Finding Your Dream Job

Career option: Journalism

Catherine Jones — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:39:54 +0000

If you have a keen interest in current affairs, love English and are an interactive person journalism is a great career option for you to consider. Although most people do not look at it as a career with good monetary prospects, this field is growing fast and the demand is high. Here are a few aspects to consider :

* Now you need not view yourself as a prospective on field journalist/reporter. You can also report on other sections of the newspaper if you are not too much of an outdoor person.

* Writers are also needed in ample supply by both newspapers, magazines and TV channels.

* Various options are available as to which department of the working force you want to be a part of, there’s current affairs,sports,fashion,food, travel and lifestyle.

* You will need to take a course in literature with a masters in journalism or do journalism from the beginning. Depending on how you are inclined and where you would like to fit in later. For example if you would like to get into the writing aspect it will be useful if you do a course in literature and writing as well. If not then this shouldn’t make a difference.

The final aspect is for you to decide if this is the career best suited for your disposition and interests. If it is then you will have a career that keeps your mind active and keeps you on your toes ! Good luck!

Customer Service Interviews

Catherine Jones — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:06:33 +0000

Customer service jobs are in big demand with the growing number of companies that want to provide their customers with their services 24 hours a day. This is generating a staggering increase in the job scope for customer service employees. The good news is this is another option for a large number of people. Those who want an interactive job part time or full time. Here are a few tips for the interview to help you land that job :

Customer and service – These two words are everything that your new job is going to be about so be sure that all the questions you will be asked at the interview will also revolve around these two topics.

Customer - You may be given a situation where you have to deal with an annoying customer, an angry customer or just a regular customer.In all the cases try to maintain the same calm attitude and assist the customer with confidence and empathy.

Service – You should be able to provide service at any part of the day. Jobs in this field will require a lot of change of work shifts. You may have months of day shifts and months of night shifts. You will definitely be questioned as to whether you are comfortable with a flexible schedule. Be prepared.

If you feel you have the right disposition, love to interact with people and would like a little change from the regular nine to five job then this just may be what you are looking for!

The second job interview!

Catherine Jones — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:33:00 +0000

Since most recruiting processes these days call a higher number of candidates for the interview, their recruiting process is now in various steps of elimination. The first round is mostly an aptitude test if the number of candidates is indeed a large number. The next step would be that of a possible group interview to help them eliminate candidates who are not as apt for the job. After these steps there may be a second interview for those selected out of these processes. Here are a few tips :

Group interview – The first step to making sure you make it to the second interview is to make sure you stand out at the group interview. Make sure you answer a fair share of the questions and that you are ready for any activity. Even if not much is expected of you at any stage make sure you participate actively in the listening process.

Second interview – Once you have made it to this step, you can be sure you are among the top candidates to be considered for the job so allow your confidence level to rise. This step may require an interview with a panel perhaps so don’t be frazzled and give them good answers.

Dress Smart – Make sure that you are neatly and smartly dressed especially for this interview as there is sure to be more focus on smaller aspects at this stage of the interview. Make sure your shows are shining!

Above all be confident about why this is the job for you and why you are the ideal candidate for this post. You have to make them believe what you believe!

Career option:CHEF

Catherine Jones — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:24:46 +0000

Are you passionate about food? Do you love to experiment when you are in the kitchen? Do you have what it takes to be a chef??

Be sure to consider all these aspects when you consider being a chef as a full time profession. And how just a love for food is not enough to consider this as your profession as there are various aspects you need to make sure you are willing to consider and take up.

* Cooking is like an art and its not just the cooking aspect you need to consider but you also need to have the patience to present your accomplishments in a presentable manner.

* Taking a course can make the start of your career more professional and give you an edge over other chefs. Also you will get the training you need to learn various techniques and specialize in a particular stream for example some chefs branch out into categories such as pastry or gourmet for example.

*All this of course needs a proper training in the specialized field and experience also counts in such a profession.

*Other aspects you need to consider with this profession is that your work may require you to work weekends and in the evening when most people are relaxing. Your vacations will be the opposite of your customers etc. This is an important aspect you should consider if you want to take the plunge.

Apart from all this there is one aspect that is the best part of this profession, and that is the satisfaction you will get at the end of the day when you are able to put a scrumptious meal for so many people and be at the receiving end of endless compliments!

Secretarial Interviews

Catherine Jones — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 07:45:24 +0000

A secretarial job is a good job option as there is a huge need for this post throughout the year. Various new organizations are set up and most offices hire more than one secretarial employees. Now at which secretarial level do you want to work is an aspect you need to consider. Also what kind of an organization do you see yourself working at. Depending on the organization and your job profile the salary scale varies.

Skills – The main skills your prospective employer will look for is efficiency, good computer skills and speed. Another important aspect is your ability to remain calm in any situation and extremely good organizational skills.

Presentation -You should have excellent presentation skills and should also be the kind of person with a pleasant and calm disposition. Dressing smart is a must do. This will surely give you an edge over other applicants at the interview so be sure to give this aspect enough importance.

Planning – You will most definitely be asked about your planning skills and if you have previous experience in planning meetings and other secretarial tasks.

Computer Skills – The current secretarial job requires excellent computer skills and you will need to be quick an efficient with a computer and most of the office applications.

Above all be confident during the interview and it will be a breeze! Read up on the company well and be ready for even situational questions. Dress smart and keep your smile on! Good luck!

Impressive Job Applications

Catherine Jones — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 12:53:32 +0000

The first step of landing a job lies in the application. An impressive job application is one that will move your application above everyone else’s. To stand out you have to make sure that yours is different from everyone else who applies. Here are a few tips that may help you in the process :

TIP 1 – Do not use common objectives that are widely used on sample letters online. The last thing you want the recruiter to think is that you have just copy pasted onto your application

TIP 2- Do not fabricate your facts and put forth your accomplishments. Do not feel shy to add on any awards, achievements. You will not be perceived as someone who is showing off. This is basically selling yourself so you are expected to put down all your achievements.

TIP 3- Write an impressive objective that stands out as this is the first part of your application that will be read.

TIP 4- A good cover letter is a must to accompany your resume. Tailor the cover letter to the company you are applying to. Try not to send the same cover letter to a bunch of places. The more specific and personalized to the company the better.

TIP 5- Most importantly make sure that you don’t have small flaws in your grammar. This will look really bad on an otherwise standing out resume.

If you follow all these tips you are sure to send out a very good application that will land you any job you want!

Career option : Pyschologist

Catherine Jones — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 11:06:32 +0000

Most people are confused between the term psychologist and psychiatrist. To simplify the difference a psychologist is a person who works as a counselor or a therapist, whereas a psychiatrist is one who work on assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses.

Psychology has good job scope these days and so if you feel that you have the traits that this profession needs then take the leap!

* Do you like talking to people about their problems and helping them find a solution to it ? This is exactly what your job profile will be like.

* Do you like interacting with children? This is important as most psychologists are hired by schools and colleges these days as children are the most vulnerable to emotional distress and need mature help. They need someone who can tell them how to deal with their problems and someone who will listen to them without judging them.

* Other more serious problems such as criminal psychology can also be considered depending on how you are inclined.

* New branches such as industrial organization psychology which deals with work place behavior is also gaining specialty.

* Another branch is sports psychology, where you will be dealing with motivation and increasing the participants self confidence.

Which ever branch you may decide to take up, at the end of the day you will be helping people who need someone to simply talk to or discuss serious behavioral issues. With this career the job satisfaction will come without looking for it.

Picking a job!

Catherine Jones — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:44:17 +0000

You may be at a stage where you are looking for a job and are trying to create a bridge from your academic studies to a work place. This is the right time to sit down and decide where exactly you fit in. Depending on your qualifications and your own disposition.

Although you may have majored in subjects that hold your interest you have to decide now as to where you fit in best in a work place. Here are some aspects you need to consider before you go ahead and apply for a job:

* First you can decide if you are academically inclined or industrially inclined. Some people love to continue in their university and teach freshman. If you were a tutor during your course you will know well enough if you are cut out for a profession in teaching and remaining in an academic set up. Even those who are research inclined will find that it is a very good idea to continue at an academic set up as it will give you more freedom to work on the kind of projects you like.

* If you decide that no academics is not for you and you’d like to explore the outside world and work at an industrial set up you have more aspects to look at. You have to decide if you will be comfortable at a 9-5 job or if you would be willing to do something more. Or if you are okay with shift based jobs.

*There are various teams in every industry, the sales team , the marketing team, the R&D team. And various others. You need to see where you will fit in best.

Once you have looked into all these aspects you are sure to make a good informed decision!

Phone Interviews

Catherine Jones — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:13:35 +0000

A lot of companies are reducing the pool of prospective employees using phone interviews. This is like a first step elimination process. This may not seem very fair to judge an applicant based on one telephone call but since it is quickly gaining acceptance and is used commonly you need to turn this around and simply use it to your advantage. There are a variety of aspects you need to be cautious of and points you should remember to leave the right impression.

Make sure that you are prepared for the kind of questions that you may be asked. Do not be caught off guard.
Be confident and answer clearly. You have to give them the impression that you are the candidate they are looking for so don’t mumble and give indirect replies.
Do not be over enthusiastic and at the same time don’t be disinterested. Maintain a
Balance.
Do not give additional information. Answer to the point and be clear as to why you think you are the ideal candidate for he job.
Some companies may give you a date in advance and you can be prepared in advance. If you want to freshen up and dress up it’s a good idea. It will get you in the mood for an interview.
Do not take it lightly and reply straight out of bed. This will definitely not help you give your best to the interview.

Be confident and you are sure to give the right impression and make it to the next round. The actual interview! Good luck!

Interior Designing

Catherine Jones — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:21:57 +0000

Interior designing is one of the off beat careers that has had quite a bit of focus and attention off late with a lot of people hiring decorators to do up their new homes or even when they feel like they’d like a change in the interiors. Interiors make a huge difference to the mood you would want to create in each room. Thinking of it as a career option is a wise choice if you are artistic enough and if you find a creative job appealing.

Step1-The first thing you should do is read up a bit on the job profile and what is expected of you. See how you would want to go about starting your career in this field.

Step 2-If you would like to broaden your skills you could do a bachelors in Architecture and then take up interior designing as well and this will give you a more professional outlook and may even help you be a better designer, like if you want to consider designing offices or hotels.

Step 3- Look up universities and colleges that are good for courses in interior designing and apply well in advance. If you are already a graduate try and look for a masters program or some kind of a short term course. Working as an intern with a interior designing firm is also a good idea.

So give it some good thought and go ahead! This kind of a career choice has sure positive aspects like a well designed home of your own! Good luck!