Women have been perceived as the homemaker, the childminder, the wife – and have been expected to place their careers on the back burner. Thankfully, these outworn modes of thinking are falling by the wayside. More and more, women are achieving their professional goals, and making vital contributions the successes of individual businesses and the overall economy. Still, the playing field is still not completely level between women and men. Here are a few tips for overcoming the challenges facing aspiring female professionals.

Set Your Goals

Upon entering the workplace, you should be thinking in terms of a career, not merely a job. Before you attend your first interview, you should have established a sense of what career best suits your abilities, your ambitions and—importantly—your tastes. There’s no point in rising to the top of a business that brings you no joy.

Your professional goals should be set out according to a timeline—year-one, year-three and year-five, for instance. Aim high, but be realistic about what you can achieve and when. No matter how hard-working and talented you prove yourself to be, success will not come overnight. It’s important to remain persistent and optimistic when pursuing your goals, and to have the flexibility to adjust them when necessary.

Learn to Negotiate

Negotiation begins the moment you sit down in the interview setting. The first step will be to set your starting salary and other perks, but the process does not end here. Throughout your professional life, you will need to re-negotiate salary increases, opportunities for advancement and the provision of education and training—a fact complicated by the gender imbalances that still exist in the workplace.

Self-belief is vital. When entering into negotiations, clearly and forcefully present the skills you posses, the good work you have done and your future potential. Express a willingness to take on more responsibility, and map out the benefits you will continue to bring to the organisation. Always present yourself as positive, confident, assertive and—above all—able.

Make Friends and Influence People

Women, in particular, need workplace allies upon whom they can rely—the “old-boys” mentality may be on the wane, but it hasn’t vanished entirely.

Share ideas and experiences with co-workers. Foster an environment of loyalty and mutual assistance. Be reliable and supportive, a team player. As much as you may have a desire to get ahead, you should never appear to be overly-competitive or devious. Never assign blame for your own mistakes—this will only hurt you in the long term.

Along with peers, you should build good relationships with your superiors, all the way up to your boss. Find yourself a mentor—someone with experience, wisdom and contacts. Such relationships can prove invaluable in securing promotion within a company, and in finding alternative employment should the need arise. Finally, when the time seems right, you should become a mentor to someone who needs it.

Get Organised

Even today, the reality is that women still need to balance their work and domestic responsibilities to a far higher degree than men. This requires that the ability to manage time and set priorities be even more developed.

First, be proactive at work and at home—plan doctors’ appointments for your kids well in advance, maintain a long-term schedule of work that needs to get done, and make sure the two don’t clash. You should, however, be aware that unforeseen circumstances may arise, and so allow for flexibility in your schedules.

Be goal-oriented—know what you want to achieve, when you want to achieve it and what exactly this will entail. Delegate tasks that will be an unnecessary drain on your time and talents, but know that responsibility ultimately falls on your shoulders.

Appearances Matter

It is not enough to be good at what you do, to be passionate and dynamic in your work, to be a font of innovation and vision. In order to achieve professional success, you must be seen to possess all of these attributes, and more. Perception matters in the professioonal world.

People’s first impression, needless to say, will often carry a lot of weight in determining their perception of you. Dressing professionally will help to mark you as a professional. How you carry yourself is also important—slouching and shuffling your feet will not project the image you need to get ahead.

Finally, how you speak will carry a great deal of weight with your peers and superiors. In meetings, you should never present your opinions apologetically or uncertainly. Try not to raise your voice or let it rise in pitch. Instead, speak clearly, calmly and with conviction.

Find a Balance

Traditionally, women have been conditioned since childhood to think of themselves as care-givers and people-pleasers. While the willingness to put others’ interests ahead of your own can be a valuable asset in the workplace, it can also be abused.

For instance, there has long been a tendency for female employees to be seen as Girl Fridays, secretaries and assistants to male bosses. Also, female employees are often expected to put in more hours than their male counterparts, or to take on menial and meaningless tasks.

Women in the workplace, then, can find themselves facing a dilemma: How to be a dedicated and hardworking employee without becoming a doormat. Of course, professional advancement requires that you put in extra time and effort, but if you find yourself regularly working holidays and weekends when your male counterparts aren’t, then you are within your rights to say “no.”

Keep the Faith

Women have made great strides in recent decades, but there is still a long way to go until parity is reached with males. Indeed, there will be times when you are passed up for a promotion, or when an expected salary increase doesn’t materialise.

The only way to respond to such setbacks is to keep on pushing. Bear in mind that many women have faced similar obstacles and made it to the top. Take pleasure in the work you do. Have belief in your own abilities. Keep on improving, keep on learning. And don’t expect rewards to fall into your lap—ask for them, and ask for them again.

Finally, remember that there is a whole world out there crying out for devoted and talented employees. If you continue to be frustrated and underappreciated as an employee, then find work somewhere else.

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Career Guides & Articles By : Bayt.com

Seemingly ordinary people, like most of you, have the potential to achieve extraordinary results. When ordinary students push though the barriers that have obscured their potential, a wondrous change occurs and nothing will be the same again.

Since there are few true geniuses, it is up to the ordinary people to shoulder the burden of spectacular achievement. Not surprisingly, they’ve been doing it for years, without fanfare. They are the auto mechanics, artists, scientists, business professionals, fire fighters, nurses, technology geeks and all of the other ordinary people who try to make something better.

No ordinary person could ever predict the remarkable results that he or she can achieve through extraordinary focus, effort and commitment.

– Bob Roth

These ordinary people have an uncanny ability to recognize a critical goal and understand what is needed. They step up. They take responsibility. They willingly perform the critical routine work. And importantly, they are not put off by the fact that their progress does not come quickly.

Progress results from the tiny steps we take each day. — Bob Roth

What exactly does it take for ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results? Most extraordinary results are achieved when the ordinary and expected steps are done a little bit better than in the past. Success makes itself available when:

- You are clear, passionate and focused on your goal - You spend more time on the right things - You do those right things in the right way and at the right time - You continuously improve your knowledge and skills - You focus on quality and results

Each new day, you have an opportunity to begin an important journey. If you seize that opportunity and stick with it, you may be rewarded in ways that you can’t presently imagine. Success will put a spring in your step, a twinkle in your eye, a sense of pride in your voice and a new self-confidence that will be with you for years to come. For students, the place to start is here and the time to begin is now.

As successful people make progress toward their dreams, unsuccessful people make excuses for not having started.

– Bob Roth

Although it’s been said that the journey begins with a single step, it is not your feet that must move. It’s your mind. When you begin to see things with new eyes, your life will change. Obstacles become the opportunities that can place ordinary people like you in a position to make your mark. However, since most opportunities are momentary, you must be ready to grab on to that something you care about and fight for success.

Since most of us spend our lives doing ordinary tasks, the most important thing is to carry them out extraordinarily well.

– Henry David Thoreau

Don’t simply wait for opportunities to fall into your lap. Seek them out and accept their challenges. Your college campus, your workplace and local community will always hold a hidden treasure of challenges and needs. The opportunity to fight for something you truly care about is one of the greatest gifts that ordinary people can receive. Opportunities lift you up, energize you and give you a chance to achieve extraordinary results.

When ordinary tasks are performed with enthusiasm and pride ordinary people frequently achieve extraordinary results.

– Bob Roth

For more information visit Bob’s web site: www.The4Realities.com. Bob Roth is the author of The 4 Realities Of Success During and After College. Bob’s newest book The College Student’s Guide To Landing A Great Job is now available.

About the Author

Bob Roth, a former campus recruiter, is the author of The College Student’s Guide To Landing A Great Job -and- The 4 Realities Of Success During and After College. Bob writes articles for more than 175 College Career Services Offices and Campus Newspapers. He has been interviewed on numerous radio programs across the country and also by many newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal. Bob also serves as an Adjunct at Marist College.

Your CV was prepared by a professional, you did all the necessary groundwork before the interview and you thought the interview went extremely smoothly. So why aren’t you celebrating an offer letter yet? Here,  are the top ten reasons candidates often fail to secure the job of their dreams.

1. Your CV missed the mark

Many jobseekers make the mistake of using the same generic unfocused CV to apply for very different positions in different industries. Your CV should to the extent possible be tailored to the specific job you are targeting and should show in a very direct manner skills, qualifications and experiences that directly come to bear on the given job. If you are targeting a number of different jobs, have different CVs for each job type so that your CV can be customized to the unique requirements of each industry. Find out what skills and qualifications to showcase in each CV by looking at the job description, researching the position and industry and talking to people in the industry, then highlight the skills and expertise that make you a perfect match. Employers want to hire people who are focused and specifically interested in their industry and company, so having a generic unfocused CV with a very vague objective statement and skills inventory will fail to capture the employer’s attention or convince them that you are the best fit for the job.

2. You omitted a cover letter

Every CV should be accompanied by a cover letter to personalize your CV and communicate in a precise, specific manner your objectives and the specific value-added you will bring to the job. The cover letter should be short and specific and should leave the employer in no doubt as to your interest in the company and industry and your unique qualifications for the job you are targeting. Cover letters, like the CV, should be tailored to the company and industry and should communicate in no uncertain terms the suitability of the experiences and qualifications listed on your CV to the job at hand as well as your enthusiasm to work for the specific company. A CV sent without a cover letter will lack the ‘personal touch’ and will likely be lost in the fray.

3. Poor follow up on CV

The average employer is inundated with CVs on an ongoing basis and is more likely than not to add your CV to the pile, pending possible future follow-up. To ensure your CV is acted on and does not get buried with the rest, you MUST follow up in a diligent manner. Remember, the purpose of the CV and cover letter is to get an interview so call each employer shortly after you send the CV and communicate you are calling to follow up, ensure receipt and arrange for a face-to-face interview. Prepare a very short ’soft sell’ for the phone conversation to ‘educate’ the employer as to who you are and why you are uniquely suited to the job and ‘excite’ him to want to meet you in person in an interview situation to talk further details.

4. Lack of preparation for the interview

Many candidates make it to the interview stage and disappoint the employer with their obvious lack of preparation for the meeting. Poor preparation includes slovenliness in researching the company, not being up-to-date on industry news, not understanding what the job requirements are and not having answers to common interview questions. You must, must, must enter the interview armed with the maximum amount of knowledge about the company, industry and specific job so you can then tailor your answers specifically and position your skills and past experience in a manner that demonstrates your unique suitability for the position in question and the valuable contributions you can make to the company.

5. Unprofessional attire for interview

First impressions go a long way and you may be hard-pressed undoing the damage if you send out a wrong message with your interview attire. Dressing too casually or completely inappropriately for the interview may communicate a lack of respect for professional norms of conduct as well as an unprofessional non-conformist attitude overall. Always aim to err on the conservative side in your attire with crisp, clean business attire and avoid tight, casual or loud clothes as well as unnecessary accessories and excess make-up for women.

6. Unprofessional behaviour during interview

The interviewer is screening you during the course of the interview for suitability to the job at hand and is assessing you in terms of your ability to conform in a professional way to the requirements of the job and the company culture; any unprofessional conduct will reflect negatively on you and is likely to immediately take you out of the running. This includes any behaviour that shows a lack of respect for the interviewer and professional norms of conduct such as arriving late, arriving unprepared, aggressive or unprofessional body language, being unfamiliar with your CV, treating the interviewer in a condescending or overly familiar manner, talking at length about your personal life and problems and/or obvious exaggerations or outright lies about your work history. It is very helpful to read some literature about body language and interview skills if you are relatively new to the interviewing scene and unfamiliar with the basics.

7. Lack of interest in the company

It is surprising how many jobseekers will make it to the interview stage and then demonstrate a total ambivalence and lack of interest in the company not to mention an obvious failure to research it in detail. Employers want to hire people who will be keen, enthusiastic members of the team and will carry the company banner with pride; the last thing they want are disgruntled employees who are less than enthusiastic about the company’s products and bottom line and will negatively impact the company culture. You must show a familiarity with and interest in the company and ask intelligent, relevant questions, prepared beforehand, that demonstrate you have done your homework and are very excited about joining the team. Any reluctance you have about joining the company should be kept to yourself at this early stage of the process; concentrate your efforts during your interviews on securing the position.

8. Unclear about value-added to company

If you are unconvinced about your value-added to the company, it is less than likely that you will be able to convince the employer. Make sure as you sit in the interview seat that you are intimately aware of the requirements of the position and can directly relate your past work history, aptitudes, qualifications and skills to the requirements of the position. Imagine yourself already on the job and communicate to the employer how you will contribute significantly and in record time to the company’s bottom line and how you will excel in performance and exceed targets and expectations. Make sure to include every skillset and past success in bringing to bear how you will positively impact the company’s performance. If you already see yourself on the job and can mentally apply your past successes and skills inventory to achieving your new targets you are more likely to convince the employer across the table from you of your unique and undisputed suitability for the position.

9. Poor follow up after interview

Many candidates make the mistake of assuming the ball is outside their court following the interview stage and fail to follow-up, thereby losing what was a viable job opportunity. You must follow up! Oftentimes the interviewer has had to travel following an interview, is bogged down with a heavy workload and tight deadlines or is simply waiting for you to follow-up to determine your proactivity, energy level and interest in the job. Immediately after an interview while the questions and answers are fresh in your mind write a thank you letter to the employer which leaves him in no uncertain terms as to your interest in the company and your unique suitability for the job. Reiterate the qualifications and past successes that are immediately applicable to the position and emphasize any points that support your case and add gravitas to your application. If you would like to make up for any important facts that were missed out during the interview process or if you feel there are specific strengths you want to highlight following what your learned during the interview, this is your opportunity. Then follow up on the thank you letter with a phone conversation reiterating your interest in the position and enquiring what the next steps should be.

10. Poor reference checks

Before giving a prospective employer names of references make sure you are very familiar with their professional opinion of you and there will be no unpleasant surprises. Many a successful job application has ground to a halt because of unsatisfactory or outright negative feedback from references at or after the job offer stage. Wherever possible, get the references in writing so that you are intimately aware of the feedback your reference source has on you and there is no margin for error.

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Career Articles & Guides By : Bayt.com

This belief was great in the days when companies weren’t firing people, collapsing from poor management at alarming rates, or being outdated quickly by other, faster moving companies. Today, the workplace has become an entirely new place. Today, most companies lay off employees who are spending too much time in the company because they are paying them a lot more than newer employees.

Companies today would rather lay off a good employee who earns more and replace them with a newer, cheaper employee.

How to Secure a Good Career When You Are In Your 30’s

The workforce of today is completely different from back in the 50’s. Yes, the older generation believed in giving their employees pensions, raises and even retirement packages, but the businesses today tend to provide their worker with very little pay, no benefits and can actually fire you if you happen to be making too much money. What is the best way to secure a financial future? The best way to do this is make yourself look unique, especially if you are in your 30’s you’ll probably know what the competition is like out there. There are many ways to do this.

Start by getting to know yourself better and asking yourself where you have strengths and skills. Once you have figured out the answer to this question, you will be able to acknowledge the fact that what you are already good at can be expanded to suit your interests. For instance, if you happen to be a musician who plays the piano and you know you are good at it, then it would probably be wise to try out another instrument to see if you are equally good at this new skill! The basic reason for doing this is that in doing this, you are making yourself more marketable and not so easily replaceable.

The more knowledge you have with regards to your profession, the more sought after you will be. Every company wants a good employee, so a company might hire you, irrespective of your age, based on the fact that you could probably make money for them since you have more experience and knowledge in certain areas that most others don’t.

The more marketable that you are as a potential employee, the more secure will be in your future job. However, always make sure that you have mastered your job well. Ask friends and accomplices to test you since they happen to be the best critics.

As a 30-something, you need not worry about changing careers in today’s business world as most companies aren’t as loyal oriented as you think. Companies prefer to hire workers who are willing to work for lower pay. What you must do is find a company that is more than willing to pay you what you deserve.

Don’t worry about sticking on in that job for life since this most likely wont happen. If it is job security that you are looking for, then you should probably think again because job changes are very likely to happen often in the type of career market we have at this time.

About the Author

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution’s Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Common Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about yourself.

Keep your answer short and focused on your professional life and professional goals and aspirations. This is not an invitation to dwell on personal relationships, childhood experiences, family etc. A brief history of education, career and special interests is what is called for here capped with why you are interested in and uniquely qualified for this particular career and job and how you expect to make a firm and solid contribution. Use this to show career focus, commitment to success and strong personal and professional values that are aligned with the company’s.

2. Why are you applying for this particular job?

Show interest and demonstrate that you have researched the job and know what you are getting into. Bring up evidence from past work/ studies that supports your interest in this role and any skills you have acquired in preparation for the role. You can say something like ‘I would like to work for a leader in innovative network and telecommunications solutions and my college degree in computational mathematics has given me a solid background for this role. Mention the value-added you can bring to the job.

3. What do you know about our company?

Indicate what you have learnt from your research activities - from their annual reports, newspapers, word of mouth, other employees etc. Use this to show that you have done your homework, know what to expect and are genuinely interested in working with them.

4. What makes you qualified for this particular job?

Again, explain that you are very interested in the job and demonstrate what it is about your past experiences, education and qualifications that makes you ideal for the job. Show enthusiasm and support your answers with evidence wherever you can (eg. my summer internship at Citibank gave me broad exposure to the area of equity analysis and I think I can apply many of the tools I learnt there in this job). Elaborate on all the past experiences and skill sets that make you uniquely suitable for the job.

In cases where your past experience is not directly relevant, you can still find elements of it that can be useful. Play up teamskills, technical skills, leadership roles, specific courses and independent research activities that can be useful to the job at hand to show your initiative even where you don’t have directly relevant job experience.

5. What can you do for us that someone else can’t?

Demonstrate key strengths, skills and personal characteristics. Also show that you have thought about the contribution you would like to make and already envision yourself making that contribution. Be specific in terms of where you see yourself fitting in and what you see yourself contributing - the more you can show you have genuinely thought about meeting a particular need or solving a particular problem the company has as is related to the job you are applying for the more likely you are to impress. Show you are a person who is willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to meet the company’s targets and can find innovative solutions to old problems.

6. Why should we hire you?

Because you have all the experience/ traits/ skills/credentials needed for the role and in addition to being qualified, you are enthusiastic, intelligent, hardworking, flexible, committed, willing to learn and have a track record of personal and professional success. Show how you will be an asset to their team and contribute to meeting the company’s goals and targets. Also mention any key relationships you may have that may assist you in the job.

7. What do you look for in a job?

Be honest. Also mention keywords such as challenging, steep learning curve, good work culture, demanding, rewarding, opportunities for advancement and growth, team environment, opportunity to build and maintain client relationships etc.

8. Why are you looking to make a career change?

Mention your interests and make sure you bring up all skills/ experience however insignificant that can support your move in this new direction. It is quite common in this day and age to make a career switch. You need however to show that you have very carefully thought about the change, have a strong interest in the new career and can use some of your previous skills/ education/ relationships to make that move.

9. Why did you leave your last job?

Do NOT use this as an opportunity to badmouth past employers or peers or talk about a failure of any sort. Any of these answers are acceptable: you were looking for a new challenge, your learning curve had flattened out in the previous job and you were looking for a new learning opportunity, the company or department were restructuring, you were ready to start something new after achieving your career goals at the previous company etc. Ideally you need to show you are in a position where you are happy with past successes and ready to achieve even more pronounced successes and take larger strides forward in your career.

10. Why do you want to work for us (as opposed to the competitor companies)?

Demonstrate that you know something about the company, that you believe they are leaders/ innovators in what they do, or you think their work culture is exactly what you are looking for, or you like their product(s) or you have friends who work there and have always been attracted to the company etc. Indicate that this is a company where you feel you can make a meaningful and significant contribution and mention why you believe so. Flatter the company and show you have done your research about it and see yourself as a valuable longterm member of their team.

11. How long will it take you to start making a meaningful contribution?

Show that you are enthusiastic and willing to learn and will put in all the hours and effort necessary to learn the ropes and start making an immediate contribution. Indicate that your past experiences/ skills/ credentials will enable you to make an immediate contribution at some level while you quickly learn the new aspects of the job. The employer ideally wants someone who is willing and able to learn, has a valuable existing skillset, a strong work ethic and will deliver a return on the employer’s investment sooner rather than later.

12. What are your strengths?

What in your opinion has contributed to your success to date and will be a valuable attribute in this job? Ideally chose strengths that have the most bearing on the role you are applying for whether it be technical skills, leadership skills, quantitative skills, interpersonal skills, ability to consistently achieve targets, teamplayer skills, ability to work very well under pressure, creativity, client relationship skills, research skills etc. While you probably have many strengths, rather than delivering a long laundry list, chose those strengths that may be the most relevant to your chosen field and that indicate focus and professional maturity.

13. What are your weaknesses?

It is probably unwise to chose this as an invitation to elaborate on key weaknesses and fundamental character flaws. This is not the place to say you are bad at meeting deadlines or consistently fail to meet all your targets or would rather be in a different career altogether. Turn this question around to your benefit. For example, you may be ‘overambitious’ or ‘extremely attentive to detail’ or ‘like to take on too many projects’. Chose a positive trait that accurately reflects you and keep the answer positive. Another way to handle this question is to chose a weakness that has absolutely no bearing to the position you are now applying for and consequently does not raise any warning flags eg if you are applying to a financial analyst position you can comment on how your graphic design skills could use some tweaking and comment that you are aware this is completely irrelevant to your chosen career path. Finally you can bring up a past weakness that is not at all severe or alarming and will not raise warning flags and comment on actual concrete measures you took to successfully overcome this weakness eg. courses attended, books read, mentors sought, experience gained etc. This shows that you are a proactive professional who is not saitisfied with mediocrity and is willing to take the time to learn and build skills and develop.

14. What are your career goals?

Show you have thought forward and are committed to your career. Indicate where you would like to be in 2 years, 5 years and 10 years time. Indicate you hope to continuously add on new responsibilties, make a larger impact on the company’s profitability and success and develop personally and professionally.

15. How would you describe yourself?

Ideally you are just the kind of person who will succeed in this role and your research has highlighted all the key traits you have that the employer is looking for which you can use this opportunity to recite. Every role will have its different set of unique requiremenst however very generally speaking employers are looking for employees who are hard-working, persistent, proactive, committed, career-oriented, ambitious, diligent, pleasant to work with, professional, fair, dedicated, fast-learning, creative, good at problem-solving and able to learn from their mistakes. Be honest in describing your key professional strengths and how you think they will positively impact your performance in the new role.

16. How would your colleagues describe you?

Employers are looking for someone who is pleasant to work with, co-operative, a good team player and possesses all the soft and hard skills required to excel in the job. Do not bring up anything negative here.

17. How would your boss describe you?

Be candid but do not dwell on weaknesses. They will check references anyways so bring up the most positive attribute you can remember from your last formal or informal performance review and leave it to your Boss to say anything to the contrary.

18. What did you most like/ dislike about your past job?

Do not use this to badmouth past jobs/ employers. Keep it candid and in your favour eg I outgrew the job, there wasn’t a clear career progression, I wasn’t learning anything new etc. Ideally, you will have loved your last job and would like to achieve the same kind of success and job satisfaction in a more challenging area as you have now ‘outgrown’ that job and are ready to take on ‘new challenges’.

19. Describe a situation in your past where you showed initiative?

You could describe any new methods you came up with to do your job or to save time or money for the company or to solve a problem or turn around a bad situation. It can be something as simple as changing a filing system, or establishing a relationship with a vendor that saved your department a lot of money. If you are in sales, you may want to talk about how you brought in that big account or drastically increased sales from an existing account by being more proactive and taking several important steps or addressing a key issue or reorganizing the client service team or changing the terms of the relationship to a more win-win situation etc. Creatives may talk about how they came up with that cutthroat image or design that brought in the business. Whatever your role, you need to demonstrate a situation where you took a proactive and creative approach to improving the company’s performance, thought ”outside the box” and innovated successfully in your domain.

20. What were your main responsibilities in your last job?

Have these ready and list them all. Focus on the ones that are most relevant to the new job. Do not dwell on the more trivial aspects of the job or those least relevant to the job at hand.

21. What do you consider your greatest accomplishments?

Many of us have one or two milestones in our career that we are very proud of eg. that early promotion, that ‘huge’ deal we brought in, the design we came up with, the costs we saved, the revenues we increased, the people we trained, a new invention or process we came up with etc. Examples of accomplishments may be: ‘Reduced costs by X%; or renamed and repositioned a product at the end of its lifecycle, or organized and led a team to do do XYZ, or achieved sales increase of X% etc. If you are a fresh college graduate, talk about extracurricular activities, leadership roles, internships, summer jobs, volunteer activities and grades.

22. Describe your management style (if relevant)

Describe what the management role means to you and how you bring out the best in the teams and resources you manage. Elaborate on how you have succeeded in keeping your teams motivated, engaged, committed, ambitious, enthusiastic and successful; how you communicate with your teams; how you encourage teamwork and cohesiveness in your teams and what you believe are the keys to successful management and how these have applied to you.

23. Do you work better in teams or independently?

Show that you are a proactive teamplayer and like to bounce ideas off others and get input; however you are very capable of working independently (give examples of both).

24. How do you work under pressure?

Indicate that you are very capable of working under pressure and give evidence that you have worked under pressure successfully in the past without compromising your professionalism or the quality of your work or your targets in any way. Indicate however that your effective time management and organisational and communication skills allow you to plan ahead and allocate resources effectively and communicate efficiently with the appropriate stakeholders such that you are not always working to impossible deadlines or unrealistic targets.

25. What other jobs have you applied for?

In order to show focus and single-mindedness and career maturity you may choose not to mention jobs you are currently applying for that are in totally different career directions (eg advertising copywriter and investment banking analyst) even if you are genuinely unfocused and still in the ’shopping around’ phase of your job-hunt. Do however bring up any other offers or Interviews from competing firms.

26. How did you do in college?

Keep it positive. It’s okay to say you were very busy making the most of college and were very involved in sports, activities, internships, part-time jobs, social life etc. Employers want human beings not robots. Mention the areas you did very well in even if it was just one or two courses you excelled in. They will check for themselves.

27. What kind of hours would you like to work?

Employers want to see flexibility commitment and a strong, unwavering work ethic. Indicate you are willing to put in whatever hours are necessary to finish the job. Do however mention any constraints you have eg. you would like to be home to pick your kids up from school at 3:30. Most employers are willing to work around your constraints if you show flexibility on your side as well.

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Career Articles and Guides by : Bayt.com

Be prepared

Read up on the company beforehand and make sure you are well versed in the products, competition and company culture and direction. Ask your new boss if there are materials you can read before you join and try to meet some of the people you will be working with beforehand so the terrain is not completely unfamiliar.

Arrive early

Make sure you are not late to the job the first weeks and that you put in all the hours required. Taking long lunch breaks and leaving before everyone else will set a bad tone and will not earn you the good will of your new colleagues.

Look the part

Make sure you are dressed for the role and that you appear polished, well-groomed, cool, confident, happy and in control. Project a positive energy. First impressions are important and you need to ensure that you make a good one.

Ask questions

Ask questions and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. It will take you a while to get used to the company’s policies and procedures and asking the right people the right questions is the best way to avoid potentially costly mistakes.

Listen

A good idea in your first days on the job is to listen more and talk less. You have a lot to learn and you don’t want alienate people or rub them the wrong way by being over-ebullient or over-aggressive before you are familiar with the office politics and the new dynamics and know the different players.

Be proactive

Offer to pitch in with projects that need work and don’t shy from taking on added responsibilities providing these do not interfere with your basic deliverables. Your work ethic is being gauged from the first day you join and you need to show that you are keen, enthusiastic and not afraid of hard work.

Get to know your colleagues

Show that you are interested in your colleagues and happy to be working with them by smiling, being considerate, asking questions and offering to lend a hand. You will be spending a lot of time with your new work colleagues and it is essential that you have good relationships with them.

Show respect and courtesy

Earn the respect of your colleagues by treating them as you would like to be treated and showing common courtesy and respect in all your interactions. Gaining their respect is crucial to you ability to work with them effectively over the long term.

Make good on promises

Start as you mean to carry on and do not bite more than you can chew. Make sure you do not make promises you cannot keep as these will be remembered and will diminish your future credibility in the workplace. Keep the promises you make manageable and aim for a few easy early wins with projects that have buy-in and support from upper management.

Be clear about your role

Set expectations early. Make sure you are very clear as to what is expected of you, what the immediate priorities are, how your performance will be appraised and how frequently you need to update your boss on projects and deliverables.

Learn who the influential players are

Identify who the key players are and try to emulate them as well as learn how they get things done. If you can get put on projects with them, even better.

Don’t join the office gossip mill

Do not participate in office gossip no matter how endemic it is. You can listen to what its being said in the office grapevine to avoid making the same mistakes but do not offer your own opinions or encourage the gossip in any way.

Don’t try to make big changes

Your first weeks on the job should be used to learn the ropes, ask questions and formulate lasting impressions with bosses, clients and co-workers, not to affect drastic change. You need the counsel, support, perspective and buy-in of others in the firm in order to make lasting change and attempting any drastic measures before you have earned their trust and buy-in and done the necessary groundwork is usually unadvisable and costly.

Don’t complain about your jobs

Start on a positive note and avoid bad-mouthing past jobs, bosses or colleagues. This will only make your new co-workers weary of you and will rapidly erode their comfort level with you.

Don’t brag

Don’t start off your new job bragging about past wins and successes as this will only alienate those around you. No matter how successful your career has been to date and how hard the company hunted you down before you accepted the offer, you need to check the “star” quality at the door and project humility and modesty your first weeks on the job. You still have to earn the respect and admiration of your new colleagues and will do so only be excelling in your new role through hard work, skill and perseverance.

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Career Articles & Guides by : Bayt.com

In his pursuing for a lofty career, man often turns to be complaining. A dissection of the state of the art clearly reveals an unbiased human mind. Frequent career switching followed by red lines in career graph is the end result. A fretful mentality supplemented with lack of perseverance, determination and confidence is the root cause of these hindrances in the path of career development. Career development goals are set aiming at long-range career growth in the initial years. A lack of motivation and a lack of understanding of the aim throw stones and thorns in the road to the target. Egos and complexes pull their legs further down. A realization of potential becomes impractical and a career break through turns out to be impossible. Blinking eyes at this major issue is paving the way for a cancerous disease of mind. When surveyed for reasons, what commonly found is - setting lame excuses by beating around the bush, searching for heads to put the blame upon - this bird’s eye view makes things worse than the worst.

In order to succeed and have a commendable approach towards your career path, it’s essential that you follow a decided career development path. This need not be someone else’s plan, but just your estimates or goals based upon your personal gauging of the current day scenario. However your career development approach or path may not always get the much-anticipated momentum. The reason being you may be confused or simply not confident about your own achievements. Apart from this you may not be able to foresee and may not really device the best of plans. As such hypnosis for career development can help you see a great change in your monotonous and all too stagnant career graph.

Hypnosis for career management enables you to make a conscious decision and ensures that your sub conscious mind is always working towards this goal. Hypnosis awakens your inner being making it aware of the concerned scenario; you gain a deeper insight into what’s happening and revise your approach accordingly. Through hypnosis you will be able to initiate the process of change. The great thing about hypnosis is that you need not make special arrangements to sit through your sessions. You can get the user-friendly downloadable version and listen to it at your convenience.

About the Author

For more on career development and career development plan check out the links.

1. Something, anything special about the products or services they produce.
2. Their target markets: business, general consumer, national or international.
3. Their current hiring needs and how you can help fill those needs.

Below are 5 key tips for writing cover letters that will certainly help separate you from all the rest:
1. The exact title of the position you are interested in. If that’s not possible, then state the general type of work you are applying for.
2. Why you want to work for this company.
3. A sample of what you know about the company’s product lines, marketing strategies, type of clientele, and where they stand against their competitors.
4. If you are open to travel or relocating, then state that i nyour cover letter. If not, omit all together.
5. Any other specific items about yourself or the job that will help get you that very important interview.

Your cover letter should help generate interest in you and your attached resume. You then close by requesting an interview, or better yet, telling the reader when you will be calling to arrange an interview. Personal contact shows you are aggressive and interested in that firm specifically. The above tips for writing cover letters will get you that interview.

About the Author

Writing a good cover letter can seem like a daunting task. But there is an easy way to crank out professional cover letters in a matter of minutes. If you want to learn how, click here and get ready for that interview.