Entry-level Job Seekers What Employers Want in the Interview -

Entry-level Job Seekers What Employers Want in the Interview -As a recent expert panelist for the newest release in the NY Times Bestselling Knock em Dead Series, I am excited to share some great advice with you from the author himself Martin Yate, CPC.Most recent grads applying for their first jobs dont understand why those jobs actually exist. If you want to get the attention of a hiring manager, you need to think this through from his or her point of view.Keep these following two thoughts in mind and any hiring manager will landsee in you a degree of professional awareness that few of your peers possess.Understand why companies existCompanies exist to make money, as quickly, efficiently, and reliably as possible. Companies make money by selling a product or service. They prosper by becoming better and more efficient at it. When a company saves time, it saves money, and then has more time to make more moneythis is called productivity.If a company can make money without employees, it will do so, because that means more money for the owners. Unfortunately for the owners, a company requires a complex machinery to deliver those products and services that bring in revenue. Every job is a small but important cog in a complex moneymaking machine, and every cog has to mesh with other cogs. The cogs also have to be oiled (salary) and maintained (vacations, benefits). This all costs money payroll and benefits are generally thought to account for by far the largest slice of a companys income. If a company can redesign the machinery to do without that cog (automation) or can find a cheaper cog (outsourcing oversees), of course it is going to do so.Get inside your customers headUnderstand your customers and find out what they want to buy. There are two reasons jobs exist. First, as Ive said, every job is a small but important cog in the corporations complex money-making machine. Second, the company hasnt been able to automate that job out of existence because in your are a of technical expertise, problems arise.Consequently, the company hires someone who has the technical skills to solve these problems when they occur and who knows the territory well enough to predict and prevent many of these problems from arising in the first place. It doesnt matter what your job title is you are always hired to be a problem-solver with a specific area of expertise. It is why your job exists and what you are there to do anticipate, prevent and solve the problems that get in the way of helping your department do its job in contributing to company profitability.Think of all the summer jobs youve held. Whatever the job, it always comes down to anticipating, preventing, and solving problems. This enables the company to make money for the owners as quickly, efficiently, and reliably as possible. School didnt work like this, but the professional world does anticiapate, prevent and solve problems for your manager and everyone comes out ahead.Critical thinking, or problem solving, is one of a set of specific transferable skills and professional values that help successful professionals execute their responsibilities well, whatever their profession or challenge facing them. When that hiring manager is looking to hire someone, her goal will be to find a candidate who understands why the job exists, the problems it exists to solve and how the part in that job helps contribute to the bottom line. Your technical skills may help get you an interview, but if you want to set off light bulbs in the interviewers head and get that offer, you must show that, unlike your peers, you understand the small but important role your job plays in helping the company profitability.For more insights on how to outperform the competition at a job interview, check outKnock Em Dead Secrets Strategies For First-Time Job Seekers.For more advice for emerging professionals,check outKnock Em Dead Secrets StrategiesFor First Time Job Seekersavailable onAmazon

The Real Reason I Quit My Freelancing Career After Taking 9 Years to Build It

The Real Reason I Quit My Freelancing Career After Taking 9 Years to Build It Work-life balance has always been a top priority for me. Throughout my career, Ive struggled to maintain a sense of independence while working for more traditionally corporate employers, leaving me to make somewhat unconventional requests along the way. Whether it welches advocating for remote workdays in an office where that was unheard of, making the case for a 32-hour workweek, or shifting my schedule to better accommodate my natural energy peaks and lows, Ive never been shy about speaking up for what I wanted in this area. And yet, no matter how flexible my employers were with me, I still felt restless and constrained.In 2011, I launched a part-time, freelance side hustle as a writer and editor. A few years in, I began to wonder if I could use this freelance work to break out of location-dependent work entirely. I knew Id be in good company According to Forbes, 50% of the workforce will soon be remote, and this flexibility only increases employee engagement and motivation.I had dreams of traveling the world and not having to answer to anyone but myself.It took me nine years to actually make the move, however. In 2018, I was leaving New Orleans to start life anew on the West Coast and I decided to take the leap in both location and lifestyle and become a full-time freelancer. I couldnt wait to grow my business to a point where I could travel non-stop and make the world my office.Within the first six months of funneling all of my energy into attracting clients, I was in a distribution policy where I could completely sustain myself financially. I could officially afford to do what Id always dreamed of I could fly to Italy and work there as I explored the Amalfi coast. I could take a quick mid-week trip to anywhere in the country and not even have to take time off. I could do whatever I wanted.But then, reality set in. The truth is, I didnt feel as excited as Id imagined I would. I was surprised at how, well, exhausted I felt at this time in my life. Perhaps not surprisingly (given that Im a perfectionist who tends to be quite hard on myself), I felt like I had to be working all of the time. I felt pressured to respond to clients right away to prove my worth, and I had a hard time setting boundaries. I missed having a sense of structure that wasnt totally self-imposed and the ability to turn work off without feeling guilty.Lets be honest The digital nomad influencers make their lifestyle look full of ease, fun and style. I felt ridiculous for not feeling as they seemed to.I was painfully lonely, working alone day in and day out. Im an introvert and whereas in the past, work provided some sort of social interaction and traveling alone was a welcome reprieve, now I felt alone all of the time and, for me, that diminished the shine of being a digital nomad. I missed being part of a community, whether it was personal or professional. I felt faceless, without an ide ntity.I did take several solo trips during this period of freelancing, and I enjoyed the novelty of, say, reading on the shores of Lake Tahoe beaches or roaming my old stomping grounds in New Orleans while everyone else was at work. This didnt offset my overarching longing for some sort of community and structure, though.During this time, I thought a lot about how I was feeling and how to fix it. I tried co-working spaces (verdict too expensive) and meet-up events (somewhat rewarding, but draining for an introvert), as well as therapy to address my perfectionism and burnout (still working on that). I was confused I knew Id been unhappy in a traditional work environment, but now I also felt unhappy defining everything on my own terms and being completely responsible for my own success.The question remained Was there a balance somewhere in between where Id been and where I was now?Turns out, there is a happy middle and Im lucky to be living there (for now).A little over a year after I dove into freelancing full time, I was unexpectedly offered a salaried role with a client I was already working with. As part of our agreement, I would still have the freedom to freelance for other clients, and I would only need to be physically on-site twice a week. I could work remotely the rest of the week and on an as-desired fundament while traveling essentially making this my dream scenario.I now have a team that I interface with in-person a couple of times a week. I get to enjoy the benefits and stability of a creative full-time job, while still having the freedom and flexibility thats always been so important to me. To be honest, Im still grappling with burnout because my workload has only grown, but I do feel much better overall.I know there are many people out there who are completely satisfied working as freelancers or digital nomads, and I think the important thing is to find what works best for you. Prior to accepting this job, I wasnt sure that a job could actually c heck all of my boxes, but my story is proof that theres hope youll find your perfect medium.--Nikki Carter is a writer-editor-strategist currently based in San Diego, where she writes about sobriety, personal growth, tech, productivity, and more. Nikki is passionate about freedom, telling the truth, and supporting other women/non-binary folks of color. Follow her on Instagram nikitanola.

The Secrets of Resume with No Experience Revealed

The Secrets of Resume with No Experience Revealed Resume with No Experience - What Is It? Make sure that the skills are related to the job which you desire. Writing a resume geared towards the work experience may be an effective method to get work. Fortunately, you may make a resume that highlights your skills even for those who have zero work experience. From the example above, you will observe that there are plenty of skills listed. You dont need to incorporate every job which youve held, especially when you have many years of expertise or have worked in unrelated fields. Dont list each technology you used on each and every job. Therefore, when you sit down to compose your first resume, attempt to consider your prior jobs in a new light. For instance, if youre asking for a job as an administrative assistant, you dont will need to discuss the way your role for a babysitter helped improve your childcare skills, but you might share the way the experience helped you cultivate t ime management abilities and the capacity to juggle several tasks simultaneously. Adhere to the tips above, and youll have a resume that compensates for the absence of expertise and gets you the interview. You can receive some information regarding the job from the announcement about the opening, but you desire to understand much more about it. So long as youre able to emphasize and highlight the skills you know can give rise to the businesss well-being, youre sure to acquire short-listed and be invited for an interview. Take into consideration the info you gathered from those who have completed the job and other sources. The One Thing to Do for Resume with No Experience While the functional resume format may be an attractive choice for job seekers with very little experience, most employers would rather have a chronological or kreuzung resume format. Whenever you have so little time to create the perfect impression, how you format the contents of your resume is equally as v ital as what information you decide to include. Once youve reviewed resumes in your field, peruse resumes across fields to learn how to vary using action verbs and receive a feel for what makes a highly effective accomplishment statement. Utilize your judgment, and as always, you need to always prepare several resumes for many kinds of companies. All you have to do is follow some basic actions. In case the work search is getting you down, take a rest. Everyone that has a work right now has, sooner or later, had a very first job. Bear in mind that your resume is the very first step to a prospective job so its very important in order for it to be perfect in every manner.