10 Job Interview Questions Not to Be Tricked By

With an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent, there are a lot of job seekers out there, and they all come from very different walks of life. There are experienced workers who’ve just been laid off from the job they’ve had for 25 years. There are college grads seeking their first “real” job. There are still-employed workers seeking greener pastures. There are white collar workers and blue collar workers. There are folks seeking professional and managerial positions and those seeking less traditional opportunities.

But despite all these differences and despite the drastic changes the job market has undergone over the past few years, the way these potential employees will get hired hasn’t changed much at all. It still starts with the dreaded job interview, says Joyce Lain Kennedy. Continue Reading

Salary Negotiation More Open to Executives, Survey says

Job seekers who want potential employers to “show them the money” may be in luck, a new Robert Half survey suggests. More than one-third (38 percent) of executives interviewed said they are more willing to negotiate salary with top candidates than they were one year ago. Just 5 percent of respondents said they are less willing to negotiate.

CFOs were asked, “Compared to 12 months ago, are you more willing or less willing to negotiate salary with top job candidates?” Their responses: Continue Reading

Improve Workplace Productivity by Working Smarter

If being connected 24/7 was supposed to make our lives easier, the business world didn’t get the memo. Most American professionals just can’t shake the end-of-the-day feeling that they didn’t get enough done. So day after day, they find themselves responding to work e-mail on their smartphones right up until their head hits the pillow. Sound familiar? There is good news, says Jason Womack: By implementing a few small changes, you can get more done in less time—which not only staves off burnout, but leaves more time for doing what you love. Continue Reading

Tech Jobs: Unemployment rate is less than national average

2012 looks like it could be a good year to find a tech job.

While the national unemployment rate stands at 8.5%, many technology jobs remain in high demand, and hiring top talent for some positions remains challenging for employers.  In fact, the unemployment rate for many of these positions is less than half the national average. Continue Reading

What’s the Difference Between a Job Posting and a Job Description?

As one of the owners of CollegeRecruiter.com job board, we get feedback from our clients and even other job boards on a wide variety of job postings for a wide variety of organizations. We hear that some postings generate a huge number of views (job seekers reading the posting) and applications while others generate few views, few applications, or both.

The response rate to jobs posted to general and niche job boards varies considerably and is primarily driven by the job posting ad itself. In short, job postings which are more attractive and are for more attractive positions far outperform job postings which are unattractive or are for unattractive positions or both. On average, about 10 percent of candidates who run a search at a job board will read a relevant job posting ad, about 10 percent of those will click the apply button, and about 20 percent of those will apply. So if you want to generate 20 applications for a position then you need 100 apply clicks, 1,000 job views, and 10,000 job searches. Continue Reading

The 6 Dumbest Resume Mistakes and how you can avoid them

With the majority of job searching and recruitment taking place strictly online, it is absolutely necessary to distinguish yourself from the crowd. In this competitive market, even with ideal work experience, glowing references, and an endless catalogue of professional achievements, you can still miss out on your dream job due to these small, yet critical common errors. Continue Reading

Great Communicators Get the Health-Care Jobs, Promotions, Experts Say

There’s a bright spot in the U.S. employment picture: the health-care industry.

Health-care employers added 17,000 jobs in November, and they’ve been adding an average 27,000 jobs a month since December 2010, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Continue Reading

4 Ways To Answer Any Question Without Being Paralyzed By Fear

Carole Martin, The Interview Coach

Any interview can bring up questions that you fear. It is almost as though you project the question that you fear they will ask you – and they do. Here are four ways to answer any question asked in an interview. Continue Reading

Using Marketing Skills To Create An Amazing Six-Figure Resume

Jessica Holbrook Hernandez of Great Resumes Fast

At the six-figure level, you’ve probably used some level of marketing to sell aspects of your business to clients—or even sell a prospective employee on why they should join a company.  But have you thought about using these same marketing techniques to sell yourself as an executive candidate?  If you haven’t, now’s the time to consider some tips on ways to get this done. Continue Reading

Welcome to My College Job Search

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon

Spring. It’s that time of year again. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing and your parents are telling you to get a job. For some it’s a break between college semesters and for others it’s the cold hard reality of “time to get a job”. Whatever your reality (and both are covered in today’s post), you need to make good use of your time. It’s really competitive out there, so you need to get there first, have a trick up your sleeve, be incredibly lucky or have amazing connections. So, assuming for a minute that you are not independently wealthy and need to work like the rest of us, today’s post provides a few links to help you on your way. Continue Reading