8 Job Search Tips You Ought to Know

8 Job Search Tips You Ought to Know In the troubled landscape of the current economy and with the threat of a triple dip recession hanging over everyone’s heads, finding a job is no mean feat. Statistics vary as to the average number of applicants per role the Total Jobs Barometer Report (Q3 2012) reports that there are 18 applicants for every job advertised, while the BBC reports that every graduate position receives 52 applicants. Either way, competition is undeniably fierce and job seekers have to widen the reach of their job search in order to be successful. Here are eight ways to do exactly that. 1. Drunken photos are not the only thing you should avoid on social media profiles If you’ve been job hunting for more than a nanosecond, you’ll likely be fully signed up to the fact that your Facebook shouldn’t proudly display pictures of you at your drunken best. What you might find surprising is the little gem uncovered by the Jobvite Social Recruitment Survey: apparently more employers find poor spelling and grammar a turn-off than excessive drinking. While that’s no excuse to display photos of you suffering the effects of several cocktails, it is a good indicator that you should probably lose the LOLs, the WTFs, and any other snappy abbreviations you’re way too fond of using. 2. Make like a product and get yourself a QR Code Just as using social media profiles has become an integral part of the job seeking arsenal, increasingly so too is the use of personal QR codes. Admittedly this tactic is most likely to hold favour with creative type companies, there’s nothing to say that it won’t take hold for other industries in the future. It’s super easy to generate your own QR code, so make like a product and go and get yourself one sharpish. 3. Think outside of the box In an increasingly competitive world, you have to think outside of the proverbial box to stand out from the crowd. For those times when having your own QR code is just not creative enough, check out the fabulous efforts of Stacey Knupple and see if you can come up with your own unique way to say “Hire Me”. 4. If you can’t get paid, do it for free (for now) It’s called volunteering! Let’s say that dream job is all but yours. If only you had experience in those one or two vital areas. Not only will volunteering give you the opportunity to learn the skills that might otherwise be lacking from your CV, you’ll also get a nice warm fuzzy feeling for your efforts. It may even lead to a permanent position. 5. It’s called job seeking for a reason The key point about job seeking is that second word: “seeking”. You have to be pro-active and under no circumstances sit back and wait for the opportunities to come knocking they very seldom do. Look out for new startups or small businesses. It’s unlikely that they’ll have cash to waste on expensive advertising and recruitment agencies, but they may well be able to squeeze a salary out of their budget once they realise how fabulous you are. Don’t be afraid to contact them. Go get ‘em tiger! 6. Become an expert in your field While it’s true that the world and his dog purports to be a “guru”, it’s also true that not many of these so-called gurus actually are bona fide experts. Dare to be different and become an expert in your field (in the hope that you’ll become indispensable). You could try Tim Ferriss’ method of learning absolutely anything in record time (The 4-Hour Chef), but you’ll still have to let people know how clever you are. Why not start a blog and establish yourself as an expert? While you’re at it, let your readers know you’re looking for work. You never know who the next visitor to your blog might be. 7. Network like your life depends on it Attend every networking event you think would be of value. Get yourself out there and connect with people. Networking events are not about passing your business card to everyone who comes within spitting distance. Rather they’re about showcasing your personal brand, so go prepared with an elevator pitch so you can let whomever you come into contact with know how hireable you are. In the same vein, get back in touch with former colleagues (LinkedIn is perfect for this) and see who’s doing what for whom, and more importantly do they need any help. It’s not what you know, right? 8. Don’t forget the traditional methods of job seeking In today’s digital age, it’s all too easy to get carried away with the need to have impeccable social profiles and everything that goes along with them. While that should form a decent sized part of your job seeking strategy, it doesn’t mean you should forget about the more traditional methods of finding a job. Hit the job centre (you should have a head start on those who turn up in their PJs at least), check newspaper listings, and attend job fairs. Author:  Linda Forshaw is a Business Information Systems graduate from Lancaster University. The leading contributor to online university review site  Degreejungle.com, she is a full time writer and blogger specializing in education, social media, and entrepreneurship. Contact her on Twitter @seelindaplay

Keeping Up With The Sports Fan in Your Life

Keeping Up With The Sports Fan in Your Life The following is a guest post by  Jane Wu Brower, sports enthusiast and the Founder and CEO of Goalposte. Her bio can be found following the article. Are you the only one in your office who doesn’t know who won the big game last night?   Do you completely zone out when your significant other goes on-and-on about the latest trade?  It sounds like you’re suffering from the life of a non-sports-fan! If you are a newbie and want to start following sports, it can be extremely intimidating and overwhelming to try to figure out where to begin.   Well, you are in luck, because here are 5 quick tips to help get you started: Pick a Team. The first step to becoming a sports fan is simply to pick a team.  You’ll be surprised how quickly you become invested in the team and their success, just by picking a horse in the race.   Once you’ve picked your team, start reading articles about how they’ve been doing recently.   Are they struggling with injuries to key players?   Did they just make a big trade?   You can pick up an enormous amount of information, just from skimming the team’s recent news headlines. While you’re at it, do a little bit of research on the team’s key players. Many athletes have humble beginnings or really interesting backstories, by learning a bit more about their personal lives you can get even more invested in how they fare in the game.  If you’re on social media, it’s also fun to follow your favorite athletes on Twitter, Snapchat, or Facebook.   They often try to give their fans an intimate look into their training or personal lives and some of them are quite frankly hilarious.   Getting to know the players makes it all the more fun to follow their performance on the field/court.     Attend a  Live Event. The next big tip to becoming a sports fan is going to a game!   Most sports are so much more captivating to watch live than on TV.   The food, the drink, and the surrounding sports fans give the experience an electric energyâ€"it’s hard not to get excited!   Hopefully, you’ll have done your research on the teams and players in advance, so you’ll be able to follow along with all the action and see some of your favorite players live.   Ask Questions. This one seems obvious, but it can actually be really intimidating to ask questions about the game, particularly because sports-know-it-alls love to lord their superior sports knowledge over others.   The best way to go about asking questions is just be honest about being a sports newbie.   Most people will be excited to share their fandom and knowledge with youâ€"and just ignore anyone who doesn’t!   If you can get a sports fan talking about their love for the game, you can learn a lot about the sport and as a bonus perk, it serves as a great icebreaker!     Get Social With Your Fandom. There’s nothing quite like getting competitive with coworkers, friends, or family to get you invested in the game.   You can do this by joining a fantasy league or an office March Madness pool.   By turning your fandom into a game or contest, you’ll be surprised how obsessively you will follow particular players, teams, and outcomes.   You’ll even start tracking games where your favorite team isn’t playing because of how it affects your fantasy team!   It’s really a win-win situation because if you win the league, you get ultimate bragging rights and if you lose you’ve still learned a ton about the game and players.     Follow the Sports Headlines. Now that you’ve found a sport and team that you love, make sure you follow how they’re doing!   Most teams have their own fan newsletters, but if they don’t there is no shortage of sports resources, including SB Nation websites or Bleacher Report newsletters for each team.   To keep up with the sports fans in your life, you should also be aware of the biggest national sports news of the day.   You can do this by receiving a daily email newsletter like Goalposte that summarizes the stories for you, skimming the headlines on ESPN each morning, or watching ESPN SportsCenter every once in a while. Jane Wu Brower is the Founder and CEO of Goalposte, a daily newsletter that summarizes major sports stories in a fun and accessible way.     By focusing on overarching storylines, personal details, and putting current events into context, Goalposte presents bite-size digestible write-ups for novices to cultivate a genuine interest in sports or for sports fans to stay on top of the latest watercooler chatter.   For more information or to sign up for the newsletter visit www.goalposte.com.   Images: Sports Fan  David Fulmer Stadium  Keith Parry Sports Fan 2  Nicu Buculei

ERASMUS Program Going Bankrupt. Education Takes Hit In EU Austerity

ERASMUS Program Going Bankrupt. Education Takes Hit In EU Austerity The ERASMUS Program is a European Union (EU) student exchange program established in 1987. The following excerpt is from the British Council website about the ERASMUS programme: It encourages student and staff mobility for work and study, and promotes transnational co-operation projects among universities across Europe. The scheme currently involves nine out of every ten European higher education establishments and supports co-operation between the universities of 33 countries. Erasmus has developed beyond an educational program it has acquired the status of a social and cultural phenomenon. It gives many European university students their first chance to live and thrive abroad. Over two and a half million students have benefited from Erasmus since its introduction in 1987. But now, this very programme is surviving on emergency cash and faces the real prospect of going bankrupt. eubusiness.com reported back in October that French Conservative member of the European Parliament, Alain Lamassoure, who heads the budget committee, said that the European social fund is bankrupt and cant refund member states. Next week it will be  Erasmus, the student  program, at the end of the month, the Research and Innovation Fund. Speaking at a news conference, Lamassoure blamed the shortfall on governments that fought for a four-billion-euro cut in the EU budget, in line with austerity policies across the 27-nation bloc. Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski is due to ask member states for several billion extra in the coming weeks to plug a deficit Lamassoure estimated at 10 billion euros. Failing new contributions, the EU executive would be unable to reimburse monies owed to different member states, said Lamassoure. He estimated that the losses could amount to 400 million euros for France, 600 million euros for Greece, 900 million euros for Spain and up to 200 million euros for Britain. These countries have a right to these monies which are reimbursements. It isnt lost but they will have to wait to recover it, he said. It has now come to my notice that the matter hasnt gotten any better in the last two months. There is now a petition asking EU countries to save the ERASMUS program on change.org There are 24k+ signatures supporting the petition and I hope you add your signature supporting the petition too. The petition says in part the crisis is also affecting the Erasmus Program. The spokesman of the European Commission Budget Department just said very clearly: The Erasmus program is out of funds. Until this moment of the year, 70% of the scholarships have been paid. But they don’t have the 30% of the funds coming from the different national governments. To prevent total collapse and bankruptcy of this program, the Commission has additionally provided an emergency fund of 420 million Euro, but this measure can only fix the problem during a short period. Read the petition to save the ERASMUS program. Please share this post and try to help keep the ERASMUS programme alive. Source: ebusiness.com  / British Council  / Rachel Hosie (on twitter) 9

5 Daily Gratitudes Lifestyle - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

5 Daily Gratitudes Lifestyle - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career A little gratitude goes a long way. A card, some flowers, and even the simplest “thank you” can say more to others than you can claim in any article, sales pitch, or blog. These signs of gratitude aren’t just gestures though. They are part of a lifestyle that needs to be implemented within your brand and within yourself. Rating yourself Gratitude isn’t just about being grateful or thankful to others though. The first concept is the ability to be grateful that you are who you are. Many people find themselves envious of others who are more successful. Instead, strive to define what success looks like, feels like and sounds like to you.   Most of us, spend more time on our grocery lists than we ever do in focusing on what success “is” to us. Remaining positive about your own abilities is essential in this particular area. This is because the first thing you have to learn to appreciate is your own self. Appreciate your own abilities so that you can share that confidence with those you meet. For granted Avoid taking things for granted. Nothing ever comes easy and it’s well-known that everything we acquire is because of our own perseverance. This includes all of our successes â€" such as the growth of a brand by meeting customers and developing networking associates. Your clients and associates work with you because they know you appreciate them â€"and showing that gratitude to others by not taking them for granted and regularly thanking them reinforces your business relationship and ensures brand loyalty. See the opportunity, not the negativity One area that many individuals tend to falter is being able to see the situation in a better light. It’s easy to simply say, “I was turned down” when you fail to make a connection. But, how you act, especially in the situation itself, will affect how and what others share about you in the future. Rather than simply seeing the negative side of being told “no,” you focus on seeing that as an opportunity to leave them with a good impression of your business style. You are professional, thorough, and overall determined to make your brand succeed. The little things However, gratitude isn’t something you have to slather on thick to show your appreciation. It’s often the small things that others find solstice in. Smile at others and thank them when you feel the gratitude. When someone compliments you, reflect gratitude.  [tweet this] When someone holds the door open for you or offers you the comic section out of the newspaper, show appreciation. And as you find yourself more and more grateful for smaller and smaller things, you’ll find that you are that much more appreciated by others. Keep it in mind Perhaps the most effective way to implement gratitude into your life is to make sure you’re aware of it. It’s easy to offer thanks for compliment or appreciation for an unexpected meeting opportunity. But, when you keep track of them â€" even the smaller things â€" it gives you something to be able to reflect upon and really see how much there is to be grateful for. And when it comes to your own brand success, you can focus on appreciating the effort you put into it and the network you’ve built that has helped you along the way. Author: Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of  buzz2bucksâ€"  a word of mouth marketing firm, and a professional speaker and trainer on developing social networks that work. She provides workshops, webinars, seminars and direct services that help create conversation, connection, credibility, community and commerce around your brand.   Maria Duron is founder  and moderator of  #brandchat   a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of  branding  that is recognized by Mashable as one the 15 Essential Twitter Chats for Social Media Marketers.