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On the Job Podcast – Entrepreneurial Dreams: Passion in Puns

In this episode of On the Job, we hear about Merrily Grashin, whose career began in New York City, doodling images and writing clever puns about the world that surrounded her while waitressing and bartending. Encouraged by the people she met along the way, she used her natural skill as an artist to launch her own greeting card and print business.

Jobs give us a connection to our communities and the ability to provide for ourselves and our families. Your work may be your passion or it could just be the way you make ends meet. Each week, On the Job will share stories about the pursuit of work by delving into the employment situations people from all walks of life face each day.

Don’t miss an episode!
Download the On the Job podcast on iTunes or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts or visit ExpressPros.com/Podcast.

Interviews: Proving You’re a Teammate Worth Hiring

Wondering what it takes to thrive in the workplace?

You’re the perfect job candidate. Your resume is chock full of keywords and metrics showing you know what you’re doing. Perhaps you’ve increased ROI by 40%, averaged seventy words-per-minute, or mastered a certain software program.

These are all hard skills, abilities and experiences you may frequently see as job requirements. Measurable skills you can test for. You’re probably thinking, “if hard skills exist, soft skills must exist too, right?”

You’re 100% correct. Soft skills are about working well with others in a workplace environment. Being able to deal with difficult co-workers or knowing how to cooperate with multiple team members to reach a deadline—all are considered soft skills.

Soft skills are important because you must have them to succeed. Hard skills can get you in the door, but they’re just a baseline—soft skills are what allow you to move up the ladder by collaborating with others.

These include:

Communication Skills

The capability to not only express yourself in multiple ways, but also to listen and persuade others.

Being a Team Player

The capacity to work well with others through an understanding of the big picture.

Having a Strong Work Ethic

The ability to work hard and meet deadlines without sacrificing quality.

Being Flexible

Being able and willing to change course on the fly as the situation calls for.

Having a Positive Attitude

Keep your conversation and attitude optimistic and light to inspire and help others.

In the following video, provided by Express Employment Professionals, here’s a look at the top soft skills employers look for.


What are your questions about soft skills in your workplace? Let us know in the comments below!

On the Job: From Hired to Retired—Season 2 Episode 1

Featuring stories about the pursuit of work

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Movin’ On Up is proud to announce season two of the On the Job podcast series, brought to you by Express Employment Professionals.

Jobs give us a connection to our communities and the ability to provide for ourselves and our families. Your work may be your passion or it could just be the way you make ends meet. Each week, On the Job will share stories about the pursuit of work by delving into the employment situations people from all walks of life face each day.

The Second Act: From Dentist in China to LA Musician

Mr. Song left his home in China and moved to Los Angeles after his wife passed away. He had plans to continue practicing his lifelong career of dentistry, but when things didn’t work out quite as he had planned, Mr. Song decided to switch gears, bringing the traditional Chinese folk instrument, the erhu, to America.

Don’t miss an episode!
Download the On the Job podcast on iTunes or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.
And, be sure to check back next week for Episode 2.2!

Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed – powered by Express Employment Professionals!

 

How to Turn a Job Fair into a Job Offer

Not sure how to prepare for a job fair? We’ve got you covered.

Ours is a digital world, full of instant tweets and live Facebook updates. So it’s not surprising that many people have started to doubt the usefulness of the traditional, decidedly non-digital job fair.

Why go through the trouble of meeting a recruiter in person when you can simply email them a resume with a link to your LinkedIn profile?

Because meeting recruiters in person provides a chance to make a real, personal connection. To show them that you’re more than digital words on a digital page.

Job fairs come in all shapes and sizes, so odds are you’ll be able to find one in your industry. Some post their information online. Many college-sponsored job fairs are open to everyone, so even if you aren’t a student, there’s still an opportunity to be seen. Check out The United States Job Fair Directory for job fairs in your area.

Make the most of your job fair experience with these three tips for navigating it.

1. Prepare

A job fair is basically one huge chain of interviews. And just like any traditional interview, preparation starts before you even get to the event. Begin by discovering what companies will be there and which jobs they are currently hiring for. Browse their websites and prepare a few insightful questions.

Tailor your resume for the companies you’re interested in. That doesn’t mean adding fluff or lying—it just means framing your experiences in a way that is relevant to the job.

Get in touch with whoever is facilitating the job fair. Ask them what companies are going to be there (if that information isn’t already available online), and who is going to be representing the companies you’re interested in. Then look that person up online see what information you can discover.

Be sure to ready yourself for any question you might be asked by having a quick “elevator speech” prepared; something short and sweet that tells them why you’re worth hiring.

Finally, make a schedule and plan your day. Allocate time for both your dream company and your second or even third choices. They might surprise you!

2. Be Professional

Would you wear jeans and a t-shirt to a professional interview? Hopefully not. The same rules apply to a job fair. Dress for the job you want. Business casual at the least (usually dress shirt and slacks for men, skirt and blouse for women), preferably business professional (suits for both men and women). This is applicable regardless of industry—even if you’re not looking for a professional position, dressing to the nines will make you stand out as a serious candidate.

Introduce yourself with a firm handshake and conduct yourself with a good, enthusiastic attitude. Take notes after each interview to avoid forgetting even the smallest detail.

Keep your visits at each booth short and avoid letting the conversation become a monologue. Treat everyone professionally, including other job seekers. You never know where that next connection might come from, and odds are everyone has insight to share.

3.  Follow Up

After you get home, review your notes. Decide which organizations made an impression on you and which ones didn’t. Then organize your huge stack of business cards and start the follow-up process. Be polite and succinct with your emails, and consider sending out a few hand-written thank you notes as well.

In addition, don’t forget to apply for any interesting positions online. Just handing over your resume doesn’t mean you’re being considered for the position. When you do apply, remember what was important from the recruiter’s viewpoint, and reference your conversation.

What has been your job fair experience? Let us know in the comments section below!

Will You Get a Job in 2018?

2018 is here! As you get your resume ready and look to the future, what is your outlook? Are you excited? Cautious? Scared? What do you think the job market is going to look like in the new year?

Let us know by voting in our poll!

Resume Tips to Impress Your Interviewer

As the weather gets colder, heat up your resume

Interviewers and HR professionals go through hundreds of resumes a day. And that’s after computers have already gone through thousands more. If you really want to stand out, you need to add something extra to your resume. After all, you can’t make an impression without an interview.

We’ve previously provided you with the best words to use in your resume, and we’ve helped out with ways to maintain your resume over time. In this blog, we’ll focus on the little things you can do with your resume to truly stand out.

Get Past the Filter

In order for your resume to even be seen by a human being, you first have to get past the robots. No, this isn’t a science fiction story—we’re talking about the programs companies use to filter resumes.

These programs look for certain keywords and phrases that show how you match the job qualifications. A lot of that is industry jargon—words and phrases only those “in the know” would use. And guess where a lot of those words show up! Right in the job description. Find anything usable in the job description and pop it right back into your resume. Google is an invaluable resource for finding out more industry-specific words to use.

However, be careful of using too many keywords. If your keywords aren’t organically placed into the resume, they will look out of place once the resume makes it into human hands.  Instead of trying to pack your resume with as many keywords as possible, just make sure to choose the right keywords in the right places.

Cater Your Resume to the Job Description

Don’t stop at just customizing your resume for the industry. Make sure it answers each and every concern brought up by the job description. Make sure each bullet shows exactly how your individual work advanced the company as a whole.

You can accomplish this even if your prior work has not been in the same industry. Just re-frame your experiences with industry specific terms, and show how that experience would really help in this new job.

The only difficult part of all of this is answering requirements with bullet points. You obviously can’t just write out your answers like in grade school. You have to adapt them to the resume format. Look at a few different resume formats online, and choose the one that best matches your current needs.

Your Accomplishments

Companies want to know more than what you did. They want to know how what you did benefited the company as a whole. In other words, they want to know your accomplishments.

Quantify each accomplishment, noting how it led to an X% increase in efficiency or saved X amount of time on project. Use action verbs like oversaw, managed, led, etc.

Looking for more resume help? Let us know your questions in the comments below!

 

 

 

 

Poll: Are You Over or Underemployed?

Despite the current job market trending in favor of job seekers, many workers find themselves trapped in positions that don’t align with their experience and abilities. Some find that their skills and expertise are not fully utilized (underemployed), while others are treading water in positions that are over their heads (overemployed). Both are tricky situations that can quickly lead to frustration and burnout if left unchecked. So this month, we want to know where you sit on the over/underemployment scale. Are You Over or Underemployed? Let us know by voting in our poll.

Given your skill level and experience, how would you describe your current employment situation?