Friday, April 26, 2013

SMART Job Seeker Cheat Sheet: Networking



By Mary Salvino, Career Management Coach

This easy-to-use cheat sheet pulls together the best tips, tricks, and advice from our archives.  It has been created to provide clear recommendations on how to address the most common areas for improvement related to networking:
  • Know why you want to connect with people:
    • Don’t collect contact information just for the sake of collecting contact information
    • Identify and follow the names of the key people in your industry
  • Build on-line and/or off-line rapport with people in your industry before you need it
  • Never eat or drink coffee alone
  • Attend industry and social events on a regular basis
  • Be interesting:
    • Maintain a list of socially acceptable ‘talking points’
    • Ask good questions
  • Offer/Introduce your contacts to other people they may be interested in meeting
  • Support your local non-profit organizations
  • Stay organized
  • Follow-up on your word


If you like this article, please feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues. You can also join our open group on LinkedIn @ http://linkd.in/MRJMAH 

Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Show you care and share this article with your colleagues, coworkers and friends. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, the Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. It is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future career opportunities. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please send an e-mail to Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Shakespearean quotes for Job Seekers

 By Mary Salvino, Career Management Coach


If you are a fan of Bill the Bard, a.k.a. William Shakespeare, and some of the more popular quotes from any number of his plays, you may find that some of the quotes listed below are particularly relevant for today’s job seeker.

1. "This above all; to thine own self be true." ~ Hamlet, Act III, Scene I.
Job Seeker:  Have you taken the time to properly assess what is important to you and why?

2. "Can one desire too much of a good thing?" ~ As You Like It, Act IV, Scene I.
Job Seeker: Are your expectations realistic?

3. "An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told." ~ King Richard III, Act IV, Scene IV.
Job Seeker: It is one thing to craft and disseminate an elegant message about yourself, it is quite another to create "facts" where none exist.

4. "I cannot tell what the dickens his name is." ~ The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act III, Scene II.
Job Seeker: How are you different, (and better), than those competing for the same opportunity?

5. "Nothing will come of nothing." ~ King Lear, Act I, Scene I.
Job Seeker: You cannot build a solid job search program until you have done your research – Plan the work, work the plan and know what measurable objectives you are trying to reach.  (These tips can also be applied once you have secured the job you want.)

6. "Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." ~ Macbeth, Act V, Scene V.
Job Seeker: Can anything be worse than being perceived as "signifying nothing"? Egad!

7. "Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast." ~ Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene III.
Job Seeker: Look and apply for opportunities with companies that can give you what you want and need in the long run.  Once you have your foot in the door, you can then work towards your ‘ideal job’. 

8. "Brevity is the soul of wit." ~ Hamlet, Act II, Scene II.
Job Seeker: Say it or do it.  (Talk is cheap.  Actions speak louder than words.  Add appropriate cliché here.)

9. "Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed." ~ King Henry the Sixth, Part I, Act V, Scene II.
Job Seeker: Measuring is frightening.  Measuring is also critical if your goal is the desire to learn and/or work successfully.

10. "I'll not budge an inch." ~ The Taming of the Shrew, Induction, Scene I.
Job Seeker:  Be cautious of what you demand or desire.

11. "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." ~ Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene V.
Job Seeker: Keep going.  The mathematics of your journey’s success increase exponentially the longer you are working and moving towards your destination.

12. "Why, then the world's mine oyster." ~ The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II, Scene II.
Job Seeker: Picking the career path that will put the most money in your pocket may not be what is best for you.  Think about choosing the opportunity that will help effect real change in the world around you. The world is your oyster if you choose to make it so.

How many of the quotes listed above resonate with you?  Do you have any to add? 


If you like this article, please feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues. You can also join our open group on LinkedIn @ http://linkd.in/MRJMAH 

Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Show you care and share this article with your colleagues, coworkers and friends. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, the Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. It is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future career opportunities. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please send an e-mail to Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca.

Friday, April 12, 2013

SMART Job Seeker Cheat Sheet: Interview Talking Points

By Mary Salvino, Career Management Coach


This easy-to-use cheat sheet pulls together the best tips, tricks, and advice from our archives.  It has been created to provide clear recommendations on how to address the most common areas for improvement related to face-to-face interviews: 
  • Do your homework – Be prepared to talk about the following:
    • The company
    • Trends that affect the industry
    • The competition
  • Do some research on those who will be conducting the interview
  • Pull out a copy of your résumé and the job advertisement – Bring extra copies of your résumé
  • Review the job description and give examples of how your skill set and experience matches those required by the company – Quantify your accomplishments whenever possible
  • Be prepared to address any employment gaps – N.B. A lousy economy can only part of the reason.  Have you gone back to school to upgrade your skills?
  • Have a pad of paper and nice pen to write with – Refrain from using pens that have advertising on them unless they belong to the company with which you are interviewing
  • If you are being interviewed by a panel of people, use the pad to write down the names of the people in the room and where they are positioned in the room in relation to where you are sitting
    • Make eye-contact with everyone in the room, offer your hand to shake and smile like you mean it
    • When you get the opportunity to sit down, sit up straight and lean forward in your chair -  If you are sitting across from someone’s desk, do not encroach on their personal space


If you like this article, please feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues. You can also join our open group on LinkedIn @ http://linkd.in/MRJMAH 

Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Show you care and share this article with your colleagues, coworkers and friends. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, the Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. It is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future career opportunities. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please send an e-mail to Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca.

Friday, April 5, 2013

SMART Job Seeker Cheat Sheet: E-mail Etiquette


 By Mary Salvino, Career Management Coach


This easy-to-use cheat sheet pulls together the best tips, tricks, and advice from our archives.  It has been created to provide clear recommendations on how to address the most common areas for improvement related to e-mail etiquette during your job search:


  • Create/use a professional e-mail address that incorporates your name
  • Create/use a standard signature that includes your name, phone number and hyperlink to you LinkedIn profile
  • Do no use the ‘High-Importance’ feature when replying to an advertisement
  • When applying for a similar job with a different company, do not use the ‘forward’ feature
  • Include all required information, i.e. job title and competition number, in the subject box
  • Suss out the name of the hiring manager and use it - Send a copy of the documents you are sending to the e-mail address in the advertisement to the direct e-mail address of the hiring manager
  • Refrain from using all capital letters in your correspondence
  • Do not use company specific abbreviations
  • Do not use smiley faces or other emoticons
  • Check for correct spelling and grammar before you click ‘send’
  • NEVER apply for a job from your current place of employment


If you like this article, please feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues. You can also join our open group on LinkedIn @ http://linkd.in/MRJMAH 

Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Show you care and share this article with your colleagues, coworkers and friends. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, the Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. It is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future career opportunities. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please send an e-mail to Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca.