The Top Job Search Articles of 2014

The Top Job Search Articles of 2014 2K Over 50 of the most-viewed job search blog posts this year. These were the most popular, most viewed and in some cases, most shared, posts of each job search or recruiting related blog listed here below in the past year. The list isn’t ranked, I simply added the links as bloggers sent them to me. Enjoy!eval Top Job Bloggers’ Most Popular Articles of 2014 Sharlyn Lauby: Does Providing References Mean You’ve Got the Job Andrew Rosen: Texting In Sick: The How-To Guide Suzanne Lucas: Newsflash: Motherhood is not the world’s hardest job Dorlee M: 40 Interview Questions Every Social Worker Needs to Know Julie Walraven: 7 fatal mistakes on LinkedIn Meg Guiseppi: The New 10-Step Executive Personal Branding Worksheet Rich DeMatteo: 12 Things to Stop Doing Immediately If You Want A Job Lavie Margolin: How Not To CM Punk Your Employer When Quitting Dawn Rasmussen: Biggest Résumé Lie (And Mistake) that People Are Making Alison Green: here’s a real-life example of a great cover letter (with before and after versions!) Heather Huhman: 15 Quotes To Inspire You During Your Internship Brie Weiler Reynolds: 100 Top Companies for Remote Jobs in 2014 Melissa Cooley: What If I Interview and Decide I Don’t Want the Job? Gayle Howard: Is my resume any good? Margaret Buj: A Recruiter’s Inside Scoop on Salary Negotiation Tips Jessica Hernandez: 25 Best Resume Tips for 2014 Thomas Frank: 97 Actions You Should Take To Become THE Person Companies Want To Hire Mark Dyson: Job Interviewing Best Practices (PODCAST) Mark Babbitt: The 7 Most Underrated Career Skills… Ever Dan McCarthy: 17 Ways to Teach Managers how to Coach Dorothy Tannahill-Moran: CAREER ADVICE: I can’t use my former boss as a reference. What do I do now that I’m looking for a job? Tory Johnson: Killer Pink Slips Harry Urschel: 20 Most Common Job Search Mistakes Jenny Foss: 6 signs that this job could be a lemon. Miriam Salpeter: Interview question everyone asks (and how to answer it) Joey Trebif: 5 Hot Careers in Healthcare Services Penelope Trunk: Leaving your options open sets you back Jennifer McClure: Recommended Human Resources Conferences To Attend in 2015 Erin Kennedy: 3 Important Factors In Your Executive Resume Emmelie De La Cruz: How to Contact Recruiters During the Job Search Lea McLeod: 5 Keys to Nailing the Phone Screen Scot Herrick: 5 actions to take before starting your job search Lisa Rangel: 6 Iron-Clad Ways To Find Keywords To Optimize Your Executive Resume Will Thomson: How to Impress a Recruiter Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter: Job Seeker: Be Patient Even When You Think You Can’t Faizan Patankar: Statistics â€" What Happens in a Job Interview Karen Adamedes: 5 Tips to raise your profile at work Nick Corcodilos: Resign Yourself To Resigning Right Jeff Lipschultz: Leveraging LinkedIn Groups in Your Job Search Wendy Terwelp: Easy 5-minute Tips to Make Your Network Thrive Karalyn Brown: Don’t make this silly mistake on LinkedIn! Donna Sweidan: 4 Steps To Making Your Job Search A Habit Hannah Morgan: Your Visibility On LinkedIn: What You Need To Know Nisa Chitakasem: Why LinkedIn Profiles are the New CV Dawn Bugni: One of the biggest lies Jessica Miller-Merrell: 21 Best Niche Job Boards for Recruiters Dana Leavy-Detrick: How To Approach The Subject Of Relocation In Your Resume Amp; Cover Letter Barbara Safani: How to Use Facebook as a Job Search Tool Joshua Waldman: 4-Part Strategy: How to Use LinkedIn to Get the Job You Want Susan P. Joyce: Tricky Job Interview Question: When Can You Start? Chris Perry: Top 150 Career Leadership Blogs For Your Success In 2014 Ken Sundheim: 5 Employers That Should Be On Every Recent Graduate’s Radar Kirk Baumann: LinkedIn: Let’s Get Personal Harry Joiner: Top Recruiter Reveals: “Here’s Why You Were Passed Over for that Plum Ecommerce Job.” Jason B.: 4 Easy Steps to System Administrator Jobs With This Resume Writing Guide ?? Top Job Search Articles of 2019 ?? Top Job Search Articles of 2018 ?? Top Job Search Articles of 2017 ?? The Top Job Search Articles of 2016 The Top Job Search Articles of 2015 The Top Job Search Articles of 2014 Top 40+ Job Search Blog Posts of 2013 56 Best Job Search Blog Posts of 2012 The 51 Best Job Search Blog Posts of 2011 56 Most Popular Job Search Blog Posts of 2010 39 Best Job Search Tip Articles of 2008

Newest Youngest Make Sure Your Good Ideas Get Heard in the Office.

Newest Youngest Make Sure Your Good Ideas Get Heard in the Office. Challenges in the workplace can sometimes be magnified by your age or tenure. How can you break away from the amateur or newbie stereotype? Every time you start a new job or get assigned to a higher-level team project you have that feeling that you know youve got great potential â€" because why else would you have been selected? â€" but how do you impart your knowledge to your coworkers without sounding like a know-it-all? How do you help other people see that your ideas are good, and maybe even better? Weve all heard, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,” right? Well, psychologists have spent the past decade researching why it is so difficult to change someone’s mind, even if to us outsiders it looks like they’re stuck in a rut. It doesnt necessarily mean this person is doing a bad job, but they could probably do it better with a little fresh insight. The problem? Asking someone to change the way they function in a work environment, particularly if theyve been in charge of a task or program for years, is a challenge to  their competence and can quickly become emotionally charged, even if that’s not your intention. John Cook and Stephen Lewandowsky, authors of The Debunking Handbook, note that debunking beliefs to which there is an emotional attachment is more difficult than changing someone’s mind on, say, if the sky is blue, because it is not just about changing what someone thinks, but also how they think. In a recent interview with Lewandowsky, he says,  â€œthe first thing is to make people affirm their beliefs. Affirm that they’re not idiots, that they’re not dumb, that they’re not crazy…[so] they don’t feel attacked.” Once you have acknowledged the other person’s ideas as valid, then you can go on to suggest ways to change them. While Cook and Lewandowskys research is focused  on  changing mythical beliefs around issues like global warming or welfare, I believe there is valid application of their approach  in  the workplace. I have found that with individuals who are particularly into themselves as being the big idea makers in an office, it is best to give small yet powerful suggestions to being breaking down an incorrect process. In order to do this, you need to fully understand how this person works. If you are on a project team with someone you know to be “bossy” or “controlling,” do your research. Before you walk into that first meeting, do two things: Know your collaborator. Go to one or two of your seasoned coworkers and say, “I’m really excited to be on this new team with Josephine, but I haven’t had an opportunity to work with her in such a direct setting. Could you please tell me a little about her management style?” Learning about the individual will give you an idea of how to approach her once you are sitting face to face. Know your project. If you are new to a company or new to a program it is critical to be on your game with the purpose, history, and current mission of this venture. Knowing these facts will provide you a strong foundation from which to approach the individual you may need to debunk. Know the processes of your project. Heres a helpful resource for first timers:  [amazon template=productasin=1118497236] When confronted with a situation where you need to debunk someone’s belief, Cook and Lewandowsky lay out three steps for doing so: Remember that rebuttal of a myth (incorrect belief or process) must focus on core facts (the correct information you are presenting) rather than the myth itself. â€" You want to help your coworker see a new idea, not entrench them in their old process of doing things. Preface any mention of the myth with a warning that the information you are about to give is false. â€" This will assist in helping your coworker remember that the mention of the incorrect belief or process is not the end goal or the change itself. Your rebuttal of the incorrect information or process should include a better (or, “more correct”) alternative that still accounts for important qualities in the original myth. â€" Find and acknowledge the valid parts of your coworker’s process and fold these positive pieces into your new proposal. The best part about the information presented by Cook and Lewandowsky is that the reasoning and techniques behind debunking someone’s incorrect beliefs can be applied in many more situations. Once youve learned their tactics, you can smooth talk your way out of any Facebook or bar argument â€" and not by being the loudest, but by being the most correct. More information on how to be a better communicator, as well as the full text of The Debunking Handbook by John Cook and Stephen Lewandowsky, can be found here.

6+ Best Customer Service Representative Interview Questions - Algrim.co

6+ Best Customer Service Representative Interview Questions - Algrim.co We’ve compiled the absolute best list of customer service representative interview questions and answers to help you with your upcoming job interview. Customer service representatives are becoming in high demand. As technology has taken over many positions of the past, this has caused the need for technical assistance to become greater. And customer service representatives sit right in the cross-hairs of that opportunity that is beginning to shift in the job market. What Is A Customer Service Representative? For the most part, a representative will be the one taking on customer service requests. They are the professionals who are looking through customer service requests, determining the right parties or departments they should go to and then going through the debugging phase of the support request and working with that customer themselves. Sometimes representatives work by phone, sometimes they work by email and other times its a combination of the two alongside a customer support portal like ZenDesk or in a corporate or finance setting, a secure portal that is licensed on behalf of the company you are working for. Customer Service Representative Interview Questions & Answers 1. What is the role of customer service? The role of customer service is to help our customers through moments where our product or service offerings are confusing or potentially not working for them. We are the team that helps facilitate filling gaps in the knowledge or technical literacy hurdles that would be otherwise impossible for our company to anticipate on an individual basis. We are a happiness team. 2. How should you treat your confused customers? With respect at all times. Most of the time customers coming through support will be confused. It is up to us to use clear information gathering communication to determine what is best for the customer and then guide them through the process as smoothly as possible to resolve their issue. 3. What name should you provide when working with customers? There are two options that are dependent on the company policies, a fake name that is US Based or your real name if the last name is not given. You want to come across friendly and real, so using a name they are familiar with is vital. 4. When should you alert your product or management team about an interaction that you’ve had with a customer? There’s a couple of instances where alerting the broader team is important. Particularly, in instances where the customer would like to cancel or close out their relationship to the company offerings. This is really important information for the broader management team to know about. And at what rate that is happening is also important. For example, if we are seeing an acceleration in support requests and an acceleration in the desire to cancel certain services, this is information that should be sent back to leadership. 5. How can you measure your success? Success can be measured by the number of times we were able to help a customer overcome their problem, the time it took us to do so, the number of support requests filled in a given day/week/month and the overall happiness of our customers, which can be measured through automated surveys. 6. What are ways you should work with your team members? Collaboration to help find new ways to overcome common customer issues is the best way to collaborate. That way we continue to gather more efficient ways of dealing with and treating our customers that lead to success. 7. How many support tickets should you aim to resolve in a day? It depends on what type of support requests are being filled. Ideally, for small support requests that take under 30 minutes, at least 10-15 support requests per day, per customer support representative is the right figure. Again, it all depends on the number of support requests, what type of requests, how many representatives are working together and much more. 8. What is a compliance script? A compliance script is anything related to the before and after a session of the customer interaction. For example, one compliance script may be telling the customer that the session will be recorded for the purposes of the company. That recording is important to get permission from the customer for and the script that is said on my behalf has been checked by the legal team. That means I cannot deviate from the script I must complete it for each session that is started. Preparing For Customer Support Representative Work This is a blossoming career move due to the way that humans are changing their interactions with technology. For example, financial institutions are closing most of their branches and going to digital offerings. Meaning that their customer service departments are beginning to grow. This is an opportune time for someone with a great deal of patience and communication skills to find high paying work. There's absolutely management mobility inside of this category as well. Related Hiring Resources Bilingual Customer Service Representative Cover Letter Sample

9 Choices You Will Regret in 10 Years

9 Choices You Will Regret in 10 Years Choices. Thats a loaded and heavy word, isn’t it? Life can be all about making the right ones. Of course, what turns out to be ‘right’ often becomes clear only in hindsight. That said, there are a few things in life that are quite likely to lead to regret. Here’s a look at the top 9 choices that each of us should avoid making. #1 Pursuing a job you hate There might be a thing or two or three that you dislike about your job. Fine, it isn’t that big a burden to deal with it. But if the only thing you like about your job is getting the weekend off, youll want to acknowledge that sooner, rather than later. The money might be good, and the commute short, but its not worth waking up every Monday morning with dread in your belly. #2 Wishing without action You want a home in Beverly Hills, along with a Merc and a Rolex. So what do you do? Watch a sitcom and then tuck into bed. If this is your regular cycle, you will end up only ‘wishing’. To get what you want, you need to work for it. No one but you can attain your wishes. Consider the amount of joy youll feel when youve finally achieved what you wish for â€" the effort is totally worth it! #3 Puffing through your days (and nights) You may think that smoking helps you relax, but for those few perceived minutes of relaxation, you are almost dooming yourself to anxiety and wobbly health. In fact, a study was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association in which 668 adolescents were taken as the subject group. Out of these, those who smoked one pack per day were 12 times more susceptible to develop a panic disorder. And they were five times more likely to develop agoraphobia. So, are you up for regret, anxiety and phobias? If so, keep puffing. #4 Wearing the selfish and arrogant tags Not caring for those who really love you, or not helping the ones who have always stood by you calls for regret. You are lucky enough to have this rare group in your life, so value them. Otherwise, by the time you realize that you have missed out on love, care and affection, you’ll have missed the boat. #5 Forgetting to be happy You remembered to stop at the store on the way home. So your mom, your girlfriend or your wife isn’t mad at you. But guess what, you forgot to be happy. If you focus so much on meeting other people’s expectations, and doing whats required, its likely youll forget all about being yourself and finding joy in the small things. We all have struggles and irritable moments; it’s about dealing with these and looking for the silver in every dark cloud, every day. Fret poured generously over a bowl of anger cannot always be the way to go on in life. Enjoy what you are doing, if not you have been merely surviving. Face it! #6 Settling for less than you deserve You must believe in your skills and talent. You should know what is rightfully yours and what you must get in return for your services. You should know that being firm about what you need to get is a must. Settling for lesser is a spark, which will later start a full-blown fire of regret. #7 Turning into a ‘dream-giver’ Do you end up giving in to people’s views, opinions and decisions? Do you find it hard to stand up for yourself or fight for your dreams? Then you surely are going to regret being a ‘dream-giver’. It’s great to be a good listener and keep an open mind, but giving up what you believe in just because people tell you your ideas are crazy, stupid, or not worth it, is akin to setting yourself up for a lifetime of regret. The world has ridiculed the most brilliant mavericks time and again, only to fall at their feet later. Why? Because those mavericks stuck to their guns. The Wright Brothers, Galileo, Doppler, are just among the many dreamers who didn’t give their dreams away. #8 Taping up your feelings Getting the big brown scotch tape to seal your courage and feelings isn’t sealing the regret that you would face eventually. “I wish I had the guts to tell Daisy that I wanted to marry her. I wish I had told my mum how much I loved her. I wish I could tell my boss that I am capable enough to take up the project”. You sure don’t want your life to become a long list of would haves and could haves, do you? #9 Forgetting to take time out Everyone has work to do. Regretting that you have eventually turned into the ‘dull boy’ who didn’t take time out for play doesn’t make sense. Spend time with your family, friends and engage in hobbies. This will not only make you feel ‘not-regretful’ but also rejuvenate you, boosting your performance at work. Although these realizations may feel like theyve come late, it’s never too late to change. (Finally, a bit of motivation!) You can right away undo the things you know will bring you regret. Turn over a new and fresh leaf. And don’t take ten years to do so! About the author: Vani Chugh writes health, fitness and lifestyle posts for e-cigarettereviewed. She is an experienced blogger and has been in the profession for nearly 6 years. Image courtesy of rachelg.

5 freshers nightmares and how to get through them

5 freshers nightmares and how to get through them Freshers can be the best week of your life. Non-stop parties, unrestrained independence and the beginnings of friendships that will last for the rest of your life. But freshers also comes with its drawbacks, and it’s perfectly ok to find it a challenging time. From illness to homesickness, and all the pressures that come with making new friends, you can’t expect everything to go to plan. If it feels like your worst freshers nightmares are coming true, then don’t fear â€" they can happen to anyone and this is how to deal with them. You don’t get on with your flatmates Getting on with your flatmates seems like the most important thing in the world when you first head to uni. For months you’ve dreamed of hanging out with your flatmates every evening after uni in F.R.I.E.N.D.S-style harmony and becoming BFFs for life. When that vision doesn’t come true it can be crushing. Just remember that you’ll build friendship groups in a variety of different ways at uni â€" from surrounding flats, on your course, in societies and sports teams. And if you don’t get on with your flatmates straight away, give it some time and you may warm to each other. Plus you’ll only be living with them for a year, which will fly by when you’re at uni, believe me. If things do get really bad, most universities allow you to apply for a flat transfer. I did this in my third week of term, and other than the stress of carting all my belongings to another block, the process was surprisingly easy (and looking back as a recent graduate, it was a tiny blip in my time at university, not the end of the world as it seemed like at the time). You don’t like your course This happens a lot more than you would think. Many students take a chance when they come to uni by studying a subject they’ve never done before, and if it turns out it’s not the right one for you, there’s absolutely no reason to panic. Even if you’re well acquainted with the subject but the course is not quite what you thought it would be, don’t just struggle through the next three years because you think you have no way out. If you decide early enough in term and you want to transfer to a very similar degree discipline, the university might let you do this quite easily. You might have some serious catching up to do, but the process should be relatively stress free. If you decide you want to change later on in term, or you want to transfer to a completely different subject area or university, you’ll have to take a year out. And again, this is perfectly ok. Getting a degree is not a race. You don’t want to be looking back on your graduation day wishing you’d taken a different course, so take the time to find what’s right for you. You’re feeling homesick While you might expect you’re going to walk off into a university sunset without even a glance back, the reality is you’re bound to feel homesick at some point. If you’ve lived at home for your entire life, making the transition to independence at university can be tough. Everyone goes through it at some point, and there’s definitely no need to panic and pack your bags. Some people will try and impose some hard and fast rules like ‘You’re not supposed to go home during the first two months of term or else you’ll make it worse’, but don’t let anyone dictate what you can and can’t do. If you want to pop home at the weekend or invite your parents to come visit, do whatever makes you feel most comfortable, but don’t give up;  I promise you one day homesickness will be a distant memory, it just takes a while to get through it. You’ve got freshers flu Being away from home when you’re ill is just the worst. All you want is for your mum to make you a bowl of soup and fuss around you, and instead you’ve got the noise from next door’s flat party and a mountain of empty beer cans to wade through just to reach the fridge. Most freshers will go through flu at some point; it’s become an initiation into university life. With cold germs from various parts of the country all coming together in one small space, viruses spread like wildfire, so stock up on Lemsip and soothers while you have the chance. As hard as it might be to turn down all those flat parties and nights out, you’ll only get better if you rest, so eat well, drink lots of fluids and sleep. Lots of sleep. You consume too much alcohol Now I know this doesn’t seem like much of a nightmare right now, but believe me, ten hangovers deep with an essay due tomorrow morning, and it’ll definitely seem like a living hell. The first hurdle most freshers fall at is drinking in moderation. For the first time you’re let loose with alcohol, minus the wrath of your parents when you stumble in at 3am, so it’s easy to go overboard. Just know your limits, drink lots of water before bed and take a night off every now and then. You can still go out and have a good time  with your friends but believe me, hangovers aren’t cool. Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

Meetings - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Meetings - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Meetings are one of the most hated workplace activities. Studies show that the more meetings people attend, the less happy they are at work and that meetings are the biggest time waster keeping people from actually, you know, doing their jobs. This passage from the book jPod by Douglas Coupland illustrates it brilliantly: Here?s my theory about meetings and life; the three things you can?t fake are erections, competence and creativity. That?s why meetings become toxic ? they put uncreative people in a situation in which they have to be something they can never be. And the more effort they put into concealing their inabilities, the more toxic the meeting becomes. One of the most common creativity-faking tactics is when someone puts their hands in prayer position and conceals their mouth while they nod at you and say, Mmmmmmm. Interesting. If pressed, they?ll add, I?ll have to get back to you on that. Then they don?t say anything else. Heh! Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Using Italics Skills to Write Your Freelance Resume

Using Italics Skills to Write Your Freelance ResumeWhile most professionals know the basics when it comes to applying their skills in creating an effective freelance resume, many struggle with trying to apply that same knowledge to their italics. When doing this, they often fall short of the mark because of the lack of essential information that is needed in the letter. In this article, I am going to discuss some of the things that you need to know about this area of your resume.The first thing you need to think about is how to get the right words in the document. As a writer, it's important that you understand what the words in the document mean. This includes knowing what the words mean, and more importantly, what they are not. You should know the proper words that are appropriate to use, as well as the proper words that are not appropriate to use.The next thing that you need to consider when working on your freelance resume is the font. If you do not understand how to choose the r ight font, you should ask for assistance from someone who does. You should not be afraid to ask for help when you are doing your italics resume, as it will save you time and help you write a better letter.When you write letters, you need to be very careful about what you type. Italicized words should always be entered as capital letters, as a regular word is usually shortened, and enters the document without a sentence break. Many employers read documents that have dropped their normal sentence structure, which can be a disadvantage for you.When you are doing your freelance resume, you also need to write in the correct order. The best way to make sure that you do not mistype a word is to read the letter out loud and pay attention to the misspelling of each word. Once you see that you have the words wrong, do not change them.You should also make sure that you outline the entire document before you begin writing. This is one of the most important steps in any freelance resume writing job. You want to make sure that your employer knows what you are looking for, and what you are hoping to achieve.You should also write the correct word for each position you are applying for. Again, if you are unsure of the correct way to write these words, you should ask someone who is experienced in freelance resume writing to write them for you.As you can see, there are many things to think about when it comes to applying your skills in writing to your italics. These are just a few things to keep in mind, but you should really remember that the errors in your document are entirely up to you. As long as you do the right things, and focus on making the correct words in the correct order, your freelance resume will read clearly.