Your LinkedIn Profile Photo Is More Critical to Your Job Search Than Ever!

Jessica Holbrook Hernandez of Great Resumes Fast

A recent study conducted by The Ladders proves that your LinkedIn profile is a critical consideration of your prospect as a candidate for employment. I’ve often wondered how profile photos could affect someone’s job search efforts on LinkedIn. Especially since we don’t include photos on resumes—and mostly because they can be cause for discrimination. In theory, doesn’t the same apply for LinkedIn profiles?

An unprofessional image of you on LinkedIn can definitely hurt your chances of consideration for employment with an organization. The study found that recruiters viewing a LinkedIn profile spent almost 20% of their time on the person’s photo. That means that recruiters are analyzing your image and profile photo. This is why it’s vitally important to have a professional image on LinkedIn. Below are some tips for having a professional LinkedIn photo. Continue Reading

7 Tips for Searching and Settling into a New College Life

Seven tips to follow for searching and settling into a new college lifestyle:

1. Visit the Campus/College Town before Visiting – You can begin this search on thecollegetourist.com but of course you should take the official campus tour and make sure you really explore on your own. Trained tour guides show you the school’s selling points but take your own walk and ride around town. Continue Reading

Hiring a Web Developer

Joe Thomas, Founder and Owner of Left Brain Digital

If you can afford to have your brand new warehouse built from the ground up, who are you going to hire to build it?

The intelligent answer is simple: a reputable building contractor with happy clients and lots of experience, right? I mean, why on earth would you invest your hard-earned dollars to hire anyone less than a pro?

What about your office building or store? As a business owner, you know that it needs to have the right look and feel to be successful. Go ahead, go shopping or to the insurance guy or the doctor. Are the stores and offices run down with bad paint jobs and worn-out carpeting? Does the store you’re buying from have empty crates and clothes blocking the aisles? Of course not. They’re all clean and neat and professional – and most are decorated to impress the customer.

So why, then, would anyone take the opposite approach with their online business? Continue Reading

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize: How to Remain Focused While Earning an Online Degree

The majority of students, from those seeking their online RN to BSN to individuals earning a Distance Learning MBA, are discovering the many advantages the internet, in terms of education, has to offer. Flexibility, lower costs, a multitude of degree programs and opportunity to stay home in the rain to attend classes are just a few of the benefits online education offers to first time students, those seeking advanced degrees and busy professionals.

Unfortunately, the lack of one-on-one instruction and invigorating classroom involvement has a negative impact on many online students, causing them to lose focus, which can have a negative impact on their grades and future job prospects. If you’re concerned about dealing with the solitude and need for self-motivation that online education requires, here are a few strategies, tips and tricks to help ensure you remain focused and successful: Continue Reading

How to be a Good Boss to Your Intern

I’m guilty of this myself. When the summer months approach and I have more work than I can handle, I consider hiring an intern. I know there are students out there looking for an opportunity to build their skills, but instead of just putting out the call, I end up oscillating somewhere between: I could use the support, but sometimes it feels like it’s more work to train them than to do it myself – and on top of it all, I’m not sure I’m going to have a full-time job for them at the end of the internship. Continue Reading

Graduation Doesn’t Mean Goodbye: 7 Tips for Staying Involved

As many students approach graduation, their minds are so busy preparing for the future that they lose sight of the past. Graduating from a college or university doesn’t have to mean cutting ties with the institution. Whether you’re graduating with an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree or a different form of credential, you should consider, as you prepare to leave, how you can stay involved and remain a part of the education community and, in doing so, give back to the institution that has likely given you so much. Continue Reading

Tips for a Successful Internship

Photo of walking uphill through snow courtesy of Shutterstock

I graduated from college way, way back in 1988. Yup, I’m 42 years old. That makes me ancient to virtually every student on a college campus. Back in my day, we walked 12 miles to school, through eight feet of snow, with no shoes, it was uphill in both directions, and we loved it. Oops. That was in the days of my grandparents. But I digress.

Very few Gen X’ers like me had internships. Those of us who graduated with any work experience tended to have jobs that had little to nothing to do with our career aspirations. Those going into accounting waited tables or stocked shelves, for example. Gen Y’ers are completely different. They understand that in order to have a reasonable chance of finding a good job upon graduation that they must complete at least one and preferably multiple internships. And employers are catching on too. Some 50 percent of employers expect a college graduate to have completed at least one internship. Indeed, 20 percent of employers expect a college graduate to have completed two internships. How times change.

So what should a college student to ensure a successful internship? Continue Reading