Journal of Office Workers
Archive for October 21, 2014
The Hardest Job Interview Question—And How to Answer It
Originally posted on TIME:
This post is in partnership with The Muse. The article below was originally published on The Muse.
Like the dreaded “Tell me about yourself,” the question, “Why are you interested in this position?” is sure to come up in an interview.
And, even if it doesn’t, if you want the job you should get this sentiment across regardless. So, really, there’s no way around figuring out how to string together a coherent thought about why this being in this position makes sense for you (and for the company).
Luckily, there’s actually a pretty simple way to go about answering this question effectively without having to go through every big moment or transition in your life and career that’s brought you to this interview. Here’s a smart framework for how you should structure your answer.
Step 1: Express Enthusiasm for the Company
First things first, this is an…
View original 642 more words
10 Job Search Tricks That Will Change Everything You’ve Been Doing
Originally posted on TIME:
This post is in partnership with The Muse. The article below was originally published on The Muse.
Finding the right job opportunities—and standing out in a competitive market—is tough. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools and hacks out there that are built to help you find your dream job, more quickly and easily than ever.
From an app that helps you optimize your resume for applicant tracking systems to a site that’ll keep all your applications in order, here are 10 tools and tips you’ve probably never heard about that can give your job search a serious boost.
1. Create a Twitter Job Search List to Track Job Listings From Thousands of Sources
Every day, recruiters are tweeting jobs they need to interview candidates for—making Twitter a seriously untapped resource for job seekers. To make sure you’re in the know about these leads, create a Twitter job search…
View original 732 more words
Tiong Hoe Specialty Coffee
Originally posted on diary of a glutton:
Tiong Hoe is a place that I would love to visit more often, not only because of the smooth and full-bodied coffee (the way I like it), but also because of the friendly service.
I first heard about Tiong Hoe from W whose boyfriend enjoys the coffee very much there. Then when I went to The Klatch, I was told that they get their beans from Tiong Hoe. W said that the coffee was much better at Tiong Hoe. This really piqued my interest – how good can it be?
I later found out that Tiong Hoe is managed by a second-generation local coffee roaster. The founder, Mr Tan Tiong Hoe, has been roasting coffee beans from the 1960s. That is more than 50 years of experience! That being said, Tiong Hoe is not exactly a café; they are more like a coffee roaster and supplier to the cafés in…
View original 549 more words
Rabbit Owl Depot and Twenty Grammes, Two Additional Ice Cream Palours Along North Bridge Road
Originally posted on NAHMJ:
Within the same week, two Ice Cream Palours along North Bridge Road started welcoming patrons; Rabbit Owl Depot and Twenty Grammes.
Rabbit Owl Depot
420 North Bridge Road #01-06 Singapore 188727
Tel: +65 6336 4075
Opening Hours
Daily 1200 to 2200
FB: https://www.facebook.com/rabbitowldepot
Rabbit Owl Depot, an ice cream palour, considerably tiny is nestled opposite National Library. The highlights is of course ice cream. For the rest of the food offered, click here.
There are many owl ornaments and a few rabbits were placed nicely throughout the cafe. And they have rabbits customized chairs too. Since it is a depot, Rabbit Owl Depot serves their ice cream out of a yellow container.
After trying three flavours from the dozen or more selection, I ordered a Snowflake Waffle set which comes with a scoop of ice cream and an additional scoop. I have the Earl Grey…
View original 438 more words
List of Made In Singapore Ice Cream Cafe
Originally posted on NAHMJ:
The number of Ice Cream Palour is growing tremendously in Singapore. The type of ice range from soft serve to gelato and the latest trend nitro-cream. Flavours are getting more and more funky too. Since I love Ice Cream and from time to time, I crave for them so I decided to collate a list to facilitate my choosing.
Central
Cafe Mondo
FB: https://www.facebook.com/cafe.mondo.orchardcentral
181 Orchard Rd #02-31/32 Orchard Central Singapore 238896
Tel: +65 6884 7510
Daily 1100 to 2200
Ice Cream Gallery
Website: https://www.icecreamgallery.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ice-Cream-Gallery
United Square 101 Thomson Road #02-K1
Tel: +65 6255 4991
Monday – Thursday 1100 to 2130; Friday 1100 to 2200; Saturday 1000 to 2200; Sundays 1000 to 2130
Udders @ Novena
Webiste: https://www.udders.com.sg/
155 Thomson Road, Singapore 307608
Tel: +65 6254 6629
Sunday – Thursday 1200 to 2300; Fridays, Saturdays and Eve of Public Holidays 1200 to 0100
Moly Cafe
FB: https://www.facebook.com/molycafe
Block 109 #01-304 Lorong 1 Toa…
View original 1,459 more words
Mr Berlin, Currywurst, At One Shenton Way
Originally posted on NAHMJ:
All of us know what is the world famous German Bratwurst is but what about Currywurst sold at Mr Berlin located at One Shenton Way.
Currywurst is actually a German street snack of German Bratwurst usually cut to bite size with curry sauce added and curry powder dusted.
At Mr Berlin, the selection is limited. Though there are about three types of sausages, if you want Currywurst, the selection is either Pork or Chicken. There are three level of spiciness. To complete a meal, you can choose to have it with fries or a bread roll. For view of the menu, click here.
I chose Pork sausage with the lowest level of spiciness (termed as Berlin Calling). I prefer fries to bread roll. The texture of the sausage is a coarse with small lumps of minced meat. It doesn’t taste like the…
View original 188 more words
The Definitive Social Media To-Do List For Job Seekers
The job market has changed significantly over the last 20 years, and with it, so too have the hiring methods of employers. Traditionally, it’s been newspapers, industry publications, recruiters, and job boards that have provided the ‘lion’s share’ of new hires for employers. However, since the advent of social media, social networking tools have transformed approaches to recruiting and they are now a primary source of new hire leads for employers and recruiters alike.
QUIZ: Do You Have Social Media Career Power?
The ability to research a candidate market and approach desired hires directly is an approach that corporate recruiters really love – and see produces great results for their business. While this doesn’t mean that you should abandon looking at job boards and industry publications, it’s ever more important that you also incorporate a social strategy into your job search and work on your personal brand management.
The four key networks that you need to have a presence on in my opinion are LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. However, it’s also worth bearing in mind that any social networking site and forum where you post personal information and set up a profile may be publicly searchable. Recruiters these days are using ‘People aggregators,’ which are essentially specialized search engines, allowing recruiters to search hundreds of sites for potential hires. With that in mind be sure to keep your profiles safe for work and tailored towards your respective role or industry.
In this post, I am going to cover the main benefits of joining the ‘big four’ social networks to help you improve your job search and networking capabilities. Bear in mind that like any job search strategy, maintaining a presence on a social network can take some time and it’s up to you to decide where you want to spend yours.
In my opinion, having a presence on LinkedIn is an essential first step into the world of the ‘social job search.’ In the UK alone, there are 13 million LinkedIn users and the majority of the UK’s corporate businesses have a presence on LinkedIn. In the past, LinkedIn was mainly seen as an online repository for CVs. However, in the last couple of years it’s really repositioned itself as a function-rich networking site connecting individuals, recruiters, and employers.
Recent research from Econsultancy actually suggests that LinkedIn is now responsible for 64% of visits to corporate websites from any social media site. That’s an astonishing statistic, and it really shows how a company’s presence on LinkedIn is helping them to attract the attention of potential hires.
Most corporates that are present on LinkedIn will either have a LinkedIn pro license or access to LinkedIn recruiter, which allows them to search through the entire LinkedIn membership. Even if you’re not looking for a job right now, having an up to date and detailed LinkedIn presence means that employers can find you and may well reach out to you direct if you look like a fit for their current openings.
Helping employers to find you on LinkedIn
To ensure that those employers looking for potential hires with your skills will be able to find you, you’ll need to make sure that you have the skills listed that they are looking for. To do this, I suggest trying a little LinkedIn ‘reverse engineering’!
The first step is to find some jobs that you might be interested in applying for in the future. Once you’ve done that, explore the types of skills and keywords that they mention in their job posting. This is essentially a recipe for the ingredients that you’ll need to put into your LinkedIn profile.
Firstly, focus on the keywords – often employers will use a variety of similar keywords that describe what they are looking for. If you notice this, be sure to mirror this throughout your LinkedIn profile.
Secondly, you’ll need to focus on including the right skills in your skills section. The overall goal here is to ensure that whenever you are a match for a role that a recruiter is looking to fill, you’ve written your profile in a way that maximizes your chances of appearing as a candidate match. For more info on getting this right, check these step-by-step LinkedIn instructions.
Join groups and add insight to discussions
Another strategy for attracting the attention of potential employers or recruiters is to join industry groups or groups hosted by target employers. Look for discussions where you feel you can add useful insights to show to employers that you know your stuff. Whether this leads to a direct approach or just helps you to get on their radar, it’s definitely a worthy step to help add to your job search efforts. Looking at the profiles of other group members may also trigger them checking on your profile, through the “who’s viewed my profile” function on LinkedIn that many recruiters regularly review for candidate and client leads.
Google+
Once you’ve built your LinkedIn profile, I’d suggest replicating this on your Google+ profile. The main benefit to having a Google+ profile is that they rank very highly on Google searches. This will allow you to get a representation of yourself that shows you in a good light high up in Google searches. This can be particularly useful if a potential employer Googles you to get a little bit more information on you. Your Google+ profile will more than likely appear above other sites or profiles, ensuring that they see a professional representation of you, rather than one that shows you in a less favorable light or profiles of others with similar names muddying the waters.
Use Circles
Google+ also has some handy features that you can utilise when networking. Find employees and hiring decision makers that already work at target companies and add them to an employer specific circle. Once you do this, you’ll be able to start getting involved in discussions or commenting on their content. If done right, this will help you to attract their attention - whether it leads to an opportunity or helps when an opportunity eventually comes up.
Twitter offers one of the easiest ways to network with potential employers. Most organisations worth their salt will have a presence on Twitter, as will their individual recruiters. Before you start following and engaging with them, it’s a good idea to build up a profile/brand that shows your interest in the area that you are trying to get work in. Use relevant keywords in your bio to show your particular specialty and follow and engage with other professionals and organizations relevant to your target industry/role.
Follow and engage with target employers and decision-makers
Once you’ve built up a reputation, start following employers and decision-makers and monitor their activities, corporate culture, ethos, and upcoming opportunities. Every so often, you may find that they post content that you can engage with, whether that is by Retweeting, Favoriting, or by adding an insightful comment or one that sparks conversation. Make it a regular habit to do this and you’ll be well on your way to prompting the types of conversations that generate job leads and career conversations.
While Facebook may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of your job search, your profile may be picked up by recruiters using people aggregators. In addition, it is often the first place that employers will advertise in order to reach the target demographics they’re interested in for new job opportunities within their business. Ensure that you have filled out your work history, education, and professional skills information on your Facebook profile so that relevant adverts are shown to you and so that you appear in Facebook search results.
Like potential employers’ pages and engage with them
Similar to LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter you may be able to connect with employers pages by liking them. This can show to an employer that you are interested in what they are doing and that you’re keeping up to date with any developments. It will also allow you to engage with their page if and when there is something that you can add insightful comment to. So, don’t discount Facebook as a career move tool.
Hopefully these tips will help recruiters and employers to find you and will give you the chance to impress if and when there is an opportunity to engage with them.Social media gives you an opportunity to manage your brand and connect with those who can help your career. The question is, can you afford not to have a social media presence?
This is a guest post.
Related Posts
6 Social Media Mistakes To Avoid While Job Seeking
Social Media Guidelines For Young Professionals
Why You Should Connect With Co-Workers On Social Media
The post The Definitive Social Media To-Do List For Job Seekers appeared first on CAREEREALISM.
from CAREEREALISM https://ift.tt/10gG5BB
via IFTTT for Journal of Office Workers
How To Work Your Portfolio Into The Interview
For certain professions, it helps to have a portfolio to show your work during the interview, but what’s also important is how you handle your portfolio during the interview.
Related: What You Need To Know About The ‘Stress Interview’ Or ‘Pressure Interview’
While trying to impress the employer with your work, also show you’re organized and can refer to an example in an instant. Practice the handling of your portfolio and make it easy to find specific areas you want to refer to. At the same time, think ahead of ways to incorporate it naturally into the conversation.
Consider these tips:
Let the interviewer know in advance you have prepared a portfolio.
Before beginning the interview, inform the interviewer you’ve prepared a portfolio to further illustrate your work and qualifications for the job. Offer it for review. If the interviewer appears to want to speak first, set it aside and bring it in as appropriate during conversation.
Look for opportunities to bring it into discussion.
Depending on the material you have in your portfolio, there are various instances that may make sense to use it to help illustrate your knowledge and expertise. Look at opportunities around discussion and questions like:
- Tell me what you specialize in.
- Tell me about a time you were faced with challenge, and how you handled it.
- What would you say was your greatest accomplishment on the job?
Offer your portfolio for review again the end of your interview.
This give you a chance to further touch on areas that may have been missed, but that would impress the interviewer. In some instances, the interviewer may ask to keep the portfolio. Have a leave-behind copy on hand and make sure it includes a link to the digital copy, if available. A digital version will make it more convenient for the interviewer to share with others.
A portfolio is only as good as how you handle it and direct attention to specific work, so give it some practice so that the use of it comes off smooth.
Related Posts
5 Ways To Ease Your Nerves Before A Job Interview
8 Simple Interview Questions To Ask Hiring Managers
9 Ways To Stand Out In A Group Interview
About the author
Don Goodman’s firm was rated as the #1 Resume Writing Service in 2013 & 2014. Don is a triple-certified, nationally recognized Expert Resume Writer, Career Management Coach and Job Search Strategist who has helped thousands of people secure their next job. Check out his Resume Writing Service. Get a Free Resume Evaluation or call him at 800.909.0109 for more information.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
The post How To Work Your Portfolio Into The Interview appeared first on CAREEREALISM.
from CAREEREALISM https://ift.tt/10gG5l6
via IFTTT for Journal of Office Workers
