The Unofficial & Unauthorized Officejobs.com Blog

16 Ways to Ace the Interview

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Phil Rosenberg's Interview like a Rock Star at Secrets of the Job Hunt gives 16 excellent points on coming across like a "rock star" candidate in an interview. He breaks the process down into two main sections: preparation and execution. Here's a quick summary; click through to the full article for details.

Preparation

Research
Ask yourself what challenges the company is likely to face along the way. What problems are likely to arise that your Subject Matter Expertise can uniquely solve.
Write a Rock Star resume – one that presents a solution to problems your target company faces. Throw out the old biographical resume.
Bait your resume with a few partial statements, and leave your audience curious to learn more, helping you to control the interview by what you’ve left out of your resume.
Ask questions to draw out problems and implications – of problems you can uniquely solve.
Anticipate - What questions will the interviewer ask you? Practice answering questions in a positive manner, while still telling the truth.

Execution

Dress the part
Open - Stand tall, maintain eye contact, smile, and use a firm handshake.
Initial impressions count - people form an initial impression of you in the first 30 seconds.
Control the interview
Eye contact - Maintain eye contact while talking.
You control the interview and demonstrate both Subject Matter Expertise and leadership by asking questions.
Turn negatives to positives
Close – Closing techniques will take a number of future posts to cover. In general, close by gaining some sort of feedback, and time/action commitment to next steps.
Re-Close - Send a thank you note.

Check out Phil's ReCareered blog - great resume and job hunting info.

Redoing your resume? Look here first to get some great ideas

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:32:00 +0000

Jacob Share at JobMob sent me a link to his post on 36 Beautiful Resume Ideas That Work. If you're redesigning your resume, or didn't think you needed to redesign your resume but saw these and realized your resume could use some work, check this out.

New web site design launched

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:42:00 +0000

We launched a new, cool web site design last night - it looks fantastic and it works way better than the old site (not that the old site was bad). Check it out and tell us what you think!

The Brand of You: Your Brand Positioning Statement

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:12:00 +0000

The best brand ideas are conveyed in as few words as possible, and those words cannot be misinterpreted or misunderstood.

There are many corporate brands whose tagline or slogan is vague and open to interpretation. United Airlines slogan "Rising" aspires to lofty ideals (sorry for the pun), but the idea of "rising" is open to interpretation - rising means something different to everyone.

The best brand ideas are concise and clear. Target's "Design for all" fits beautifully with their business of inexpensive but nicely designed merchandise. Or HBO's "It's not TV, it's HBO" - this positions HBO's unique content well against traditional TV.

A personal branding statement doesn't necessarily need to be this concise (and it takes a lot of work to get it this concise) but you should be able to sum up what you do and how you do it in 15 words or so. This becomes your "elevator pitch" or resume summary.

Taking a look at a couple of corporate brand positioning statements, we see that they comprise of three elements (adapted from Allen Adamson's BrandSimple):

Who you're talking to
Your features and benefits vs. your competition
How you're going to beat your competition

Every job reports to someone who is your client or customer. You do a job for this person so that they in turn can do their job and move a business forward. Figure out who you are talking to, and make that a part of your positioning statement.

Who is your competition? You need to identify the people you're up against, what they have to offer, and beat that. If you're an administrator, you're not just an administrator, but an administrator with exceptional organizational skills, or an administrator with an eye for details that everyone else misses. The sharper you can focus your position - the features you offer and the benefits that those features have - the stronger your branding signals will be.

What do you do that your competition doesn't? What has your competition overlooked? Finding out what employers dislike most about previous hires and making that a part of your brand will get you noticed. You're appealing to an emotional need, and this is very powerful.

A couple of sample statements:

For small business owners, Kathy Jones is the accountant who can design small business accounting systems that will help you understand your financial positions more clearly than ever before.

For busy corporate executives, Susan Smith is the executive assistant with an exceptional time management ability that will keep your schedule on track and organized.

For small entrepreneurs, Joe Williams is the web designer, developer and marketer with the all-in-one skills to make your web site look like you are a huge company.

Exercise #3: Develop your brand positioning statement

Incorporating the three points above, write your personal brand positioning statement. Use your "features and benefits" list from exercise #2 to keep this statement focused.

The Brand of You: Discovering Your Product

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:18:00 +0000

You have a special combination of skills, abilities and attitudes that is your "product". Unfortunately, not many of us know what those abilities are, therefore we don't know our product. If we don't know our product, we can't market ourselves. Your resume is another bland, unmemorable piece of paper that crosses the desk of an HR person every day.

We need to ask ourselves a few questions.

What do I want to be?
What have I done this week to make myself stand out?*
What would my colleagues, customers or coworkers say is my biggest strength?
What is my most remarkable personal trait?
What do I do that adds remarkable, measurable, distinguished, distinctive value to my job?
What do I do that I am most proud of?
What have I accomplished that I can unabashedly brag about?

*I make a note of this because, in general, most people don't like to stick out - our society values conformity. However, if you want to be noticed, you need to stick out. This means not conforming and doing things differently.

Tom Peters: "If you're going to be a brand, you've got to become relentlessly focused on what you do that adds value, that you're proud of, and most important, that you can shamelessly take credit for."

The "feature-benefit model" is an excellent place to start developing your brand. Every feature you offer - for example, getting your work done on time - has a distinct benefit for your customer (your employer) - projects move smoothly and reliably. Feature: you answer the phones clearly and professionally; benefit: your company looks professional and organized, and customer satisfaction is high.

Exercise #2: Features and Benefits

Make 2 columns on a piece of paper. In the first column, write 4 features that you can offer. See questions 3 and 5 above for ideas.

For example:

I love talking to people and can approach anyone at any time and make smart small talk.
I can write clearly and concisely.
My colleagues say that I'm easy to get along with and they like having me around every day.
I'm organized and can plan work schedules for the future.

In the second column, write down the benefit to your client (your boss or company).

Are you starting to get a picture of your "product"?

Tomorrow: Your branding statement.

The Brand of You: What is a personal brand?

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Branding is the art of capturing the essence of a business in a simple-to-communicate message. In this series, I'll explore the process of creating the professional "you" and your brand.

If you are taking a job or career hunt seriously, you need to discover three things:

who you are
what you do well
how to communicate these points as quickly as possible

A popular misconception of a brand is that it's just for big companies, or it can only be created by marketing professionals. However, if you have a clear idea of a couple of things, you can easily create your own brand.

Tom Peters, marketer extraordinaire, wrote an article for Fast Company magazine in 1997 that started the whole personal branding idea. In the article, he says: "We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You."

Why your personal brand is important

Dan Schwabel at Personal Branding Blog describes personal branding: "Personal branding describes the process by which individuals differentiate themselves by identifying and articulating their unique value proposition to achieve a specific goal".

In other words, you describe who you are and what you can do in a very clear and concise way. This cuts through the clutter of undifferentiated people and gives you a clear and memorable definition in the minds of a recruiter. When a recruiter or hiring manager is plowing through thousands of resumes, a clearly branded person will stand out very clearly.

What is branding?

Branding is somewhat difficult to explain in a few words, but the essence of a brand is "the mental associations that get stirred up when you think about a particular car, soft drink, pair of jeans, bank, celebrity or even country" (Allen Adamson, BrandSimple).

When you think of "Cadillac" cars, you have a range of ideas, images and associations with that car. Same with Clairol's "Herbal Essences" brand. Companies go to great lengths to establish these images in the minds of consumers, and each brand has a different set of associations designed to appeal to certain people - people who drink Diet Pepsi have a different idea about themselves as compared to Mountain Dew drinkers. Canadians have a different reputation (brand) around the world as compared to, say, Germans.

You can create your own brand relatively easily; in fact, it's very important to successfully convincing employers to hire you.

Over the next few weeks, we'll create your brand and talk about communicating this brand successfully.

Exercise #1 - Describe yourself in 5 adjectives

To get started in defining your personal brand, I want you to think about how you would like employers and potential employers to view you.

Write down 5 adjectives you would use to describe "you", and we'll use these adjectives to create your brand.

I will do this exercise with you, so here are my 5 adjectives or phrases I use to describe myself:

knowledgeable
creative thinker
problem solver
fast learner
friendly

I'll leave you with Dan's excellent branding presentation:

| View | Upload your own

How much money do you need to live?

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:00:00 +0000

I was chatting with a 17 year old high school junior this week who was looking for some career direction. He wants to engineer and design cars, but also wants a lot of money. The average annual salary of $65k for industrial designers seemed low. Mmm, OK...

Over the years, I've learned that money is a very strange beast. People are obsessed by it, mostly because you never seem to have enough. It's all an illusion.

If there's one thing I've learned from 15+ years in the workforce, you'll never be happy if you chase $$$. You'll hop from job to job, company to company for a small pay increase. After a few years, you won't have anything to show for that, and you'll never be satisfied.

The acquisition of stuff is an evil cycle. With some money, you buy some stuff. You need a bigger place to put your stuff, so you buy a bigger house. You need a better job to pay for the house. Suddenly, you have more money again, so you buy more stuff. Repeat.

Looking back at the happier times of my life, it's always been when my lifestyle fits within my means. I may not have the biggest TV, flashiest car and so on, but I have enough so that I don't have to stress over not having enough.

I know that most people think "If only I had a little more", but this is the trap. You need to learn how to be happy with what you have - chasing "more" is an endless cycle (of course, this doesn't work for everyone; there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people in this city that cannot afford the basics like food and clothing - making more is critical to maintaining basic health and security - I'm not insensitive to this).

Step back and reevaluate. how much do you really need?

Interview mistakes: how to make interviewers uninterested in you

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:57:00 +0000

Jennifer Tortorella at The Headhuntress Blog points out some of the stranger interview behaviour that was uncovered during Careerbuilder's annual Interview Mistakes survey. Somehow, flushing the toilet during a telephone interview didn't go over so well...

Anyway, from the hiring managers themselves, here are the biggest mistakes you can make during an interview:

51% said dressing inappropriately was the most detrimental mistake
49% disliked candidates talking negatively about a former employer
48% disliked candidates who acted uninterested in the interview
44% disliked candidates who appeared arrogant
30%: not answering questions well
29%: not asking good questions

Good interviewing is all about engaging the interviewer. Anything that distracts or takes away from that engagement can hurt you badly in an interview

What not to wear to a job interview

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:53:00 +0000

I'm speechless...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16577770@N00/2329011550/sizes/m/

Found via Digg.com

Death to the Killer Resume

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:52:00 +0000

Karen Swim at Secrets of the Job Hunt has a great riff on the "killer" resume. This (formerly) trendy term has run its course and it's time to focus on the real purpose of the resume: to leave the prospective employer wanting to know more about you.

An employer posts a job because they need someone to do a certain task that will help the company meet its goals. Your job, when you apply, is to show that you have the experience and skills to help the company meet that goal. If your resume reflects your objectives, experience and qualifications and they mesh with the needs of the company, that is what it takes to engage the hiring manager. That's the "kill".

Apologies

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:53:00 +0000

My apologies for taking a bit of a blogging vacation - things around here suddenly got very hectic. We got slammed for people by our biggest client and one of Calgary's biggest employers, and it was a bit of a madhouse trying to find people to fill all the jobs we had available.

Also, the boss discovered the blog and I'm not 100% sure what will happen next. I'll keep blogging until a decision is made one way or another. My fingers are crossed that it will become an official thing...

What's the best way to get fired?

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:36:00 +0000

I've been fired once (I deserved it), and I've almost been fired a couple of times (I'm learning I don't make a very good employee sometimes).

Most employees think that their mistakes will get them fired, but unless you have a real crank for a boss - and you own up to your mistakes and don't repeat them, most mistakes won't get you fired.

What gets you fired is attitude - a bad one and lots of it. Bad attitudes show up in a lot of different ways: absenteeism and lateness, poor performance, not caring about your job and being unapproachable. But the worst display of a bad attitude comes in meetings.

Your eyes roll at every suggestion, you act bored and indifferent, you don't participate, you argue and you are generally disruptive. Nothing bothers supervisors, managers and bosses like someone who is disruptive and difficult in a meeting (that was me in an almost-fired moment).

Ian McKenzie at Human Resources 101 lists 5 points of the participant's role in a meeting, and #2 is key: Look confident and interested. If a boss feels that an employee is engaged, happiness follows.

Having attitude problems? Discover the source by looking in the mirror.

Field Guide to Annoying Interviewers and Interviewees: The Swearer

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:11:00 +0000

The Swearer (cursus damnerii)

Class: None.

Description: Generally male; female swearers are uncommon but not rare. Swearers are difficult to spot as their plumage is often identical to others. Swearers are more common in interviewees; finding a Swearer as an interviewer is exceedingly rare.

Call: The call is what distinguishes the Swearer from other species. The general speech patterns are interlaced with foul language; common words include sh** and f**k, other words are less commonly used, and range from the more mild d**n to the very offensive (especially to females) ****. As Swearers mature, the level of offensiveness often resides, and more mature Swearers often do not use the identifying language at all, making older swearers difficult to spot.

Notes: Don't. Just don't. However, people who swear often do this as a part of their every day speech patterns and don't realize they are swearing until a word slips out. Unfortunately, at this point, it's often too late. When a Swearer is preparing for an interview, it would be prudent to get someone to monitor the language, or to self-monitor. In the days leading up to the interview, get out of the habit of swearing. The interview is a place where you shouldn't say anything you wouldn't say to your Grandmother (unless she's a Swearer, too).

Spotted an annoying habit in an interviewer or an interviewee? Send your observation to dave (at) officejobs (dot) com

Field Guide to Annoying Interviewers and Interviewees: The Sniffer

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:56:00 +0000

The Sniffer (noisyus nostrilus inhalerii)

Class: Generally an interviewee, although this behaviour has been spotted in less professional interviewers.

Description: Can come in many forms, but is primarily identified by red coloration around the nostrils.

Range: Widely found, but most common in northern climates.

Season: Most "Sniffers" can be found in the winter and hayfever seasons

Call: Can be anything to a subtle sniff to a wet snorking sound. The sound is produced by a sharp intake of air through the nostrils. This intake is commonly user to control the flow of mucus in the nose. The sound can be very distracting, irritating or disgusting, especially in interview situations.

Notes: An interviewer can offer a tissue to a Sniffer, although a Sniffer should use their own tissues, and clear the nose before the interview (and wash their hands after blowing). If the Sniffing is constant or persistent, the Sniffer should postpone the interview or take a decongestant or antihistamine a reasonable time before the interview.

Spotted an annoying habit in an interviewer or an interviewee? Send your observation to dave (at) officejobs (dot) com

Is your job too tight across the shoulders?

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:11:00 +0000

Yet another great post this week, It's all about the fit from Career Hub:

When an interview doesn't go well, or you don't get a call about your resume, it's the same as trying on a dress that doesn't fit right. It looked great on the peg and you REALLY wanted it, but it just wasn't a good fit for you.

Not every job is the perfect job. Sure, the job itself seems good and the salary is right, but the workplace might be wrong, or you can't mesh with the boss. That job isn't the right fit.

Fit is very important; it's what brings engagement and satisfaction. If the job doesn't fit right, it feels like underwear that binds: uncomfortable in all the wrong places. You won't be happy on the job or at the end of the day. Most likely, you will want to quit after a couple of years, and that's expensive for an employer.

Fit goes both ways. One of the most important things that interviewers look for is whether you will fit in with the organization or not. Every organization has its own culture, and employees that fit within the culture, especially in small companies, are very important. Otherwise, it can throw the balance of the company off.

If you don't get the job you want, it probably wasn't the right fit, and nobody wants that.

Resume Design Tips II: Using fonts

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Your resume is one of the most important professional documents you will ever produce. Your resume needs to state that you are reliable, professional, honest and so on. How do you do that? Using type properly is a big, big step.

Choosing fonts

You'll probably want to stick to one font for your resume; if you're feeling creative (and this is a relative term when it comes to resumes), you can use two, but no more than two. Ever.

There are two kinds of fonts you can use: "serif" or "sans-serif". Serifs are the little lines at the ends of letters, like the little line at the top of the "h":

h

Good serif fonts to use that you will be able to find on your computer: Times (or Times New Roman), Georgia, Minion, Palatino or Bell.

Sans-serif fonts do not have the little lines ("without serifs"). Use sans-serif fonts like Arial, Myriad, Tahoma or Verdana.

Most other fonts are not professional enough to use on your resume.

Font size

The default size for a font is 12 points (12pt - a point is 1/72 of an inch). This is an acceptable size, although most graphic designers would choose 10pt for a starting size. This depends on the font, and you want the resume to be readable - going too small is worse then too big, but don't go out of the 10pt - 12pt range.

Mixing fonts

If you are feeling adventurous, you can use a serif font and a sans-serif font (don't mix 2 serif fonts or 2 sans-serif fonts). Use the serif font for the main resume text, and the sans-serif font for the section titles (like "Objectives", "Employment History" and "References").

You probably have dozens of fonts on your computer, but most are inappropriate for a professional document like a resume. Stick to a conservative presentation; this will prevent your resume from being discarded or discredited immediately.

If you want something a little more interesting, have your resume designed by a professional graphic designer (the investment should be worth it), or take your resume to a career adviser for a second opinion.

5 things you MUST do when starting a new assignment or job

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:30:00 +0000

Another excellent post from another great career & employment blogger, Recruitnik at Through the Eyes of a Recruiter:

5 ways to make an impact as a new employee (without being seen as a brownnoser, bulldozer or brat)

(click through to the post to see the full explanations)

Listen more than you talk
Network up and down the organization
Be a problem solver
Seek feedback
Don't curb your enthusiasm

Starting a new job, especially doing this frequently as a temp, is a difficult transition, and it takes time to become a part of the company culture.

Temps have a particularly difficult time - often you aren't a person, but "the temp". Using these 5 points can help you become much more valuable to the organization, and maybe even lead to full-time employment.

Illegal, offensive and just plain weird interview questions

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Chris Russell at Secrets of the Job Hunt has posted a list of illegal, bizarre and offensive questions asked in job interviews. Here are some lowlights:

Illegal:
"Why are you not yet married?"

Offensive:
"Would you be willing to stay overnight with a client if they request it?"

Bizarre
"What would you do if I gave you an elephant?"

Check out more of these questions, and also some odd comments made in interviews by candidates, here.

Candidates have more power in interviews than they realize. Any questions that probe into your personal life do not have to be answered - although the response needs to be handled tactfully.

There are interviewers that ask on offbeat or strange question simply to see how a candidate reacts - the answer doesn't matter but you need to show how you can think on your feet.

What's the strangest question you've been asked in an interview?

It's a cold Monday in January. GO FOR IT!

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:37:00 +0000

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
~ Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

If you're looking for a job, Mondays, especially cold Mondays in January, seem better suited for crawling back under the covers and waiting for Tuesday.

There are so many setbacks and delays in the job hunting process. Waiting for calls, waiting for decisions, hearing 'no' over and over again. And sitting down to write another cover letter? That's a Tuesday kind of job.

Goal setting is critical when you are looking for a job. Even really small ones like writing one section of your resume, making a follow-up call or sending a thank-you note. It's not the size of the goal, it's the completion of the goal that brings satisfaction.

So, set some small goals over the next 10 minutes. Spend the next half-hour, two hours or whatever accomplishing those goals. And then crawl back under the covers. You've earned it.

What job interviewers are REALLY looking for

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:31:00 +0000

The job interview is incredibly intimidating. There's a job you really want, or need, and getting the job or not will affect your career, your financial future, your emotional well-being...

You dress up in your best clothes (please... dress up in your best clothes), practice all of the potential questions you may be asked, so on and so on.

And there's an interviewer looking to find all of the worst parts about you: your inexperience, your poor work habits, the brother-in-law in jail (well, no, I'm making that up) - anything they can find so that they won't hire you. This evil nasty person is standing in your way.

Actually, most interviewers aren't looking for excuses not to hire you - if you made it to the interview, they're looking for reasons to hire you. They aren't going to waste their time in an interview if you don't have something they're looking for.

So, what are interviewers looking for? Here are a few things:

Your personality. Having an employee fit into the organization is very important. Each company has it's own in-office personality, and they want to see how you would fit that personality. Since you can't know this before, just be yourself. You can also pick up clues to this office vibe by watching and listening to the interviewers.
Your experience. Each job has its own requirements, and you can say only so much on your resume. The interviewer needs a more complete picture of your experience, and this is a big aspect of the interview.
Your own needs. Salary and work type are a part of this, but good companies that care about their employees (there are more of these than you think) also need to know if the work will fit your life. For example, if the hours are incompatible (often not your fault), the job might not be a good match.

For both the employer and the potential employee, a job interview is like a blind date; you getting to know each other. Go in with a positive attitude, and show them what you can do!

US recession fears loom - what does that mean for Alberta?

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:25:00 +0000

The US and international media is full of dire news of an upcoming recession in the US.

A recession in the US has worldwide consequences, but would it cool off Alberta's red hot economy? Would less demand for oil and other natural resources put a crimp in our exports?

The Edmonton Sun thinks Alberta can weather a US recession:

[University of Alberta economist Mike Percy] said Alberta will fare better because there will always be a demand for oil - whether it's in the U.S. or in Asian markets.
"By and large, the demand for energy is pretty inelastic," Percy said.
[Paul McElhone, with the School of Retailing at the University of Alberta] said consumer confidence remains sky-high in Wild Rose Country.
"Everyone is so busy in Alberta, people just don't have a lot of time to head south."

Good news for now, but keep that resume buffed up and register with Officejobs.com if you live in Calgary, Toronto or anywhere else in Canada - we've got a ton of jobs waiting for good people.

Cool resume layout

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:55:00 +0000

Cool resume layout at Secrets of the Job Hunt.

Innovative doesn't always work, but when it does it stands out. Just be careful of your audience - innovative works best in a creative environment, not so much a large corporate one (but don't let that stop you from trying).

Resume Design Tips I: Using bold type properly

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Here at Officejobs.com, we've seen every kind of resume come through, both physically and in print. This is the first in a series on resume graphic design and what you can do to have the best looking resume in the stack.

Bold type

There is only one reason to make something bold on your resume - to draw attention to an item. We've seen entire resumes in bold type; in an attempt to be, well, bold, nothing stands out - it just becomes difficult to read.

Generally, bold type is only used for the most important things on a resume: job title is the best place to use bold type. When a recruiter or HR person gets your resume, they'll scan it quickly (5 to 10 seconds is a long time to look at a resume for the first time). Choose the one (1) most important thing on the resume - job titles, accomplishment keywords, etc. - to draw the viewer's attention quickly.

Remember to use this sparingly - 1-3 words is most effective. When everything is bold, nothing is bold.

Didn't get the job? Check your email nickname.

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:51:00 +0000

You have a beautifully formatted resume on nice paper. You dress professionally for the interview. And the email address on your resume is pornstar69@(whatever).com.

Email nicknames that do not project a professional image:

sexxxygirl
sacktiger
devotedtoChrist (it says too much about your personal beliefs - inappropriate for many workplaces)
goody2shoes
johnnybravo (if your name isn't Johnny Bravo. A great cartoon, but not appropriate for the workplace)

It's small details like this that can place you second or third in the job competition.

A cute, corny or, in some people's minds, offensive email address can take away from the professional image you are trying to create in the hiring manager's mind. Your email nickname can reveal quite a lot about you, and too much personal information is never a good thing when you are trying to get hired.

Advice: get a second email address based on your name. Email addresses and accounts are free; use a second account for professional correspondence. Check out Hotmail, gmail or Yahoo Mail for free accounts.

Use a variation on your name like:

sarahsmith
sarah.smith
s.smith
ssmith

and so on. It may be difficult to find a variation on a popular name, so try mixing a number in with it. Please avoid the number 69.

sarahsmith23
ssmith42

When you are job hunting, professionalism is very, very important. Make sure every element of your presentation, including your email address, lives up to the image.

How to keep the job hunt optimism alive

noreply@blogger.com (DaveW) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Beautiful post from Heather Mundell at Career Hub: Optimism is Your Career Ally

Everyone gets down on their career searches. Job hunting is one of the most frustrating things you will every do. When you get the job, there are days when the most optimistic people just want to crawl under a blanket and eat chocolate.

Here's what sets apart the pessimists from the optimists, according to Dr. Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life,

"The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events will last a long time, will undermine everything they do, and are their own fault. The optimists, who are confronted with the same hard knocks of the world, think about misfortune in the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case...Confronted by a bad situation, they perceive it as a challenge and try harder."

Heather outlines the "ABCD" skills model:

A. Notice when you're experiencing adversity, even just a tiny example.
"I can't get a meeting with my boss this week."

B. Notice your beliefs (i.e., your interpretation) about this adversity.
"My boss is always ducking me. Why doesn't she care about what I'm doing?"

C. Notice how you feel and/or what you do (i.e., the consequences).
"I'm worried that I'm not going to be considered for the promotion I'm wanting, that I'm no longer a "player". I'm angry that I'm disregarded."

D. Distract yourself or dispute your beliefs.
Immediately shift your attention to stop ruminating. Or use evidence, alternative views, or decatastrophize. (These are very powerful skills that I just can't do justice here. Get the book!)

Read the post and check out the book she mentions, and keep your spirits up!