people is an often-coveted role. You make more money and you have more responsibility. But how do you step into the role if you’ve never done it before? Here are some tips to help you be the best possible manager… because no one is ever BORN a manager: Know your own hot buttons… and weaknesses. If you aren’t so savvy about one particular area that you are managing, then take the time to understand it and how you may or may not react when faced with it. By proactively understanding what your hot buttons are and how to handle personal weaknesses (i.e. “I’m impatient”), you can consciously handle your own behavior while providing guidance to the people that you manage. Identify people who are good at being managers and follow their lead. Like how someone leads? Do you see how the people who report to them are completely loyal? Cultivate those same traits in your interactions. Improve your understanding of how to manage people. Good news: You aren’t the first new manager. You may not know everything… and that’s ok. But you can increase your “leadership IQ” by taking classes that can help provide management theories and practical applications that you can use immediately in the workplace. Don’t try to flex your muscles too much. Some people make this fatal mistake by immediately trying to assert how much of a leader they are over their subordinates. Don’t do this. Remove barriers. See something in the way of your team? Step in and do what you can at your level to remove it. You will earn their gratitude. Ask your mentors. Mentors oftentimes have some great insights on leadership lessons learned, and are more than happy to share on how you can avoid similar mistakes as a new manager. Set your own goals on how YOU want to perform. Be careful that you dont transfer your ambition for a good team performance into your own goals. That should be part of it, but you should also be clear about what you hope to accomplish as a manager, with the understanding that it takes time to adjust to this new role. What kind of manager do you want to be? How are you going to get there? Empower your team. Get to know them and allow them to get to know you. By building rapport, maintaining regular contact, and demonstrating that you have “their back,” teams will feel more empowered to make decisions. Keep it real. Be transparent. Don’t be obscure. People don’t do well with unclear expectations. If you need something, provide specifics including what your expectations are and any other parameters including budget, timelines, etc. Don’t expect people to guess. They are not mind readers. Remember this mantra: Great leaders are respected, not feared. The worst leaders are autocrats / dictators who have unnatural need to be right all the time, no matter the cost. The cost, in that case, would be the respect their employees have for them. Be forgiving… but don’t be a pushover. Tough but fair is a good place to me. By finding an occasional gray areas to give someone the benefit of the doubt, you are being fair. But don’t go so far that people begin deliberately trying to get away with things. Keep learning. After becoming a manager, you shouldn’t stop keeping up on the actual division/department / company functions. Read, take classes, and talk to industry peers so you can provide relevant guidance to team members. So you’ve just become a manager… and you can become THE BEST type of manager if you use some of these tips to improve your acumen and help fuel everyone’s success.

Intern or Die 3 Reasons Why College Students NEED Internships

Intern or Die 3 Reasons Why College Students NEED Internships 95 Flares 95 Flares Mona Abdel-Halim is the co-founder of  Resunate.com, the world’s only search engine optimizing resume builder. You can find Mona and Resunate on  Facebook  and  Twitter. Resunate recently acquired the  Regional Internship Center, an internship job board connecting internship seekers and employers in Southwestern Pennsylvania. In this competitive job market, internships have become more of a requirement than just an added bonus on a job candidate’s resume.Interning will provide you with real world experience and skills that you can add to your resume. For example if you are trying to learn more about becoming a radiation therapist, an internship is a great way to learn about the difficulties of the profession. While internships in your field of study may be hard to find, you need to find a relevant internship experience to get an edge on your competition. There are many complaints that come with the internship experience, such as many interns are unpaid, but the experience will help you in the future when it comes time to start the job hunt. Some positives of an internship experience include: Gain Experience in Your Field of Study While you most certainly won’t be making much money (if any at all) during your internship, you WILL gain some necessary knowledge on the job. Interning will provide you with real world experience and skills that you can add to your resume. Spending time working in the same field as your “dream career” might give you the confidence to continue pursuing that dream, or you might just come to realize that the work isn’t for you. Either way, interning will help in making future decisions. Work Experience While gaining specific experience in your desired field of study looks great on your resume, obtaining work experience with any organization can be just as important. Employers want to see that you have experience in an office setting around industry professionals. Many employers require entry-level candidates to have past work experience, even if they just graduated from college. Regardless of whether you were answering calls or directly working with team members, experience in an office setting can prove beneficial. Networking Opportunity Interning will give you the opportunity to make all kinds of contacts. Take every chance you have to learn from others and establish relationships with professionals. Don’t pass up the chance to meet anyone because you never know, you might need references or a mentor in the future. If you are buried under college coursework and even the thought of applying for internships sounds too stressful, do some research to see if your school will allow you to intern in exchange for school credit. Participating in an internship is important; the kind of experience that you will gain while interning cannot be learned in a classroom. How did internship experiences help your career? Please share with us in the comments below!