Tips To Ace The Dreaded Job Interview

There’s a reason why we all dread job interviews. Going to an interview can feel like an interrogation session where we are asked question after question, sometimes catching us off guard and making us feel anxious. Many times the interviewer gives little feedback or facial expressions to indicate whether or not we seem like a good candidate for the position, which makes it even more uncomfortable. Employers use a series of questions to figure out whether an applicant matches the requirements they need, and whether they’d be a good fit in the company and position.

While it may seem intimidating in an interview, it’s important to remember one thing: Not only should you be trying to show that you’re the right person for the job, you should also use the interview to decide whether the job is right for you. You may be thinking, “That’s nice and all but I really need a job.” The truth is, you’ll be much happier, perform better at your job, and stay at the company longer if you actually feel that the position matches with your skills, experience or interests. It’s better to think about whether a job is right for you, instead of taking anything you get and trying to leave after a couple of months. It’s a waste of your time, as well as the employers.

The employer may do most of the job interviewing and ultimately be the one who decides whether the position is offered to you or not, but you should also ask the interviewer questions about the company and position to determine whether it really is a good fit. This also shows employers that you’re serious about the position and you actually want to see if it’s right for you. Although employers realize that you’re on the search for a job, it’s not good to appear as if you will take any position, even if it doesn’t match your skills and interests.

Whenever you are asked in an interview if you have any questions, you should always be prepared with a list of questions for the employer. Ask questions related to the company and position, such as how much time the position spends on certain tasks, the main qualities looked for in a candidate for the position, whether the position works closely with any other departments, some of the big projects during the year, etc. If you feel that your skills or qualities match a response to one of your questions, be sure to tell the employer that you enjoy certain tasks; have worked in similar projects, and so on to show that you are in fact a good fit from what you’ve learned.

You’ll actually look better in the interview if you ask relevant, strategic questions to the employer and you’ll also get a better idea if you actually want the position if it’s offered to you. Viewing the interview as a chance to figure out whether the position is a good fit can also take away some of the stress and pressure we feel during an interview. It can allow us to portray a more accurate, honest version of ourselves, skills and experiences.

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Writing a Gold Medal LinkedIn Profile

Did you know that LinkedIn is now regarded as the world’s largest online professional network with close to 200 million members in over 200 countries? More and more hiring managers, recruiters, employers and head-hunters are using LinkedIn as part of their hiring strategy. With demand for jobs at an all-time high, having a professionally written LinkedIn profile may be the difference in receiving an interview request and ultimately scoring that brand new job. So, how can you use LinkedIn to help promote your skills and experience? Are there any secrets that can be implemented? And what type of privacy can you control to ensure that your current employers don’t think you are looking for a new job while at the same time attracting people to your LinkedIn profile who may be in a position to hire you for their business?

Promote your achievements, expertise and value added skills and experience:

Just like your resume is a marketing document, the aim of your profile is to highlight to the reader all the value added skills that you are able to bring to your next role. Don’t be shy in highlighting your achievements. The more examples you can use to back up your statements the better. If you are in a managerial position let the reader know how many people you manage. If you saved the company money, provide examples of how you cut costs or increased revenue. The only way a reader can fully understand how great you are, is by providing detailed examples of all the great skills you have to offer.

LinkedIn Tips and Secrets: 

When you set up your profile you will notice that there is a section to edit your “Public Profile”. LinkedIn automatically provides you with a public profile that ends with various numbers and letters.  By editing this profile you can remove these random numbers and letters and have a professional looking public profile that you can then include on your resume or within your email signature.

To ensure you get the most out of your LinkedIn profile you need to optimise your profile with strategic keywords targeted towards your industry.  You can include keywords in your profile area as well as throughout your employment section. LinkedIn also provide a “skills and expertise” section which enables you to include up to 50 skills. Utilise this area to include as many targeted keywords and skills as possible.

Lastly ensure that you further complete as many additional sections as possible to enhance your profile. This can involve including information regarding certifications, honours and awards. LinkedIn also offer areas to include languages and even projects that you may wish to highlight. If you have worked for specific charities you can also include this information within your profile

LinkedIn Privacy

If you’re scared that your new profile will attract the prying eyes of your current employer you can set your privacy settings to suit your needs. LinkedIn offer various different types of privacy to ensure that you can promote as much or as little to whoever you wish to see your profile. Your privacy settings can let you control who sees your activity broadcasts and activity feeds. You can also control who can see your connections and select what other people can see when you have viewed their profile. If you are actively looking for a new job I recommend you make your profile as viewable as possible. If you’re currently in a job and being more discreet about your job search you are able to control the amount of information that is visible to the public.

© RedStarResume Publications – http://www.redstarresume.com

Stand Out From The Crowd With A Brand New Professional Resume, Cover Letter and LinkedIn Profile From RedStarResume:

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The Advantages And Benefits of Creating A LinkedIn Profile

No matter if you’re a current student or graduate or a high flying executive, a professionally written LinkedIn profile can help open up doors to opportunities and networks. Before LinkedIn existed, it was virtually impossible to connect directly with potential hiring managers, bosses or even other individuals who share similar job titles to your own.  With LinkedIn, not only can you create an online marketing profile but with a click of a button you can begin networking.

Creating a positive first impression:

When a hiring manager or recruiter first reads your LinkedIn profile, they will typically make their opinion of you within the first 20 seconds. A professionally written and completed profile that includes up-to-date information about your skills and experience will automatically get the reader’s attention. Including key achievements, examples of projects and value added skills towards the top of your profile will further maintain the reader’s attention and create that positive first impression. Don’t forget to include a picture. This will help to humanise your profile and put a face behind the name. Remember that your picture is a representation of you. If you are applying for a corporate position, a picture of you at 3 o clock in the morning holding a beer will not portray that professional corporate image.

Be Found:

Different companies are now using social networking such as LinkedIn when it comes to hiring or headhunting new talent. A good example is seen within the ultra-competitive credit card industry, where companies who often try to poach talented staff from their competition and the easiest place to find these people are via LinkedIn. Even if you’re not actively seeking a new job, just by having an account could change your career!

Network:

The benefits of LinkedIn are almost endless with no downside to having a LinkedIn profile. Get involved in forums, join groups and meet like-minded individuals like yourself. Best of all LinkedIn is totally free.  Job seeking is a tough business and applying for online jobs each and every day is a job in itself! From a job seeker’s perspective, LinkedIn is another tool that you can use to help get ahead when searching for a new job.

Don’t forget one important aspect. While the advantages and benefits of having a LinkedIn profile can help open up doors to opportunities that may never have existed previously, having an incomplete or unprofessional LinkedIn profile can actually have a detrimental effect and portray a negative impression of being lazy or having a lack of attention to detail. If you choose to create a LinkedIn profile (which I suggest) prepare it properly and utilise everything that LinkedIn has to offer.

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Find Success with a Keyword Rich LinkedIn Profile

It goes without saying that networking is an effective way to build your business, or to get yourself seen when looking for a new career. Back in the day, that meant pressing the flesh and exchanging business cards, but the internet era has made that something of a thing of the past. Social networking is now the way that most people connect online, but it’s hard to think of Facebook or Twitter as places where you could advance your career. That is why LinkedIn has become the social networking site for those that are serious about building their business and making connections.

The first time people arrive at the site, the most common question that they ask is, “how do I use LinkedIn?” The answer really depends on what you want to get out of the site. This may be anything from getting your resume out to potential employers, to simply connecting with other people that share your profession. The best way to jump right in and get started is by filling out your LinkedIn profile and utilizing all the different sections to ensure that you promote yourself in the best way.

Your LinkedIn profile will actually look somewhat like a resume by the time you are finished with it, and it’s the information contained within that will help people find you. Try to keep that information as up to date as possible, just in case you are looking for work and an employer decides to come calling. Keeping your profile up to date will help you look a little more attractive than others in your industry who don’t.  Remember that as this is a business network for professionals, your profile should reflect that, so try to keep your LinkedIn writing as professional as possible.

A great way to connect with people and start networking is to join groups. Based on the information that you provide in your profile, LinkedIn will suggest a number of groups that you may be interested in. You will find that most will be based around your profession, but some will also match categories that you have listed as skills and interests. This is a great way to meet like-minded people and to get your network up and running quickly.

Groups are a fantastic way to keep up with everything that is happening within your industry, as well as a way to help others who have questions about the profession. If you are using LinkedIn to find employment, then you may be able to find out which companies are hiring, which in turn could save you a ton of time in your job search process. There are many different ways to use LinkedIn, and the layout is so familiar to other social networks, you will quickly be able to get the hang of how to navigate and will start reaping the benefits quickly.

Final Reminder: Don’t forget to use strategic keywords throughout your LinkedIn profile. The more keywords you can incorporate into your profile the greater the chance that your profile will be found by potential recruiters and hiring managers. Give yourself the greatest opportunity of finding success with a keyword rich LinkedIn profile.

© RedStarResume Publications – http://www.redstarresume.com

Stand Out From The Crowd With A Brand New Professional Resume, Cover Letter and LinkedIn Profile From RedStarResume:

Specializing In Over 35 Industries! – Turn your resume into an achievement based marketing documents in just 48-72 hours

Did you know?

The RedStarResume resume layout and design presentation has been highly praised by recruiters, hiring managers and career experts from across globe!

LinkedIn Profile Writing

LinkedIn was created with the sole objective of promoting talents, skills, and products to millions of people around the globe. When you sign up for a LinkedIn profile, you become an exclusive part of a community that includes companies, recruiters, vendors, customers, and competitors. What makes LinkedIn unique and attractive to people is the fact that it fulfills their professional objectives, unlike other social networking sites where entertainment is the key focus. Here are some of those unique benefits that make LinkedIn worth every effort.

Gain Visibility for Unique Professional & Business Opportunities:

LinkedIn offers a search engine. When recruiters or companies are searching for specific talent to fill their vacant positions or when people are searching for specific products and services, LinkedIn search engine permits your profile to be populated. You can gain and enhance your profile’s visibility, making it readily accessible to the targeted audiences by optimizing it with appropriate usage of keywords. It is recommended that you examine the keywords before constructing your profile.

Build Professional & Business Relationships:

The chief objective of marketing platforms like LinkedIn is to make connections. Through such podiums you gain the opportunity to meet the right companies or individuals that aptly fit with your set of business or professional requirements. Connecting with significant people in your industry strengthens your credibility and consolidates the position of your business.

Furthermore, recommendations play a vital role in improving your profile and its visibility. The more recommendations you’re able to gather, the more appealing and credible your profile appears. It works like an endorsement for your skills, products, services or company and increases your trustworthiness. Recruiters or customers always prefer candidates, services or products that have been approved by others. So, always request your clients or colleagues to leave reviews on your profile.

Identify Business and Job Trends:

LinkedIn tools are highly effective in identifying new business trends and job opportunities in your industry. By knowing the current trends you will be able to formulate appropriate strategies that will carve your path to success. Job seekers and businesses that remain abreast with emerging trends stay coordinated with the professional and business requirements.

Generate Job and Business Opportunities:

Marketing is a method designed to promote and sell skills, products and services, and the LinkedIn interface as a marketing tool just does that. By creating an impressive LinkedIn profile you effortlessly launch your skills and services into the market. However, leaving it unattended for months at a stretch will lead you to nowhere. In order to derive the optimum levels of benefits from this incredible marketing platform, you need to explore what it has to offer you – things like search tools, forums and direct ads.

If other social networking sites are able to facilitate emerging professionals and businesses to a large extent, then LinkedIn ought to be ahead in the competition as it is specially oriented to marketing professional skills and business products/services. The core advantage is that you build up a relevant network of professionals without wasting your precious time.

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