Tag Archives: job

Top Ten Tips For CVResume Writing

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1. One size does not fit all! Don't use exactly the same CV for each job you apply for. Tailor-make your CV to each role, carefully checking the job and person specification in the advertisement. What does the job description ask for and are you able to clearly demonstrate that you meet these requirements?

2. You only have 30-60 seconds to attract the recruiter's attention: You can do this by creating a well written profile that not only illustrates your core experience, but also your transferrable skills to the role you are applying for. Ask someone you trust to read over your profile; in their opinion does your profile effectively represent you?
3. If you are making a complete career change write down the following list:

Things you are good at
Things you love to do
Things someone will pay you to do

Then collate this information to develop a focus in your CV where all these areas can be applied to within a sector you can be really passionate about.
4. Go over your previous roles identifying key achievements: Some examples are detailed below but you will be able to think of areas that specifically apply to your own career:

Reaching and exceeding targets set
Implementing systems and processes that improved performance and sales
Winning industry or company awards
Promotion or acting up positions
Winning new clients
Successful completion of projects, perhaps in record time
Loyalty and commitment through difficult times within an organisation
Supporting and motivating colleagues and team members
Training and development of new recruits
Problem solving – give examples
Going the extra mile – give examples

5. Avoid Gimmicks! Of course you want to stand out from the pile of other applicants but as a rule recruiters dislike gimmicks like, fancy formatting, photos, coloured paper etc. Given many companies' hiring procedures you are more likely to be instantly rejected if you do include a photograph.
6. Formatting your CV: Your CV should be printed on A4 sheets, if you are posting your CV rather than emailing it, use good quality paper like Conqueror 80-100gsm in brilliant white. Use a plain font like Ariel, Trebuchet or Times Roman in a 10 or 11 size font. So that the format of your CV is not lost if a recruiter has a older or newer version of word, save as an rtf file or pdf.
7. Don't overdo the length of your CV: No more than 3 pages is an acceptable length, remember you are aiming to grab the attention of the recruiter. This doesn't mean you should cram in as much information as possible to fit it onto 3 pages. Review your CV to ensure you only have core information in it; a recruiter doesn't want to see every duty listed as part of each job.
8. Key words: Having well selected key words in your CV not only catches the recruiter's attention, but is also an effective way to ensure your CV is picked up by the automated systems that recruiters and online job sites commonly use. Research the key words for your industry sector including those in your profile, key achievements and duties.
9. Proof read: There is no excuse for spelling or grammatical errors with spell check and thesaurus that are available on all the main word processing programmes today. After finishing your CV read it out loud; does it naturally flow for the reader? Make sure sentences are not too long. Create sentences that have impact and make a statement. If possible get someone else to read it for you.
10. Cover letter: Your cover letter is the doorway to a recruiter wanting to read your CV. If possible address it to a named person, signing off with 'yours sincerely' to a named individual or 'yours faithfully' to an unnamed addressee. Include some of your successes in your cover letter as bullet points – again this will grab the recruiter's attention.
Finally, after you have revised your CV, request a Free CV Review from a reputable Professional CV Writing company who will be able to provide you with valuable feedback.
Elizabeth Bacchus is a leading Career Coach, Writer and Founder of The Successful CV Company www.thesuccessfulcv.com

Journal Writing Prompts Your Life Transformation Makeover from the Inside

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Journal Writing Prompts Your Life Transformation Makeover from the Inside Out

If you’re still here on earth (which you obviously are), chances are excellent that there is at least one character flaw, habit or knee-jerk response that you would love to change, if only you had an easy way to do it.

Maybe one person knows exactly how to push your buttons (and does it often!), and you would like to stop responding the way you always do.

Maybe you notice a bad habit you would like to break

Maybe you want to try on a new role or behavior in your life to change the results you get.

If only you had a simple and, most importantly, effective way to break patterns you do not want so you could change your life at will. That would be amazing, wouldn’t it? It would, especially if it did not involve therapy, drugs or abdicating your life to live as a hermit on a mountain.

The good news is that you DO have such a tool at hand (literally). It is all natural, life-transforming, and absolutely free.

That life transformation makeover tool is writing.

Writing is a powerful means for discovering the truth of what is going on in your mind. Keeping a journal or even writing your thoughts into the computer when you feel the urge can help you see aspects of your life with greater clarity.

You might not have thought of this before, but writing can even help you change your habits.

How?

Because your subconscious feelings and underlying beliefs don’t reveal themselves to you if you’re just chewing and stewing on things.

In other words, it is much more powerful to write than it is to roll thoughts around inside your head.

Using journal writing prompts like the ones you will discover here, you can:

Notice patterns.

Try out new ways of responding to people,

Try on new ways of behaving,

Help break yourself of a habit that does not serve you,

and more.

** What’s the difference between Pondering and Writing? **

Imagine your brain is like a digital video recorder that can let you replay scenes as often as you want—but with one important difference.

When you record your favorite TV show, the various scenes and episodes don’t change. But inside your own head, things can change very much, and often do.

When you’re mulling things over in your head, you tend to get caught up in the thoughts and amplify what really happened. You replay the most embarrassing, annoying, or aggravating moments over and over and over.

Whatever you feel is “wrong” or “bad” becomes astronomically worse as you keep replaying the scenario in your mind.

Just stewing, mulling, or mentally going through things in your mind brings no change in the emotion. No resolution. No shift.

Here’s a story about a strong woman who got caught up in a pattern that does not serve her well. I’ll call her Sandy, and she may be a lot like you.

** Sandy’s Story of Bad Luck **

After losing her job to downsizing, Sandy said, “Why is it I always end up a loser?”

Have YOU ever asked a question like that?

Certainly, there is no one answer for everyone. All Sandy knows now is that she feels awful. She may not even realize there is a pattern she has the power to break.

But inherent in the way she asked, with her voice full of angst, is self-loathing,

Unfortunately, Sandy invests energy into emotionally beating herself up, but she could choose to focus on breaking the habit.

No, she can’t change the fact that a company lays people off, but she definitely is in charge of her own feelings about the situation. She tends to feel that anything that doesn’t go her way is “bad luck.”

She also tends to be hard on herself and to cut herself down with the deftness of a fencing champion. ** Chances are excellent that nobody will be harder on you than YOU will. **

What Sandy said next revealed just how much she was beating herself up emotionally.

Sandy told her best friend, “I must be exceptionally stupid.”

What a hurtful thing to say about yourself!

The key to changing your results is to change how you experience what happens to you. Maybe some habits of word, thought and action are nothing more than big fat lies. Once you see the lie, you can release it forever!

Sandy realized she felt that losing her job made her a loser, and that being a loser meant she was not worthy of being loved. How shocking! Seeing the words on the page made her realize she had been living a big fat lie.

Using writing prompts, she was able to understand the lie and thus break the habit.

Imagine going into a job interview feeling like a loser VS going in feeling like a winner. Which attitude is more likely to get you noticed?

The winning attitude will always serve Sandy well, even if she does not get the first job for which she applies.

So rather than stewing and chewing over things in your mind, now you can write.

** Useful writing prompts **

These journal writing prompts can help you ask good questions, move through the emotions and enter a journey of self discovery.

Here are some good prompts to get you started.

Write your feelings about the situation that is on your mind. Give yourself permission to be honest with yourself in your writing. Get them all out of you. Then let go.

Write the patterns you observe in your life. Once you see a pattern, you can decide whether it is a good habit or one that hurts you. If it’s a harmful pattern, simply knowing it exists takes you most of the way to breaking it.

Rehearse the new way you want to act or respond by writing out the new scene. Read it often and implement the change into your life.

Write a plan to make any changes you desire to make in your life. Look for all the opportunities to find support for the desired outcome.

And if you prefer questions, here are some good ones to spark your self discovery in writing.

What pattern do I notice myself falling into? Is it a good habit or a bad one?

What one experience do I most want to have? How can I put myself in a position to make it happen?

What is my ultimate purpose in life? What can I do to live my purpose?

What is the most loving thing I can do right now?

The key to self-mastery is to look for patterns, reflect on what you have written, and then take the appropriate actions to create the change you desire in your life. These journal writing prompts will set you firmly upon the right path.

Receive inspirational thoughts, quotes, stories & more at http://ProfitableStorytelling.com/inspirationalstories #1 bestselling author Ronda Del Boccio is known globally as The Story lady because she teaches you to create the story of YOU living with passion, love, joy and purpose. She is legally blind, but she never lets that get in her way!

Can You Find Freelance Writing Jobs

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Being an editor is a dream for a lot of people who love the written world, but finding a writing job in a publishing house can be very difficult. Thankfully, there is a huge demand right now for people to fill freelance writing jobs, and if you have a good knowledge of the English language and love to read, then you can make a very nice living.Most people who start looking for freelance writing jobs online do so because they are looking to make a little extra money on the side while they keep their full-time job. What ends up happening in a lot of the cases is that they soon find out that there are so many jobs out there to keep them busy that they end up giving up their full-time job and making writing a new business for themselves.The qualifications for these freelance writing jobs are few, and they certainly don’t require you to have any type of degree. As long as you have a sufficient knowledge of the English language (having English as your first language is preferred), and you have the ability to quickly and efficiently write and edit articles, you will be able to find work.Most people who fill these freelance writing jobs are simply people who want to work online and enjoy reading and writing. Instead of waiting around for the perfect writing job in a “real” company, they begin to think outside the box and find work online, which is often much more lucrative and easy to come by.All you really need to start working as a freelance editor is the drive to create your own business, satisfy your clients and produce quality work that is delivered on time. This may seem obvious, but many people who start out fail because they don’t satisfy the needs of their clients. When you are working as a freelancer in any job, although you may think that you are your own boss, your client really is the one telling you what to do, and your goal should be to make them happy.There is a wide variety of freelance writing jobs online right now, from writing and writing jobs to re-writing existing copy. You may find that there is an increasing growth in the article marketing field, where small companies use high-volume article production to push their business. By building your niche in this market, writing articles that are written by other freelancers, you will have no shortage of work to do.Whether you are looking for a few extra dollars that you can make in the evening and on weekends or you want to quit your full-time job altogether and devote yourself to your own business, you will find that right now is an exceptional time to look for work. If you have experience writing, have your own computer and Internet connection, know your way around a computer and are eager to work, the limit to the amount of money you can make is virtually endless.

What is the Best Online University for You;

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The enhancement of internet technology leads to the rapid growth of online education. Online degree programs are increasing in popularity and creditability, more and more online universities are available on internet offering degrees from Bachelor to MBAs and Ph.Ds and Subject areas range from business to nursing. There are so many information and options available on online universities; it sometimes can be difficult to choose which online universities to enroll for your degree program. Hence, if you decide to earn your degree online, which is the best online university for you? Three criteria: marketability, usability and class quality can be used as your key determination factors to find the best online university for you. Marketability You pursue a degree for a better career future; therefore, degree from a well recognized and good reputation online university is essential to ensure your degree is marketable by itself. For example, employers consistently regard the students coming out of University of Phoenix Online as prepared for the job market and as a result, a degree from University of Phoenix Online, more than any other online university, confers marketability. DeVry University is one of the oldest and most widely recognized online universities. Like the best of its competitors, DeVry is fully accredited and offers an excellent reputation.On other advantage of University DeVry over other online universities is DeVry offers students over 70 physical locations where, in addition to their online studies, they can take classes. A degree from DeVry University is well recognized by most of employers and it more marketable as compare to degree from other online university. Other good reputation and well known online universities by the job marketing include: Capella University Kaplan University AIU OnlineUsability A good online class teaching system is important to ensure a smooth learning environment. In most online universities, lecturers and students are communicated through classroom chat, webcams, message system, email & etc. The most common issues found by the online students are: The classroom chat is tedious The webcams sometimes malfunction.Capella University has taken the initiative to over those issues and implements a new system called iGuide System to replace the tedious classroom chat and malfunctioning webcams of old. Students consistently report good experiences with their iGuide system. Class Quality When talk about class quality, DeVry University is unbeatable. With it physical campuses over 70 locations throughout US to supplement it online classes and it unique online learning system, DeVry is uniquely able to offer students a wide array of classes and majors. University Phoenix Online is another recognized online university which provides good class quality. A low ratio on students-to-lecturer ratio has enabled a better attention and guidance by each lecturer to their online students. In Summary There many good online universities out there; each good online university has it pros and cons against their competitors. To maximize the investment on your education, you must choose the best online university which meets your career goals. Spend some of your time to read the review by others on your short listed online universities before make up your decision.

8 Ways to Pay Off Student Loans Debt

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A recent study by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that 50% of recent college graduate have student loans, with an average student loan debt of $10,000. The average cost of college increases at twice the rate of inflation. With the rising costs of college it is difficult for aspiring colleges students to get enough scholarships and grants to pay for college and basic necessities. More and more college students are forced to use credit cards to pay for basic essentials such as books and school supplies. According to the United Marketing Service (UCMS) the average number of credit cards per student is 2.8.

Here are 8 ways to help with paying off student loan debt:

1. Develop a plan. Develop a plan to pay off your student loan debt before you graduate.

2. Save your money. Each summer throughout your college education, get a job or internship. Save half the money in a high interest savings account such as http://www.emigrantdirect.com (5.05%) or http://www.ing.com (4.5%). After a few months, consult a financial advisor to earn the highest possible return on your money. After college, you can use the money saved during all 4 years to pay down your college debt.

3. Use caution with consolidation. Consolidating student loans combines your loans into one payment but may or may not provide you with a lower interest rate. Do extensive research before consolidating your student loans. In addition, you may not be eligible for various student loan forgiveness programs if you consolidate your student loans.

4. Exchange work to reduce debt. Perform volunteer work or work for the following in exchange for reducing student loan debt: teaching in certain locations with low-income students or areas with shortage of teachers, providing legal and medical services in low-income areas or working for Americorps or the Peace Corps.

5. Get a work-study job. To help pay for the costs of college get a work-study job on campus to help defray the cost of college. Go to your campus employee office to ask about their work-study program. Work study Jobs pay at least the minimum wage for that state.

6. Apply for lots of scholarships. In recent years, money has been reduced from the budget for college scholarships so it is harder to get a scholarship to go to college. You can increase your changes of getting a scholarship by completing as many scholarship applications as you can. If you complete at least 50 you should receive at least 5 scholarships. Also, go to your campus financial aid office and ask about financial aid programs that the schools provides to students. Become friendly with the financial aid office employees who will alert you to financial aid programs when they become available. You can also search the internet for scholarships. Some scholarship websites are http://www.fastweb.com, http://www.scholarships.com, http://www.finaid.org, [http://www.college-scholarships.com] or http://www.scholarshiphelp.org.

7. Apply for grants. Apply for as many grants and scholarships as possible. You can also apply for federal grants such as the Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program, Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP), and National Science Scholars Program. Some grant websites are http://www.scholarships-ar-us.org/grants/, http://www.scholarships-ar-us.org/grants/women.htm, http://www.careersandcolleges.com.

8. Protect your credit. Try to avoid making late payments on your student loans, if you do this will be reported on your credit report and can remain for up to seven years. If you are having financial hardship call the student loan company and inform them of your situation, ask for a hardship or loan deferment to ensure your credit is not damaged until you are able to start making payments again.

What Does it Mean to Consolidate Student Loans?

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Loans are almost inevitable for many people. If you ever want to buy a house, buy a brand new car, or go to college, there is a good chance you will have to take out a loan. Going to college is a huge source of loans for people, especially for those going to a very expensive college.

When you get your tuition bill, the first thing you do is think about how you are going to pay for it. Do you get any financial aide? Do you have any scholarships that can help pay for it? Do you have any money saved from your job? Will your parents help pay for any of it? When all other sources of money are gone, you turn to loans.

Now that you have graduated from college, you probably have a wide variety of loans to pay off. The Stafford loan is a very common student government loan. It is offered in a subsidized or unsubsidized version. If you were lucky enough to get an unsubsidized Stafford loan, the government has been paying the interest for you throughout college. You may also have a Perkins loan, Graduate PLUS loan if you went to graduate school, personal loans, private loans, and credit card debt from cards you used to pay for tuition, buy books, or use throughout college. These add up to a lot of money that you owe.

After college, you either go to graduate school, get a job, or do both. Most people can’t afford to continue to go to college full time, so the get a job and take graduate classes part time. If you get a well-paying job, that is great. You can quickly pay off your loans, save for a house, and get going with your life. If you decide to go for more professional schooling, such as medical school, dental school, or law school, you have several cheap living years ahead of you and more student loans to tack on. Usually this works out because you can make a lot of money with these careers soon after you graduate.

If you are unfortunate enough to get a low paying job out of college, as many are, you can be in a tight situation. Even with a degree, it’s hard to get a high paying job out of college. It will take years of experience, promotions, and raises to get to a comfortable income. The real problem is that most if the big expenses occur when you are young out of college. You need to pay off your loans and try to save.

If you have lots of loans and the payments are outrageous, you can soften the blow. Try to consolidate your student loans. If you have several government loans as well as private loans, you can consolidate them into one loan with a lower consistent interest rate and effectively lower your monthly payments. This can be a huge help when you are just starting out.

Student Loan Deferment – Obama And Clinton Pledge

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Loan deferment is a program in which the payments will be reduced or not be required to pay back for a specific amount of time. The good thing about deferring your student loans if you lost your job, have military duty or go back to school is that interest will stop accruing for that period of time. You do not have to pay interest or the regularly scheduled monthly payment during this time period. This alone can be a life safer to many Americans who find themselves in a credit crunch and have too many bills.

There is also terms referred to as forbearance, this means that you can stop required payments for a specified amount of time. The difference between forbearance and deferment is that you don’t have to pay the required interest back on these types of loans. Yes forbearance will temporary suspend your monthly scheduled payments but the interest will continue to add up and increase the balance of your loan.

To sign up for either one of these programs you must file an application with your student loan consolidation provider. Student loans can also fall into default but can still be consolidated, many people fall into this category because of financial problems. The Loan can automatically go into default if you miss a monthly payment even one time. Missing your schedule payment does have a negative effect on your credit rating and can haunt you for a long time.

Make sure if you get into circumstances in which you can make your required monthly payment that you file for forbearance or deferment, this can save you a lot of headache in the long run and you’ll be glad you did it.

Lower Your Student Loan Payments

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Do you have student loans? Are you out of college and overwhelmed by the payments you need to be making to pay off your student loans? You are not alone. Most college students graduate with student loans. College is expensive and it takes a lot of money to pay for it, a lot of money that most people don’t have. This leads the a lot of money taken out on loan. Once you graduate college you are required to pay these loans off, and it can cost you a lot of money every month.

Many students fresh out of college have trouble finding jobs right away. Unfortunately, whether you have the job of your dreams or not, you still have to pay back the money you borrowed. Even if you do get a job right away, it usually doesn’t pay as much as you would like. With a low income, you might have to choose between paying off student loans and moving out of your parents’ house. If you have no choice but to live on your own, heavy student loans can be more than a burden. If you can pay them, you are damaging your credit and possibly losing your chance at buying a home.

If you want to lower your monthly student loan payments, consolidation is one avenue you can take. If you have several loans from the government and other sources, you probably have lots of little payments at different rates. You could be paying 6% on one loan and 15% on another. Having different rates and different loans is not only disorganized and chaotic, it could be costing you a lot more money.

When you consolidate your loans, you are putting them all together into one loan to pay back. If you have several loans, you can make the minimum payments and focus more on the high interest loans, but if you can only afford the minimum payments, there is no way to do more quickly get rid of the higher rate loan payments. When you consolidate, you can get one low interest rate. It might not be as low as your lowest rate, but it will hopefully be lower than the average rate, and you will be paying it on the whole loan.

When you graduate, you must pay off your loans if you want to get out of debt and keep good credit. Find the best way possible to do this and save money every month at the same time.

Maya Student Edition Vs Maya Unlimited – How Are They

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Maya Student Edition Vs Maya Unlimited – How Are They Different?

Maya Unlimited 2009 is the latest version from Autodesk of the industry leading software for visual effects artists and animators. Most 3D companies these days, large and small, use Maya software in one form or another, so as a student looking to gain a job on graduation it makes sense to understand and begin to master this software package.

The Student Edition of Maya has dropped in price dramatically over the last few years, which has meant that it is far more accessible for students, teachers and academic institutions to purchase. Which makes sense really, after all, the more students and universities there are that teach and use Maya, the more widely used the software becomes. It also helps to combat the use of cracked version of the software which most folks don’t want to use, as it’s unethical and they’re often full of bugs and crash regularly.

When considering purchasing the Maya Student Edition, the first question that comes to mind often is, “how different is it from the normal commercial version of Maya Unlimited?”

Contains All The Maya Unlimited Modules

Well, essentially it is exactly the same. It comes with all the normal modules in Maya Unlimited like Maya Fluid Effects, Maya nCloth, Maya nParticles, Maya Live, Maya Fur, and Maya Hair (I’ve actually been using Maya Hair recently for some simple animation tests and it’s amazingly fast – much better than in 2008…for simple stuff it literally plays back in real-time, so it’s perfect for student projects where you don’t want to get bogged down in huge rendering and simulation times). You can purchase a student edition of Maya Complete, but to be honest there’s less than a $50 difference between it and the academic Unlimited version, so you’re better off with Unlimited in my view.

The Maya Student Edition lets you save out files and images without a watermark, which is great because the old PLE version used to be pretty horrible for that, and I know the XSI student version used to have some writing at the top of your renders and playblasts (not sure if they still do). After all, your work is going to go on your showreel to try and get you a job…you don’t want “property of Autodesk” splashed all over it do you? So the whole watermark thing is a great change.

The 2 Major Differences

The only difference between the Maya Unlimited commercial version and the Maya Student Edition is that obviously you can’t use the student version to make money – i.e. you can’t use it to produce freelance projects where you get paid or receive some monetary benefit.

There’s also a licensing difference between the student and commercial versions. The basic student license lasts for about 14 months…a perpetual license can be purchased for double the price so it really depends on your situation.

Bonus Student Discount

Overall, I definitely think it is worth buying the Maya Student Edition as it also qualifies you for a significant discount on the commercial upgrade later on (50% discount), should you decide to purchase it and go into business for yourself.

Nursing Student Resume

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A resume is a written document on which a lot depends in terms of your appointment. A resume is the most important document in your job hunt procedure. Especially, for a nursing student it is very important to craft an efficient resume. So, if you are looking to enter the field of nursing then make sure you craft a good resume. The basic job of a nursing student is to assist the health professionals in various treatment procedures.

Further in this topic we shall talk about a few things that a good resume should have. First of all, the most important thing to talk about is a job objective. It is the soul of your resume. It is a small statement that gives a brief synopsis of your career goals and objectives. It is the first thing that an employer looks forward to in your resume. So, write it in a best possible way. Given below are a few sample resume objectives for your help:

1. Searching for a position in nursing field that utilizes qualifications obtained from medical study in the best possible way.

2. In search of a purpose oriented nursing position with a reputed medical institution.

One more vital thing to include in your resume is your educational qualifications. All the employers are interested to know what your edifying qualifications are. You need to mention any special degree that you possess in regard to this position. You could mention that you have done Bachelor of Science in Nursing from a well known University.

Now, you need to talk about your work experience. You could inform the employers regarding your previous workplace. You also need to tell them what all tasks you had to perform in your preceding workplace. You just need to include all the specific details in your resume. In the end, just talk about the special qualifications you possess in regard to this position. You could mention special skills like interpersonal and communication.

Writing an effective resume is very vital in this kind of a job. So, make sure that you craft an efficient resume for your employer. Have fun and enjoy yourself!