Top 7 Qualities Employers are Looking for in Candidates

Top 7 Qualities Employers are Looking for in Candidates There are three Cs to getting the kind of job you want and earning the kind of money you want to earn. These three Cs basically remain constant throughout your working career. They are: Contacts Do you have enough contacts? The more contacts you have in the marketplace, the more likely it is you will find the job you want. The more people you know and who know you, the more likely it is you will uncover one of the 85 percent or more of job openings that are never listed anywhere.  This is why it is so important for you to network continually. Join clubs and associations. Ask people for referrals and references. Tell your friends, relatives, and associates that you are in the market for a new job. Make sure that everyone you know is aware that you are available and looking for a job.  Nothing is more important than your circle of contacts. The great majority of jobs that are filled in the hidden job market are filled because someone knows someone. And you can expand your range of contacts just by telling people that you are available and asking for their help and their advice. Credibility  Your reputation is important! The second C is credibility. This is made up of your reputation and your character. Your credibility is the most important single quality about you in terms of getting recommendations and referrals from your contacts. Make sure that everything you do is consistent with the highest ethical standards. Make sure that you never say or do anything that could be misconstrued by anyone as anything other than excellent conduct and behavior. Remember, people will only recommend you for a job opening if they are completely confident that they will not end up looking foolish as a result of something you do or say. Competence  Be good at what you do. The third C is competence. In the final analysis it is how good you are and how good you have been in your previous jobs that will determine, more than anything else, how good you can be at the job under consideration. Next to your character, your level of competence will be the single most important factor in determining your success in your career. This is why you must be continually working to maintain and upgrade your levels of competence through personal study all your working life. 7 most in-demand qualities: Every employer has had a certain amount of experience with both good and bad employees. For this reason every employer has a pretty good idea of what he or she wants more of. Here are  the big seven: 1) Intelligence: In every study, it has been found that fully 76 percent of the productivity and contribution of an employee will be determined by his or her level of intelligence. Intelligence in this sense means the ability to plan, to organize, to set priorities, to solve problems, and to get the job done. Intelligence refers to your level of common sense and your practical ability to deal with the day-to-day challenges of the job. The key to demonstrating your intelligence is for you to ask intelligent questions. One of the hallmarks of intelligence that is immediately evident is curiosity. The more you ask good questions and listen to the answers, the smarter you appear. 2) Leadership ability: Leadership is the willingness and the desire to accept responsibility for results. Its the ability to take charge, to volunteer for assignments, and to accept accountability for achieving the required results of those assignments. The mark of the leader is that he or she does not make excuses. You demonstrate your willingness to be a leader in the organization by offering to take charge of achieving company goals and then committing yourself to performing at high levels. 3) Integrity: Its probably the most important single quality for long-term success in life and at work. Integrity begins by being true to yourself. This means that you are perfectly honest with yourself and in your relationships with others. You are willing to admit your strengths and weaknesses. You are willing to admit where you have made mistakes in the past. Especially, you demonstrate loyalty. You never say anything negative about a previous employer or a person whom you have worked with or for. Even if you were fired from a previous job, never say anything negative or critical. 4) Likability: Employers like people who are warm, friendly, easygoing, and cooperative with others. Employers are looking for people who can join the team and be part of the work family. Men and women with good personalities are invariably more popular and more effective at whatever they do. Teamwork is the key to business success. Your experience in working as part of a team in the past and your willingness to work as part of a team in the future can be among the most attractive things about you in applying for a job. 5) Competence: We spoke about this earlier. Competence is terribly important to your success. It is really the foundation of everything that happens to you in your career. In its simplest terms, competence is the ability to get the job done. It is the ability to set priorities, to separate the relevant from the irrelevant tasks, and then to concentrate single-mindedly until the job is complete. 6) Courage: This is the willingness to take risks. Courage also means the willingness to accept challenges, the willingness to take on big jobs or even new jobs where there is a high degree of uncertainty and the possibility of failure. Courage also means the willingness to speak up and say exactly what you think and feel in a difficult situation. Employers admire men and women who are not afraid to speak their minds. And you demonstrate this in a job interview when you ask frank and direct questions about the company, the position, and the future that you might have with the organization 7) Inner strength: Inner strength means that you have the determination and the ability to persevere in the face of adversity. Inner strength means that you have the quality of persistence when the going gets rough. You demonstrate inner strength when you remain calm, cool, and relaxed during the job interview. If you are calm and cool during the interview, it is a good indication that you will be calm and cool in the inevitable crises that occur during the day-to- day operations of the company. Above all, it is your character, which is the sum total of all your positive qualities, that will have the greatest impact on whether you get the job you want. Your job now is to continue working on your character by practicing the behaviors of top people at every opportunity. RELATED: 7 Reasons Employers Will Hire You. Author:  Brian Tracy is the author of What Youre Really Worth: Maximize Your Income at Any Time in Any Market.  

Executive Resume Templates - How to Use Them to Get the Job You Want

Executive Resume Templates - How to Use Them to Get the Job You WantHaving the proper Executive Resume Template in your hands when you want to apply for a job can help you get the jobs faster. Without a template, you may feel that you are not capable of creating a great resume. However, when you get a template in your hand, you will be able to learn how to create a great resume.If you have not applied for a new job in a while, you should take some time to learn how to prepare for it. A lot of people still do not know how to write a resume that will attract the right kind of people. They think that just putting up a generic resume is enough to get them the job. They are wrong, of course.In order to get a good resume, you have to find a way to make it unique. The best thing you can do is to find a template in which you can customize. Using an executive resume template is the fastest way to become successful in your career. You will be surprised at how much it can change your profession al image. Once you have a template that suits you, you will be able to use it in every job you apply for.Executive resume templates are something that you will need if you want to get that perfect resume for every job you apply for. First, you will have to find one that is appropriate for the job you are applying for. Second, you will have to pick a template that will help you become successful at it. Third, you will have to learn how to use it and move through the steps to getting a great resume for every job you apply for.You can find a resume template that suits you by simply checking out the ones that have already been used by people who got hired for the job they were applying for. These templates have been successfully used by hundreds of people, and you can use them as a guide. All you have to do is change the information and start creating a better resume that will make you stand out from other applicants. You will also want to find out how to change the template to suit you r needs when you use it.Creating a perfect resume takes time, and you can learn more about how to become a success in your career by looking at templates. You can even customize it to meet your needs. After you find a template that will suit you, all you have to do is copy and paste the information from the template into the appropriate place on your resume. This is how you can go about making a fantastic resume.There are many executive resume templates available online, and you can find one that is right for you. You can even download it into Word so that you can start creating your own. You will be amazed at how quickly and easy it is to use an executive resume template.While there are many executive resume templates available, you can also find templates that you can download. This will help you save time and energy, but it will also increase the chance that you will become successful in your career. You can download these executive resume templates and use them at work and at ho me. This will not only help you get the job you are applying for, but you will also be able to learn about how to make a resume that will attract the right kind of people.

Young people dont fear the bad job market

Young people dont fear the bad job market Its easy to conclude that this job market is terrible for everyone, even young people. But I dont buy it. I think its very bad if you are old, and not so bad if you are young. And that we get a skewed view of the stress level out there because older people tend to run big news operations offline and on and really have no sense of how younger people are handling the downturn. We read about how scared young people are, and how desperate they are for a job, but we dont hear the other side: That young people are optimistic about their careers, their future and are doing well in the American economy. Underreported stories: Washington, D.C. is the easiest city to find a job, and young people love government jobs; farming is in a renaissance, and the local food movement is teeming with young people; healthcare and teaching are both booming; and while service-oriented work is hated by the top-down, rank-oriented mindset of baby boomers, Gen Y is much more collaborative and happy to work in the service sector. Heres another bit of evidence of Gen Y optimism: The Wall Street Journal reports that applications to business schools are down 2%. Thats a small decrease, but business school applications historically go up in a bad economy, and they stay up until things get good again. That applications are down is evidence that young people do not perceive the job market as terrible. As the country moves to a knowledge-based economy, most Americans can no longer expect to earn more than the generation before them. In fact, Don Peck, writing in the Atlantic, explains that as the economy recovers it will look permanently different. This will not be a recovery where the skills of older people come back into demand; the jobs that emerge will be in new sectors, and the financial expectations of employees will permanently shift because of the new realities. Young people know this. They are not waiting around for things to change, to get back to how they used to be. Young people accept the realities of today and jump right in. This is why young people on a whole are optimistic about their ability to get a job and find their place in the world. The 2010 MetLife Study of the American Dream finds that young people are more optimistic than older people about securing a safety net if they dont already have one. Also, while Gen Y is in terrible shape financially increased college loans and lower entry-level wages-this is also a generation that defines the American Dream in terms of family, rather than financial security, so Gen Yers feel confident they will achieve their own version of success. Additionally, the demographics of the U.S. workplace favor Generation Y: As baby boomers retire, Gen X, which is only half the size of Baby Boomers, cannot replace them. So there will be a significant worker shortage in the U.S. by 2015. Generation y will benefit from the worker shortage. They will get higher paying jobs faster, they will go up the corporate ladder faster, and they will be able to remake the workplace in their own image without much resistance. You can call Gen Y entitled, or delusional, or self-centered, but Gen Y has a gift for reframing situations in a positive light. This is a gift that stems from the parents of gen Y being obsessed with self-esteem. Self-esteem breeds optimism, and this optimism makes Gen Y emotionally able to fend off the recession better than other generations. Even better, optimism helps fight the bad economy in real ways as well. Psychology Today shows that people who are optimistic are more likely to create their own luck. We all know that a successful career is a combination of hard work and good luck. So maybe if you thought more like Gen Y, youd be doing fine right now as well.

Enthuse.me - Show Your Expertise In One Page

Enthuse.me - Show Your Expertise In One Page enthuse.me is a simple, elegant service that lets you showcase your expertise in the most effective way â€" by cutting out the noise and hand-picking the best examples of your work, knowledge or passion. Ah, you dont want the PR team to talk do you? So lets get to the real deal. enthuse.me is a one-page website for you. If you are thinking about self-employment, are one of the creative types, or would like to showcase your experience in a bit more than 2 sides of  an A-4 sheet of paper, enthuse.me is for you. It is easy to compare it to about.me or even Zerply. Ive had an account on both of them, but personally, I will be recommending enthuse.me from here onwards. Here are the reasons why. enthuse.me Lets You Choose What to Showcase I like this feature about enthuse.me to showcase the work I want to showcase, rather than everything!  Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 367,000 more people were self-employed in 2012, compared to 2008. A lot of graduates are giving a go to being self-employed as well. enthuse.me allows you to chose other sites where you may have been mentioned for your work, etc. For example, if you are Mathy from Whathejobisthis.com who has been mentioned in other articles, then it is a perfect way to showcase it! (note: I couldnt use my example as I hardly get a mention, not even from my Editor!) Clear User Interface and Good Work Flow Process As an engineer, a part of me is always critical of the way things are presented to users. But I like enthuse.me for its simplicity and clarity. It minimises the things you need to do to the minimum and once you add urls and choose what you want to add, the parsing is almost spot-on. Or in simple words, it shows the right things in the right place! I had to look at the screen for two minutes and then I knew what had to be done. Within 5 mins I could get my profile up and running from sign-up to my minimalistic end product. You can view my example profile here. Yes, apart from blogging, I work somewhere else and blogging is a hobby and I exclusively only blog at Career Geek Blog now! And talking about good UI, you can even change the way you want to show information in a streamlined manner. For example, I can move my twitter info before LinkedIn and it is the simplest way I have ever used on any one-pager website! A bit more work and this is what the top looks like now. I Want It How Much Do I Pay? Nada. Nothing. Zilch. You sign up and create your page. It will be displayed as enthuse.me/username. For example, for as long as its there, my page will be enthuse.me/fp . I would suggest that you actually try it! If you dont like it, you can always delete it. If you are a creative type, you should definitely have one. And you know, these guys havent just gone and bagged £1 million in funding from MLC 50 for nothing. They are here to stay! Personally, I like it and I think I will be recommending this as part of having a portfolio online in one page. Having said that, every start-up today has clones popping up everywhere and the one-page showcase website is already crowded. Taking on the likes of about.me is not an easy task, but the lesser-known Zerply are there to catch-up with as well. But you wouldnt know how good enthuse.me is if it didnt have a challenge to overcome! Now, to score them: Enthuse.me on Twitter. Enthuse.me on Facebook. enthuse.me. 7

How to Find the Best Resume Writing Software

How to Find the Best Resume Writing SoftwareFinding the best resume writing software can be tough for a resume writer, as there are so many programs to choose from. The reason why you need to spend some time to find the right program is because there are some resume writing software that isn't very good and if you try to edit the resume yourself, it will cause all sorts of problems with the resume's credibility. There are some things you need to keep in mind when searching for resume writing software for your needs.First, the first thing you need to consider is your overall style and approach. It's easy to want to jump on the bandwagon and write a resume that looks great and looks professional. Your resume should have its own identity.It's important to determine what your style is so that you can choose a creative method to achieve it. There are dozens of resume writing software programs out there that are more suited for a professional resume. It's a good idea to look at different p rograms and find what appeals to you the most.The next thing you need to consider is your personality and your way of writing a resume. We all have personalities and we all are unique in our own ways. We may be able to write a resume in an organised manner, but it may not be the type of resume that you enjoy writing. Maybe you find it hard to sit down and read the same resume over again.A lot of the best resume writing software has sections that help you compose your resume in a more creative way. A few examples include a work experience section that allows you to create a section on all of your previous jobs. You can also combine sections that allow you to create a summary for your career objectives.Another thing you need to remember is that if you are putting together a resume to land a job, you will need to demonstrate that you have good communication skills. It doesn't mean that you have to write in a professional style, but if you enjoy writing, you need to learn how to use the best resume writing software and apply your skills to writing the perfect resume.Using resume writing software can help you create the perfect resume without much time spent doing it. This can be very helpful because you can use it to develop a resume in one day that is tailored for you. It's important to find a software program that you enjoy using and that allows you to continue writing the resume on your own at the end of the day.The best resume writing software for you depends on your style and personality. This can be determined by deciding which sections of the resume you would like to keep and which sections you would like to eliminate.

Pop the bubbly Debut raises £1.7m in seed funding - Debut

Pop the bubbly Debut raises £1.7m in seed funding - Debut Team Debut have raised £1.7 million in seed funding! So weve got a little bit o news. Team Debut have raised £1.7 million in seed funding! Weve been happy-dancing around the office all morning! All in all, weve raised over £2.2million in investment in the last 18 months. A few words from our founder CEO, Charlie Taylor (O captain, our captain): “We are very proud to support students in such a critical moment in their lives. Students can often face barriers when it comes to accessing career opportunities but Debut is breaking these down as all they require is a phone and our free app. “We are thrilled to have such experienced investors on board and have ambitious plans to develop the product, expand the team and grow both our user base and client roster. More about the seed funding: Our latest funding was sourced from a combination of venture capital firms and Angel investors. We would like to thank this list of wonderful people: LocalGlobe, Londons leading seed-focused venture capital firm. Theyve previously invested in Zoopla, Graze and Transferwise, so Debut is in with some seriously swish company. Initial Capital, whove previously invested in Supercell and Playfish. Entree Capital, whove previously invested in Deliveroo. Paul Forster, former CEO and co-founder of Indeed. Dan Richards, Recruiting Leader at EY commented: “Debut is great for giving us access to an active student market we couldn’t reach in a mobile centric way before. We know mobiles are ubiquitous for students, so being able to reach them in a way that is familiar and convenient for them, is not only key to driving quality, but also engagement and our brand profile too. “We are really impressed with Debut. In just a few months we have made 20 hires, with a further 127 candidates in our selection process. We’ve reached thousands of students using the app across the UK, from a really diverse mix of backgrounds and universities, with a breadth of strengths.” Another group of people wed like to thank?  You.  Tens of thousands of students now use the Debut app to explore job roles from 40 of the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers. Seeing you all reach your goals keep us going. We may have reached an important milestone today but the work has only just begun. Download the Debut app and  get Talent-Spotted by amazing graduate employers! Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter

Salary Negotiation Are There Differences Between Men and Women

Salary Negotiation Are There Differences Between Men and Women The mechanics of the negotiation are the same for men and women, but the strategies often vary between the two sexes. Personality, style, and gender are all contributing factors that influence the outcome of the conversation. Here are four differences I have observed between male and female negotiation styles (and what you can do to level the playing field):1.) Relationships vs. Outcomes Women tend to value relationships over outcomes and are willing to compromise in an effort to keep the relationship intact. They can be people pleasers who generally do not like conflict and confrontation, and many women associate salary negotiation with conflict. In a study by Babcock, Gelfund, Small, and Stayn, Propensity to Initiate Negotiations, men and women participated in an internet survey to identify if they believed it was appropriate to negotiate in various work-related fictitious situations. As a group, women were less likely than men to choose negotiation as an option, even though they r ecognized that negotiation was appropriate.Men tend to leverage relationships to achieve their goals. They ask for a particular salary with less compromise and are concerned with outcomes. They worry less about how their negotiations affect the relationship. Their straight-forward approach can work well, especially for short-term financial gain.Recommendation: Both men and women can be successful negotiators by positioning their needs as part of a collaborative process. By listening to a potential employer’s needs and recommending outcomes that benefit both parties, women and men can get what they want for themselves and preserve the relationship at the same time.2.) Needs vs. Wants Many women may make decisions about salary based on what they feel they need rather than what the market will bear. They use past salary as their benchmark and may rationalize that a similar or slightly higher salary is what they should ask for. Since employers tend to reward people no more than they r equire, women are at risk for receiving less competitive packages than their male counterparts.Men are more likely to ask for what they want. Cultural norms may be at play here, since historically it has been acceptable for men to be assertive in the business world, while women who are tend to be viewed as aggressive or difficult to work with. In a study by Small, Babcock, and Gelfund, Why Don’t Women Ask, participants were asked to play a game and offered $3 as compensation. If participants asked for more, they would receive $10. Almost nine times as many males asked for more money, suggesting that men ask for what they want more frequently than women.Recommendation: Both men and women can improve their negotiation skills by knowing their market value. Sites such as www.salary.com, www.payscale.com, and www.glassdoor.com help job seekers define a potential range of salaries for a particular job. By doing your research and presenting the business case for your requested salary, yo u improve your bargaining power and diffuse potential cultural biases.3.) External vs. Internal Centers of Influence Women may be more likely to assume that hard work alone will be recognized and rewarded with a promotion and/or increased monetary compensation. They often wait for external factors and group consensus to determine their opportunities for advancement.Men more frequently take matters into their own hands and believe they influence their opportunities and promotions. They are less inclined to stay in dead-end jobs and more likely to ask for a raise when they feel the situation warrants one. In the Propensity to Initiate Negotiations survey, researchers found that women were 45 percent less likely to see the importance of asking for what they want.Recommendation: Men and women can increase their opportunities for promotion by taking a proactive approach to their career development that includes reporting accomplishments regularly, taking on high-profile assignments, and developing influential networking relationships within the organization.4.) Low vs. High Goal Setting Women may set more modest goals than men and they generally make concessions earlier in the negotiation process. As a result, women typically have lower salaries than men in similar positions.A study by Riley, Babcock, and McGinn, Gender as a Situational Phenomenon in Negotiation, revealed that men typically set goals for negotiation conversations that are 15 percent higher than women. By going into the negotiation process with higher goals, men can often receive better initial offers and additional leverage in the negotiation process. In subsequent negotiations, employers often assume that applicants with better compensation records are more capable than those who have been paid less.Recommendation: Men and women should adopt a negotiation style that meets their individual needs, but both should incorporate ambitious targets into their negotiation strategy. When you negotiate your compensation package you are not just negotiating your starting salary, but you are directly impacting every salary increase you receive from that point forward.While most job-seekers are intensely interested in how to negotiate the best package, few realize the importance of creating their own style and developing a set of best practices for their negotiations.

True Story I Gave Up On My Dream

True Story I Gave Up On My Dream A few months ago, I got interviewed for Yes and Yes True Story series. While the titles a wee melodramatic, its absolutely the truth. And while you mightve heard My Story before, Sarah asked me some Barbara Walters-like questions, like how I dealt with other (less talented!) people being cast in parts I auditioned for, if there was something specific that made me throw in the towel, and if I was ever close to making it. You can read it all here.