Human resources team during job interview with woman. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Now that you have graduated, or are on the way to graduating, your behavior in job interviews is more important than ever. Saying or doing the wrong thing is a risk in losing out on great opportunities. That’s no way to begin a career. One thing job seekers can do to help themselves is avoid saying things that are unprofessional or inadvertently offensive when they are being interviewed. Take a few minutes to read this list of 10 toxic phrases to avoid; make it a goal to avoid using them. (more…)

An HR manager scans through dozens of resumes on a routine basis, and can tell an unprofessional candidate for a job right from a glance at his/her resume. Why bear the brunt of an imperfect resume when you can follow simple guidelines to make yours stand out? Include relevant keywords for your job, whether it’s about touting you prowess as a team leader, a problem solver, or a dependable team building resource. Be careful about formatting your resume smartly; provide succinct contact information, use readable and classy fonts, make the content 100% relevant for the job, and avoid any flashy graphics or colors. Then, trust bullets to communicate more about your achievements, but limit their usage. Avoid clichés and jargon, and compile a coherent resume. (more…)