In writing your cover letter you can be creative and direct in showing a potential employer, how your unique skills abilities meets their requirements without the limitations of the resume. The following are five key reasons why you should include a cover letter with your resume. read more 

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I find this trend to be crossing the line. By accessing a job seeker’s Facebook account, employers would now have access to all the private messages shared with other parties who are probably under the impression that their messages were only being shared with the intended recipient.

I am not a legal expert; however, I would assume there maybe some legal issues around employers asking for this information and using it to log into a user’s account. Read More

The first principle of finding a job is to advertise your qualifications and experience. Let employers know who you are and what you can do for them. In other words, send your resume to everyone that might need someone with your profile. There is no harm in sending your resume to even those employers who are not actively looking for people.

They may need your expertise at a later date.

Follow up the resume with a phone call to the hiring department of the company to see if the resume was received and if there is anyone that you can talk to about setting up an interview. At the very least, you might get an inside scoop on what positions are available so that you can talk to those departments directly.

Sometimes, it is worth the effort to go to the companies in person or set up appointments to talk to the head of the concerned department. Of course, this may not get you an instant job, but if you make a favorable impression on the department head, you stand a chance to be considered when they need to hire someone.

Networking is the best way to create job opportunities. Talk to everyone about your desire to find a new position. You’d be surprised how many people will be able to help you find something that works for you. Talk to friends and relatives. The more people are looking, the more able you will be to find something.

Remember, your resume is a window to your personality. So, try and make it as impressive and professional as you can. It’s a good idea to take the help of a professional resume writer or software program, and print it on high grade paper. It should be well worded, clean and readable, and should present you in a positive light.

While losing your job may have been expected, you never want to talk badly of your previous employers. In any future communications with job prospects, bring up all of the positive attributes of your prior jobs and only describe the challenges that you overcame while being employed.

The secret of finding a job is patience and perseverance. If you go about it the right way, soon you will be able to find someone who can see your worth and will hire you.

“Branding” is, by far, the single most over-used and over-hyped business-related concept….When people say they want to “enhance their brand” or “build brand equity,” they usually mean “improve their reputation”: what people generally think about them or their company. Some examples of good reputations:

• Moleskine notebooks have great paper.
• Getting Things Done is the best book about productivity that has ever been written.
• Derek Punsalan is the best blog designer I know.

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1. Have I made certain that those I love feel loved?

2. Have I done something today that improved the world?

3. Have I conditioned my body to be more strong flexible and resilient?

4. Have I reviewed and honed my plans for the future?

5. Have I acted in private with the same integrity I exhibit in public?

6. Have I avoided unkind words and deeds?

7. Have I accomplished something worthwhile?

8. Have I helped someone less fortunate?

9. Have I collected some wonderful memories?

10. Have I felt grateful for the incredible gift of being alive?

Here’s the thing.  The questions you ask yourself on a daily basis determine your focus, and your focus determines your results.

These questions force you to focus on what’s really important. Take heed of them and rest of your life—especially your work—will quickly fall into place.

The growth was seen primarily in the province of British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island while Quebec showed losses. The seasonally adjusted, unemployment rates vary from 12.8% (Newfoundland and Labrador) to 4.9% (Alberta).

Unemployment rates for all the provinces were (prior months are in parenthesis):

• Newfoundland and Labrador 12.8% (13.2%)
• Prince Edward Island 11.4% (11.1%)
• Nova Scotia 7.8% (8.6%)
• New Brunswick 9.4% (9.8%)
• Quebec 8.7% (8.0%)
• Ontario 7.7% (7.9%)
• Manitoba 5.4% (5.5%)
• Saskatchewan 5.2% (5.1%)
• Alberta 4.9% (5.0%)
• British Columbia 7.0% (7.0%)

Did You Know?

In a survey conducted by USA Today, a third of the respondents admitted that they sometimes took sick days at work when they were not ill but merely “sick of working” or wanted to do something else. How do you think most of these people see their work in relation to their long-term goals? How much would their behaviour change if they found more daily opportunities for making progress towards their goals

• Using “I”, “me” or “my” statements use the third person instead and eliminate the pronoun to make your sentences more active. To illustrate instead of “I reduced cost by 20%”, write “Reduced cost by 20%”
• Employing the words “responsible for” and “duties included” – do not use
• Personal information such as age, health, ethnicity, marriage and family status. These items could potentially be used to discriminate against you and should not be included. For legal reasons, some employers go so far as to dismiss your resume if it has this information, as they could someday be accused of a hiring bias
• Photographs – these should only be included only if you are a model or actor
• Explanations for leaving your prior employers or employment gaps in your work history
• Additional information that is not requested by employer. These includes information such as letters of recommendation, certificates or portfolios / samples of your work
• Salary history or expected salary – never include these details unless requested
• The inclusion of professional references

Schmidt started with a canned answer about how he defines ecosystem — “scalable network platforms that deliver the best customer value” — but he warmed up when the talk turned to Google’s Android operating system.

“We even have Android in refrigerators now,” Schmidt said. “By open-source we mean, ‘take it and have fun.’ And people have.”

The panel moderator, CNET’s Molly Wood, pointed out the pitfall of that strategy: hundreds of devices are running dozens of various versions of Android. But as soon as she said the word “fragmentation,” Schmidt cut her off.

“You have to be careful with that word, fragmentation,”

Hiring the best of the best is an absolute must if you are going to build a successful company.  You will need to be prepared to compete against big companies with deep pockets and other up-and-coming startups that also have blue chip investors and a game-changing idea.

So, what are the most competitive areas for talent these days?  Here’s a look:

Software Engineers and Web Developers

The demand for top-tier engineering talent sharply outweighs the supply in almost every market especially in San Francisco, New York, and Boston.  This is a major, major pain point and problem that almost every company is facing, regardless of the technology “stack” their engineers are working on.

Creative Design and User Experience

After engineers, the biggest challenge for companies is finding high-quality creative design and user-experience talent.  Since almost every company is trying to create a highly compelling user experience that keeps people engaged with their product, it is tough to find people who have this type of experience (especially with mobile devices including tablets) and a demonstrated track record of success.

 

 Nearly three in four (72%) of people confess to taking sensitive and confidential corporate info from previous employers. (And who’s to say the other 28% just aren’t willing to admit it?).

Even worse: They say they’ll do it again.

Nearly the same percentage of folks admit they’d have a “clear plan” for taking data if they left their current employer [translation: your organization].

Those eye-opening revelations come out of a recent survey by London company Imperva.

So what’s the best way to hold your own in this seemingly losing battle? You can turn two of the biggest findings from the survey to your company’s advantage:

Google, Twitter, and Facebook have all seen enormous growth in personal branding related discussion, searches, and information. 2012 should bring more of the same. In fact, it is estimated that 70% of all new jobs are filled through networking with existing people in your social circle. To me, that signifies that there is no better time than the present to increase your social circle, network, and form meaningful relationships. But… how is that done exactly? Here are a few things you can work on in 2012 to increase your brand, your presence, and ultimately, your bottom line.

Grab a book

Like most entrepreneurs I know, I’m an avid reader. I always have a book with me when I’m on the go. There a dozen moments every day in which we’re waiting for someone or something. This is a great time to grab your book and read a few pages. I generally read for 30 minutes or so before bed as well. This is a great way to ease the body into sleep, all while helping to retain information you just read. Studies show that reading before bed helps the brain shift what you just learned from short-term memory to long-term memory. Something to think about.

Here are my two favorite branding-related books of 2011… give ‘em a whirl.

“UnMarketing” by Scott Stratten

This is by far my favorite book of this year. The focus is on social media, and how to craft solid relationships one at a time. Scott is a big fan of Twitter, and it shows throughout the book. He gives real-world examples, and generally they revolve around his — or a company, like Zappos — use of social media. The footnotes are hilarious to boot. I’d highly recommend this one.

“The Thank You Economy” by Gary Vaynerchuk

I’m a huge fan of Gary V. My fan-dom blows past the “this guy is cool” routine and borders on full-blown man crush. I hang on every word, and I couldn’t be more thrilled when I catch him on TV or speaking at an event. “The Thank You Economy” shows just how powerful personal branding is, and it puts the entire niche into new perspective. At least it did for me. Gary equates what we’re seeing now with a revolution in which brands have to market to consumers on an individual level — a personal level — to stay competitive in this rapidly changing global economy. One of the many examples he gives are the small town businesses of yesteryear. When you went to the butcher, you went because he provided a quality product, knew you and your family (as well as your neighbors), and treated you well. With the explosion of social media, you’re going to see a bit of a return to that way of thinking in the coming years.

Socialize… a lot!

I meet at least a dozen people at every event I go to that I’d absolutely love to sit down with for lunch. I can’t wait to pick the brain of a fascinating person.

I’m not sure where I heard, or read the “have lunch with one new person each day” quote, but it really had an impact on my life. Of course, I don’t have time, nor the connections to have lunch with one new person each day, but I like to sit down with new people as often as possible. Where most go wrong when hearing this is thinking that they should only sit down with people who can somehow help them. Help with a business problem, provide cash or insight, or promote their product. This is flawed thinking. The goal here is to have meaningful tw0-way conversation. If you legitimately enjoy conversing with someone, you’ll get more than enough information to spark new ideas, or help yourself with existing problems. As conversation flows your brain starts working harder. This is where my best ideas come from, as well as some of my closest friends. read more here 

Still trying to tap your network for favors before you’ve offered anything yourself? Big mistake.

Everyone tries to network, but few people do it well, often making the same basic mistakes.

Here’s what not to do when you’re trying to expand or leverage your network:

1. Try to take before you give. The goal of networking is to connect with people who can help you make a sale, get a referral, establish a contact, etc. When we network, we wantsomething.

But at first, never ask for what you want. In fact you may never ask for what you want. Forget about what you can get and focus on what you can provide. Giving is the only way to establish a real connection and relationship. Focus solely on what you can get out of the connection and you will never make meaningful, mutually beneficial connections.