5 Ways to Shake Off Your Job Interview Anxiety

5 Ways to Shake Off Your Job Interview Anxiety Nervesâ€"they affect the best of us. Even politicians, big-shot business professionals and other world leaders have experienced some form of anxiety and stress in their life time; so dont beat yourself up too much if you feel extremely nervous before or during a job interview. Its completely normal. But that doesn’t mean that you have to let your nerves be all-consumingâ€"after all you could jeopardize your chances of employment if youre too jittery. That said there are several (and simple) things you can do to shake off any pre-interview anxiety and land your dream job. To learn the top 5, continue reading below. 1) Plan  ahead: This cannot be stressed enough. All too often job applicants get knots in the pits of their stomachs because they dont know what to expect. Not knowing what kind of curve balls employers can throw at you can be pretty nerve wrecking. But an easy way to walk into your scheduled interview with confidence is to plan ahead and think through all of the worst-case scenarios. This includes not only formulating answers to common interview questions such as why do you want to work here? and why should we hire you instead of the other applicants? but also jotting down answers to the questions you fear the most. For example, is there a particular question that you are just dreading that the interviewer will ask? If so, face your greatest fear and try coming up with an answer that is both honest and will reflect you in a positive light. This is not to say that you should memorize all of your answers however; after all some variant of these questions may be asked and you dont want to appear robotic in your responses. But having some idea of what you could say is a sure fire way to get rid of some nerves. You also want to make sure that you do some thorough research on the companyâ€"make sure to know a tad bit about the companys history, some of its latest projects, and recognize the top honchos. Not only will it demonstrate that youre serious about working there but it can also give your answers some substance. 2) Have a  dress rehearsal: Another way to plan ahead and feel more at ease is to have a full-on mock dress rehearsal of the interview. Pick out your outfit, get all of your documents in order and have a friend or relative interview you. Here, your interviewer will be able to help point out your strengths and weakness as well as address any mannerisms you may need to correct; for example, you may use too many informal words like totally and awesome or speak way too quickly which can hinder your chances of getting hired. As part of the dress rehearsal it may also be a good idea to actually take a quick drive-by to where your interview will take place. This can ensure that you dont get lost on the day of (Google Maps is not always reliable) and can give you an opportunity to check out the parking situation. Even if you know where youre going, make sure to give yourself plenty of time to get there on the day of and ask for the interviewers direct phone numberâ€"accidents do happen and if you get into a car collision or there is far more traffic than you anticipate, you need to call immediately and let the interviewer know you will be running late or need to reschedule. 3) Have a  good laugh: They dont say laughter is the best medicine for nothing. Not only has studies proven that laughing can help cure the body of certain diseases and illnesses, but it can also reduce the levels of stress hormones and anxiety. This is because when one laughs, the body releases feel-good chemicals called endorphins. These are the same chemicals that are released when we exercise and the same chemicals that naturally help fight-off depression. So to replace any negative, jittery feelings with positive, confident ones simply fill the hours leading up to the interview with laughter. Go visit your funniest friend or watch that one movie no matter how many times you see it always leaves you in stitches. Or you can even download your favorite comedians stand up onto your iPod and listen to it on your way to the interview. If all fails, you can even make yourself laugh by making a few funny faces in the review mirror or bathroom. 4) Listen to music: Another way to get rid of nerves is to listen to music that will put you either in a tranquil non-stress state or listen to some music that will pump you upâ€"you know, some confidence boosting music that assures you that you are in fact the best. It can help you feel inspired which can in-turn help you dominate in the interview. Make a track list and listen to some motivational (or simply relaxing music) on the drive to the interview and or/while you wait. 5) Be open about nervousness: Lastly, if you start feeling nervous during the interview remember that its ok to admit it. During the beginning of the interview or if you start to stumble on a question, its ok to say something like, I apologize, Im extremely nervous. This is my first interview or Its been quite some time that Ive been in this position. This will only make you appear more human and the interviewer may just be able to relate to you more. Who knows, the interviewer may even be just be as nervous as you are. Author: This guest contribution was submitted by Lenore Holditch, who specializes in writing about top online colleges. Top image: Shutterstock.

Writing a Resume to Switch Careers - Tips For Getting Your Dream Job

Writing a Resume to Switch Careers - Tips For Getting Your Dream JobYou may think it is a bit difficult to write a resume to switch careers. The fact is, you need not be scared off at all. There are several tips that will help you with the process. Here are some that will work for you.It is a good idea to get yourself prepared. This includes setting up your office and getting an address for the mail. Some job seekers are not too well organized and they do not have their addresses. If this is the case with you, it is best to have them provided by the employer.After you have your address, the next step is to choose a template for your resume. There are many on the market and there are also free ones available. It is a good idea to use the ones that are more modern and easy to read. This is important if you are going to be switching from a word processing program to a more modern one.After you have chosen a template and the format is laid out, you will want to take a careful look at it. You will want to take a close look at what are the requirements for the requirements, such as the type of job you have held before this. You will also want to take a look at how it states your experience in order to make sure that it is accurate. For example, you might want to make sure that it states you had twenty years of experience when in fact you had five.The next thing you want to do is to determine your qualifications and experience as far as the job you are applying for are concerned. You should be aware that there are many factors that go into deciding if you qualify or not. First, you should decide what your skill set is and what the desired position is. Then you should choose a section of your resume that says what you have done in this job or with this company.Next, you will want to write a section of your resume which gives you a clear outline of the job you want. Try to keep this as short as possible and provide as much information as possible about yourself. This is essential in order to make it easy for the reader to focus on your qualifications.Once you have an outline, you can move on to the other sections. Write about your most recent and most relevant experience. Keep this as brief as possible but make sure you give as much detail as possible.Writing a resume to switch careers is not difficult to do but you must be sure that you follow the advice above in order to make sure you get the best results. The key is to be organized and to get all of the information you need in order to complete your application. There are many ways to make sure you do not forget to do this and here are just a few tips for you.

My Personal Branding Journey Part 1 The Personal Branding Kiss of Death - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

My Personal Branding Journey Part 1 The Personal Branding Kiss of Death - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career This is the first of ten posts where we follow Marcos Salazars personal branding journey, as he uses the concepts and four-step process outlined in Me 2.0 for his own career. I recently had dinner with a good friend of mine and received what I can only label as The Personal Branding Kiss of Death. We were having a nice time catching up and I was telling her about the new clothing business I was launching in New York when she said to me, “That’s awesome! I don’t think I will ever be able to keep track of everything you’re doing. Whenever I talk about you and my friends ask what you do, I can never give them a good answer because you’re involved in so many exciting things.” While her comment was meant to be a compliment, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness when I heard her say this. It was unsettling to know that someone who knew me well was unable to easily tell people all the things I was doing. This proved to be a wake up call and made me realize that I needed a branding makeover. Letting my personal brand slide For the past eight months, my entire focus had been on launching my clothing company. I had worked really hard building the new business and had done a good job of marketing it (we even got in the New York Times within the first week of launch). However, the side effect of all this was everything related to my former brand of being an expert on the psychology of life after college, Gen-Y, and young professional issues lay by the wayside. The night my friend gave me The Personal Branding Kiss of Death, I looked at the young professional blog I had started last year and saw that I hadn’t posted anything in over 8 months! I also hadn’t posted a tweet on my personal Twitter account in over 7 months and hadn’t not logged into my LinkedIn account for 4 months! And the sales of my book were not doing to well either. Not good. My personal branding journey, Me 2.0, and you To help jump start my journey of developing a better personal brand I purchased Dan Schawbel’s book Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. However, I didn’t want to go through this all alone and that’s where YOU come into play. Over the coming weeks, I will be writing a series of posts for the Personal Branding Blog where you can follow my progress on developing a better personal brand. I will be using Me 2.0 as my guide and will be implementing the four steps Dan developed for his book discovering, creating, communicating, and maintaining your personal brand â€" on my journey. During this branding makeover, I would greatly appreciate your feedback as well as letting me know your own experiences in using the principles found in Me 2.0. My goal: create an integrated personal brand connecting all my pursuits What makes my personal branding journey unique is that I wear many different hats and sometimes those hats can seem quite unrelated. By day, I am a psychology and leadership researcher for the Girl Scouts, Im the author of two books (one being The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide that focuses on the psychology of life after college) and I’m working on a new one, I’m a professional speaker on Gen Y and Career issues, a freelance writer on local topics in New York City, a clothing designer, an entrepreneur who owns two businesses, I run a positive psychology website, am about to release my first iPhone app, am a Spinning instructor, and have recently become involved in community organizing in the area in which I currently live. One of the main challenges I face during this journey is figuring out how to integrate all my talents, passions, and work experiences into a unified personal brand. I believe this is something that’s becoming increasingly common among Gen Y workers today. As we move from job to job gaining more work experience and developing new and different skill sets, it will be a challenge for all of us to maintain a consistent brand across the years. I am excited to get back into the blogging community and I look forward to our conversations in my future posts. Author: Marcos Salazar is the author of The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide, which focuses on the psychology of life after college and what graduates go through as the make the transition from school to the working world. He writes a psychology and career blog for young professionals at www.marcossalazar.com. You can connect with him on Twitter @marcossalazar.

More Lessons in Personal Branding from NPRs Car Talk - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

More Lessons in Personal Branding from NPRs Car Talk - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career In my original analysis of National Public Radios Car Talk, I discussed 4 of the 7 essentials of strong and enduring brands described in Patrick Hanlons Primal Branding. For over 25 years, Car Talk as anyone who drives anywhere within FM radio reception   of a public radio station on a Saturday or Sunday knows has been one of the most popular programs on public radio. Contributions from Car Talk listeners are at the top of the fund-raising list for many public radio stations. In my first post, I discussed Car Talk from the perspective of these Primal Code elements that Patrick Hanlon discusses in Primal Branding: The Creation Story The Icons The Rituals Pagans, or Non-believers The 3 remaining Primal Code characteristics Here is how Car Talks brand satisfies the remaining 3 elements of Patrick Hanlons Primal Code: The Leader. One of the most important of PatrickHanlons 7 Primal Codes is the importance of a leader whose vision and voice play a major role in the brands success. In Car Talks case, of course, there isnt a single leader, rather, there are two, Tom and Ray Magliozzii.e., Klick Klack, The Tappett Brothers. However, their contributions to each program are so perfectly balanced that, together, they create a unified leadership voice for the brand. The Creed. As Patrick Hanlon wrote, Creeds differentiate and motivate. He continues, Creeds are simple, concise statements that embody hugely bold ideas. Car Talks creed exists on several levels. On one level, the creed is based on family dynamics and personalities, i.e., brother-versus-brother (Dont drive like my brother!) or husband-versus-wife (So, what does hubby think about this?) Ultimately, however, beyond the humor, Car Talks creed is that cars are fun, even when they break down or cause family tension. Cars, other drivers, car manufacturers, and politicans that regulate cars are unpredictable and frustrating, butultimatelyour cars are reflections of who we want to be, or how we think of ourselves. Otherwise, why would 4.5 million people tune-in every week? The Sacred Words. The Car Talk vocabulary is filled with sacred words that are liberally sprinkled through every show; heap, lousy advice, car-mechanic-with-boat-payment-due, moron, Shameless Commerce Division, beer, our lousy show, my beloved Dodge Dart, saw-you coming, etc. Perhaps the best example of sacred words are Show Credits read at the end of every show. A glance at Car Talks Show Credits reveals a richness far beyond the name of their law firm, Dewey, Cheatem, Howe. When you apply the 7 Primal Code elements to your favorite brands, as described below, youll notice that the fit between individual brand elements and the way they are used in various brands will differ slightly from brand to brand. How to put Primal Branding to work Start by asking yourself, What are my favorite brands? Think about the authors, movies, TV programs, restaurants, cars, travel destinations, airlines, or brands of consumer electronics. Then, analyze your favorite brands from the perspective of the 7 Primal Codes outlined in Patrick Hanlons Primal Branding. I encourage you to create a simple worksheet listing the 7 Primal Code attributes, plus space to indicate how effectively each brand either uses, or fail to use, each of the 7 Code elements. The more you analyze your favorite brands, the better-equipped youll be to create your own strong and enduring personal brand. After youve filled out several worksheets, share your conclusions as comments, below! Author: Roger C. Parker shares ideas for planning, writing, promoting, profiting from brand building books in his daily writing tips blog. His latest book, #BOOK TITLE Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Article, Book, Event Titles, offers step-by-step ideas, tips, and examples for choosing the right title.

Learn How to Use the Standard Resume Format

Learn How to Use the Standard Resume FormatYou have put some thought into your job application and have finally completed the standard resume, only to find that it was too long. This may be due to the fact that you wanted to make sure that you had all of the important information on the resume, but it seems that you did not take into consideration the importance of the standard resume format. What is the purpose of a standard resume and why does it need to be so long?The term 'standard' is used by many different people and companies to mean any type of resume that has similar information in order to save time. This means that your resume does not need to be more than one page. Instead, it should only be limited to one page because this will provide you with the best information possible for employers.A standard resume can also help in the process of learning about the job you are applying for. After all, the employer wants to know what you can do for the company. This means that your resume will contain information about you as a person. You will not be putting all of the personal information on the resume and will instead make it brief.You should always check for the standard resume format when beginning the writing process. Many people tend to use this format instead of creating one that is unique to their job. If you have spent the time to create a new resume, then make sure to get started with a standard resume format.For those who are unsure about the standard resume format, you can ask an expert at your college or university for assistance. There are many different ways to format a resume, and you should make sure that you choose the format that fits you best. It is also a good idea to start with an essay format because this can help you to break up the information into easy to read sections.The biggest benefit of a standard resume is that you will be able to produce a resume that will help you get the best jobs possible. In the past, there were many indi viduals who could not write a resume, which was very frustrating. This was because they could not put together all of the information that was needed for a quality resume.You can now produce a resume that will help you succeed in your job search by learning how to use the standard resume format. You will also learn how to design your own cover letter so that you do not have to rely on the template that comes with your resume. This is a great way to get the information needed in order to get hired.If you are in need of assistance with your job search, then make sure to get help from an expert and learn about the standard resume format. This will help you achieve success in your job search. Your chances of being hired will be increased dramatically when you learn the correct way to write a resume.

Five questions to prepare for in your credit control interview - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Five questions to prepare for in your credit control interview Interviewing for any job, regardless of sector or level, can be nerve wracking and it can be hard to project the right impression of yourself to an employer. Aside from the typical questions that every interviewer asks, when applying for a credit control position you might find some difficult questions that will test your knowledge and skills. Your potential employer isn’t asking these to catch you off guard or show you up, but rather to understand how you would act in situations relevant to the role you are applying for. Preparing for what you may be asked is the key to a confident interview and showing why you are the best candidate for that role. Thinking ahead and having clear answers will stop you from stumbling or appearing too nervous. Here are five questions to prepare strong responses for in case they come up in your interview: What experience do you have in credit control? Being asked about your experience of an industry or a particular job role is nothing new, but this is your chance to show you know the potential problems you might face. This is also an excellent chance to show you have prior knowledge of any systems or tools that you would use in this role, which can be an added bonus for an employer as they won’t need to train you up from scratch. How would you negotiate with a difficult client? In credit control you will often be faced with clients who are late to pay, hard to communicate with or have a challenging set of circumstances. Within your role you will often be expected to negotiate to make sure a payment is made and debt arrears cleared, which can occasionally involve awkward conversations and trying meetings. Being asked how you would dissipate a fraught situation is your chance to show your interviewer how you will remain calm whilst also achieving your task; getting a client to pay what they owe. You have a client who is refusing to pay what are your next steps? In credit control it is common to be faced with clients who are withholding payment completely. It can be for a variety of reasons such as not having the funds available, and as a credit control professional you will be expected to recover the amount owed. Describing a clear plan of action will show your problem-solving skills, methodical approach and foresight as you can detail any problems you predict arising. How do you see the credit control industry developing? Many interviewers will ask what your predictions are. You can use this question as an opportunity to let your knowledge of credit control shine through, and also to demonstrate insight into niche areas that you may like to pursue further down the line. By reading up on industry news websites or finding interviews from leaders in the credit control sector, you can equip yourself with some interesting points should this question arise in your interview. How do you see yourself fitting in with this company? This is a generic question that interviewers in all different industries will ask, but an important one nonetheless. Demonstrating that you can be a team player who can bring strong ideas to the table is the key to impressing your potential employer particularly as they will have in mind who your colleagues are and what kind of personality will fit in well. Showing that you are knowledgeable about the company and its existing client or customer base is also a good way to show you’ve done your research, and that you will fit in well as you have enthusiasm for the areas they specialise in. Preparation is the key to a strong interview There’s a cliché saying, “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”, which is a strong piece of advice for any interviewee. Remember it’s perfectly normal to be nervous, but if you research the company and understand the role you’re applying for, you should be able to project a confident impression and leave them believing you’re the right candidate for the job. This article was submitted by Portfolio Credit Control, a market-leading recruitment specialist for those in credit control.

Practical advice for any jobseekers planning to work abroad - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Practical advice for any jobseekers planning to work abroad If you have made the big decision to start looking for work abroad then there are lots of things to think about. You need to start considering all the practical aspects before you travel to look for work overseas or accept any job offer there. But what advice do you need to take on-board when thinking of working abroad? Working abroad needs careful planning   As with any big changes to your life, you need to make sure you have got everything in order before fully committing to it. The below are some essential factors to consider: Visa’s and paperwork â€" for most foreign countries you move to for employment, you will need some official paperwork, other than an entry visa, from that country’s authorities to allow you to work there. Make sure you know what you need and apply for it in good time as it can take months to come through. Be sure to carry it with you to show to the authorities at your destination when you arrive. Healthcare â€" in the UK we are very lucky to get free healthcare via the wonderful NHS. However, most other countries globally don’t have that kind of service for free. Make sure you check out the healthcare arrangements in the country you are moving to and take out any medical insurance if needed. Check out the cost of living â€" it is vital to thoroughly research the country and the particular   area in which you will be living. As well as getting up to speed with the culture, it is also useful to know what the cost of living will be. You wouldn’t want to get there and find out it is too expensive for you to live a comfortable life. Learn the language â€" if you are going to a country in which English is not the first language, then it is wise to have lessons before you go to learn some useful phrases. That will help with your daily working life and make it easier to settle into the new country. Set up a bank account â€" when you finally arrive in the new country to begin work, you must set up for a bank account. That will allow your wages to be paid in and will ensure there are no delays in getting your money. It will also have the added bonus of making it easy to send money back home to family and also to receive money from them for occasions like your birthday or when you need some extra cash for some reason. Many expat workers use a money transfer service to help as they normally offer a better exchange rate than banks, and there are many money transfer companies in London to choose from. Working overseas is amazing Although there is much to think about, working abroad is a great thing to do. It will not only bring you new life experiences and new friends, you will come home with some important new skills for your CV.