Four secrets your interviewers arent telling you

Four secrets your interviewers arent telling you by Amber Rolfe Interviews sometimes always seem like a daunting ordeal…No matter how much experience you have, it’s never easy to second-guess what an interviewer really wants. The good news is, you don’t have to.Here are four secrets that’ll help you understand your prospective employer’s needs, courtesy of James Reed’s bestselling book,  â€˜Why You: 101 Interview Questions You’ll Never Fear Again’ :  Being yourself is better than being ‘professional’Putting on the ‘overly professional’ act might be what you feel is required when you set foot into an interview room â€" but it’s not necessarily what the interviewer wants.Although a certain amount of professionalism is obviously important, recruiters want to be able to have a conversation with a real person, not a robot â€" so let them see the real you.Not only will it help you stand out from the other candidates, you’ll also be more capable of demonstrating your true abilities and skills, not to m ention have a much better interview experience because of it.After all, turning the situation from ‘formal interrogation’ into ‘friendly chat’ will always work out better for everyone involved.Your CV doesn’t matterOk, so the experience on your CV is undoubtedly an important part of the recruitment process â€" but it’s not a deal-breaker at the interview stage.The recruiter has already extensively read over your CV. That’s why you’ve made it this far, after all. However, that part of the recruitment process is essentially over.In other words, it’s time to say goodbye ‘CV mode’ and hello ‘interview mode’.Instead of relying on the words you put down on paper, use this opportunity to express your personality, explain why your skills are relevant, and most importantly, think about the future rather than the past. Relate your experiences to the new role, and that’s where you can really start selling yourself.  There are only really a handful of interview quest ionsWhen it comes down to it, there are only 15 interview questions that really count.Sure, there are hundreds of different ways your interviewer may choose to ask them, but every interview question is actually just a variation of the 15 themes.The good news is, once you’re able to identify each theme effectively, you’ll be able to prepare honest, personal answers that will impress any interviewer.These questions range from interview favourites such as, ‘what are your weaknesses’ and ‘where do you see yourself in five years’ time’ through to competency based questions like ‘tell me about a time where you worked as part of a team’.For the full 15, download James Reed’s book: ‘Why You: 101 Interview Questions You’ll Never Fear Again’ now.  To an employer, a job is a problem to be solvedJob vacancies exist in two different universes: one where an employer has a problem to be fixed, and one where a jobseeker needs a job.Even though fixing an employer’s proble m may result in solving yours too, it isn’t the sole purpose for vacancies becoming available â€" and remembering that will help you focus on what’s important in an interview situation.Pitch your answers with the focus on how you’ll be able to help them instead of how the job will improve your life, and you’ll be on the right track to impressing your interviewer.Remember: wanting a job doesn’t mean you necessarily deserve it. Be the solution to their problem, and you’ll dramatically increase your chances of success at every interview.Still searching for your perfect position? Have a look at all of our current vacancies nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and comm unications about jobs and career related topics. Interview Techniques Job interview tips Preparing for an interview

The Artistic Jobseeker A Creative CV Template Freebie

The Artistic Jobseeker â€" A Creative CV Template Freebie The Artistic Jobseeker â€" A Creative CV Template Freebie As a creative professional, everything that you present to the outside world must reflect your talents and commitment. You likely have a portfolio, social media presence, maybe even a website that shows your talent and flair for creativity. Shouldn’t your resume or CV also represent you adequately? This template may be just what you need. It uses color, formatting and design exquisitely. We are proud to say it is one of our best creative templates. Does a standard, black and white CV really do your talents justice? Probably note! So take a chance with this one.You’ll find this template extremely easy to use. All you have to do is download the file and open it in MS Word. Once you do, you can customize it as you see fit and voilàyou have the perfect resume to advance your career!All you have to do to get started is help us out by sharing this post on social media! File size: 61 KB Format: .doc Downloaded 6,728 times License: Free, personal use only. Please read the license ter ms for resources. Download previous article What to wear for a job interview next article Preparing for a Job Interview â€" Researching the Company you might also likeThe Freelancers Resume Creative Resume Template for Independent Workers

4 Social Experiments That Show Why Your Willpower Fails You

4 Social Experiments That Show Why Your Willpower Fails You Quality managers have always searched after willpower as a needed trait in their teams, but what if willpower wasnt as much a quality someone possesses, but more of a resource people draw from? A recent article by David McRaney at You Are Not So Smart shows that this may be the case. So how could this new point of view affect your productivity? Quite a bit actually. For example, one experiment will show you how to have a 40% higher chance of getting parole just by changing the time of your hearing. Now Im not implying this only applies to those of you that feel like a prisoners at work, but what if you had a 40% higher chance of a raise based on the time you asked for it? If you make any important decisions at work or want to know how to leverage willpower in your office then read on. 1. The Nobody Likes You Experiment A team of researchers from Florida State, Florida Atlantic, and San Diego State wanted to see how willpower was affected by ones feeling of belonging. So they took a group of college students and set out on making them feel miserable to see what the result was on their willpower. How did they do this? They took the students and broke them up into same sex groups. Miserableness already beginning. Then they told them to chat for 20 minutes using common conversation starters. After 20 minutes of hanging out and getting to know each other, the students were separated and asked to write down the names of two people from the fake party that they would like to work with for the next part of the experiment. The researchers then collected the notes and secretly tossed them aside. Next, the researchers gathered the group together and told them they would now individually learn the results of how much the others wanted to work with them. For the first group of randomly selected candidates, the researchers told them, everyone chose you as someone they’d like to work with. However the group is already too big and youll have to work alone on the next task. These boys and girls smiled as they walked to their assigned rooms. The next group of randomly selected students were told, I hate to tell you this, but no one chose you as someone they wanted to work with. Hearing the news that nobody liked them, these students eyes stayed glued to the floor as their feet dragged towards the next room. However, the true experiment hadnt even started yet. What happened next was what the researchers really wanted to know. The students were given a bowl of 35 cookies and were asked to judge the cookies by their taste, smell, and texture. There were no guidelines on how many they should eat, and for the next 10 minutes they were left alone to complete the task. What did the scientists want to know? How many cookies would each group consume and how would their behavior differ? You dont have to be a rocket surgeon to hypothesize which group ate more, but it might interest you to see how much more they ate and why. The loser group ended up eating on average twice as many cookies as the popular kids. Before the experiment, Im sure many of the students in the unpopular group lived very social and successful lives, so how did this experiment affect their willpower in such a way that they ate twice as much as their popular peers? The scientists claimed that social exclusion impairs self-regulation. What does that mean to us non science folk? It means that when put inside a social group, we understand there are a set of rules we need to follow in order to fit in. The kinds of things we dont really think about but just do such as not interrupting others, taking turns, standing in lines, laughing at unfunny jokes, etc. We self regulate our behavior to fit in. So when the unpopular group was told no one picked them, this self-regulation was all of a sudden questioned. It was as if their minds thought, Hey, I did all the things I was supposed to do and society still snubbed me. So why should I care how many cookies the world thinks is okay for me to eat? Ill eat as many cookies as I feel like eating! And thats what they did. How This Affects Your Work This experiment can suggest why corporations invest thousands in team building exercises. If someone feels excluded at work, their willpower is likely to be affected. Instead of concentrating on their work, they have to invest energy into just fitting in. The more they feel they dont fit in, the more energy they have to use to make up for it. A pattern youll see in the rest of these experiments, is that when willpower suffers, so does our decision making. When our willpower tanks are on empty, we tend to favor making the easier of two choices, despite which one is best. Want an example? Pretend its 4:00pm on a Friday. You have one hour left before you can go home. You look at your to-do list and have to choose what to work on next. Do you choose the complicated, concentration heavy tasks like writing a report? Or do you choose something easy like responding to emails? 2. The No Cookies For You Experiment Baumeister, the scientist behind the previous experiment, wanted to continue his research on willpower. And for some reason, nothing tests willpower better than delicious cookies. So for the second experiment, Baumeister told his participants they would be studying taste perception and would need to arrive to the study with an empty stomach. This was to ensure their willpower would be completely vulnerable. Once this condition was met, he had the participants individually come into a room with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies stacked on a plate as well as a bland looking bowl full of radishes. One third of the participants were told to taste only the radishes and then report on their feelings a day later. The second third were told only to eat the cookies. The last third skipped this part of the experiment completely. Despite the temptation, the radish eaters were completely obedient to the rules. Although it didnt stop some of them from picking up the cookies and snorting them like a drug addict. When the time was up, the researchers took the participants to the second portion of the experiment. And again, Baumeister couldnt resist messing with his subjects. He decided he would have them solve puzzles where they had to trace a geometric figure without lifting his or her pencil or retracing lines. What he failed to tell them was that these puzzles were impossible. So the real test was to see how long each group would last before giving up. The people who skipped the taste test portion of the experiment averaged 20 minutes before giving up. Likewise, the cookie munchers were able to persevere for 19 minutes. But the radish eatersthey only lasted 8 minutes. Baumeister explains why, Resisting temptation seems to have produced a psychic cost. Meaning, the more you restrain from giving in to temptation, the harder it is to resist the next temptation. How This Affects Your Work Modern day workers are assaulted with temptations more than ever. Your phone probably has a dozen updates you need to check, your Facebook might have a comment you are waiting to hear, or you might have some hobby at home youre dying to get back to. Each temptation you hold back makes the next one that much harder to avoid. So this would make sense why some HR experts are suggesting its wise for employees to take several small breaks throughout the day. Having a few moments to clear out the build up of temptation, can allow workers to go back to their work much more productively. 3. The Most Boring Way to Watch a Movie Experiment Along the lines of weakening ones willpower, another group of scientists wanted to see how restraining emotions affected willpower. The first participants were told to not show or feel any emotion while they watched either a stand-up comedian or a movie about a person dying from cancer. The second group watched the same videos with no restrictions on what they could feel. Once again, these groups were then tested with puzzles to see how many they could solve in a certain time period. And as youd guess, the people who had to restrain their emotions solved fewer puzzles. How This Affects Your Work Were told at work that emotions are bad. So we hide them. We dont want to look weak or have someone think we cant perform our jobs if we show how we really are feeling. But this restraint can be just as bad. Maybe you had a bad review or your presentation didnt go as well as you hoped. Go outside, walk it off, punch a tree, whatever you need to do to get those emotions out. Youll feel better when you come back in and you dont have to mope around feeling bad for yourself. 4. The How to Improve Your Chances of Parole by 40% Experiment Columbia and Ben-Guron Universities looked at 1,112 judicial rulings over a ten month time period concerning parole. The results showed that judges granted parole to around 60% of cases right after the judge had eaten a meal. If you looked at parole cases right before the judge had a meal, the rate dropped to just 20%. The hypothesis behind this study suggests that glucose is somewhat of a willpower drug. It gives us a temporary boost in our willpower. So when the judges were low on glucose, they tended to go with the more passive decision of delaying the fate of a prisoner for a future date, rather than the much more willpower dependent decision to shorten a prisoners sentence. How This Affects Your Work If Im asking my boss for a raise, guess when Im doing it? Same thing for getting sign-off on any other projects or needs. As for yourself, its wise to not schedule decision intensive meetings or tasks right before your lunch or when you are about to leave the office. Make sense? What Does This All Mean? The big take away of these studies is to be aware of your willpower levels. You probably show signs of willpower decay every night and dont even know it. A long day of work leads to wanting an easy night at home. So you stop by McDonalds and lay on the couch. The dog probably needs a walk, but you just dont have the energy to do it right now. Theres nothing on that you are super excited to watch, so you end up flipping to Biggest Loser just because its the best thing available. And this would be okay to do every night if no one needed you. But kids need their homework done, dogs need walking, and dishes need cleaning. So how do you take back control of your willpower? David offered some straight forward and simple advice Id like to echo here as well. If you want the most control over your own mind so that you can alter your responses to the world instead of giving in and doing what comes naturally, stay fresh. Take breaks. Get some sleep. And until we understand just what ego depletion really is, don’t make important decisions on an empty stomach. image courtesy of lidiot

Its Easy To Hate Small Business Owners - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

It’s Easy To Hate Small Business Owners - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The same way it’s easy to hate the homecoming queen or class president in high school, it’s easy to resent the business owner who succeeds at what other people see as a Sisyphus-like task. Taking in the reasons why someone else succeeds is like trying to swallow a bitter pill. Are some people just born to do what others see as impossible?   Is it nature or nurture that separates the employee from entrepreneur? A successful small business starts with a dream, but we all have dreams, don’t we? I worked with a young man who created LinkedIn. Well, not exactly LinkedIn, just the concept. Jack drew it out on a white board for me, drawing circles and lines to indicate all the access to experts and others we had if we leveraged the connections of the people we knew. I had built a small advertising agency and Jack was my first employee. We had a new client who came up with a fancy customized cat box to sell in upscale pet boutiques. At the time Jack was dating a woman whose father is a veterinarian. Jack point was this. We were just one separation from the expert opinion we needed to weigh in on the finer points of ideal living spaces for cats (much less feline hygiene requirements). He then expanded his case to show that if we put all our friends, family and business contacts into play, we were less than six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon much less anyone else we might ever want to know for business. On that whiteboard Jack had sketched out everything he needed to create LinkedIn. It was a perfect business idea, except for the three key factors that would make him a successful entrepreneur. 1. Tremendous will This isn’t the same as optimism. It is the ability to remain undaunted and intrepid, even when it appears to be impossible to start or continue to build on your idea. Just like Olympic athlete Kerri Strug nails a gold medal vault for herself and team USA in 1996, sticking the landing on a busted foot, the best business owners play hurt. They play tired, they play sick, they play worried and they play big with what could be their last dollar. 2. Acceptance of reality You might think a business owner has to overlook reality in order to beat the odds. No. It is their understanding of the brutal truth that allows business owners to move around obstacles, rather than continue to crash into them. Strug landed her gold medal-winning vault on one foot, because that was the one foot still working. 3. Commitment to a “change or die” philosophy This attribute causes the most conflict. Almost everyone in an organization hates change except the successful business owner. Typically employees resist when it’s time to move along to a new product, new market, new delivery mechanism, new vendors or new anything.   Painful but true, successful small business owners cut anyone who stands in the way of survival or progress. My former co-worker Jack is now employed in a staff position by a multi-national energy company, where he enjoys the work and loves his free time. I think he twinges a little when the subject of LinkedIn comes up, but he doesn’t regret what he could have done, because he never pursued the idea past our whiteboard session. The facts about success in a small business are these. Genius doesn’t get you anything but a starting place for hard work. Freedom to do your own thing probably comes when you’ve sold out or retired. The excitement of launch becomes a fond memory and eating cold take-out stops being fun. Here’s what remains as the conditions of success. The inevitable pain of fortitude on a rocky road. The uneasy embrace of the worst scenarios in the least favorable times. The misery of losing friends who were once colleagues but had to be cut because they couldn’t live in a state of constant change. So, don’t envy successful business owners. The same thing goes for homecoming queens, senior class presidents or gold medal winners. Even with natural good looks, physical skill or genius, my experience is these titles are earned. Author: Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen

Resume Writing For Career Change - Tips For Your Career Change

Resume Writing For Career Change - Tips For Your Career ChangeWriting a resume for career change is not an easy task. It has to be comprehensive, accurate and truthful.Career change writing is the first step towards being hired by the company you applied to. So, it is crucial that you prepare a resume in a proper manner.The first step you can take is to make use of an online search. You can find hundreds of free job listings on the Internet. Try to do some research on each job posting by performing a free job search.If you are a student, then you can create your own resume. In this case, you should have a master's degree or bachelor's degree. Then, you can start writing your resume. Here are some resume writing tips for the student.You can use different formats for your resume. You can create a cover letter samples which you can include in your resume. This will help you to save some time while creating your resume.You can also include in your resume your best possible education or e xperience. Try to include these in your resume because there are a lot of people who don't have these skills so they will be interested in hiring you.Resume writing for career change is not a joke. You should be very careful while putting up your resume. You should check your resume every now and then for any mistakes or spelling errors. You should write every detail on your resume.The most effective way of addressing your audience is by writing a personal touch to it. Thus, you should write about yourself or about your current career. If you are not able to convince your audience with your resume, then it is advisable that you start looking for a new job.

Competing and Coming Up Short

Competing and Coming Up Short Have you ever interviewed for a job, thought you did an excellent job, and not gotten the offer? Or perhaps you entered a contest, lets say a blogging contest, and not won?   Not getting the job or not winning, could possibly be the best thing to ever happen.   You know why?   It forces you to try harder and be a better competitor next time.   You have to remember, there is only ONE winner.   You wont quit.   You cant! Post mortem documentation, and by this I mean analyzing (not over analyzing) what you did well and what you can do better next time is the best lesson to come from that experience. Questions Try asking yourself some of these questions: 1. Did I know my audience well enough?   Did I do research to truly understand and be able to address their key challenges? 2.   Who did I reach out and ask for help from?   Did I get the help I was looking for or expecting? 3. Was I persistent in my requests and was my message clear and compelling? 4. Was my timing right? 5. Did I have a call to action? 6.   Was I passionate enough or did I hold back? 7.   Was I creative or did I sound like anyone or everyone else? 8. What didnt I say or do that I should have or wanted to but didnt? 9. Was I performing at my peak performance? 10.   What one thing didnt I do, that in hindsight, I should have? The Take-Aways If you are honest with yourself and you look objectively at your actions, chances are, there are opportunities for improvement.   Theres no sense it finding fault or blame.   We can only control what we can, so lets not go there.   Ultimately, it comes down toyour performance, your awareness, your interest.   Did you sell yourself?   Did you create a unique value too good to be turned down or let someone walk away from? Dont look back and dwell on the could-haves, should-haves.   You didnt.   Do it next time, because there will be a next time and you will be better equipped to compete! My Win You may know, I am, as usual, writing this for myself!   Jacob Share announced the winners of the 5th Annual JobMob Blogging Contest yesterday. I had my fingers crossed (not the best strategy, huh) that I would qualify for one of the top 3 prizes.   I really could have benefited from them.   I imagined they could have helped propel my blogging and business.   But alas, I am happy with the recognition of Most ReTweeted Article Congratulations to the winners: 1st:     Blessy Vaidian 2nd: Donna Sweidan 3rd: Danielle McGaw To see the full announcement for JobMob, read The Winners of the 5th Annual JobMob Guest   Blogging Contest I know what I need to do now, do you?

Video Game Development Process - How 2 Become

Video Game Development Process - How 2 Become The Pipeline for Making a Game â€" Who makes video games? What is the  video game development process?Video games are traditionally made by a whole team of people known as ‘developers’. Most developers have a specific skillset and knowledge that they bring to the games production such as programming, art or story-telling.However with the modern games industry thriving on the internet, global connectivity and access to more and more tools and knowledge independent or ‘indie’ developers are breaking through in the industry. Games such as Flappy Bird are being created by one person and going on to make $20,000 per day, it’s proof that although the video game industry is becoming increasingly competitive it is still open to everyone and anyone who wants to get a job within it.Game Studio â€" Who are game developers?Traditional game development studios aren’t going anywhere any time soon though and if you’re interested in getting a job within the game industry then it is ess ential that you learn the video game development process  and who it involves.It is worth noting that the various roles at game studios do differ greatly. At one studio an animator may have a totally different set of tasks and duties to that of an animator at another studio. However there is a general rule of thumb for a standard video game development process.Game Development Pipeline â€" How a game is madeAlthough the following is perhaps viewed from an artistic perspective it provides a general idea to the pipeline of a games creation:First, it is DESIGNED. Designers, including writers are the ones who create the origin for a game that you will eventually see on a store shelf. The ideas for the story and the game are passed onto the concept artists.Secondly, CONCEPTS are made. A concept artist’s job is to visually interpret the descriptions of the games world, ideas and characters from documents handed to them from the designers. Programmers will make early concept builds of th e gameplay ideas.Thirdly comes MODELLING â€" The modeller will then look at the art provided from the concepts and use that material to create 3D models or 2D models (depending on the games design). The art asset to be created could be the games character, vehicles or environment. 3D models are created using software such as Autodesk’s Maya or  3D Studio Max. The 3D artist will provide the art that will be used in the final game. However, before it does the work will be passed on for texturing.TEXTURE ARTISTS â€" The texture artist’s role is to take the 3D/2D model and produce a texture for it. Textures are primarily created within 2D programs such as Adobe Photoshop. Once again, the model is then moved on to another specialist.RIGGING â€" The next step in the video game development process  is to rig the model. The rigger’s job is to make a model ready for animation. They do this by controlling the manipulable points of the 3D/2D model for animation. Rigging is often done by the animator themselves, or sometimes even a specialised modeller.ANIMATION â€" The animator’s job is to bring the static model to life, similar to how a puppeteer uses strings to put life into a wooden doll. The work of an animation artist is often referred to as Computer Generated Imagery (CGI).VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST â€" The work is then passed onto the Visual Effects (VFX) artist, whose role is to spice things up. They will generally do this by adding custom effects such as smoke, sparks or the character’s footprints as they walk across the world. By adding this final polish the VFX artist really brings the 3D/2D object to a higher level of realism. This is the completion of the visual art side of the video game development process.AUDIO ARTIST â€" Furthermore, an audio artist will then produce the sound effects that match the 3D/2D object functions. They are also responsible for creating ambient noises and the background music.PROGRAMMER â€" It is time for a programmer to get their hands on it. Although the programmers are involved throughout the games production, for the development of a game asset, this is where they may typically get involved. The programmer creates code to activate events, triggers and animations of 3D/2D model. Once this is done, it is given to a level designer.LEVEL DESIGN â€" With level design, the 3D/2D object is placed inside a game’s level. It is a level designer’s job to determine where to place objects to make it fun, fair and interesting for the game player.QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) â€" When working in the quality assurance department you will often be referred to as a QA tester. Under this title the QA tester is responsible for playing the game and hunting for bugs (unintentional errors found within the game). This information is then relayed back to the relevant department e.g. sound error will be reported to the audio team etc.The majority of game development studios are made up of the kind of structure as described abo ve although there can be further specialisation within the art, design and programming teams. Nowadays a lot of work is outsourced, particularly in 3D modelling, texturing and animation. This opens up the door to become a freelancer.Game Developer StudiosNaughty Dog â€" Famous for Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted and The Last of USRockstar North â€" Creators of the Grand Theft Auto seriesPolyphony Digital â€" Developers of racing game Gran TurismoEpic Games â€" Makers of Gears of WarElectronic Arts â€" The people behind the FIFA franchiseRovio Studios â€" The team behind Angry BirdsThese are just a few of the thousands of developers world-wide. When going after a video game job it is important to find out who the developers are and contact them directly. It is also essential to show your knowledge of the video game development process to the studios in your interview.Your CareerWhen starting off in the industry you will likely be presented with a junior role. It is a role that does hold l imited responsibility and range but make the most of it as it does offer a gradual build up to your desired role and adds self-improvement and overall career progression.For more information on how the game industry works, the game development pipeline and how to get into the video game industry take a look at our book: How to Become A Game Designer by Joshua Brown.Image credits:Audio artist: www.abc.net.auConcept artist: www.reuters.comNaughty Dog studio: levelsave.com This entry was posted in Career Advice. Bookmark the permalink. Richard Overcoming Nerves before Attending an Assessment CentreThe Day in the Life of a 999 Fire Control Operator