Do you consider yourself a hard-working, self-starting, problem-solving people person?

If so, that’s fine — just don’t put it on your resume.

A new survey released by staffing service OfficeTeam details the most overused or meaningless phrases included on resumes, as told by business executives.

Included on the list of phrases to leave out were the following terms: “highly qualified,” “team player,” “flexible” and “self-starter.”

Read the rest on bizjournals.com!

My client Cathy was in a job search, and decided at the outset that she would not settle for “don’t call us; we’ll call you” method. She remembered the line from the Woody Allen movie, “Ninety percent of life is just showing up,” and applied it to the search. She got an early edge by blending charisma with engagement:

• She stayed informed of in-person events and online networking activities. She got out there. Though scared to death (her words), she became “a great actor” faking confidence but not enthusiasm; and she practiced until the confidence was also real.

Charisma, an often undescribed magnetism that consistently draws people closer, was for many years, touted as something innate since birth. Something you had or didn’t have. I was reading a recent paper on the subject by scholars who disagree and believe that charisma is a set of practiced skills. I think there’s a lot to this. I believe that we have natural charisma styles that fuel our power when blended with practiced job search or career management skills like storytelling, listening well, asking open-ended questions, smiling and using direct eye contact with other positive body language.

Read the rest on http://hireimaging.com!

Finding a job is tough enough as it is without having to go through harrowing interviews. Here’s everything you need to know about nailing your interview so you can get through it stress-free.

Via lifehacker.com!

Most career counselors and recruiting experts will tell you that following up after an interview is a must, especially if you really want the job and want the hiring manager to know it. Plus, following up after the interview gives you the chance to continue the conversation after the interview is over, or get a little closure to the interview process. The question though, is what’s the best way to follow up? The folks at HR Bartender have some suggestions.

In most cases, they say, an email is the best way to follow up after an interview—it’s fast, friendly, and unobtrusive, and doesn’t put pressure on the hiring manager to stop everything they’re doing and take your phone call, listen to your voicemail and call you back, or return a paper letter. The HR Bartender folks do note however that a paper note can often really stand out—you just have to use your judgment as to whether that would be in a good or bad way.

Read the rest on http://lifehacker.com!

Everyone has a story to tell, and by digging deep, you can unearth gems that sparkle and gleam, attracting even the weariest hiring manager’s attention.

Sadly, however, most people don’t know how to excavate their precious-stone stories, and the result is lackluster content. A marketing-driven resume must be color-rich, clear, and strong enough to bear the heavy—often unforgiving—weight of the resume-vetting process.

The following are five tips to polish your story to ensure it outshines your competition and commands the hiring manager’s attention.

Read the rest on http://money.usnews.com!

This set of inspirational thoughts for the new year will galvanize you into action.

At the start of every year, I create a list of quotes to guide and inspire me for the next 12 months. Here are the quotes I’ve selected for 2013:

1. “Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”
   Napoleon Hill
   
2. The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.”
   Brian Tracy
3. “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. Dale Carnegie
   

Read the rest on inc.com!

Predictions can be fascinating, but let’s face it. No one I know is in possession of a working crystal ball, and digital marketing and technology move way too quickly and too erratically to do much more than keep us guessing (not that that isn’t half the fun).

I’m an analyst, not a psychic. So rather than play the “what’s next?” guessing game, let’s instead focus on “what’s important?”

These are the areas I plan to keep a close eye on in 2013. What would you add — or subtract — from this list?

Read the rest on imediaconnection.com!

In the few minutes it takes to read this article, chances are you’ll pause to check your phone, answer a text, switch to your desktop to read an email from the boss’s assistant, or glance at the Facebook or Twitter messages popping up in the corner of your screen. Off-screen, in your open-plan office, crosstalk about a colleague’s preschooler might lure you away, or a co-worker may stop by your desk for a quick question.

And bosses wonder why it is tough to get any work done.

Distraction at the office is hardly new, but as screens multiply and managers push frazzled workers to do more with less, companies say the problem is worsening and is affecting business.

Read the rest on wsj.com!

The Employees’ Choice Award winners are determined using feedback employees voluntarily and anonymously shared about their work experiences throughout the past year.  Employees provide feedback using Glassdoor’s online company review survey – they are asked to rate their satisfaction with their jobs and company as well as important workplace factors like work-life balance, compensation and benefits and career advancement opportunities. Employees are also asked to provide details into what they feel are some of the best reasons, as well as some of the downsides, of working at their company. At a minimum, a company must have had at least 25 reviews during the past year from U.S.-based employees to be considered for the award.

See the list on glassdoor.com!

Digital marketing has already had its share of watershed moments. 2013 is not going to be “the year of the [fill in the blank].” Instead, 2013 is going to build on the digital accomplishments of the past. Our industry is going to continue its refinement based on consumer needs — and not a marketer’s desire to make something big happen.

Something big has already happened.

According to comScore, there are more than 1 trillion digital interactions monthly. For too long, our industry has relied on technological accomplishments to drive our business. Each new technology has generated opportunity, but all too often we focus on the coolness of the technology instead of focusing on the consumer benefit and how marketing fits in.

Read the rest on imediaconnection.com!

There have been plenty of articles written on this but a post “Why Counter Offers Are Good (except for headhunters)” on recruitingblogs.com by Amos spurred me to write about this for my audience. I was incredulous to read his article whole heartedly encouraging his candidates to elicit a counter-offer to get the promotion they want. Sure, it was a brave post to a hostile audience and sure you might think, ‘of course you’ll disagree Rob’, but for those that know me well, trust me when I say, whilst in my benefit it is not for my benefit, but yours. This is wrong advice on so many fronts 9 times out of 10.

I am not going to write anything revolutionary here but it is worth pointing out the facts so that if anyone does encourage (outside your current boss who obviously will) you* to take the counter-offer, you have a reference point. Read them carefully and keep them at hand.

I am not going to write anything revolutionary here but it is worth pointing out the facts so that if anyone does encourage (outside your current boss who obviously will) you* to take the counter-offer, you have a reference point. Read them carefully and keep them at hand.

Read the rest on recruitingblogs.com!

It’s a situation pretty much everyone finds themselves in at some point during their careers: sending your resume out to scores of recruiters and/or hiring agents…and not hearing anything back. Before you consider giving up on your ideal job, here are three powerful tweaks you can execute that will immediately increase the amount of attention your resume receives.

Develop a Clear Job Target

Specificity is one of the keys to a successful search in today’s job market. Instead of going the “one size fits all” route with regards to your resume, research open jobs using sites like Monster and Indeed and start developing a database of positions that interest you. While you should ideally end up with a single job target, it’s perfectly fine to conduct a job search across multiple targets. Just be sure to develop a separate resume version for each.

Read the full article on lifehacker.com!

One of the hottest marketing catchphrases of 2012 is “data is the new creative.” The premise is that all the creative in the world won’t help you if your decisions are not data-driven.

Data is the new creative!
For those who are squarely in the analytics camp, this new sentiment must feel like a vindication for long years slaving away, gleaning insights from facts and figures without much appreciation (well, maybe that’s not entirely accurate, but sometimes it feels that way.) It’s about time colleagues and clients realize they could have avoided numerous mistakes if they had only taken the time to look at the data first. The argument is that for too long, people have used “smoke and mirrors” to sell clients programs with flashy creative that was not built on a solid foundation based on data-driven insights.

It’s that time of year again, when job seekers think they may as well stop looking for a job throughout the holiday season. No one will be hiring anyway, so you may as well take the rest of the year off, right?

Not true, according to HR and job search experts. Although some companies may have no budget left for hiring, others still have openings they need to fill by the end of the fiscal year. That means it’s unwise to assume a company won’t be bringing on new candidates unless they announce a hiring freeze.

Read the rest on careerealism.com!

You post to Facebook and Twitter accounts, you blog regularly on Tumblr and you upload the occasional YouTube video. On the other hand, you don’t own or operate your own website (partly because johnsmith.comwas taken 15 years ago). Plus, why worry about one more thing?

Think of a personal website as a public business card with links. It’s a tidy, succinct landing page where you can direct curious employers or business contacts. The site contains your basic information and social links all in once place. That way, people don’t have to search through pages of Google results to pull up your information.

Read the rest on openforum.com!

Aside from the nervousness that comes from having to talk to complete strangers, most people don’t realize the true reason why they loathe networking…

• It’s NOT about the early meeting times for many of these events
• It’s NOT about trying to be cheerful or overly perky
• It’s NOT about the pressure involved with trying to meet valuable contacts

The real reason so many people hate networking: They are afraid they won’t have anything meaningful to say.

You never know who you are going to meet at these events, or what you will talk about. Topics can range from how the local sports team is discussing how the latest technology is impacting your industry sector.

Read the rest on youtern.com!

Interviewers often ask candidates to prove their potential value to a company with behavioral job interview or competency-based questions. You have to tell a story—your story of achievement. Don’t let the pressure get to you; just remember to use the STAR method.

The STAR model is a framework for answering questions that start like this: “Describe the most difficult/interesting/rewarding…” or “Give me an example where you…” with a short story. As we’ve noted previously, STAR stands for situation, task, action, and result:

Read the rest on lifehacker.com!

You just arrived for a job interview. As you wait in the reception area your mind is racing. But instead of running through your rehearsed responses to possible questions again, use that time to survey the workplace. In fact, you should be keenly observant from the time you arrive until you say your goodbyes.

Why? Paying close attention to the workplace and people will allow you to get a better sense of the company culture, and in turn, can help you determine whether it’s a good fit for you. Interviewers can tell you what they want about the environment and personnel—but your own first-hand observations will be far more useful.

Read the rest on forbes.com!

I recently interviewed two successful members of the entertainment industryfor upcoming profiles: Alison Deyette, a TV host, stylist, and lifestyle expert who appears regularly in segments on top network TV talk shows, and Judith McHale, longtime President & Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Communications, the parent company of The Discovery Channel.

Though their career paths couldn’t be more different, and Alison is in mid-career while Judith left Discovery several years ago, they each did something multiple times early in their careers which helped shape their success and which anyone can do at any career phase to help them get more opportunities and ultimately achieve more.

They stood up and raised their hands.

Alison’s career path is full of examples of her stepping forward, taking advantage of an opportunity, taking initiative, and saying what she wanted. As an editor for her college newspaper, she went to every cultural event and dined at every restaurant she could in order to provide reviews and garner journalism experience. She also interviewed many business leaders, government officials, and celebrities and got her articles published in business journals and other publications.

Read the full article on careerealism.com!