***Question From Reader***

Hey landon,
I read your book and it was a very good read, couldnt put it down. One question, what would a person wear for an interview for a trades job? I am applying for a job that Midwest Energy Coop posted for an Apprentice Lineman. I am not a person who likes to dress up much but I will if it means a job.

Thank You for trying to help those who are trying to help themselves.
Dan J.

(Name changed to initials for privacy)

>>>My Comments:

Hey Dan,

I’m glad you enjoyed my book! Thanks for the kind words, it means a lot

To get to your question, here’s what I recommend for your situation: Always dress 1 level above what everyone else wears in the company. In almost all instances I’d suggest wearing a suit & tie. You can never really be too “over dressed” for a job interview unless you’re wearing a tux. Even if you’re applying for a trades job, you need every little advantage to set you apart from your competition. If you’re afraid of looking stupid by being too “over dressed” for your industry – don’t be, because employers KNOW that its hard out there for job seekers and they’ll look favorably on you for putting the extra bit of effort that other tradesmen neglect.

(Take my word on this, I used to work in the construction industry for 3 years and I can tell you it doesn’t make a difference what industry you’re in… Employers appreciate professionalism and effort. Period.)

Keep in mind also that its not just about how you’re dressed but how you’ve demonstrated your value during the interview. And remember to “naked proof” your accomplishments. Dressing nice is only the icing on the cake. If you really want to STAND OUT, “translate your contribution” just like how you learned in my book.

Hope that helps! Let me know how your interview goes

~Landon

Did you like these job interview tips?  Because your future employer will.  There’s plenty more where this came from. Just enter your name and primary email address over on the right and sign up for my FREE “Interview Tips That Work” e-newsletter! Your satisfaction is guaranteed. If you ever decide my e-newsletter is not for you, you can unsubscribe at any time.

What is YOUR job hunting story?

To celebrate my reaching 4,500 followers on Twitter, I’ve decided to have a contest for everyone in our little job seeker community :^)

Here’s what I’m going to do:

I’m going to GIVE AWAY a free copy of my Unspoken Rules of Getting Hired eBook package (worth about $170) – to the person who posts the MOST interesting story about his or her job hunting struggles… in the comments below.

As “Brain Food” I’ll list some questions you might want to answer in your “entry” below…

• How did you get to this point, tell me your story?
• What’s your biggest challenge or frustration right now? (ie resume, cover letter, going on job boards, interviewing, etc.)
• What have you tried so far, but it didn’t work?
• What have you tried so far, and it did work?
• Why should you be chosen?

Now, this fun little contest is going to draw quite a few entries. No question. In order to keep things INTERESTING, I’m going to set a few quick rules…

>Rules:

1) You must write something INTERESTING. No one-liners that say “the economy sucks” or “there are no jobs out there.” I’m not even going to APPROVE comment entries that aren’t thoughtful, interesting, and REAL.

[***Bonus Points: Upload a video to YouTube of 5 minutes or less where you describe how you’ve struggled in your job search and give specific examples. Be sure to tag your video with “imm contest” in quotation marks. Click here to see what it should look like when you are uploading your video. Then leave a comment on this post with a link to your video and a brief description of what hasn't been working for you (no need for more than 1-2 short paragraphs)***]

2) Do all of this no later than 10pm EST next Saturday, February 27th (in other words, start writing NOW).

3) I and a few secret judges will select our top favorites, and then you all will vote for the winner. I’ll also Tweet the name of the winner on Twitter, of course!

So get to it, and post a comment below telling your story about how you’ve struggled on your job search. You just might win $170 bucks worth of my best interview training!

[Follow me free on Twitter here: Twitter.com/Landon_Long]

Your carefully crafted cover letters and resumes are considered worthless if you do not have a clue where to submit them.  In the midst of this recession, you might get yourself lost and lose your path to success and these documents you spent so much time perfecting will do nothing but look pretty in the documents file of your computer.  However, behind the curtains of the economic depression, there lies wide and broad range of job openings that you can imagine are found conveniently online.  So, if you really are tough enough to pursue your dream job, here is a list of top 50 job sites and their descriptions.

Entry Level Job Sites:

• After College – this is specifically created for college students and recent graduate students.  This is both a job and internship site that allows job seekers to post their resume.  This site has a search engine, providing job seekers easy access to numerous job openings across different states.  For more convenience, job seekers can filter their job search by job type, area, industry, and type of career.  The site also offers information and career advice.
• CollegeGrad – currently, the number 1 entry-level job site as it provides job search service for college students and recently graduated students.  It is probably the only entry-level job site that list down the Best in Class Employers, Top Intern Employers and Top Masters Employers.  The site also offers job search advice and virtual career fair.  Furthermore, it allows resume posting, and internships searching.
• College Recruiter – a job site designed for providing entry-level job and career opportunities for college students, recent graduate students and graduates.  It also displays part time and full time job listing.
• Raytheon – offers job listings and descriptions for the current job opportunities.  It has jobs section that gives every job seeker the chance to look for the perfect job according to their field of interest, location and job type choice.  It has profile matching and internships and co-ops features to help college students and recent college students have hands-on experience.  The site also offers recruiting events specifically for North America.
• The Job Box – This job site is open to high school and college job seekers.  It brings job opportunities from seasonal and part time job to entry-level job and internships.  Job seekers can search using keywords, job category and location.  The site includes career news and resources.

International Job Sites:

• BilingualCareer.com – site dedicated to bilingual or multi-lingual job seekers.  For the sake of communication, the job seekers are required to be at least knowledgeable in the English language.  The site also allows job seekers to search by location, industry and keywords.  In addition, job seekers can search by language.  This job site also provides advice on job interviews and resume creation.  Job seekers can post their resume here.
• Indeed.com – it is a meta-search job site that aims to pull thousands of job postings from different places around the world.  It compiles together job postings from major job boards, top newspapers, professional associations and career centers.  Job seekers can browse by title, company, location and keywords.
• jobalot.com – this is one of the mega-meta job sites that use simple job search interface.  From hundreds of job sites and thousands of job listings, job seekers can simplify their job search by searching using keywords and location, and browsing by category.  In this site, job seekers can learn about job hunting process.  The site is also dedicated to providing information about continuing education opportunities.
• Jobs.NET – a job site that accommodates job seekers across the globe, allowing them to browse through thousand of jobs, post confidential online resumes and receive tips and advice about job hunting.  Job seekers can search by criteria, such as keywords, location, recent job postings, salary, job position, industry, company size and so on.
• LatPro – this site is dedicated to provide assistance to Hispanic and bilingual professionals.  It is a leader in online employment all over the world, giving job seekers the opportunity to scan through job listings from employers that are pre-screened.  It also allows job seekers to post multiple resume, create email job agent and access career resources.
• Monster.com – considered one of the oldest career sites online.  It has thousands of job listing across the globe.  The site includes career advice, relocation services and  an auction-style marketplace, perfect for independent professionals.
• Prohire.com – it includes more than 150,000 job postings from all over the world.  It is one of the free job sites with the largest database.  Job seekers can submit and post their online resumes and check out job competition and openings within their location.
• TwitterJobSearch.com – this is Twitter’s job search engine for job seekers twitter users.  Job seekers can search jobs using keywords.  The results are then displayed using tweets.
• Yahoo! HotJobs – considered one of the best resource job sites online.  It offers job search resources for job seeking professionals, free of charge.  Online users can create their own personalized career management page that provides the necessary tools for fast, convenient and safe job search.

General/Diverse Job Sites:

• Best Jobs in the USA Today – this is a job site with comprehensive resource.  It is integrated with job databases, corporate profiles, post resume feature and career resources center.
• CareerBuilder – probably it has the largest diversity of job listings.  It posts help wanted ads from the leading newspapers today at the same time provides job listings and openings from leading employers.  As its name implies, the site helps to build a job seeker’s career by providing resources such as job tips and advice.
• Careerjournal.com – allows job seekers to broaden their job search.  It has great resources of articles that guide job seekers on their job hunt.  The site is created by The Wall Street Journal.
• CareerPark.com – Posting a resume on this site is relatively easy.  Also, it brings convenience to job seekers searching for job using the Internet.  In this site, job seekers can find other helpful career and job sites online, increasing and widening their options.
• DiversityWorking.com – This site is perfect for ethnic and sexual orientation groups.  As a diversity job site, job seekers are allowed to search for jobs by posting recency.  In addition, seekers can search by location, job type, industry and keywords.  Furthermore, job seekers are given an option to either sign up or not in the site’s free newsletter.  Also, job hunters can post their resume here.
• FreshJobs.com – a site endeavors to provide the freshest job listing online.  Its database consists only of job postings not older than 7 days.  The job search can be filtered by skills, benefits, location, company and type of job.  For job matching service, job seekers are required to sign up.  Post a resume here and get a confidential mailbox.
• GOJobs.com – considered as a general job board, this site provides help to job seekers searching for job openings.  The job listing can be browsed by state, keyword and job function.  Also, it is a site dedicated to bring information to job seekers.
• Jobfox – utilizes Mutual Suitability System to match job seekers to job opportunities.  This job matching sites has an in-depth profile system to be able to learn the job seeker’s experience, wants and needs.  The job opportunities are rated based on how the job seeker matches the job description.  Also, the employers are matched the same way.  This job site has membership fees.
• JobSimply – a job site providing wide range of job opportunities from part time jobs and summer jobs to professional and executive jobs.  Job seekers can look into retail jobs, hospital jobs, restaurant jobs, teen jobs and cruise ship jobs.  They can search through industries, locations and keywords.  The site also includes resources about career tips and advice.
• Jobzerk – a job site that is socially driven, allowing its members to interact and communicate to each other.  As a community based job site, job seekers can publish and share useful information about their job search and/or hiring process.
• Juju – this is one of the best job sites for finding interesting career resources.  In this site, job seekers can look into 15 different job sites such as CareerCity, CareerMosaic, JobOptions, NationJob and so on.  Searches can be quickened using keywords.
• NationJob Network – a job search service integrated with thousands of latest job listings.  It features company profiles and it is incorporated with email job matching service, based on your qualifications and preferences.
• Net-Temps – one of the top job sites where job seekers can scan thousands of job postings and post their resume.  The job postings include contract, temporary and even permanent jobs.  The site is designed with tools and resources, including career enhancement articles.
• Realmatch.com – a job-matching site that requires job seekers to submit their qualifications and preferences and matches the information provided to the employer’s requirements.  Job seekers can use the job listings to search for job by keyword and location.
• Vault.com – this site has more than 150,000 job postings from up to 27,000 employers.  Due to its popularity, the site branched out into recruitment.  It has insider reports on different companies and it allows job seekers to search through multiple criteria, including job categories, keywords, experience, location and date posted.  The site also has email job matching service.

Local/National/Specific Job Sites:

• Careercast – One of the coolest job portals that feature niche and local jobs from all over the United States and Canada.  It gives job seekers the freedom to choose where they want to live and work.  To search for a job, job seekers can filter the job listing by title, category, and company.  There is also an advanced option to better target the right job openings for the job seekers.  Also, the portal gives job seekers the opportunity to post their resume.
• CareerSurf.com – It accommodates US and Canadian job seekers from different industries and niche.  Job seekers can search for different types of jobs using job category, location and keywords.  It also accepts resume from job seekers and posts them.
• EmploymentGuide.com – This is a good option for searching jobs locally on the United States. Currently, the site developed around 56 metropolitan areas job listings.  As a career site, job seekers can post resume and find helpful career advice on this site.  And with the integration of localized job areas listings, job seekers can now look for job position in a prospective geographic area.
• FindARecruiter.com – This is ideal for job seekers looking for recruiting or hiring professionals such as headhunters, executive search and staffing firms.  The job seekers can browse into the site’s database with more than 10,000 recruiters.  For searching option, job seekers can use the company’s name, location and specialty.
• GetTheJob.com – It is a job portal specifically designed for direct employer jobs only.  It collects different job posts from different corporate career centers of different companies.  When approximated, this site probably has at least 2 million of job openings information.  For email alerts, job seekers are required to register.
• JobCircle.com – It is considered the largest non-newspaper affiliated job board in Mid-Atlantic, operating in 10 states.  The site provides information, discussion and careers.  Job seekers can browse and search for the job they wanted and they can also post their resume.
• Jobcentral – formed by the alliance of two non-profit associations, this site has an extensive network across US.  It provides employment and career opportunities to job seekers in different industries and job category, from entry-level to chief executive job position.  Job seekers can search by company.
• Job Search Shortcuts – providing links to thousands of job listing web pages, job seekers can browse and search jobs in up to 30 metropolitan areas nationwide.  For faster search, job seekers are allowed to search by category and by city.  This site connects job seekers to their prospective employers.
• LocalHelpWanted.net – it is incorporated with numerous features and benefits for job seekers.  The site allows job seekers to view and narrow the job listings by state and major city.  The members can post different kinds of resume, including audio resume, video resume and portfolio once registered.  This site has a membership fee.  However, job seekers can still use the basic services without a cost.
• myCareerSpace – allows job seekers to search by category, region or keywords.  It accepts up to five different online resumes for applying online job openings.  The site is integrated with job hunting resources such as career expos, salary, relocation, insurance and so on.
• SnagAJob.com – it is probably the largest job site for searching part time and full time jobs.  It is built with career resources and advice and job seekers can scan the job listing by job type, and location.  It also has email alert feature upon registration.
• thingamajob.com – a free career site, allowing job searching and online resume posting.  It has job alert feature and career tools for job seekers to utilize.  Job searches can be done by job categories, location, keywords and date posted.

Professional/Niche Job Sites:

• Dice.com – this is designed specially for technology professionals.  It is great job and career site that provides more than a thousand of job openings for professionals.  The job list can be filtered for search convenience by job type, location and employer.  It securely protects confidential profile from job seekers, making job seekers’ resume safe from devious minds.  Here, job seekers can find useful career resources and they can create email job alert.
• USAJOBS – open to job seekers looking for information about jobs and employment in the United States Federal Government.  The job listing can be viewed by keyword, occupation and location.  Job seekers on this site can post their resume and register for job matching service.  The site also has resource and tips for job seekers interested in working at the government.
• VetJobs.com – designed specifically for veterans and transitioning military personnel.  It also accommodates job seekers with relation to a veteran and it allows job seekers to post resume online.  The job openings include all levels and types of jobs.  Job seekers can view job results by type, keyword and location.  The site also includes key resources for veterans.

New Concept Job Sites:

• The Interview Exchange – a job board that rates job seekers based on how closely they matched on the job position.  The job seekers can receive the job matching results via email.  Also, it permits job seekers to post their resume.
• Jobirn: Insider Referral Network – known for its uniqueness, this site has a job board, online job interview system and employee referral system, connecting job seekers to employees of their prospective companies.  The purpose of the employee referral system is to assist job seekers in getting a referral.
• JobShouts! – a job site that uses the power of social media.  It helps create connections and provides job matching results for job seekers.  As much as possible, it delivers real time job postings at the same time automated one click searching from different social media networks.
• Jobs in Pods – this is a web 2.0 job site.  It gives job seekers the opportunity to listen to their prospective employer’s jobcast.  This includes audio interviews that discuss the company’s culture, benefits and how to and where to apply.  The podcast comes with blog post for information and links about employers and job postings.
• LiveHire – one of the innovative job sites today.  Through this site, job seekers can get online interview via webcam.  However, job seekers need to submit their professional profile first and if employers are interested, they will contact prospective employees via email.  This is highly recommended for long-distance job search.
• Simply Hired – Job seekers can be updated when new jobs are listed via email, social media networks, blogs, homepage and even through mobile phone.  This is a job search engine for searching job listings using keywords.  The results will come from multiple resources.

Featured Sites:

• LinkUp – a job search engine with new and unique features.  The site has the list of more than 20 thousand jobs from company websites.  It is always updated with comprehensive job listing.  Job seekers can search by title, keyword, and by location.  The site is also built up with WorkSearch, a tool to track how long a jobseeker is searching for a job.  It also has Tabs feature where in a job seeker can keep track of his job searches.
• TweetMYJOBS – a job board that provides notification of open positions INSTANTLY via short messaging service. The site tweeted thousands of jobs within a day and at least a million in just a month. This new innovative service brings together recruiters, hiring managers and job seekers. Browse jobs by company or by location.

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of requests from people who want to see a good example of a resume on twitter. And for good reason too… I mean what good is all this advice if you dont even have a sample that’s been proven to work right?

So I decided to share with you an older version of my personal resume that uses about 30% of what I teach in my book The Unspoken Rules of Getting Hired so you can see how all this works for yourself. This resume was originally supposed to be a “pilot” resume to test how employers would respond in today’s job market, and in the end this resume was able to land me over 16 job interviews in 2 weeks!

Seriously.

Oh yeah… and I should mention here that I was applying for jobs that weren’t even in the same industry where most of my experience was.

Crazy, right?

Anyways, I say all this not to brag, but to demonstrate that as long as you TAKE ACTION on what you’ve learned in my book, you WILL start seeing results FAST…

So here’s a screen shot of what it looks like. I blocked out previous employers and changed some of my personal information to prevent stalkers from showing up at my front door, but everything else (ie work experience and accomplishments) is 100% legit:

Enjoy

Lets face it – In today’s economy, you are up against a HUGE uphill battle when it comes to starting your career. Even if you figured out what you want your career to be, chances are you wouldn’t have a fighting chance at securing it because you don’t know how to promote yourself to employers.

It comes down to simply not having a lot of options to choose from in this job market. Sure there might be lots of job openings out there…but if that’s the case, why aren’t you hear anything from employers?

Well what I’m about to tell you might shock you…so put on your tough suit of armor because I’m not going to try to “save your feelings” about this. What I’m about to tell you is the TRUTH and if anyone tells you differently BITCH SLAP THEM AND RUN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!

Ok not really, but seriously…Here’s what most they aren’t telling you…

IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO PROMOTE YOURSELF TO EMPLOYERS…

YOU WONT HAVE A CAREER. PERIOD.

(Yeah I said it…)

I mean think about it… If you want to kick off your career after college you need to know how to PROMOTE yourself to hiring managers. If you want to get a raise and move up the career ladder, you need to know how to PROMOTE yourself to your supervisors.  Even the dude who got a job from one of his daddy’s golf buddies had someone “promoting him” even if he didn’t do it himself. For most of us regular peeps who don’t have all the high-level connections, we rely on our own street smarts and for some it comes easier than it does others.

So why don’t employers just hire us? Why do we have to learn how to promote ourselves to employers?

Well there’s a long list of reasons…and most of them come from the misconceived perception that college grads these days (or “Millenials” as they call us) are:

• Too entitled
• Too lazy or unmotivated
• Too social
• Hard to manage
• Not enough experience
• Not open to feedback
• Not open to self-improvement

(Just check out my Free Report, “The 10 Most Dangerous Mistakes YOU Probably Make With Employers And What To Do About It…” and I’ll break it down for you…)

And all of these reasons are rooted from the same source:

Not knowing how to promote yourself as a candidate who ISN’T one of these types of Millenials.

Are you following me?

And this is the problem that has been plaguing millions of other college grads who are struggling to find something in this crippled job market.

So here’s what I’d do if you want to have a career that others would KILL for:

Learn how to PROMOTE yourself as an A-player.

Not only that but learn how to become an A-player as well. Period.

Why? Because A-player’s have something that many of us unemployed college grads can only dream about.

They have unlimited career OPTIONS.

They are sought-after by companies in EVERY industry. And they are among the top 5% of candidates out there. They can move between industries without any problems because they know how to network, and they ARE highly networked. They know how to MARKET themselves to employers and they know how to make their PERCEIVED value higher than 95% of the population.

Bottom line, if you want a great career, learn how to become an A-Player first! Then you’ll be able to select ANY career you want from a buffet of possibilities. Choose not to become one, and you’ll be forced to “settle” for all the “scraps” that no one else wants.

Don’t let life pass you by for another second. Building yourself to be an A-player is probably one of the most important things you can do for your career and life if you want to have the freedom to experience life instead of being forced into a situation that just “pays the bills”.

If you want to learn more about how to become an A-player, I strongly recommend you check out my Free Newsletter. I’ll send you tips, tricks, and strategies to help you go from being just another “average” candidate to being a “heavily armed jobseeker” in a matter of weeks. You’ll learn about employer psychology, getting around phone interviews, building rapport with body language, negotiating salaries, and everything else that’ll help you get hired in less time.

So what are you waiting for? Go sign up for my Free Newsletter and jumpstart your job search RIGHT NOW.

Happy Hunting!

Imagine what it would be like if you could just sit down and bang out the perfect resume from scratch in no time flat… without ever having to go through the whole “staring at a blank screen for HOURS” phase…

How cool would that be?

You wouldn’t have to procrastinate your job search any more or experience that sinking feeling in your stomach every time you think about working on it.

A lot of times when I’m trying to come up with content for my resume I almost always run into writers block. My mind draws a blank and I never get past a few lines of text. It’s frustrating as hell because I can be sitting in front of my computer for an entire day and have nothing to show for it.

After studying famous copywriters and reading TONS of books on how to become a better resume writer (and writer in general), I’ve stumbled across a little gem of knowledge that’s really helped take my resume writing to the next level.

Here’s one very important concept I learned that I also mention in my book The Unspoken Rues of Getting Hired, and that is:

“Premature criticism destroys creativity”

This concept can best be explained like this… Imagine you’re in a sculpting class and there’s a barrel of clay going around from desk to desk giving each student enough clay to work on sculpting for the day.

Now the rules are simple: When the barrel comes to your desk, you have 10 seconds to grab as much clay out of the barrel as possible. As soon as your time is up, the barrel moves on to another desk and you are only allowed to work with what you were able to get in the 10 seconds you were given.

Now, what would you do?

The smart thing to do, would be to do nothing else but shovel clay out of the barrel for the 10 seconds that you have! Because if you don’t, chances are you won’t be able to make much progress on your masterpiece.

But that’s exactly what most college students (and experienced professionals) forget to do when it comes to writing content for their resumes. What they do instead is they grab a little clay and start editing, write a sentence or two, and edit some more… and they don’t get very far.

So gather clay first à then sculpt later or rather, write first –> edit later.

Turns out, the human brain can only focus on ONE thing at a time. We really do have a one track mind in that sense. I mean think about it… Can you ever really have 2 totally different thoughts at the same time? I’m not talking about being able to pat your head and rub your stomach…or watching TV while you’re doing homework… those activities don’t require THOUGHT.

What I’m talking about is being able to do your Math homework while simultaneously writing a paper… You cant!

Its impossible.

Our brains just aren’t wired that way.

The next time you sit down to work on creating new content for your resume, pay attention to what’s going on. What you’ll notice is that you’ll look at what you’re writing on the screen and you’ll go back and fix all the little typos as they happen.

STOP!

This is what’s screwing you over…

What just happened was your brain went from being in a creative state to analytical / editing state. Instead of maintaining momentum in creating and getting into the “flow” state, you slammed on the brakes and robbed yourself of gaining any real ground… this is what causes most beginning writers to  take up an entire day to come up with material.

But its not YOUR FAULT that this happens! Its just how our brain is wired. This is all going on subconsciously and AUTOMATICALLY and almost no one knows its going on as its happening!

So in terms of writing our resumes, what I’ve discovered is that our brains can only be in 1) creation mode or 2) editing mode in any given moment. What most of us tend to do is we write a little bit in our resume then analyze the hell out of it and we write a little more then analyze it again and it turns into this orgy of writing and editing that never really gets us anywhere.

Eventually we give up, and say things like, ”Fuck this… I’ll just wait till spring quarter and then worry about sending out resumes.” Which if you’ve read my Opportunity Cost of Senioritis Article, you’d know that’s not the best idea when it comes to finding success in life after college.

What we need to do is focus ONLY on creation for a period of time and ONLY on editing for a period of time. That’s the secret to eliminating Resume writer’s block and being able write MORE content in LESS time.

And here’s are my resume tips for how to do that…

STEP 1) Open MS Word so that you have a blank screen

STEP 2) Close all other programs on your PC or MAC so that no “pop ups” will come up

STEP 3) Turn down the brightness of your screen till its BLACK (or turn off your monitor so that you don’t see ANYTHING on your screen). By doing this, you’re making the creation state INEVITABLE by eliminating ALL chances of distraction or impulses to edit.

STEP 4) Setup a digital timer or Google an online countdown timer and set it for ONE HOUR

STEP 5) Write and DON’T STOP WRITING UNTIL THE TIMER GOES OFF!

Keep in mind, as you’re writing you WILL make mistakes. Its bound to happen and its OK. Just go back and edit what you’ve written later. That way you’ll at least be able to have some content to sculpt instead of staring at a blank screen for hours and getting distracted by facebook or email, etc.

So now that you know how to get over your writer’s block, I want you to sit down and pick 1 previous work experience and write for one hour using this method. Then in the comments area below, let everyone know how you did. If you know of any other tricks, go ahead and leave them on here as well and maybe we can all create a nice collection to share.

Happy hunting!

Have you ever wondered how to apply for jobs that are related to your major but don’t have anything to do with your previous work experience?

If so, you’re not alone. I’m going to teach you a concept that’ll not only help you gain more control and popularity in your job interviews, but it will also help you avoid looking like every other clueless candidate that walks in through their door.

I call this concept, “Experience Alignment”.

So first things first, what is Alignment anyway? If you visit Wikipedia.org, it’ll define Alignment as the adjustment of an object in relation with other objects. So in other words Alignment means to “line up”.

Well in the context of interviewing and getting hired, “Experience Alignment” means to align your previous work experience with the kind of relevant experience that your prospective employer is looking for.

For example, if you want to work for a marketing firm, and your studying sales and marketing in college, but the only kind of experience you have is a part-time job being an insurance intern for 2 years, what do you think would be going on in the head of the hiring manager who’s interviewing you?

Do you think they’re going to see you as being very aligned with wanting to be in the marketing industry? What do you think you’d ideally like to see from a candidate?

Maybe someone who’s had some work experience in the field of marketing perhaps? Even if the position was an unpaid volunteer position for a non-profit marketing organization, wouldn’t you think that would look better than having work experience in a totally unrelated field? Or even worse, no experience at all?

“So how can I get my experience Aligned?

STEP 1: Take a look at your past experience and ask yourself, “Is there anything I can salvage from my already existing work experience?”

So if we take the example above, and lets say you happened to help your insurance employer hand out some flyers to unsuspecting people at a busy intersection to build a little local brand awareness. On your resume, you may want to consider putting an emphasis on the ”marketing” experience you gained instead of talking about answering phones or pushing insurance papers…

Are you following me?

You want to stay in alignment. Once you’ve broken down all of your existing previous work experience, and sucked all of your relevant experience dry, you’ll want to move on to the next step…

STEP 2: Focus on GETTING MORE EXPERIENCE… in your field of study.

I know. Painfully obvious isn’t it? But why don’t people ever do anything about this? Well for one, people will always gravitate towards the path of least resistance. Its just human nature. On one hand it might SEEM like it requires a lot of effort. But in reality its not all that difficult. It just requires a little WILL POWER and MOTIVATION.

I remember a few years ago, I had a friend in college who I gave this advice to and he was like, “Yeah, but that sounds like a lot of work… Maybe I’ll get to it someday in the future…” And low and behold, a few house parties later, he had completely drank away any memory about this advice and never did anything different. He just continued on with his life, totally unaware that his experience wasn’t aligned, and he dug himself deeper and deeper until one day he found out he’d have to move back in with his parents and give up his freedom for an entire year all because he didn’t have any relevant experience regardless of his major.

So if you don’t want that kind of future for yourself, ask yourself this, “What can I do to start getting more relevant experience?”

If you’re drawing a blank, how about switching part-time jobs if you’re currently employed? There’s some food for thought… Other things you might want to try are volunteering at industry-held charities or attending an event held by industry associations.

Think for a moment and try to come up with a list of some of your own ideas.

Once you’ve made your list, you can move onto the final step…

STEP 3: Get off your butt and TAKE ACTION.

Depending on how bad you want the job…  this can be a walk in the park, or it can be like pulling teeth with pliers if you’re not 100% committed to getting a job RIGHT NOW.  My advice? Get outside of your comfort zone and implement at least 1 item from your list TODAY! If you start CHANGING YOUR BEHAVIORS by actually doing something different than what you’ve been doing in the past, I guarantee you’ll start seeing result IMMEDIATELY.

So in the comments area below, let everyone know what YOUR experience has been, and maybe we can all help each other get some Alignment on our job search.

Happy hunting!

Scene 1:

Hiring Manager: “Why should I hire you?”

You: “Why shouldn’t you hire me? Pssh… cause I’m better than all the other idiots out there…duh!”

Ok.. maybe you shouldn’t use that kind of approach on your next job interview… but really lets take a closer look at this interview question and see what’s REALLY going on behind the curtain… Have you ever asked yourself why employers ask this interview question in the first place? Could it be that that they’re really just trying to get under your skin? To see if you’ll crack? Or do you think its to see what you’d come up with on the spot? See how you do under pressure?

You know what? It could be all of the above in my opinion.

But if there’s one key takeaway you should learn from this post, if nothing else, it would be no matter what your answer is, it should ALWAYS be in employer’s best interest…. In other words, “WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM”… And it really helps when you actually put some forethought in this ahead of time instead of spouting out a bunch of “overdone” responses like, “I’m a hard worker, I’m good with people, I’ll do a good job for you…blah, blah, blah”

You think this is the first time they’ve heard anyone say that before? Yeah right! You’re probably the 1034^th person to walk in through that door with the EXACT same rehashed bologna and employers can see right through it! Don’t settle for the lazy way out… Put some effort into it… some passion… REALLY.

Here’s a clue for what I would do…

[WARNING: This approach is definitely not for everyone. But with enough practice, I can guarantee you one thing: They’ll remember you long after the interview is over]

Step 1: Study their job posting and figure out exactly what they want

Step 2: Cater your answer to the “Why should I hire you?” question to match every single one of the requirements on the job posting.

For example:

Let’s say a job posting is for an administrative position and says, “Must be organized and be able to multi-task.”

Ok… so what could you say as a response to “Why should I hire you?”

How about… “You should hire me because I’ve proven time and time again for my previous employers that I have an exceptional ability to keep my projects organized and efficient. And as I’ve mentioned in my resume, I was able to keep our office and project files organized while simultaneously being able to help my direct supervisor establish a filing system, distribute press kits, [insert task], [insert task], etc (you get the idea). So if you’re still looking to hire someone who can be exceptional at multi-tasking while being able to keep your office organized… you just need to ask yourself one question… and that is: “Would hiring anyone else OTHER THAN me be a good business decision? [pause for effect]

Like I said, this approach might be a bit more “aggressive” for most people out there who are currently stuck in their “I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing even though it’s not working” mentality… but if you don’t want to continue to be broke and unemployed… you just gotta ask yourself one thing…

How bad do YOU want this job?

Hope this entry helps. Now do me a favor and leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

Happy hunting!

Everyone knows that our economy is in shambles. Jobs are scarce and everyone is worried about money. As a college student it can be even scarier because not only do you face all the same challenges as everyone else, but you also have to deal with not having any real world experience which can really be a major pain in the ass when it comes down to figuring out how to write a resume.

After years of studying the hiring process and learning how to become successful with interviewing and landing jobs consistently, I’ve discovered that the first step in getting hired ultimately comes down to being able to GET THE INTERVIEW IN THE FIRST PLACE. And this can be done by learning how to write a resume.

But not just any resume… A resume that will AUTOMATICALLY attract employers and hiring managers and literally force them to want to interview you. So what can you do to start learning how to write a resume?

Here are my 5 “Hidden Secrets” on how to write a resume:

1) Learn How Hiring Managers Think – How will you persuade employers to interview you? How can you make yourself look good enough on paper so that hiring managers will be convinced that you are worthy enough to bring in for a job interview? That is probably the most challenging assignment there is when it comes to creating a resume. Take Sun Tzu’s advice from The Art of War,  “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” Study hiring psychology. Study the hiring process. Figure out what employers are REALLY looking for.

2) Write With Their Needs In Mind – If you give employers what they want, they’ll listen to you. What does every employer want in your resume? That’s hard to say, because  every employer has a different job that needs to be filled. Its your job to figure out what they want and deliver on those needs in your resume. Hiring managers generally ask themselves a few questions when they pick a resume to read. Here they are:

1. “Who cares?”
2. “So what?”
3. “What’s in it for me?”

When you think about it, hiring managers are looking over your resume for their reasons, not yours. They don’t care what you want. They care about what they want. Every employer, every hiring manager, is the same. Can you provide the answers? If you cant, your employers—well, you wont have any employers. Consider this step part of your research phase. Its an essential step in creating a resume that will nail your future employer’s eyes to the page.

That’s what you want, isn’t it?

3) Select The Format That Gets RESULTS – I get this question a lot from my clients, “How should I format my resume?” And do you know what I tell them? Use whatever format that does the job and gets you the interview. Period.

Now it turns out, there have been some formats that have been statistically proven to drive the best results and some formats that have been proven to drive the worst results. Based on my research, I’d recommend using the accomplishment based resume format and I would never EVER use the skills based (or functional) resume format.

4) Learn How To “Word-Smith” Your Accomplishments – This is where most of us “non-writers” get stuck in the resume writing process. “How do can I make my responsibilities sound really good?” The answer: Learn how to write hypnotic text. Learn how to build desire. Emotion. Learn how to let your words paint a picture and tell the story of your previous successes. Reel them in with benefits and curiosity. And give them reasons or logic for why they should interview you. Think about the hiring manager’s emotional concerns, and talk to them in a way they cant ignore. If you do, you’ll create a resume that is both persuasive and hypnotic. For example:

Before

“Typed, performed data entry, answered phones, receptionist duties”

After

“Performed data entry for 16 regional hearing officers as member of eight person office team. Assisted with email responses, distribution, report generation, and payroll input. Helped purge backlog of 1,000 obsolete files.”

Are you beginning to see why its important to learn how to MARKET yourself to employers?

5) Learn Resume Design Principles – Did you know studies of resume screeners have shown that “pretty” resumes are more likely to get into the interview pile than an “average” looking resume? Its true. This fact has been proven countless times. Having a resume design that is both simple and professional is crucial if you want to be able to stand out among the masses. The key is to make your resume look inviting and easy to read. You have to ask yourself, “If I were forced to read through thousands of resumes as my job, which ones would I naturally be biased towards before ever reading a single word?”

Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and wide margins. If you pick up a resume and  it’s a solid block of text, would you want to read it? Probably not. It’s not inviting. It looks like work. Instead make your resume attractive. How you lay out your resume can make people like it before they even read it.

As you can imagine, how you use those secrets is up to you. Go through your resume—go through the entire document—with these pointers in mind. Look for places to rewrite, reformat, or in any other way grab and hold your reader’s attention. And as you absorb this information, you’ll see that a resume is not merely a piece of paper used to convey your work experience. Its actually a marketing tool used to PROMOTE you as someone worthy of a job interview.

See the difference?

So in the comments below, let me know which one of these 5 secrets interests you the most…If I get a lot of good feedback, I might just post more detailed tips on “How To Write A Resume”. Trust me, there’s a lot more funk where this came from!

Employers are some tricky bastards.  They say things for all sorts of reasons and sometimes its hard to know exactly what they’re trying to get at.  Relax.  Just don’t be a smart-ass and try not to create any negative connotations and you’ll be good.  But just because we know you’re going to go in there and have a panic attack, we’ve collected some of the common interview questions for you to think about ahead of time.

1.  So, Tell Me About Yourself.

“Well, I burn weed, get wasted 7 nights a week, and sleep with someone new every Friday night.”  Yeah, it seems like asking this and expecting the truth is about as brilliant as asking a hooker if she has STD’s before purchasing.  The thing is, they aren’t just testing your confidence and communications skills, they are evaluating you as an investment, because that is what you are.  Tell them why you’re a worthy investment of their time and energy, mean it, and deliver.

2.  What Were Your Duties in Your Last Job?

They don’t care that it was your obligation to clean the toilets on Fridays.  Pick the three most important, hopefully relevant, tasks you performed regularly.  Word it like a mission statement and make it relevant to the job at hand.  “I was responsible for creating and nurturing customer relationships.”

The way you describe your responsibilities paints a subconscious picture of your worth—do you really want that picture to include you scrubbing the inside of a toilet?  List your most valuable contributions and let them fill in the gaps.

3.  What is Your Ideal Work Environment?

If you’re applying for a job pouring cocktails in a back alley of downtown New Jersey, you’d better mention your fondness for slobbering barflies and mopping up vomit.  The trick is to make your “dream job” a symbolic representation of the job in question.

Don’t kiss too much ass, but put it in their mind that you’re a perfect fit.  Also, your reasons should be more idealistic and impressive than creature comforts and fringe benefits.  You don’t want to give the idea you are selfish.

4.  What Was the Biggest Project in Your Career For Which You Were the Catalyst?

Don’t start talking about your group effort to isolate and terrorize Jenny from Sales until she had a nervous breakdown and checked into a mental hospital.  They want work-related projects here that were in the company’s best interest.  This is the chance to demonstrate motivation and drive.

5.  What Would Your Ideal Employer Be Like?

“One that never comes to work.”  Just kidding.  The fantasy of an undisciplined workplace might be a nice thought, but you wouldn’t have a job long with that kind of chaos. And since they will be there to direct and guide you, they want to know what to expect of you.  Are you going to be a headache?  Is it all about you?  Rather than describe a boss, describe the kind of healthy working relationship that bosses dream about.

6.  What Do You Know About This position?

This is the time to show you know what you’re getting yourself into as well as illustrate your research abilities.  Talk about the duties involved and what they mean for the company as a whole.  It’s always good to relate your role in the company as part of a bigger picture because that is their perspective.  Getting on their wavelength builds rapport.

7.  Do You Know Anything About What We Do?

Wow—they’re really giving you the chance to show-off how well you prepared.  I hope you have.  It’s time to talk about the company and where they fit in the industry.  Also, touch on the relationship they strive to create with the greater public.  It’s important to convey a respect for their role and a desire to be a part of that.  Don’t dog on their environmental track record and all the baby pandas they kill—not if you want the job anyways.

8.  Why Did You Leave or Are You Leaving Your Other Job?

Not the time to say you’re boss was an arrogant asshole.  Everything should be framed positive.  You want to open up new career opportunities.  You’re intrigued by the future of the envelope industry.  Your want to ride your bike to work.  Don’t lie, but be tactful.

No matter how reasonable you reason for a less than positive exit, if you bash your incompetent boss, the mental seed will still be planted that it was your fault.  Employers identify with employers, not employees.  It’s human nature.

9.  When Are You Available to Start?

“I don’t know.  I’ve got a lot going on this week, and next week my brother’s coming to town.  After that is St. Patrick’s Day and there’s a big party at my boyfriend’s place.  Can I call you next week and let you know?”  Even with a crumbling economy and lack of jobs, you’d be surprised at how many grads pull this shit.  Set yourself apart.

The best thing to do is ask them when they need you.  Even better, look them straight in their eye and say, “Right now.”  You’ll be surprised how often that gets you a job on the spot, so be ready to back it up.

10.  What are Your Biggest Strengths?

Develop a personal statement that outlines three of your biggest strengths, and use it when this question is asked.  It will ALWAYS be asked in one form or another.  Just make sure it matches the needs of the company, and remember that it isn’t just about your strengths—it’s about your strengths matching their needs.

11.  Describe a Challenge You’ve Faced with a Colleague.

Don’t mention the fistfight you had with the baker when you used to bag groceries.  Tell a story that puts you and the other worker in a positive light.  Talk about a misunderstanding, but focus on how you overcame it with good communication.

It’s important to note that they know you have flaws you’re not revealing even if you frame everything positive, but constructing those mental associations will leave good thoughts that far outweigh their curiosity about the truth.  After you leave, it won’t be your answers that linger, it will be the emotions you crafted by placing images in their heads.  Negative connotations are not a good idea.

12.  Are You Okay With the Salary for this Position?

If you want the job and the salary is fair for the market, you should probably say yes.  This is a point where you better have done some research because you’re answer may decide your quality of life for quite some time.  If you want to be able to ask for raises later, mention that you are happy as long as the job fits your expectations.  Since they’ll probably dump enough extra work in your lap for another you, this gives you room to bitch later on.

13.  Tell Me About Your Biggest Weakness.

“I can be a bit of a perfectionist.”  “I can’t stand it when other people don’t work as hard as I do.”  Yeah, sure, Brown-noser.  Applicants have sat in that same chair feeding them that bullshit for weeks.  Try something different.

Talk about how your strengths can work against you and how you deal with that.  Being original will make you stand out in their mind more than anything else, and you don’t want to ever use a cookie cutter answer—it creates the impression that you are lazy and like to cut corners.

You can’t predict every question that will be thrown your direction, but that’s okay because being able to think on your feet is a great demonstration of value as well.  But by preparing for these common questions you’ll walk into an interview feeling more confident and collected.  Not only does your interviewer unconsciously read that in your body language and speech patterns but these kinds of feelings will keep you in a positive state of mind as well.  Learn to cultivate this state on demand, and even if these questions never come you will walk out a winner.