5 Things The Apprentice Teaches Us About Job Interviews

5 Things The Apprentice Teaches Us About Job Interviews The BBC’s Apprentice is one of the toughest and longest job interview processes in the world â€" and the stakes are high with contestants fighting it out for a £250,000 investment from one of the UK’s most successful self-made millionaires, Lord Sugar. While you could argue that the show has become more geared towards entertainment in recent years, there is still a lot we can learn from it which can be applied to real life job interview situations. Especially when it comes to the brutal boardroom battles that have left many candidates flustered and speechless before being ushered home in a taxi. 1) Speak in plain English Using business jargon or “corporate guff” as Lord Sugar sometimes calls it, is a very easy way to alienate yourself from an interviewer. Phrases like “blue sky thinking” and “core competency metrics” are sometimes used by candidates in an attempt to appear intelligent, but they often have the reverse effect. This type of jargon can leave interviewers feeling a bit puzzled and they will assume that the candidate is simply trying to fill a lack of knowledge with over- elaborate phrases and clichés. If you want to build a strong relationship with your interviewer and break down the communication barriers, then talk to them like a real person and explain what value you can bring to them in simple yet professional English. 2) Be modest We all know that you have to sell yourself in a job interview but there’s a fine between confidence and arrogance that you should never cross. Elle Stevenson from this year’s series claimed “I hate anything mediocre… I’ve never been that person that comes second”, however Lord Sugar did not agree and fired her in week six after a poor performance in a buying task. She talked the talk but she couldn’t walk the walk. Yes, you should endeavour to highlight your skills and achievements in a job interview, but back your claims up with evidence and don’t make outlandish statements or wild exaggerations they may come back to haunt you very quickly. 3) Fight your corner Interviews can be tough and employers will always be keen to delve into your weaknesses as they try to build a full picture of your skills and knowledge. We often hear Lord Sugar say things like “who is to blame for the failure of this task?” or “what went wrong on this task?” Many contestants shy away from these questions in an attempt to avoid confrontation but that doesn’t go unnoticed by Sugar. He prefers a candidate who can recognise mistakes, take responsibility and demonstrate that they won’t make the same mistake again. If an interviewer is quizzing you on you your weaknesses, then make sure that you meet the questions head on and explain how you can manage your skill gaps to ensure that they don’t have an adverse effect on your performance â€" and explain what steps you are taking to improve your abilities in that area. 4) Be prepared When it comes to The Apprentice’s interview stage, a contestant’s lack of preparation is almost guaranteed to result in their firing.  In 2014’s series, Solomon Akhtar entered with a poorly prepared business plan and it didn’t go down well at all with Lord Sugar’s current advisor Claude Littner.  Claude branded Solomon’s two-page business plan a “bloody disgrace” and asked him to leave instantly â€" he was later fired by Lord Sugar. When you are interviewing for your next career move, don’t leave anything to chance. Not only should you fully research the company in all areas relevant to your role, you should also take along some supporting documentation to back up your case for employing you; such as performance figures, awards and media mentions. You can even research the interviewer on LinkedIn to get a better idea of their background and current role. 5) Show your personal contribution Nothing annoys Lord Sugar more than somebody who rides on the coattails of somebody else’s success. In the boardroom, if a contestant says, “I’ve been on the winning team 5 times in a row”, Sugar will always reply with something like, “great, but what did you actually do in those tasks?” He looks for candidates who go out and make things happen. He doesn’t want to go into business with people who sit on the side line and take all the credit for other people’s hard work. The same is true when you are interviewing for a role; the interviewer wants to know what you can personally bring to their organisation. So be careful when wording your answers and use the word “I” more often than the word “we” to show the actions that you’ve personally taken to contribute to the success of former employers. Overall The Apprentice teaches us that competition can be fierce when a coveted role is up for grabs, so make sure you’re pulling out all the stops to show the interviewer why you should be hired rather than fired.

How Legit Is Resume Writing Direct?

How Legit Is Resume Writing Direct?If you have ever looked at the resume requirements of employers, you will know that they will need to see three to four covers for the specific job you have applied for. This is one of the basic requirements for any job in order to find the right job that you want to do. So, if you are applying for jobs you will need to have an attractive and convincing cover letter to highlight your knowledge and experience. Here are a few tips on how legit is resume writing direct.Although there are many professionals who write resumes, the vast majority of them still use direct mail or snail mail to mail their letters to employers. One thing you need to be aware of when dealing with these types of companies is that the majority of them are going to be less than honest. If you do not have the money to hire a private writer to design your letter, it is best to avoid the professional resume writers as much as possible.Why does everyone think you can trick them into thinking you are more experienced than you actually are? Or how about this one? They will ask you for your previous job and show you the job advertisement to the contrary; you may not have completed the work or have not met the qualifications required, which in turn will cause you to fall down in the eyes of the employer.This is why you should take the time to understand how legit is resume writing direct and how to get around the two main drawbacks of using a professional letter writer. The first flaw is something that most people do not realize; they usually start off by making statements like 'I am passionate about this position'. If this is true then you will have to go beyond your abilities to make sure you do the work properly and impress the employer.The other flaw is the time it takes you to come up with a personal statement that describes what you would bring to the company. Many companies do not want anyone who is insecure in their position and does not seem to really give a crap about the work they are doing. You will probably be trying to break into the job market and it is best to make sure that you impress your prospective employer.Why does everyone think you can just write down your qualifications and skills and tell the employer what you can do for them? It will take time to explain to the employer what you did in the past to help them make a decision on whether to hire you or not. You may not know how long this process will take, but in reality it will take you the same amount of time as it will take to finish any job.In order to avoid the pitfalls of using a professional letter writer and get an all encompassing resume, try going online and searching for a variety of tools that can create your own resume. These templates allow you to learn how to cover all of the basic requirements that will be shown to the employer in the job listing. You can also use them to teach yourself how to spell all of the important words so that you do not have to d o research to find out what they mean.Once you understand how legit is resume writing direct, you will be well on your way to getting a great looking resume that you can use to show your employer that you are qualified for the job. Your resume is not only your chance to shine; it is also a selling tool that will open doors to opportunities that you may have otherwise never known existed.

3 Areas of Smart Spending That Will Save Your Business Money

3 Areas of Smart Spending That Will Save Your Business Money There’s no avoiding expenses in business. Entrepreneurs and small business owners know this all too well. But the most successful businesses understand that in order to turn a profit, a company needs to focus its money in the right places. That means funneling cash into the resources that keep a company running, into the research and innovations that create competitive advantages, and into other money-making areas. But it also means aiming the money at money-saving areas. Brilliant business owners and CEOs understand that not every dollar of spending is created equal, and that discerning spenders can create safety nets and maintain vital systems in order to prevent larger expenses down the line. When spending costs money  It can be hard to look at bills sometimes, but if we don’t examine them carefully, we won’t know where our money’s going. Budgeting is about tracking expenses, looking for savings opportunities, and preventing waste, and to do all of this your company needs a system for dealing with bills and payments. For some businesses, the solution is outsourcing.   This could be investing in supercharged IT services, consulting services, software as a service (SaaS) solutions, or other expense management services and can ultimately make your company better at spending money and when your company is better at spending money, it will spend less of it. You’ll have improved data and reliable advice on savings opportunities, budgeting, and long-term financial decisions. Protecting your business from legal expenses  The idea of spending money smart is to avoid big expenses down the line and few things are more expensive than losing a lawsuit. If you’re not careful with your business space, your safety practices, and your company culture, you could end up on the wrong end of a legal battle. And even if you escape without paying serious damages, a scandal or major accident could ruin your business’ reputation, scare off investors, and destroy employee morale. That’s why you need to be proactive about all the things your company does that could lead to legal fights. Invest in employee training for safety, sexual harassment, ethics, and other areas that could cost your company its reputation, talent, or assets. Work with legal counsel to protect your business through its legal organization, policies, and contracts. When it comes to the law, what you don’t know can hurt you. Work with professionals who are paid to know these things. Employees and hiring  Hiring employees is expensive but so is firing them. While it can be painful and expensive for your company to delay hiring until you’ve found the perfect candidate, it will pay off in the long run to have a team that is truly qualified. Similarly, don’t balk at matching fair salaries for employees with offers elsewhere. It’s important to think of your workforce as your business’ single most important asset. And, as with any other asset or system within your company, you’ll need to invest money in order to create and preserve quality. Employees are the lifeblood of your company, so spend wisely on them rather than setting your business up for the future losses that come with employee mistakes, firing and re-hiring, and other consequences of poor employee management. As with legal protections, training, and expense management practices, you’ll find that a dollar spent today can save you several down the line.

You Can Expect What You Inspect - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

You Can Expect What You Inspect - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The things you care about you will pay attention to. Thats the point of this post. There is an old saying from the manufacturing and statistical process control world that says you can expect what you inspect. Which, if you have read Dr. Stephen Coveys books, you may recognize this as one of his seven principles. Begin with the end in mind This is an easy thing to say and generally a pretty easy thing to do For those that are graduating this month you lived this. You set your mind to something and you delivered on it. However, as life and other challenges intervened you may have made a few changes along the way. And thats OK! You set an expectation Whether you changed majors then  or are looking to change jobs now  you can set an expectation of what you want to see. Then, you can work backwards to fill-in the components of what needs to happen in order for that expectation to be met. You inspect your expectations This is something thats been going on for thousands of years and it shouldnt surprise anyone. But, a lot of times we find ourselves wrapped up in tasks and day-to-day activities that are not leading towards our expectations. This is a risk everyone needs to manage directly and deftly. You adjust your expectations This is where the book Essentialism comes in. Below is an excerpt from my post What’s your Vector, Victor? Essentialism Guides Your Vector There is a great book by Greg McKeown called “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” where he distills the essence of our daily efforts into one simple graphic. The graphic is a collection of vectors … and his point can easily be seen by how we may be allowing ourselves to become undisciplined by allowing our “vectors” to have reduced magnitudes and scattered directions. If you have the book … check out page six. Or click on the link above and go to “first pages” and see page 6, Every day you only have so much time and energy to give something. Make sure that when you apply that energy that its going in the direction that helps you achieve your expectations. Set checkpoints for inspecting your progress. Getting your Vectors Flying in Formation More specifically, set your expectations and then focus on getting your vectors flying in the same direction. When you set your expectations correctly AND inspect them periodically to make sure they are going in the right direction you will stand out in your career. It takes work and focus to do this day after day. But, the result is that you will achieve the things that are important to you. Just remember … you can expect what you inspect.

Tips For How to Make a College Resume Stand Out

Tips For How to Make a College Resume Stand OutIt's an important step in a student's pursuit to graduate and be hired, so it's only natural that they would want to know how to make a college resume stand out. A resume, a college degree or not, is the first impression a prospective employer gets of a person, so the first impression that you give to them should be just the best.When you are sending in your resumes for college, you need to remember that time is money. You will want to send them early in the morning or at night before you go to bed. You want to have plenty of time for them to be read, as well as enough time to edit and make corrections as necessary.With all the other things you have to worry about, you might be tempted to avoid writing anything down during the time you're on campus, but you need to be specific when you're going through school with the help of school counselors. Make sure that you write down your full name, where you're registered, and your academic trans cript information. You need to have these handy. These details are what will be used by schools, your future employer, and others in your life to determine how well you will handle their job requirements.Remember to use the right references and transcripts. They can be key pieces of information for your school application. Make sure that your references and your transcripts are current, and that you're taking and passing courses. The more work you do to make yourself stand out among your classmates, the better the chances that your resume will get read.One tip on how to make a college resume stand out is to show that you're capable of making connections. Do this by listing some of your interests and hobbies. If you enjoy sports and music, you can mention those as well.College is stressful enough, but in addition to the tasks you have to tackle in class, you will also have to come up with ideas for projects and assignments. You can use those as your chance to let the world know that you have a lot of enthusiasm. If you've already mentioned your hobbies and interests on your college application, talk about them again. State them as well, to give your prospective employer something to think about.It's important to note that applying to many colleges does not guarantee admission to the college level. You will be given credit for those courses that you have successfully completed to date, even if you don't plan on transferring to the school of your choice. So don't be afraid to put your best foot forward when it comes to the presentation of your college resume.It is likely that you will encounter difficulties as you learn how to make a college resume stand out. However, the more you persevere and focus on your goal, the more successful you will be. Remember that you're making a real difference in the world and that you should take each challenge as a sign that you're on the right track.

Resume Writing Workshops Toronto

Resume Writing Workshops TorontoResume writing workshops Toronto are an excellent way to get your resume noticed. As you can imagine, resumes are one of the first things that people look at when applying for a job. That is why the workshop is so important. The event allows you to speak to several writers of resumes and build a good relationship with them before the workshop begins.What does a workshop cover? Well, they will have topics like when should you use bullet points, how to write your resume, and other general things that you can use during the workshop. They will be using this information to make sure that they create a great presentation for you. This is important because when you are applying for a job, the potential employer will be able to see your personality and skills before they get to your resume.It is up to you to gather as much information as possible. Some of the information that they will be pulling from will be your experiences. Tell them about what you have ac complished in your work and you personal life. Tell them about your strengths and what you can do for the company.Your resume is an opportunity to tell the prospective employer everything that they need to know about you. If you do not get the chance to talk about yourself in the workshop, then you will probably not have a chance to talk about yourself during the interview. But that is a risk that you should not take.Since they will already know that you are an accomplished person, you will be able to talk about your strengths without using your weaknesses as well. You will be able to talk about your career or educational background without breaking the ice. This will make your resume stand out from the rest.The format of your resume is also something that you want to think about. You do not want to use a format that makes it hard for people to read. They are looking for information that is easy to read and understand. The main purpose of the information is to keep them interested a nd to get them to read the entire document.The first time that you are getting a resume written is not a good idea. Most of the writing workshops that are available for you will allow you to use your own paper. If you want, you can bring some writing materials with you. Most people find that going to a more formal setting is better because there is more time to discuss things.It is a good idea to check out as many workshops as you can find. When you attend a few different workshops, you will be able to get a feel for what is expected of you. This will help you get a better idea of how you should prepare for the interview.

Living Within Your Means

Living Within Your Means When I was  listening to Rita Careys speak last night, I heard her touch upon some great budgeting advice and it is worth repeating. Rita listed some of the most critical things to do  when you  first lose your job.   One of them  is to reassess the family budget.   Not just in your head, but on paper.  Here is what she recommends with some of my commentary: 1) Make a list of all the expenditures for the month (be honest, food, clothing, gas, mortgage, insurance, hairdresser, cable, phone, heat, electricity, everything) 2) Eliminate as much discretionary  spending as possible (do you NEED to keep all those magazine subscriptions, what about the double lattes 4 times a week at Starbucks? do you need those too?   The better you are here at cutting costs, the better off you will be in the long run, get serious) 3) How long can you afford to support the expenditures?   Be specific, how many months before you have used all your unemployment.   Avoid at all costs tapping into your 401K. If it gets to that point, please consult your financial planner who can give you other alternatives. Now you really know what your time-frame is.   This allows you to build a Plan B.   If by that date, you have not secured employment, what will you do?   You  will need to implement Pan  B now.  If you  have identified today that you need a  holiday retail job  in early Decembertoo late.   Most of the  holiday hiring has already taken place.   Sure, some of still available,  maybe not the ones that would interest you the most.   With a little forethought/planning, you can lineup that Plan B job today,  and  avoid panic mode. Eliminating discretionary spending is difficult.   I remember when my husband was out of  work, he stayed home with the boys 3 days a week to cut our daycare costs.   While this was fiscally good, it limited his search capabilities. We canceled the weekly subscription to the local paper.   We even cut back on the cable to the minimum tier (we only watched 3 of the 1000 channels anyway).    I  brought my lunch to work.   We hunkered  down and boy, was  it hard.   It was worth the sacrifice.  I recommend everyone experiences what it is like to do without for  awhile. My mom  used to say  do you  WANT it or do you  NEED it when we went shopping for clothes.   This is a great way  to check spending. Whether employed or not, maybe, just maybe, given the way things are today, we should all be asking ourselves do you WANT that or do you NEED that.

Podcasts a plenty!

Podcasts a plenty! Two podcasts I did last month got posted this week, so turn on your listening ears (as my idol Judge Judy says) and tune in to The Hopkinson Report and The Career Clinic! I was so excited to get an email from Jim Hopkinson over at Wired a few weeks ago, following up on our introduction at SXSW. I was even more excited to get an invite to appear on his podcast for Wired, The Hopkinson Report! Subtitled The Marketing Trends that Matter, Jim and I talk about how I expanded my business from one-on-one sessions only to group sessions, products, and speaking gigs; how I used social media as the backbone of my marketing plan;  how millennials are approaching their job search differently than other generations; and on and on. We had a blast and I think it came through on the podcast, so click on over and enjoy! I spoke with Maureen from The Career Clinic on national radio over Memorial Day weekend, and it was one of the most insightful interviews Ive given. I say that with an unswelled head, though it was all due to Maureens questions! She had done her homework in a major way, and because of that she asked deep-n-dirty gems (yes, we talk about what happens when dreams die). The direct link to listen is right here. Enjoy this one, too (duh)!