All posts by Guest Blogger

Careers Advice, guest blogger, Interviews

Tricks On How To Look Confident

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Not too many people are aware of how they present themselves when going on a job interview. They either look disorganized or nervous and this is something that will immediately put an end to any prospects of your getting hired. Remember that job interviews could make or break your career, so if you want to stay ahead of the race, consider these tips to make you look confident during the interview.

1. Mind your body language. Don’t ever slouch or do any unnecessary movement during the interview. This will only hint signs that you are nervous. Instead, maintain a straight and confident posture that will impress your would-be employers. Sit straight during the duration of the interview and maintain eye contact to your would-be employers. You’ll leave an impression that you’re really ready for the job.

2. Prepare Your Mind. Think positive. Condition your mind for the better and you will feel relaxed. If you keep your thoughts on the negative side, chances are, everything will definitely go wrong. You will only feel bad during the interview and might even end up losing your confidence. Think that you’ll get hired! Claim success for yourself and you will end up just like that.

3. Look Good and you will Feel Good. Choose to wear clothes that will magnify your image as a professional and knowledgeable individual. With the right attire, it feels like you can answer all the questions they’ll throw on you.

4. Smile.  Smile is what it takes to make the difference between a nervous applicant and a confident interviewee. It breaks the ice and makes you feel comfortable and more ready to face them.

5. Relax. Rest your back on your chair. Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground. Fasten your hands while resting them either on your lap, on the table, or desk during the interview. If you really feel nervous, take a deep breath and count from one to five. During the interview, answer straight to the point. It’s OK to add a little detail—a sentence or two would do—but don’t make it too long to make you look like you’re lecturing.

Most importantly, don’t ever let the thought of getting rejected get inside your head. Remember, you’re being asked for an interview because you’ve been shortlisted. You are already a potential candidate. So give your best and go get your share of success!

About the Author –  This article is a contribution by Manilyn Moreno on behalf of Better Caterer, a catering software company. Currently, she works for the company as the Online Marketing and Content Manager. 

Careers Advice, guest blogger, LinkedIn, Networking, News

Should you be accepting those LinkedIn invites? Managing your network – guest blog

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It is easy to click on a button and find that you have got another LinkedIn contact. Box ticked. But remember, it is not a competition to get as many friends as you can and then start boasting to your colleagues at work. The social site is designed to be a business aid and help you to build and manage your professional network. So should you be accepting invites from people willy nilly?

Well, there is a simple answer to that, and it’s no. Even the company itself recommends that you only click yes on invites when they are from people you know. Managing your network efficiently is a key part of having an account, so if you can’t control what’s happening then consider whether it is really the best tool for you/your business.

There are a number of options when it comes to invites on LinkedIn. First of all you can simply choose to accept them, which will result in the person being added as one of your first degree connections. Secondly, you can opt to wait and reply to the person who has sent you an invite, without adding them to your network. Next up is the ignore button which puts the invitation into your archive folder but does not let the person know that you have declined their invitation – this is particularly handy when you do not want to offend an acquaintance. You also have the option to report an invitation as spam.

If a person comes calling that you don’t recognise then the chances are that they are from a recruitment agency. Now linking with them can be beneficial if you are in the market for a job – after all they have gone to the trouble of finding someone with your skills and getting in touch. However, if you’re not in the market then it’s likely to be a nuisance that you don’t need. Click yes at your peril! And remember too that other people will know when you have linked with a recruitment firm – if it happens numerous times then it might just start sending warning bells to your current employer!

When it comes to security, it is important to remember to change your LinkedIn password on a regular basis. Back in June the site was the subject of some unwelcome publicity after falling victim to a security breach which resulted in the passwords of more than one million of its users being leaked. That said, changing your password is not simply enough in itself, you also need to make sure that it is not something that someone else will be able to crack without trying. Research carried out after the attack revealed that one of the top passwords stolen was 12345. A considerable number of people didn’t exactly think outside the box it seems when choosing a LinkedIn password – other popular ‘secure’ choices were “job” and “work”.

So remember, while LinkedIn can be a fantastic tool when used correctly, it is vital to consider the security implications and always be careful when accepting new contacts.

Janice Lincoln is a freelance writer specialising in business matters such as looking for jobs via an it recruitment agency.

Careers Advice, guest blogger, News, Transferable Skills, Voluntary work

How to Volunteer for Charities

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Charities run on peoples’ goodwill and time. They are funded by peoples’ generosity and receive no government funding. They are staffed by a few managers and other key staff who are paid but a major part of their workforce is made up of volunteers.

Volunteering for a charity is worthwhile and very rewarding, but it is important to find a role that really suits you and makes the most of the time you have to offer. You may have important skills or certain personality traits that would make you perfect for a particular role.

There is a huge range of volunteering positions within charities. You could do anything from working in a charity shop to helping out at fundraising events to walking dogs for a dog shelter or fostering animals until they are adopted.

Charities are all organisations and although they do not seek to make a profit they do have to be run like a business, with people helping with budgets, marketing, fundraising and IT. If you have office-based skills, these can easily be translated into volunteer work for charities.

Many people volunteer as a way to get back into the working world after a career break or long period of ill-health. Volunteering builds confidence and gets you back into the routine of work. It is important that you are clear about what times and hours you are able to offer and how long you will be available for so that the charity can find a suitable role for you.

Volunteering can also look very good on your C.V. if you are searching for employment, as it shows a willingness to work, compassion and trustworthiness. Some volunteers go on to get paid positions within the charities that they have worked for, by showing their dedication, commitment and a ‘can-do’ attitude, but others are more than happy to just give their time knowing that they are helping a worthwhile cause.

If you are more interested in volunteering in a ‘hands-on’ way, the best sort of charities to work for are animal charities, which need a lot of help to care for the animals they look after. If you have always wanted pets but cannot afford one or cannot commit the time needed to care for one, then volunteering for an animal charity such as the RSPCA will be a great way for you to get to spend time with the animals you love.

If you are interested in volunteering, contact charities of your choice and ask if they have any positions available. Talk to them about what you would like and what you can offer and see where it leads you!

This is a guest post by Claire Chat a new Londoner, travel passionate and animal lover. She blogs about Pets and Travelling in Europe. If you want Claire to write you specific content, you can find email her here or contact her on Twitter (Claire_Chat).

guest blogger, News, Observations, project teams

Does Working in a Team Have to Cause You This Much Grief?

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Working in a team is something which can make any job more interesting but it can also cause you a bit of grief if difficult situations aren’t handled in the right way. I decided to have a look back at some of the worst team situations I have been in to see whether they could have been fairly easily avoided or fixed.

Jealousy and Pickles

Isn’t it strange how even the most mild-mannered colleague can get overcome by rage at some point in their career? I used to work with a chap whose only notable personality trait was that he ate cheese and pickle sandwiches at his desk at the same time every single day during 4 years.  One day he discovered that he had been overlooked for promotion and went ballistic. For a second I thought that I was going to end up with cheese and pickle all over my new suit. This is one of the most difficult subjects to handle but with a bit of proper team building and better communication I am sure that he would have appreciated the efforts of his colleagues more and not got so annoyed at the news of someone else’s promotion.

Everyone Doing the Same Thing Differently

I once got involved in a fairly big project which had people working on it in different parts of the country. The only bad part of it was that we all ended up doing similar tasks in different ways because we didn’t speak to one another. When we finally all got together for a meeting and a bit of team building no one knew what was going on any more. In this case the communication had to come earlier on, as it was obviously that a geographically dispersed team was going to have problems in this respect.

Longer Working Hours But No Pizza?

I remember another job in which we needed to deliver a report at very short notice. The boss took the wrong approach and tried to force us into staying till late to get it done. The whole office rebelled and by a minute past 5 the place was deserted. For about a month afterwards the office was filled with a hostile and frosty atmosphere due to this problem. What our boss should have done was explain the situation and try to persuade us to stay by offering us overtime pay or even just offering to order in a pizza or something.  Staying late and pulling together to achieve a difficult target is actually a good way of fostering a team spirit through team building, provided it is done the right way and pizza is involved of course.

If you want to stop your team members having a hard time at work then you should look to get some team building done as soon as you can.