16 Tips About Interviewing for a Job

With job hunting becoming harder and harder, people are extra nervous when it comes to their interviewing skills. This is basically what can make-it or break-it for a future job. Here are 16 tips that can help you get through an interview! Some things to think about:

• There is no such thing as "employers"
• An interview should be prepared for, before you go in
• Honor agreements
• An interview for a job is a lot like dating
• Questions to expect from them, then questions you can ask
• During the interview, determine to observe the "50-50 rule"
• In answering the employers questions, observe the "twenty-second in two minute rule"
• Them employer is primarily concerned about risk
• It's the small things that are the killers, in a job interview
• Be aware of the skills most employers are looking for
• Try to think of ways to bring up your skills
• DO NOT bad-mouth your previous employers
• Remember, employers don't really care about your past
• Notice time frame of questions asked
• Leave job interview with good questions
• Finally, Thank You notes sent out after every interview

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I know first-hand how intimidating job interviews can be! If nothing has worked before try these simple tips and try it out. Remember that the person who is interviewing has been in your shoes before. Everyone has to start somewhere--go out and make it a great one!

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Did Someone Mention Resumes?

We all know when job hunting that a resume is probably the most important thing that you need. How else would an employer know more information about you without that. Some of the difficulties though, is that people do not know how to properly write a resume. Here are some easy and simple ideas that people may have on their resumes.

1. Volunteer, Community and Unpaid Work
2. Education
3. Sales or Account Management
4. Administration, Customer Service, and Accounts
5. Responsibilities
6. Events or Conference Planning
7. Computers
8. Mechanical
9. Building, Construction, Electrical, and Plumbing
10. General
11. Positive Feedback
12. Memberships
13. Published or Presented Work
14. Looking Ahead

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Those are just some components to individual's resumes. Everyone's resume will obviously be different, so you really need to stand out with the piles of resumes future employers will have. There are some alternatives to the classic resume. This would be what can differentiate you from your other competitors in the work force. Cover letters have been used since the beginning, but how about using an electronical portfolio? This again, is relating back to social media and how people are using this more often when recruiting, This is something that can set you apart from your competitors. Give it a try!

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LinkedIn

When it comes to job hunting, there is a whole new generation out there that is tech friendly. Surprisingly, this is also true when it comes to future employers. More and more, employers are turning to social media when it comes to finding future employees. This means that LinkedIn is taking over the web. Before taking my class Web Analytics, I never really found it important to have a LinkedIn page, let alone update it. I had the basic page where my info was on it, but was not detailed at all with the current job I had or even past experiences. I found out that it really is important to keep that updated and that statistics say that employers really do look at LinkedIn and other social media pages when it comes to hiring a prospect.

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Some important things to know when creating a LinkedIn and what is important when editing is the following: background, general description, usefulness to job hunters, and ways to make it more effective. These are the things that job hunters usually pay attention to first. This is where you would want to focus on your page and really customize it to your personality and add as much important detail as you can.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Social Promotion

One of the easiest ways to promote your site or blog is through social media. We all know that--well at least it is assumed. You see people everyday always on social media; it is like we eat, sleep, and breathe it now-a-days. The easiest option would be sharing the link on your social media accounts that you have. What a better way than hitting home with your personal friends, family, and acquaintances you have on there. But remember, this will only work if you have a good number of people on your social media. If not, there are ways to help you find more friends on Facebook--they are very good with matching friends you have in common with other friends you currently have. Also ways remember, when you are posting your link on your social media page add a picture or caption to address what it is. Make it a habit to post multiple times to really hit your target. I am not talking about every hour, or everyday. Once or twice a week, in my opinion is a great option.

In my next blog I said I would show you my Facebook Ad, but I want to wait for that.  I want to talk about my experience with this FREE social media promotion you can do, because it is effective and easy! I have experience with both, and I will say that I have had more views on my blog with Facebook Ad, BUT, even more with my postings I do at my internship for my agency. Even though these are two different things, I still found it interesting having both experiences. My agency's Facebook page started off with 34 "likes" on its page. It is now at 58!! Now that might not be much, but what an accomplishment in such a short time. Since I have been doing weekly posts, I have reached over 800 people weekly. Remember free publicity is the best publicity!

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Google Analytics

Google Analytics is also a great thing to know and  be certified in when it comes to tracking a webpage or this blog post, for example. There is a section in your Google Analytics account with the name on your specific site, with a globe like icon. This is an easy way to see something from your page and how it is doing. Google Analytics is meant to be easy--and useful for everyday people. The funny thing is that not many people would even know how to do this. Drum roll please......I PASSED! The one thing I did find difficult, however, is passing my Google Analytics Certification. It did only take me to pass on my second try, but still, studying for hours was rough.

Tracking the results from your site is a great way to know if you are active enough on the page. For example, when having a Facebook page for your business, if you are not getting too many likes or views, then there must be something wrong. Either you are not posting enough, or the content on your page is not attractive enough for viewers to click on it. The next step would be trafficking your blog or site. This is where you can write a blog post and then post it on Facebook, for example. This can help you get more views. On my next blog I will be discussing when I use a Facebook Ad to promote this very blog! Stay tuned.

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Social Analytics

Social analytics where different social media sites will allow you to information on who has "liked" your page or even who has viewed it. Some different sites that do is Facebook and YouTube. This is interesting because it actually allows you to see how your page is going and what type of activity is happening on it. This is something I do at my internship; I keep our agency's Facebook page updated. What is fun about this is I am not posting dull things about what we do, rather about who we are as an agency. This has been a great experience because social analytics has allowed me to see the improvements that have been made to the Facebook page since I have been helping with the page.

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My managers really have a great grasp on how important social media is for our industry. It gives that extra touch to get people to like our Facebook page and then, hopefully they would see what we do. Some things that I have done on our page that has really booted since I started is Wacky Green Wednesday. This is where everyone at our agency dresses in green (which is COUNTRY Financials colors) and on Wednesdays--the name pretty much sums it up. People have really interacted from our home office and also with our friends on Facebook. This is just the beginning to hopefully getting more likes in the future!

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Social Media Marketing

I have never really thought about social media as a great marketing tool. It has always been something that I use for school work or personal work. Social media has expanded its horizons and has now been a great impact for the work force in promoting. An example of this is Digital Marketing which is often used to sell something or get people to visit and/or sign up for something. Currently, I am using Digital Marketing for my internship at COUNTRY Financial. I am using our agency's Facebook page and being interactive on it. This approach is basically to get people to 'like' us on Facebook. So far, there has been a dramatic difference from when I started digital marketing on his page. Below, is a picture of just one post I did for an Ugly Sweater Friday event we had. I reached over 500 people and also had 2 people like his Facebook page.

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This is why web analytics is a crucial tool in helping monitor someone's efforts while conducting digital marketing. The funny thing is, I do not think people know how easy this actually is! Some people can be intimidated when it comes to social media, or might not even have any accounts. Social media is the new thing, and I think everyone should be involved one way or another. I actually have had some of my agents at work sign up for a Facebook account because they saw how important it is to market their brand. So, try give it a try!

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