Posts Tagged ‘job’

Often when you apply for a job a company representative will call you to screen you for the position with a phone interview. This is not just more convenient, it’s also a good opportunity to promote your application up a few inches on the stack of the company you want to work for.

Being a good small-talker makes you a more friendly and open person in the eyes of other people. Being approachable is an advantage, yet some people prefer not to talk when they don’t have anything meaningful to say. This, however, is perceived as a lack of confidence and can label a person anything from “shy” to “weird”.

Let’s talk about writing a good resume. The vast majority of people applying have problems with writing their resumes, but there is no reason to. It is not only a task quickly done, it’s also easy to do it well.

But creativity is also a much-asked skill in business and employment. If you think about it: All progress stems from some sort of creative act. Thus someone that can produce such acts on a consistent basis is a valuable addition to any undertaking.

Recruiters nowadays routinely scan social network websites and google the employee’s name. And the web never forgets. Thus you should pay special care to maintain a pristine online-reputation. Here’s a few guidelines how to do it.

I’m not that much interested in the war, but I wondered how much a foreign contractor in the IT field would earn in Iraq, provided he could live with the risk of working in a country at war.

In order to find a suitable comparison I decided to sample three IT jobs in different salary ranges and compare the income. Furthermore I wanted to answer this question: How likely is it to be injured and killed in Iraq? Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Let’s talk about cover letters. First of all: They should be short. Keep it between 10 and 20 typewriter lines and avoid typical clishés and “I love your company so much”-ass kissing.

Stop writing dozens of applications. If you think writing more applications increases your chances to get a job you might just as well think a book that has many pages must be good. This is silly. It’s like shooting a shotgun at the job market. Hoping you will score a hit somehow.

But of course he is very interested in what you will be able to do in the future. Thus you should phrase your answers appropriately when being asked about past jobs.

An important aspect of every negotiation is that both sides need to keep face. This is less true in one-time negotiations, for example when you purchase a car. But it is very important when you negotiate with people with whom you want to have a continuous relationship.