Interview Questions – How Do I Make a Great FIRST Impression in the Interview? | EmploymentDigest.net

“You are the Message” is the title of the book by media guru Roger Ailes.

The same thing is true on the interview. Everything you say, everything you do, contributes to the overall impression you create on the interview.

How long does it take to create a first impression?

5 minutes? 2 minutes? 1 minute?

Nope, try 10 seconds. That’s how long it takes to create an initial impression. Most of the impression is subliminal. And, once that impression is created, it takes a lot to change it.

Many of you may know that over 90% of an impression is non-verbal. Your body language and your tone of voice. Less than 10% of the initial impression is based on what you say. So, you have spent hours preparing for your interview, hoping that what you say will land you the job. It might. The preparation is important. But, equally important is paying attention to what contributes to the 90% of the initial impression.

BODY LANGUAGE: The way you present yourself physically has the most to do with creating a positive impression. Things to watch:

1) The Way You Walk: Do you stride with confidence, shoulders back, eyes straight ahead? Or do you sort of shuffle with your head down? It matters.

2) Your Posture: Do you stand straight? Nothing conveys lack of self-confidence than bad posture. Slouching connotes insecurity. So, stand tall.

3) Handshake: Connect, shake hands firmly and look the person in the eye.

4: Facial Expression: Do you smile easily? Are you relaxed or are you clenching your jaw? It’s easy to spot stress in someones face.

TONE: Your tone of voice matters. In fact, tone of voice is almost 40% of how a first impression is created. So, make sure you don’t sound nervous, forced, or even worse, cocky or arrogant. Leave the sarcasm at home.

You’ll want to sound sincere, confident and sure. Don’t be sing-songy.

The best way to figure out whether your “tone” needs work is to do a mock interview with a friend and tape it. It can be video or audio. Or you can even practice and tape alone, by answering questions you think you might be asked. Listen to the tape when you are done. How do you sound? Flat? Inspired? Bored? Nervous? Tone conveys a lot. Sometimes all it takes is a little energy in your tone. Practice moving around when you speak and see how that changes your tone. In the interview, all it might take is leaning forward or pressing your heels into the ground, anything that might help you get some physical energy expressed. Experiment in the privacy of your home. Practice. Practice out loud. It might feel silly. That’s OK. Do it any way.

WORDS: The most ironic part is that statistically, words constitute only 7% of your initial impression. Yet, we stress and worry about the correct thing to say. I’m not suggesting that words are not important. It does matter what you say and how you express things, but just know that words are not the only thing. I encourage all my clients to practice answering possible questions BEFORE they get to the interview.

Pay attention to these three things — body language, tone, and words

– and you’ll be successful in creating that important first impression!

And if you enjoyed these interview tips, I invite you to download two FREE Interview Mini-Coaching sessions — to help you answer two of the toughest questions. Just go to http://www.TheVirtualCareerCoachBonus.com

You can listen online or receive MP3 files that you can download onto your iPod so that you can listen anytime. Each coaching session lasts about 15 minutes. And, it’s FREE! Enjoy.

From  Leslie Evans Thorne — The Virtual Career Coach

via employmentdigest.net

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

How to Drive Traffic from Twitter using @Anywhere

How to Drive Traffic from Twitter using @Anywhere

How to Drive Traffic from Twitter using @Anywhere
@Anywhere is a new set of widgets (or plugins) from Twitter that allows you to add Twitter Features to your Blog or Website. @Anywhere is great because it lets your users do the most common activities relating to Twitter (tweeting, following) without leaving your site. Not only that, there are a couple of ways you can use @Anywhere to drive traffic to your site.

Hovercards
This plugin automatically converts every Twitter username (in @problogger format) on your web pages to Twitter links, complete with hover cards (think tooltips on crack) that have the all important “follow” button in them.

Tweet Box
The Tweet box option simply puts a tweet box on your site that users can post tweets with without leaving your site. The benefit of the Tweetbox is anything your user posts to their account includes your website name (even if they didn’t type it).

Adding @Anywhere To Your Site

1. Sign Up
You’ve got to let Twitter know that you’re hosting @anywhere and this is the part where you can set the text that will appear in tweets user make from your site (See above screenshot). Go to this URL on Twitter and fill out the form: Sign Up for @Anywhere

On the form, make sure you set the following correctly:

• Application Name: This text is what will appear on your user’s tweets
• Callback URL: Just set this to your home page address
• Default Access Type: Has to be Read & Write – make sure you set it!

Don’t close the next screen when you’ve submitted the form!

2. Copy API Key
Once you’ve submitted the form, Twitter will provide you with an API key – this is the bit of information Twitter will look for to tell that users are Tweeting from your site. Copy this, and save it some place you can refer to it.

3a. Add @anywhere to your site manually
I’ve created a really small HTML sample page showing both hovercards and the tweetbox in action. You’ll need to edit this and put your API in it to get it working. Once you can see it in action, you should be able to integrate the same features into your site. Download Here (zip, 1kb, right click & save)

One thing I’ve done in this sample is to get the Tweet box pre-populated with the title of page your user is reading. If you *really* know what you’re doing, you’ll want to add a shortened URL to the text box via server side code (not for the faint of heart).

3b. Add @anywhere to your site as a WordPress Plugin
If you can’t edit the code for your blog / site, there is a WordPress plugin you can try, you’ll need the API keys for this as well: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/add-twitter-anywhere/

Summing Up – @Anywhere is a great start to Twitter breaking out of it’s own walls, in a similar way to Facebook’s Connect platform. As you’ve seen there are useful options for integrating it with your website,
You can find out more (including documentation) about @Anywhere at Twitter’s dedicated site:

• dev.twitter.com/anywhere

via twitip.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Change up Your Guacamole Routine by Mixing in Other Food - Kitchen - Lifehacker

Cinco de Mayo may have come and gone, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying guacamole all summer long. To keep it from getting boring, though, food blog Serious Eats has some delicious (and surprising) additions to spice things up a bit.

There are few people on this Earth that don't love some tortilla chips with a good guacamole, and even though one of its best features is its brilliant simplicity, that doesn't mean you can't add some zazz every once in a while. Serious Eats lists a number of different mix-ins that can really change it up—from simple, more obvious ideas like tomatillos chunks or hot chiles to the slightly less obvious, like bananas or grapefruit segments (and, of course, bacon—what list wouldn't be complete without bacon?). Hit the link to check out the rest, and be sure to look through their comments for even more—and, of course, bring it back here to share your favorites in the comments!

How to Jazz Up Your Guacamole [Serious Eats]

Send an email to Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com.

via lifehacker.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

ImageCodr is an awesome way to link to Creative Commons Flickr images

by treehouse1977

When writing a post without a specific screenshot, a blogger (such as myself) needs to come up with an appropriate image. That image must be licensed for use -- you can't just take any old image.

What I usually do is go to Flickr and search for Creative Commons licensed images, with a "commercial okay" provision. I then upload the image and tag it manually, because you still have to provide proper attribution and link up to the creator's page.

That's why I was so happy to find ImageCodr. This tool basically takes all the hassle out of this process and provides a solution that is just about perfect.

I used ImageCodr to link the image at the top of this post. If you examine it in some detail, you'll see all of the small details were taken care of. There's a clear CC logo (with the exact licensing terms for this specific image) and the name of the photographer with a link to their Flickr page. The image itself is linked to the image page, and correct alt text is used (which you can see if you hover over the image). Also, the CC logo links to the CreativeCommons.org website and the license explanation page. This is definitely more information than I could have packed into the image, and it took me exactly one click to get it done.

ImageCodr provides a quick Flickr search for CC-licensed images (which you can also do on Flickr itself and by using a Saved Search in Firefox), but it also provides a nice little bookmarklet that you can drag onto your browser toolbar. You just click it when you see an image that you want to use.

If only they fixed the code so that it middle-aligns properly, this could be a service that I would use on a regular basis. Still, it's a very handy tool.

via pheedcontent.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Minimal Initial thoughts…

via mnmal.tumblr.com

Last week I bought an iPad. A 32Gb Wifi only model.
I bought a Wifi only model because a) I usually am around places with wireless, b) I have an iPhone and it’s enough for when I need something if I am in the middle of the street and c) I don’t want to pay AT&T more money for a service that will be spotty at best. 32Gb is enough for me right now, so I put the extra $100 that would’ve cost to get the bigger model onto buying a case (an Incase neoprene case similar to the one I have for the Macbook) and an extra charger. It was worth it.

Last night my wife commented on the fact that I haven’t touched the laptop in a week.

True. I’ve been using the iPad for everything except run Xcode. I haven’t noticed anything missing so far. It’s just fantastic.

I will post a more detailed review of it, but for now I needed to say what I already knew:

Devices like the iPad are the future for every-day devices. OS’s like the iPhone OS are the future for every-day devices.

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

How Do You Ask for a Career Change? | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

If you’re like most people, you start to get a little bored with your work after about two years. By this point, the novelty has worn off and you’ve learned most of what you need to be a contributor to the organization. These two years are also enough time for you to really figure out where you are in the corporate food chain; that is, a fast riser to the top or a bottom dweller. For those in the later category, you may often consider making a change. Of course, that idea can certainly generate a lot of questions in your mind on just how to do that. Well, here’s a strategy for making this type of change.

Here’s the situation: you’ve been in your job for two or three years and your career in this company boils down to just a job. You shouldn’t worry too much about it. This is about the point where most people determine that they need to make a change. They’ve given the company sufficient time to recognize their skills and contribution to the company. If they haven’t been rewarded with bonuses and promotions by now, they assume they aren’t going to get any. So, they begin to adjust their mindset to consider new options.

Jumping out of your company usually isn’t the first consideration. That takes a little more work, since searching for jobs today is difficult for anyone. A quick option is to consider other opportunities within your existing company. If you haven’t done this before, it can appear quite elusive. It really isn’t too challenging, if you follow these simple steps.

1. Make your efforts visible. We judge ourselves by what we are capable of, while others judge us by what we have done. Most people track their accomplishments on their resume. How many people in your company have seen your resume? I would guess very few. This means most people don’t know what you can do. You have to show them what you are capable of. If you want to be known for having talent in a specific area, find projects to work on that require those talents and make sure the most influential people know you are working on it. High profile programs and projects are great for such exposure. Once you’re on one of these projects, use your internal network to promote your activities.

2. Show you can solve problems. There's no better time than today to start stepping up your game and becoming a positive thinking problem-solver. It's too easy to be a blamer. Always ask yourself “what's the problem here?” Don't be afraid to take the lead in solving a complex problem. It's not career risk. It's career enhancement. One problem facing CEOs, as indicated by the IBM Global Business Services report “After The Crisis: What now?”, is in finding targeted approaches for developing revenue, such as through improved service and support. Tight credit and tight budgets are putting the strain on business. Help solve this problem for your company and you will help put some mobility back into your career.

3. Demonstrate your skills in many ways. Don't just focus your skills and talents on your specific area of expertise. Organizations are constantly pushing the limits of the “doing more with less” philosophy. This is unlikely to change anytime soon. The people that move up in this environment are the ones who step up. Managers don’t know what skills you have, so they aren’t going to come around to your cube and ask you to take on projects that may push you outside the skill sets required by your daily tasks. Growth opportunities are available and are on a first-come first-serve basis. Show your management that you can speak by making presentations, show that you can lead by managing teams, or show that you can teach by offering a class to your company.

4. Compare your performance to other attempts. Always promote your successes by quantifying the results to previous attempts by others in your company or from other documented cases. Don't highlight the failure from the previous attempt but focus on the technique or skill you used that differentiates your attempt. One of the big issues organizations face today is flexibility in their operations or being able to respond to changing customer demands. Companies that are flexible in operations must first be flexible in thought. Demonstrating your ability to, not only think outside the box, but solve problems that way is a huge benefit to an organization that wants to grow.

5. Gather endorsements. An endorsement is a validation of your efforts and YOU. Get as many endorsements of your performance as you can. Recognition from others at higher levels is an acknowledgement of your ability to perform at their level. I was sought an endorsement from a billionaire for my efforts. It took me over 18 months to get it. Once I got it, it only took me two weeks to gain the support of other billionaires. Higher level executives are always managing risk, especially to their reputation. By having other executives validate you through an endorsement, you remove the perception of risk from the next executive who will endorse you. The more of that risk you reduce up front, the more likely you’ll get what you want.

6. Make your successes known. This can be a tough one for many people, although there’s a simple solution for this. To gain visibility, you must advertise yourself as much as you can. Many of us don’t like to tout what we have accomplished. Unfortunately, that’s about the only way we can get the good news of our accomplishments to those in power is by marketing them. Executives and managers don’t work around the organization and ask people what they have accomplished recently. If you’re lucky, that happens once a year in a performance review (and you know what benefits that has for your career). The best way to get the word out on your big victories is to build your own marketing team (e.g. your co-workers and friends). Use others to promote your achievements so you don't come off as bragging.

Maintaining a high rate of speed up the corporate ladder is difficult today, to say the least. Often the path isn’t purely vertical. Oh if it could be. Opportunities present themselves in many different ways, such as lateral, upward or downward. Nonetheless, developing a good method for encouraging a change when you need one is essential to continued career growth. After all, no one watches your career but you. These six steps are a great way to convince those at the helm that you are more than ready to take on a bigger role in the company.

---

Author:

Todd Rhoad, MSEE, MBA is the Director at BT Consulting, a career consulting firm in Altanta, and author of the book, Blitz The Ladder. Stay tuned for his upcoming book, The MBA Owners Manual, coming out this year. Todd can be reached at todd.rhoad@blitzteamconsulting.com.

via careerrocketeer.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Choosing and Using References in your Job Search » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

An important part of any job search is having references who can attest to your being a good employee.  As you begin your job search, take some time to consider which former coworkers will provide you with the most positive references possible.  Most potential employers will want to talk to your former supervisors.  However, you may know that a former supervisor loves gossiping about others or rarely has a kind word to say about anyone.  In that scenario, it may be better to use a former coworker who’s very familiar with your work and who will discuss you more fairly with a future employer.

WHO DO I USE AS A REFERENCE?

Another potentially awkward scenario is using references from jobs you held too far in the past.  If you’ve been at the same company for the last ten years, it is more appropriate to use coworkers and associates from your current employer than to use a supervisor you haven’t worked for in more than ten years.  Perhaps your current position reports to an IT manager but interfaces often with the CFO.  In this situation, the CFO can also attest to your being a team player, having a good work ethic, and having added value to your department.

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE OPTIONS

People who know you from performing significant volunteer responsibilities can also provide excellent references.  For instance, if you publish the newsletter for your local PTA, the school principal may be more familiar with your writing skills than a former manager you had in a sales position.  Using volunteer references is also helpful when you’ve been in your current position for only a short time—and especially if you’ve held your volunteer commitments for many years.  A brief work history won’t count as much against you if you can offset it by demonstrating stability and long-term commitment in other places.

KEEP YOUR REFERENCES IN THE LOOP

Once you’ve chosen the best people to provide your references, it is essential to keep those people informed of your job search.  Someone who has recently spoken with you will reflect their positive memory of that contact when talking with a potential employer.  Most importantly, you don’t want to place a reference in the position of being reprimanded for discussing your qualifications during company time.  Nor do you want them to be caught off guard simply because they were unaware that you are still actively searching for a job.

Most of the time, your references will know only about your duties that directly interacted with their own.  It’s a good idea to send a copy of your resume to your references so they’re aware of all the responsibilities of your current (or previous) position.  It also provides your references with a framework for the overall path of your career, allowing them to speak more intelligently about you when a potential employer calls.

When it comes to references, choose carefully, stay in touch, and provide them with updated information.  As long as they know what to expect, your references will be glad to help you out!

For a free resume analysis send your resume via e-mail to info@greatresumesfast.com. You can also view professionally-written resume samples at http://www.greatresumesfast.com/Samples.htm

via greatresumesfast.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal