Landing a Job Interview

The first question anyone looking for a job should ask is "How can I get my job application noticed?"

Each year, companies hire thousands of people. More importantly, they turn away tens of thousands. Companies are overwhelmed with applications. Most have at least ten qualified applicants for every job, and many have 35 or 40. Many people will tell you the trick in this situation is to "stand out from the crowd", but nothing could be further from the truth. Everything about the hiring process is designed to determine who NOT to hire. So getting hired is more about avoiding mistakes than about standing out.

You see, most companies use software to weed through the thousands of applications they receive. The software ranks applications based on how well they meet a set of criteria. While those criteria can change, there are some things every company is looking to avoid. These things will get your application rejected immediately. Avoid them, and you've passed the first step in the process.

Goofy email addresses. Hotchild92 is never going to get you hired. Start a special email account with a plain, professional address and use it only for job applications.
Answering that you are not available for weeks or months. Always be available immediately.
Giving a wrong or mistyped social security number. The SSN will be used for a background check. A false or incorrectly typed number will not allow you to pass the background check process.
Answering "knockout questions" wrong. Knockouts are questions like "Are you able to perform the essential functions of this job? And "Do you have transportation?" The answer, of course, if always yes!
Indicating that you can only work during very specific days or times. If they ask for specific hours and days, err or the side of flexibility. You can always turn the job down if it doesn't meet your schedule.
Unrealistic pay expectations. Do some internet research to be sure your answer lines up with what people really make in the job.

Do Your Research

Companies know exactly what they want out of the people they hire. They do serious market research, then they create career sites to appeal to their perfect candidate. If you spend some serious time on a potential employer's career site, there's a good chance you can reverse-engineer their picture of the perfect candidate!

You can usually a link to the career site from the main company website. They are usually in the main menu, in the "About us" section, or sometimes hidden at the bottom of the page. Be persistent and you'll find it.

Once you're on the career site, here's what you should look for:

Clues about the company's culture. Hiring managers will be looking for people who are a good fit with the company's culture. If you know their culture, you can portray yourself as that person.
Key phrases. One company's website says, "We think technology should serve people, not the other way around." If you express that idea (in different words) at a job interview, they'll think you're a great match.
The things they brag about. If the company brags about community service, they probably want workers who are involved in their communities. If they brag about future career opportunities, they want people who will stay around a while and grow with the company

Remember, everything on the career website tells you something important about the company and who they like to hire - so everything in your application needs to show that you are a good match for them.

For more information on job and career issues, visit http://www.landaretailjob.com/

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Forget Being a Perfectionist and See How It Changes Your Life

The following is an adaptation from Helene Lerner's 'Our Power as Women' published by the Conari Press.

According to Lerner, one's constant struggle to remain perfect is a clear way of stifling any possibility for growth and cutting down on the natural creative instincts. Despite these visible drawbacks there are many who constantly strive to achieve perfectionism and this is attributed to their wish of measuring up to values set by others or because some set unreasonable standards on their own selves. Obviously this could be due to the general consensus that women of a professional stature are expected to perform twice as well as their male counterparts in order to succeed in life.

Despite what others say, being an overall perfect person is an impossible and unrealistic task for any one. Discovering and progressing on a new skill or trade means that a person is vulnerable to make many mistakes on the way. However it does not mean that the person should avoid the challenge of this new accomplishment due to their adamant desire to remain perfect. career change for women might open new challenges.

Helene Lerner declares being vastly empowered herself on the advice and recommendations made by her friends and also other sites for professional women in the same industry who suggested that she try writing natural flow of words rather than being restricted to perfect sounding sentences which does not portray her true writing style. Her creativity has surged with her gradually letting go of the need to be constantly perfect and grammatically correct. The editing and perfecting can be done according to her once first lines of thoughts are put in to paper.

The power that lies in trusting your own instincts and letting go of perfectionist tendencies is remarkable. Here are some of the things you can try that benefited Helene Lerner in shedding her perfectionist inclinations.

• Appreciate and understand yourself - By summarizing your own achievements on both personal and professional levels you will be in a position to understand and come to terms with what you are.
• Believe in the mantra that goes as ' I am enough, I have enough and I do enough'. -This will come to your aid when ever your perfectionism urge is trying to resurface.
• Compare yourself with only what is important to you and not with others who make you feel inferior.

Take a leaf out of Helene Lerner's book and turn a new page in your own life by letting go of your unnatural perfectionism tendencies. Visit http://www.womenworking.com/ for more enlightenment.

Jeffrey Allen
sites for professional women | career change for women

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Work Placement Issues Resolved With Sound Reasoning

Business owners depend on placement companies to fill their hiring needs with little hassle. Many people will find permanent work through a business that places them in job positions. The people who do this work will initially interview the candidate to find out exactly what they can and cannot do. This is also a time when they evaluate the employee to see if they will be a good match with the company and its already established employees. Personality is sometimes taken into consideration.

Some placement companies are better at spotting good employees than others. Their main job is to find a position that matches their client's needs; so therefore, both the employer and the employee are equally considered. Some placement companies are temporary and will put someone in a job for, at the least, one day. The positions they offer can sometimes become permanent if that person performs well while in the position. This is something that the employer usually notifies the placement company of early on, so that they know whether to be looking for someone who wants long-term work or a less permanent position.

Permanent position offerings mean that the placement company representative must be somewhat more diligent about who they choose to send out. It may be their prerogative to place people in these positions, but they do not want to keep putting the wrong people in the wrong positions. This can result in a bad reputation for the placement company. Clients will go to other placement agencies if they feel they cannot trust the one they have been using to send them reliable, qualified personnel who do not have an abrasive personality.

When a company is working with clients who do not want permanent positions and only wish to fill in for temporary work, they should concentrate on the temporary employee's skills and the jobs that are available.

Temporary employees do not have to be the friendliest people in the world, but they must be able to work with others; it always helps to have a positive attitude. This is true of all employment opportunities, even temporary work. Many times, people turn to temporary work because they have personal responsibilities that prevent them from having what many consider "normal" job hours and responsibilities. Thankfully, this works out well for everyone involved when companies need extra help in the short term. If you are someone looking for temporary work, or if you are a business owner looking for a temporary employee, look no further than a work placement agency or company for assistance in your search!

Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/ ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

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The Border Patrol Agent Career

A border patrol agent is a very important person in federal law enforcement since his or her main responsibility is to patrol the border of the country. This is more than just a typical type of job and it requires someone who is passionate about taking care of and protecting the border of his country. This job requires a lot of courage and dedication since it means putting your life at risk to ensure that the country is protected by all means.

The position of a border patrol agent is meant for someone who is ready to guard and prevent any illegal entries into the country. This is a job that requires one to stop terrorists and any terror suspects from getting inside the country, which can at times be very risky. This career requires professionalism, vigilance and integrity in order to do it successfully.

The line watch is one of the most important activities involved with being an agent. This is where aliens that are undocumented are detected, prevented from getting into the country and are also apprehended. The smugglers of these illegal aliens are also usually apprehended when or just before they get to the border.

This is mainly done by retaining surveillance from a particular position and following all the leads as well as responding to any alarms that are situated in the border area. The border patrol agent also responds to any infrared scope during the night operation. He is involved in aircraft sightings, operating television systems that are in low light level and is also involved with following any marks, tracks or any other physical evidence.

Other operations that are usually carried out by a border patrol agent include traffic observation, ranch and farm checks, city patrol, traffic check, transportation check, intelligence, anti-smuggling and other administrative activities.

In order for one to be a border patrol agent, you need to be the citizen of that country and a resident of the same, be of a certain age that is required by the country, be fluent in certain languages that include Spanish, have a valid driver's license of the state, and pass through a thorough background investigation, fitness test, medical examination and drug test. You should not have any past arrest backgrounds, never have been convicted, have any financial or debt problems, partake in excessive consumption of alcohol and not use any illegal drugs, sell or distribute them.

A patrol agent has to be physically healthy because the job entails a lot of physical activities. There are some physical tests that are usually performed during the interviewing process and this is usually stressed. This is a career that is usually preferred by many people, but only those who pass all the tests are able to join.

The job is very fulfilling and offers opportunities to work for your country, protecting the citizens from any harm. There are a lot of trainings involved in this job. This is good as the trainings prepare you well for the job at hand.

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Copywrite Kenneth Echie. Kenneth is a Writer, Expert Author, and Publisher. He currently writes for Criminal Justice Schools. Get free scholarship report and find Border Patrol Agent Schools by visiting.

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Four Tips To Advance Beyond Medical Assisting And Receive Better Pay And Benefits

In the health care industry, medical assistants are important members of the medical team. Doctors need them to stay organized and sane at the same time. Some doctors even claimed that they cannot perform well without the help of their trusted medical assistants. Truly medical assistants have very important roles to play in hospitals, clinics and other specialized areas.

Although the medical assisting profession is a very lucrative and productive career, there is still a chance for career growth and receive better pay and benefits. To advance beyond the medical assisting careers, here are some tips to do so:

Discover Your Professional Goals
During your free time, try to find out your short-term and long-term goals. This is for the purpose of motivating and redirecting yourself to the path you want to take later on. If you are feeling a little bored of your everyday routine work, this is a great opportunity for you to assess and find out what you really want to do. Examine yourself what you are passionate about. Perhaps you like children and you are good with children even in dispensing of medicine. Know if you want to enroll in nursing school and take supplementary classes on Pediatrics. Or maybe, you are happy with your clerical and administrative duties. In that case, find out if you can have additional classes or seminars on accounting and bookkeeping to help further your career.

Familiarize Yourself With Medical Terminology and Medical Diseases
True enough, doctors and nurses need medical assistants to help in the managing and administrative aspects. However, there may be times when the tasks and duties of MAs become very habitual. If this happens to you, do not complain. Instead, be proactive and study the different cases and learn from the conversations of doctors and nurses. At home, if you have time to spare, you can browse on several medical books to help you understand what the medical team is discussing. If you have a friend or relative who is a doctor, you can ask about the usual medical procedures or anything about medicine from drugs to the usual treatments.

Talk To Your Boss
If you are fan of pep talks and long discussions then talk to someone about your concerns. If you want to know more how you can improve your career and the options you have the best person you can approach is your boss. Your boss can provide you with the right perspective, motivation and he or she is the best person to help you with your concerns. He can provide inside advise and the things you ought to know about career advancement.

Broaden Your Horizon
For you not to stay in your current position for the longest time, you can attend seminars even those not related to medical assisting. If doctors invite you to a medical pep talk or rally, you might as well attend. These seminars can help you to expand your knowledge and to learn new skills. Do not close your mind to any possibilities. If there are computer classes that you are invited to, attend and learn from that class. Who knows? You can be the next medical secretary or unit clerk.

Medical assisting is a smart career choice. Medical assistants have opportunity to grow and to advance in their careers. If you wish to go beyond medical assisting and receive better pay, consider the tips above. Do not be afraid to learn new things. People should be continually learning and growing. Do not be stagnant and find ways on how to improve yourself and your career.

Medical assistant jobs are highly in demand. Find out how the medical assistant diploma can be favorable when you click on the links now.

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The Prenatal Nurse Career

A prenatal nurse is also referred to as a midwife. This is a person that takes care of a pregnant woman and ensures that everything is going perfectly during the entire pregnancy all through childbirth. These nurses are very important to society since every woman looks up to them at one time or another to ensure that a child is delivered without any complications.

The main responsibility of a prenatal nurse is to focus on the pregnancy and childbirth of a woman. This basically means that she has to take the expectant mother through basic guidelines on how to take care of the pregnancy, provide essential prenatal care, assist in the delivery of the child and also follow up on the progress of the mother and the baby and give the necessary care after a successful birth. These are basically the main duties of any prenatal nurse in any setting.

Putting in mind the fact that childbirth is one of the most important parts of any family, a prenatal nurse has the benefit of experiencing the joy of childbirth with a number of families. The nurse is therefore considered essential because she takes care of the pregnancy until the end whereby the child is successfully brought into the world.

In order for one to be a prenatal nurse and get a job, you have to acquire a bachelor's degree or an associate's degree in nursing. This usually takes anywhere between 2 to 5 years. Most employers prefer advanced degrees especially the registered nurse jobs. The individual is also expected to complete and maintain the national licensing depending on the state. Those who are interested in going for registered prenatal nurse jobs should therefore ensure that they have an advanced degree in addition to the bachelor's degree that is compulsory.

Most institutions do not require the prenatal nurse to have any job experience though with experience the opportunities are many. As long as you have the necessary educational qualifications, finding a job should not be a difficult task. With this in mind, it is important to note that the more the qualifications a prenatal nurse has, the more the salary she is expected to earn. This basically depends on the education, the location of the job and the experience that an individual has. If however the experience is higher, the salary is automatically higher than someone who is starting off in the career.

It is also a necessity to undergo an accredited midwifery program in order to be a prenatal nurse. Once done with the program, there is usually a certification program that you must pass which is issued by the midwifery board in your state. With this and the degree that you have, you qualify to work in any given hospital, any university or even in the government. The prenatal nurse job market is highly competitive and therefore it is important for nurses to do continuous studies once they are in the job market in order to ensure that they continue to climb the career ladder.

Note: You are free to reprint or republish this article. The only condition is that the links should be clickable.

Copywrite Kenneth Echie. Kenneth is a Writer, Expert Author, and Publisher. He currently writes for Medical Assistants Schools. Get free scholarship report and learn to Become a Prenatal Nurse by visiting.

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Truck Driver PSP Becoming Second DAC Report

In years past, trucking companies pushed drivers to run over the HOS rules and many other violations, showing complete disregard for their safety and health. Now, with the recent implementation of the CSA, this practice is coming back to bite them. Drivers, loyal to their motor carrier for years, are now being terminated due to a high severity weight score on their pre-employment screening program (PSP).

As drivers are now discovering, this is a big problem with the CSA. Even though the violations were due to the carrier's equipment (this falls under the 7 BASICS, specifically the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC), the driver will be found to be in violation, as well as the carrier, raising the motor carrier's "unsafe" safety score.

There are two measurement systems under the CSA:
DSMS - Driver Safety Measurement SystemsCSMS - Carrier Safety Measurement Systems

The two go hand in hand, meaning that points received by a driver, also will go against the carrier. This is the FMCSA's idea of making both parties, the driver and the motor carrier, equally responsible for safety. As we are seeing already, this is proving to be another injustice to the professional truck driver. Drivers are reporting in that due to their PSP points, their jobs are being lost and other carriers refuse to re-hire.

The truck driver PSP is now being correlated with the HireRight DAC report... a prediction I made several months before the implementation of this program. Every driver should be aware of the points that can accumulate from violations and effect their PSP scores.

The FMCSA website clearly states:

"The program helps motor carriers make more informed hiring decisions by providing electronic access to a driver's crash and inspection history from the FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System ( MCMIS)."

Sound a lot like DAC... doesn't it?

The severity weight system can be found on pages 78 through 118 of the CSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) Methodology. Another driver recently advised us that he had stopped for the day and after setting the brakes, the truck began to roll. Marking this brake issue on his post-trip inspection, he was then fired by the carrier. The FMCSA has created another demon for the professional truck driver.

There is no set maximum points that a driver can reach before being deemed unsafe and terminated. This figure is at the sole discretion of the individual motor carrier. Points attained will not show up on the PSP report. The PSP will only show the violations and you must then cross-check them with the points shown on the SMS. There are 3rd party companies such as Vigillo, LLC which provide comprehensive data analytics, providing drivers with a CSA scorecard. Another example of a money-maker business created from the CSA.

Data collected for the two measurement systems basically come from four sources:
Roadside inspectionsViolations that have already been recordedState reported commercial vehicle crash dataMotor carrier census data

Violations that DOT and law enforcement have ignored in the past, such as driving with a flat tire or having a marker light out, are now being enforced and citations given out. As an example, operating a CMV on a flat tire will add eight points to your PSP... having a marker light out will give you two points. If you're caught texting while driving, you will be hit with ten points, the highest amount given, which by the way, is the same given for reckless driving.

Remember, it's not only points you'll receive, but you will still have the fine to pay as well. The CSA has given law enforcement the key to a huge money-making program to help bring in much needed revenue for states.

The number for a "maximum points" level that is being thrown around is sixty, but again, there is no set maximum points that a driver can reach before facing possible termination. The carrier can determine if it's sixty or six... it's at their discretion. Although motor carriers created the atmosphere which resulted in drivers obtaining violations in the past, they are ignoring this fact and now using the PSP as the reason for the termination of drivers.

As a California law firm establishes the first DAC Report Class Action Registry, attorneys should take notice of the truck driver PSP program. The truck driver PSP is quickly shaping up to be another DAC report to be used by the carriers against the professional truck driver.

Aubrey Allen Smith is the host of the popular internet talk radio show, Truth About Trucking "LIVE", educating drivers on how to receive a copy of their PSP report.

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